The Shark Bites on Debut

Te Akau Shark (3 g Rip Van Winkle - Bak da Chief, by Chief Bearhart) stamped himself as a horse with a bright future after winning impressively on debut in the $10,000 Maiden 3YO 1100 metres on 20 September at Te Rapa.

From last in a field of nine, Te Akau Shark improved widest of all around the home turn, lengthened into contention, found another gear when rider Opie Bosson asked him to extend at the 200m and after changing stride late in the piece he charged away from the opposition.

“He just kept coming up underneath me and the last one-hundred metres was really strong,” Bosson said. “The blinkers going on today really sharpened him up and there are better things coming for him, as well.”

Although somewhat of a surprise, Te Akau Shark had displayed natural talent when placing in each of his three trials and most recently, on 22 August at Avondale, had finished a close third to subsequent debut winner Vin De Dance (Roc de Cambes).

Purchased by David Ellis for $230,000 at the New Zealand Bloodstock 2016 Ready to Run Sale, from the draft of Lyndhurst Farm, Te Akau Shark is from Waikato Cup (Gr. 2, 2400m) winner Bak da Chief yet showed an enormous amount of precocity to win over the sprint trip.

“One of my friends in Sydney, Steve Mace bought a substantial share on my recommendation at the Ready to Run Sale,” Ellis said. “Steve is major sponsor of the Cronulla Sharks, whose captain Paul Gallen also has a share, and he came over to stay with me for the sale. Greg Taylor and Wayne Knight, another couple of great blokes from Sydney are also shareholders and this is the first horse they've all had with Te Akau.

“We've got a really good team of owners in the Te Akau Shark Syndicate,” Ellis said. “This horse looks to have a pretty exciting future and he really won like a horse going places. Yesterday, I had a couple of people do some form on the race for me and they said it was the strongest Maiden field they'd seen for a long time. And often in races like this, you can see the first four winning group races by the end of the season so who knows what will happen from this race.

“There is nothing more exciting in life than coming here on a Wednesday, hitting the front with fifty metres to go and win like he did. Steve (Autridge) and Jamie (Richards) have done a great job preparing him to race and he was well ridden by Opie (Bosson).”

Richards: “He's a pretty promising sort of horse that had trialled well and improved at home. We were a little unsure what to expect over 1100 metres but probably in hindsight it was a blessing that he missed the kick a little bit and he really found the line strongly late.”

One race before the footing was upgraded from heavy to slow, Te Akau Shark ran the 1100 metres in 1:07.6, last 600m in 35.5, and won by one and three-quarter lengths. Fourth favourite, in a race sponsored by SkyCity Hamilton to promote the Waikato Cup on 16 December 2017, he paid $7.60 & $2.20 on the NZ TAB.

“He is probably not a really rock-hard ground sort of a horse, but in saying that it will be interesting to see how far he goes in this prep and with what we're experiencing with him at the moment you can only imagine he will get better in the autumn,” Richards said.

“For a young horse from a strong staying family, he shows good competitiveness to race and has the makings of a lovely three-year-old staying type.”

Breeder of the horse, Darrell Hollinshead was also on hand to congratulate Ellis and thank him for buying the colt.

“Another twelve months and he'll be a lot better still, the way the family matures,” Hollinshead said.

“He's probably ahead of Ecuador and Pondarosa Miss at the same stage and they all seem to be better as late three-year-olds.

“The mother, Bak da Chief, had three seconds in a row at the end of her three-year-old season over ground and came back as a four-year-old, still as a Maiden, won fresh-up and went on to win the Waikato Cup. And we never saw the best of her.  It's only a small family, but it certainly seems to agree with this part of the world.”

A strong chestnut, Te Akau Shark appears to have colouring and markings in keeping with progeny by his dam-sire Chief Bearhart (Chief's Crown), a Canadian stallion that won 12 of his 26 starts. One of his best racing progeny was 2006 New Zealand Filly of the Year Shikoba, trained at Te Akau by Mark Walker.

Te Akau Shark was strapped by Simon Buckley.

Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz