Winning Ruakaka Double

Te Akau New Zealand trainer Jamie Richards and our team sent three to race on Tuesday at Ruakaka - with two returning home as winners!  The first victor 'foiled' his opposition - Savabeel gelding Prise De Fer ...

Justifying his favouritism in no uncertain terms, Prise De Fer (3 g Savabeel - Foiled, by Snippets) was a given a copybook Opie Bosson ride to win the $10,000 Interislander Summer Festival Jan 5 Maiden 1400 metres on 18 December at Ruakaka.

On the TAB, $1.85 was the best money available at race close for Prise De Fer, on the strength of his debut second in the Maiden 1200 metres on 29 November at Avondale, with Bosson aboard, where he clocked the best last 600m on the day (34.2).

Away well to position third on this occasion, he ranged ominously rounding the home turn, galloped on to lead under his own steam at the 300m and required only gentle reminding by Bosson for a commanding two length win.

On Good3 footing, Pris De Fer ran the 1400 metres in 1.24.7.

“It was a lovely ride by Opie (Bosson),” said Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards. “He used his gate (4), had obviously raced well at Avondale, and his work at home had been good. He'd gone the right way following his debut and he's by a good stallion.

“We wanted to give him a trip north and teach him what the racing caper is all about. He had a night away up there last night and I thought he handled it all and ran very well.

“He's still a little bit immature, but a progressive horse that we think can take the next step and we'll give him a chance to contest the better three-year-old staying races and see how we get on.

“The team at home has done a really good job in getting him to the races in the right order, and we've kept him fresh and played around with him and he enjoys the routine.”

Owned by the Te Akau En Garde Syndicate (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM), he was purchased by David Ellis for $100,000, from the draft of Trelawney Stud, at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling Sale.

“Punters are putting a lot of money on our horses because they know that when they go to the races they're ready, they're fit, and happy,” Ellis said.

“It's incredible the strike rate that Jamie (Richards) has built up with every second horse he's started this season paying a dividend. It's very hard to do.

“I'm thrilled because many of his owners are new owners and I never stop getting a great kick out of winning races for our owners. It's a feeling that's hard to beat.

“It's lovely buying horses bred by Raffles Farm and they also have a lot of horses in work with us in Singapore. Dato Yap is a fantastic guy and their business is very well run by Bruce Sherwin in New Zealand, and it's great to have another good horse that we've bought from them.

“It was a lovely ride and it's just incredible the job the team is doing, and this horse is going to develop into a really nice four and five-year-old stayer. He's still got plenty of strengthening to come and given another six to twelve months he could be a really nice staying horse.”

A very good example of a horse by Champion sire Savabeel (Zabeel), with a Northern Dancer cross in his sire lines, Pris De Fer is from a Snippets mare that has already left a stakes winner of eight races, Belong to Many (Belong to Me). Snippets, the sire of outstanding Waikato Stud stallion Pins, has left plenty of stakes winners and regarded as a very promising broodmare sire.

Pris De Fer was strapped by Meg Lambert.

Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz