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A stylish winner on debut, Alamosa Express (3 g Alamosa - Danewhisper, by Danehill) appeared a horse with a big future when accounting for his rivals in the $10,000 Rating 65 1200 metres on 24 March at Avondale.

After beating a field that has since left plenty of winners, over 1200 metres on 30 November at Pukekohe, Alamosa Express was put aside for a spell and following a quiet preparatory trial on 14 February at Cambridge, in which his action looked good under Te Akau apprentice Jasmine Fawcett, he made it two wins from two starts when handling the rise in grade with aplomb.

Drawn barrier one in the IRT 1200, rider Opie Bosson was intent on securing the trail and after rustling up early had his charge purring along at the 600m. Only in need of room in the straight to threaten, a gap came at the 200m and Alamosa Express was strong in running the leader down near the line.

Clocking the 1200 metres in a quality time of 1:10.9, last 600m in 34.4, beating what was a Saturday quality field, he returned $7.80 & $2.80 on the tote and $7.00 & $2.20 fixed odds.

The victory provided Bosson with his third on the day.

“He's a horse going places,” said Te Akau principal David Ellis. “What a great job Steve (Autridge) and Jamie (Richards) have done with him!”

“They gave him time after his first win, now two from two, and the third successful horse out of the mare that Te Akau has trained.”

Owner and co-breeder Dr. Ron Boet originally bought Danewhisper at a liquidation sale, in foal to Align, with the resultant yearling purchased by Ellis for $40,000 at the 2010 New Zealand Bloodstock Select Sale, from the draft of Phoenix Park. Named Secret Whisper, he won four races, his younger brother Hushed (Don Eduardo) has won six from our stable and the mare has now left winners of twenty races.

“Ron is a neurological surgeon in Christchurch, and previously a doctor at the Hong Kong Jockey Club,” Ellis said. “He's had a number of horses with Te Akau, plenty of success, and he's a really good guy to train for.

“He lets Steve and Jamie give the horses time to mature, doesn't push them and we're very lucky that he sent us this horse to train, because he looks like he has a really good future.

“We decided at the end of November, when he won his first start, rather than push on and race over Christmas that we would give him time to develop and grow in to himself and he has certainly done so.”

Alamosa Express has top sires Danehill (Danzig) and Mr Prospector (Raise a Native) on his dam-side. His third dam, Sangue (Lyphard), was a triple Group One winner of 13 races up to 2200m in the U.S.A., and his sire Alamosa is doing a very good job at stud in New Zealand.

“It's good to see him run again. It was an excellent win and I am very happy,” Dr. Boet said.

“The story goes back a way, but when David bought Secret Whisper I thought I can't not have a share in the horse, we had four wins with him, six so far with Hushed and now the Alamosa, so the mare is leaving some good horses.

“I don't have any input in to where the horse goes, I just let Te Akau do what Te Akau does best - and that's to train horses and win races.

“It's good for them to have taken on this horse, which I thought could be a good breeding combination and have it come to fruition, in a way.

“Jamie (Richards) was kind enough to come and have a look at the horse one day in Christchurch, in the paddock, and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to sell him or pass him on, or whether Te Akau would be happy to train. Jamie thought he had something in him. I said, ‘fine, let's bring him up' and here we are two wins out of two.

“The communication that Te Akau sends owners has continued to get better with technology, especially over the last couple of years. The videos we get of the horses walking up after the race, the feedback on how the horses are going, on Youtube, all those things are great and Te Akau is superb.

“They have good systems in place, so that information arrives regularly, and I always sort of know that I might hear something about Hushed, or Alamosa Express, on a certain day. It's all timed pretty perfectly, and I'll receive an email, video, or photo. So, I'm very happy with it.”

With the pedigree to appreciate further distance, and given that his two wins thus far have been over 1200 metres, he really looks like a horse to follow.

“We had him ready a couple of weeks ago, but he's been unlucky when scratched a couple of times because of wet tracks, and the abandonment last Friday at Te Aroha, so finally good to get him back to the races and he's done the job nicely,” said Te Akau racing manager Brad Taylor.

Alamosa Express was strapped by Dennis Tan.

Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz