The Tale of Gingernuts ... so far ...

Sometimes, in the dark of night, children around the world would steal from the cookie jar and vanish without a traceable step or crumb - in New Zealand they could have been after Gingernuts.

We retrace the steps of Gingernuts (3 g Iffraaj - Double Elle, by Generous):

Bred, born (2 Oct. 2013), and raised at Goodwood Stud, Palmerston North, he was offered by them as a weanling (seven months old) at the 2014 New Zealand Bloodstock National Weanling, Broodmare, and Mixed Bloodstock Sale.

Renowned bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo was taken with the youngster and bought him ($5,000) for a client, Bill Thurlow (Stainley Park, Waverley), who in turn offered him for sale as a two-year-old at the 2015 NZB Ready to Run Sale, where Te Akau principal David Ellis purchased him for $42,500.

His five wins and a second from eight starts have yielded $1.1m for owners in the Te Akau Gingernuts Syndicate, having shot to fame with a string of four wins in a row: including the Avondale Guineas (Gr. 2, 2100m), New Zealand Derby (Gr. 1, 2400m), and Rosehill Guineas (Gr. 1, 2000m).

Attentions for trainers Stephen Autridge & Jamie Richards now turn towards preparing Gingernuts for the $2m Australian Derby (Gr. 1, 2400m) on 1 April at Royal Randwick, Sydney.

Reflecting on his most win, 18 March, in the Rosehill Guineas at Rosehill Gardens, Sydney, Cataldo said:

“It was another high-class performance, very impressive, and maybe he did have a little bit of fitness edge on some of the others but you wouldn't want to be on anything else in the Derby, that's for sure”.

“For the last few years I've bought three, four, or five weanlings for Bill Thurlow. He basically leaves it to me, comes up on the (sales) day and we go from there.

“I've always been a fan of Iffraaj and when I saw the horse (Gingernuts) he was nice and correct and a really good mover,” said Cataldo, who wrote positive things about him in his sales catalogue. “He was of good size, and obviously he's grown in to a nice big horse now. He had a good temperament, good feet, good shoulder, good girth; all the things that you look for.

“He moved well, which was the main ingredient.  You never know if they will make in to a horse like this, but he was one of the better colts in the sale and obviously he was well priced.  He went to Bill's (Thurlow) farm, like they all do, and he works out a plan of where he might try and sell them. That's his approach. He's buys them to get them up and going, and the good ones he can turnover [sell].

“I don't think he showed anything out of the ordinary when he was with Bill, but obviously he's just improved out of sight as he's got older and Steve (Autridge) & Jamie (Richards) have done a great job with him.

“His runs prior to the Avondale Guineas and Derby, he always looked like a horse that was above average but not necessarily the potential champion that he looks like he might be.

“At this stage, he's got to be (Champion) Three-Year-Old of the Year and could well be Horse of the Year, and it is a thrill to have been involved.

“I sent David (Ellis) a congratulatory text, saying that it's a thrill to be involved in a small way from the start, and it's always nice to have a horse like that on your CV.

“It's great, the fact, that you can buy a horse for that sort of price out of the Weanling Sale, and I'm sure NZB are pleased about it with the Weanling Sale only seven weeks away. It gives them something to hang their hat on, too.

“Obviously, we are a nursery here,” said Cataldo, referring to the New Zealand breeding industry and how many of our young and progressive horses are sold to Australia. “But, that's why it's so great when a horse like Gingernuts, that has been retained here, can still go over there and compete. And, the fact that New Zealand bred horses have won eight of the last ten Rosehill Guineas' is just such an achievement.

“I was thinking: if he did happen to win the Australian Derby, if there'd been a horse that had won the Avondale Guineas, our Derby, the Rosehill Guineas, and the Australian Derby? You'd have to go back a fair way, if ever.”

The next step in the life of Gingernuts took him to the beautiful pastures of Waverley, South Taranaki.

“He was a skinny little fella and we grew him out, on prime land,” said Bill Thurlow. “It's good country.

“We gelded and broke him in early and my daughters (Jamie & Emma) prepared him and another horse for the Ready to Runs. It was the first time they'd done it, so they've struck gold first time, and they put them through the sales.

“He had no issues. He was a good doer, nice quiet horse, and caused no problems. It's very hard to tell their ability at that age. He didn't show anything outstanding, was just like the rest of them, but with more time, maturity, and getting over a bit of ground, he's probably a superstar now, to be fair.

“He and his mate breezed up okay (in the public gallop before the RTR Sales). There was nothing wrong with their time (10.9) and he did it well enough.

“Jamie (Richards) looked at him a couple of times, and Bjorn Baker looked at him too, so they quite liked him, obviously, so the girls thought.

“The girls are following him closely and pretty rapt.

“We ended up with three from the (Weanling) sale that year. One hasn't raced yet, Gingernuts, and another that goes alright, Midnight Delight. So we had a pretty good run. Phill does a lot of the legwork and he's a very, very good judge. He'd be one of the best and he doesn't miss much and we're really lucky to have him on board.

“It's not easy to pick weanlings, either, very hard, but he seems to be pretty good at it.  Nothing worries him (Gingernuts), he's pretty laidback, well seasoned, and I'll be watching the (Australian) Derby with great interest,” he said.

“For what David (Ellis) paid and what he's done, it's bloody unbelievable,” Thurlow added.

The next step was for Te Akau Racing to purchase him at the sales.

“He was in the first row of Barn H,” said Jamie Richards, of the box Gingernuts occupied at the sales.

“We looked at him out the back. He was a very straightforward horse and had a little bit of quality about him. A nice head and a good-looking horse and although he probably didn't breeze up overly well, we spoke to Kelly (Myers), who rode him, and she was prepared to forgive him.

