Te Akau Wins 2 at the Bay

Sir Darci (3 g Darci Brahma - Dominant, by Deputy Governor) became Te Akau's second winner at the Poverty Bay meeting as he put bad luck on debut behind him when scoring emphatically in the Gary Bates Cars 1350 metres on Sept. 22 at Gisborne.

Inconvenienced rounding the home turn on Sept. 9 in the Maiden 3YO 1200 metres at Taupo, Sir Darci repaid the Fortuna Sir Darci Syndicate (managed by John Galvin) and settled in the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) market at $41.

Lobbing along in fourth on a strong early tempo, Sir Darci appeared nicely poised at the 600 metres, ranged to third turning for home and after quickening to lead a furlong out he powered clear to win by two lengths.

Sir Darci paraded beautifully. He was very good in his prelim, relaxed, and he is a lovely horse that did it easily.

“He was desperately unIucky at Taupo, and I thought that was pretty good,” said Galvin. “We've put that behind us and now have the win under our belts, so we can do some planning from here. He certainly went to the line very well and while it is up to Jason (Bridgman), he deserves a shot at racing with the big boys. So, it's just a matter of what we do next.

Sir Darci was purchased as a yearling by Te Akau principal David Ellis for $140,000 at the 2012 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale, from the draft of The Oaks Stud.

“David (Ellis) bought the horse at a lesser figure than he thought he might have to pay and it ended up in our price range,” said Galvin. “He said, ‘this is a horse Fortuna should buy', and I didn't need much talking into it. Given he is by Darci Brahma (Danehill) and his pedigree is very good. Dominant is well related to Hero (Deputy Governor), the winner of fifteen, and Domino (Grosvenor) being a dual Oaks winner.

“So, he is strong in the pedigree and I think the gelding of him back in April has made this horse. He seems a different horse as a result of the gelding.

“We (Fortuna) have shipped a lot of horses to Mark (Walker) in Singapore that may well have won races here, but it's been awhile since we have been in the winner's circle here so I'm very happy. The stable is on fire,” said Galvin.

Te Akau trainer Jason Bridgman had been taken with Sir Darci after he displayed a lovely action when winning a trial on Aug. 6 over 800 metres on Dead4 at Te Teko.

“He's got great racing manners and he's a lovely horse, and a good mover,” said Bridgman. “I'm glad we put him over the 1350-metres as it meant he didn't have to be hurried and he found a nice rhythm. Especially after his first start, it was good for everything to go smoothly this time.

Matt Cameron said: “Te Akau has been good to me. They've got a nice bunch of young horses coming through and the whole team is doing a good job." 

Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz

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