Te Akau's "Ready For This"

A surge of winners - eight in four days - has increased the tally for Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards to 14 and sees him leading the premiership in the early stages of the new season.

Asked what helped attribute to
the recent foray of winners, Richards said: “It's just the onset of good
tracks, basically. We've got a lot of nice horses around us that have been
waiting for better ground and we're starting to see that in the results as the
tracks improve.”

While star mare Melody Belle
(Commands) headed the status of wins, when nailing her eighth Group One in the
Windsor Park Plate (Gr. 1, 1600m) on Saturday at Hastings, victories also went
the way of stakes placed Maiden mares Shezathinka (So You Think), over a mile
last Wednesday at Matamata, and white mare Luminous (Reliable Man) when
stepping up to 1800 metres on Friday at Taupo.

Shebringsmerubies (Sebring) broke
through for deserved success at Matamata, early career wins went the way of
1000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) nominees Rhapsody in Blue (Medaglia d'Oro) and
Lilikoi (Charm Spirit) and debutante Top Brass (Epaulette) at Taupo, while
staying prospect Golden Age (Savabeel) was rewarded for consistency to win
easing down by three lengths on Saturday at Riccarton.

Also at Riccarton, in a Two-Year-Old 800-metre trial held before the meeting began, Richards presented the winner Ready for This (2 c More Than Ready - Costarosa, by Encosta De Lago).

Purchased by Te Akau principal David Ellis for $180,000 at the 2019 Karaka Book 1 Sale, from the draft of Cambridge Stud, and owned by the Te Akau Ready to Roll Syndicate (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM). Ready for This (main picture & above) had produced a big finish to win his first trial, over 630 metres, on 6 August at Te Teko, and Richards has a good opinion of the colt.

“He's a nice horse,” Richards
said. “He trialled well at Te Teko, then had a couple of weeks off and we
picked him out as a suitable horse to send South with our team to Riccarton. We
always like to support the Canterbury Jockey Club in their lead-up meetings to
Cup Week in November, and he's a horse that we think can work through to the
Welcome Stakes and onwards to the Karaka Million.”

The $50,000 Barneswood Farm Welcome Stakes (Listed, 1000m), which Te Akau last won with two-year-old colt Al Hasa (Exceed and Excel) in 2017, to provide their sixth winner, is contested on the third day (Nov. 16) of the Cup Carnival, while Richards will be aiming to make it four wins in a row, come 25 January, in the $1m Karaka Million at Ellerslie.

“He (Ready for This) is a small
to medium sized horse, but he's got a great big action, gets over a lot of
ground and we like him,” he said.

His dam, Costarosa (Encosta De
Lago), is a half-sister to Members Joy (Hussonet) who left juvenile stakes winner
Pure Elation (I Am Invincible) in Australia, a very good filly that
impressively won the Percy Sykes (Gr. 2, 1200m) as a two-year-old at Randwick,
and resumed at three winning the Furious Stakes (Gr. 2, 1200m) on the same
course.

Although notching a good number of winners, Richards also experienced a heartbreaking moment when Karaka Million winner Probabeel (Savabeel) charged late to come within millimetres of victory in the Darley Tea Rose Stakes (Gr. 2, 1400m) - third leg of the Princess Series - on Saturday at Royal Randwick, and he was also there to saddle another Karaka Million winner, Avantage (Fastnet Rock), in Bill Ritchie Cup (Gr. 3, 1400m).

“Probabeel, I thought was
terrific and the run of the race,” Richards said. “Another stride and she had
it, but unfortunately we got beaten a lip. We've got to take that on the chin
and move forward.”

Richards said that all going well
he expected Probabeel to be really competitive in the $500,000 Darley Flight
Stakes (Gr. 1, 1600m) - fourth leg of the Princess Series - on Saturday 5
October at Royal Randwick.

“Avantage, I was a bit disappointed in her because she's never finished further back than third,” Richards said. “Her bloods and everything had been spot on, so scratching our heads a little bit there. She had a decent blow afterwards and we could look at racing her again shortly, but we'll just see how she comes through it.”

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