“We were looking for a horse that we didn't have to pay too much money for, that could be suitable for some first time owners, and Dave (Ellis) loved him when he saw him.”

“I didn't have any orders for the Ready to Run Sale, but Jamie was keen for me to buy a couple. We looked at about fifty horses that we liked and Jamie and I kept going back to Gingernuts, a number of times,” Ellis said.

“When he was parading, before he went in to the ring, I thought he really sold himself. He looked a readymade racehorse.

“A few hours later, Hall of Fame was passed in and I went and bought him. And you wouldn't believe it, but when Gingernuts had his first race he was beaten by Hall of Fame and now they're both Group One winners.

“He (Gingernuts) won his second start so convincingly and we thought he was a pretty good horse, and the reason why we bought his full-brother, Griffin. We're very happy with him. He's about ready to increase his workload and we'd like to think that similarly to Gingernuts he could trial in April and race in May.

Referring to the larger than usual syndicate of owners, Ellis said: “Normally we like to have syndicates of around ten people, which would be our average syndicate size, we don't have big syndicates, but on this occasion we made a concession because there was so many enthusiastic young people that we wanted to get them all in.”

Gingernuts had his first trial as an unnamed autumn two-year-old in April 2016 on dead ground over 800 metres at Avondale. Ridden by stable apprentice Hanafi Noorman, he began smartly, was caught three wide without cover in fifth, but stuck to his task with a solid gallop for fourth.

Later in the same month, still unnamed, he had his second trial over 1020 metres on dead ground at Te Teko. With Matt Cameron aboard, he began well from barrier one to lead a line of three on the inner, angled to centre track on straightening and found plenty to dead-heat for first.

Named Gingernuts in the interim, he was off to the races soon after to debut in the Maiden 2YO 1200 metres on Slow7 at Pukekohe. Previewed saying: ‘he had displayed professionalism, determination and galloping ability in his two trials'. He came home strongly under jockey Cameron Lammas for second to impressive winning stable-mate Hall of Fame (Savabeel).

A fortnight later, May 19, in the 2YO 1300 metres on Dead5 at Hastings, he was a bit green but pounced on the leaders at the 150m and won with his ears pricked for jockey Matt Cameron. The Castletown Stakes (Listed, 1200m) in early June became a possibility, a race in which Stella Di Paco (Paco Boy) provided Jamie Richards with his first winner, in partnership with Stephen Autridge, a year earlier, but winter was creeping in and Gingernuts was turned out for a break, having also sustained an injury.

Back at the trials in mid December, in an Open heat over 1000 metres on good ground at Te Aroha, he received a lovely trail behind the leader and worked through the line strongly for second under Matt Cameron, before resuming off 226 days in the Rating 65 1200 metres on 31 December at Stratford. With Cameron aboard, he chased a breakneck pace and finished fourth.

Blinkers and a tongue tie were added to his gear, next time out at Tauranga, but he got back off a wide gate and Cameron had a lot of traffic to contend with down the straight in the Rating 65 1400 metres - tenth, and a run best forgotten.

Ten days later, 30 January, he was back to winning form in the Rating 65 1600 metres at Te Teko. Cameron hunted him up after being tardily away from barrier one, albeit it distant third, and after pushing into contention at the 400m he strode away over the concluding stages to win handsomely.

Immediate thoughts turned to the Avondale Guineas (Gr. 2, 2100m) on 18 February at Ellerslie. Everything pointed to him appreciating a step up in distance, but what he did to win defied belief. Missing the start for jockey Jonathan Parkes, he was four lengths behind the second last horse after 100 metres and remained in last position, some ten lengths off the leader at the 600m. As the field coursed wide on the slow ground, Gingernuts tracked through nearer the rail and sprouted wings at the 200m to win easily by one and a quarter lengths. It was a monumental victory.

Drawn barrier thirteen in the $1m Vodafone NZ Derby (Gr. 1, 2400m) on 4 March at Ellerslie, he was reported to have grown in confidence and thrived in training. Right from the start, Te Akau stable jockey Bosson executed a perfect ride on the second favourite. Ducking and weaving from an awkward gate to settle one off the fence in seventh at the post with a lap to run, Gingernuts secured a lovely spot in a field of eighteen. He relaxed beautifully, stood the leader six lengths at the 600m, swept wide in to the home straight and once getting a sniff of victory a furlong out went in to overdrive, lengthening with powerful strides, to win easily by one-length on Good3 footing.

Flown on 13 March to Sydney, stabled at John Sargent's at Randwick, Jamie Richards reported everything was in order and that Gingernuts was straight into his feed.

He capped a meteoric rise when winning the NZ Derby, and having proved himself superior on slow going in the Avondale Guineas, the rain about and subsequent Heavy10 in the Rosehill Guineas (Gr. 1, 2000m) on 18 March was not problematic. Slowest from the gates, Gingernuts recovered to be tenth of the twelve runners at the 1400 metres. From amongst the rearguard, Bosson improved Gingernuts wide on the track from the 800m, stood the leader seven lengths at the 600m, before sweeping into contention on straightening at the 400m and after taking charge a furlong out he gapped his opposition to win easily.
Gingernuts scored by 2 ¼ lengths, running the 2000 metres in 2:11.4, last 600m in 39.4.

“He left a handful of feed after the race, which was a really good effort, and he licked the bowl clean last night, on a smaller Sunday feed,” said Jamie Richards. “We couldn't have been happier with the way he pulled up and he felt great having a little trot this morning. We just have to keep him sound and happy for the next couple of weeks and we're in with a big chance.”

Next step: the $2m Australian Derby (Gr. 1, 2400m) on 1 April at Royal Randwick, a race for which he is now a clear favourite, and so the traceable steps of Gingernuts continue.

Gingernuts aka "Jerry" with Jamie on Tuesday at Randwick