Two Smart Te Akau 2YOs Battle-Ready

Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards lines up two horses, Folk Dress (2 f Pierro - Gypsy Chimes, by Snow Ridge) and Louis Luck (2 g Dissident - My Option, by Belong to Me), in the $50,000 Waikato Equine Vet Centre 2YO Stakes (Listed, 1100m) on Saturday at Te Rapa.

Richards had earmarked the race
for both horses after Folk Dress recorded her second win from four starts with
an emphatic performance on 17 April at Matamata, and Louis Luck finished
strongly for fifth in the same race.

In training for Coolmore Stud and Cambridge Stud respectively, Folk Dress won her first trial well enough for Richards to pursue the Woburn Farm 2YO Classic (Gr. 3, 1200m) on debut, where she fought hard for fourth after contesting a torrid pace, while Louis Luck won the $30,000 2YO 1200 metres when debuting in January at Trentham, gaining sufficient stake money to contest the $1m Karaka Million (Restricted Listed, 1200m), won by stable-mate Probabeel (Savabeel) to give Richards and Te Akau a hat-trick in the race.

“Louis Luck has drawn well in barrier three and shapes to get a good trip,” Richards said. “His work has been good and without a trial he was always going to improve off his first-up run. He made good steady ground fresh-up at Matamata, and he's a fair horse. He's got a tendency to do a few things wrong, but he could improve quickly.

“Folk Dress has drawn a bit
awkwardly, but we have been riding her for cover so we won't rush too much
early and the likelihood of a competitive pace should suit her finishing off.

“Whiskey Neat obviously looks
hard to beat. He's got very good form from earlier in the season, but only had
one quiet trial and it's going to be an interesting race.

“I quite like our two. They're both nice horses, ran well at Matamata, have been set for this race and have worked well leading into it. They've each had an ideal prep.”

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