Xtra Good Xtravagant

2000 Guineas winner Xtravagant (3 c Pentire – Axiom, by Zabeel) was simply brilliant in beating the older horses by eight lengths in the weight-for-age $200,000 NRM Sprint (Gr. 1, 1400m) on Saturday at Te Rapa.

Recording his fifth win from eight starts, and taking his earnings to $425,000, Xtravagant scored by seven lengths on debut as a two-year-old over 1400 metres at Hastings, won the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) by eight and a half lengths at Riccarton, and stayed in same ballpark with his demolition of the best sprinters in the land.

The colt purchased by David Ellis as a yearling for $375,000 at the 2014 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale, from the draft of Rich Hill Stud, will now head abroad to contest the $750,000 Australian Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) on March 5 at Flemington.

On a day when the rail appeared to be off, after the track was downgraded from Good3 to Dead4, a plan was hatched to combat the theory by riding the rail and Matt Cameron pulled it off to a nicety.

“It was unbelievable, actually,” said co-trainer Stephen Autridge, who prepares the horse with Jamie Richards for the Te Akau 2014 Te Akau Breeding Syndicate.

“We made a plan half an hour before the race. Most people thought we were idiots, but we were of the belief that being in front on the fence that the others (jockeys) would think we were idiots as well.

“But we saved a lot of ground; he was in front turning for home without asking and he let down greatly.  We walked the track twice and the wet patches were right across the track, but the strip on the fence was perfect.

“It was a very good field and the track was against us, but he showed a lot of class today.  We made a fearless plan, got a fearless ride, and got a great win,” said Autridge.

While some pundits were willing to risk Xtravagant after his last start performance for fourth in the Levin Classic (Gr. 1, 1600m) at Trentham, Autridge had considered the footing worse than the Dead6 rating.

“I was of the belief that it wasn’t a genuine dead track down there (Trentham). He doesn’t mind a dead track and we decided today to save ground, stay to the rail, and you saw what happened.

The win provided Te Akau with their second win in the race, after five-time group one winner and leading sire Darci Brahma (Danehill) scored in 2007.

Prior to giving a sterling speech as syndicate manager for the winning owners, David Ellis said: “He’s really exciting, isn’t he?

“I wasn’t too sure about the track, but I went out about two hours beforehand and thought, gee, the fence doesn’t look too bad. Hard up against the fence, it’s not too bad.  And I thought it’s a big risk and we’ll look pretty stupid if this doesn’t come off.

“So we got Colin Jillings, the greatest trainer I’ve seen in New Zealand, to walk the track with us and showed him where we wanted the horse to be. And it paid off.

“I’m just so grateful that Colin and Steve (Autridge) came down, and Matt (Cameron) put our instructions into place and rode him beautifully.

“So, it’s really exciting for the whole of the New Zealand industry."

For Ellis, who has recently invested $6.5 million on the next crop of budding stars, a colt like Xtravagant is the ultimate.

“You can’t describe going to a sale, putting a lot of money at stake and for this to work. It’s hard to describe what a great thrill it is. And I’m so thrilled for Steve and Jamie and the job they’ve done with him.

For those unable to be on course to witness not only a sensational win by Xtravagant, but a great day of racing, below the speech by David Ellis summed things up very well:

“Ladies and gentlemen, the committee of the Waikato Racing Club, I would firstly like to thank NRM for sponsoring this really great race. It is one of the great races on the New Zealand calendar and it’s such a thrill to win it for the second time with another very good colt.

“I’d like to thank the board and the staff of the Waikato Racing Club for putting on such a fantastic day’s racing. The racing has been of the highest level and I’d like to thank them for all their hard work.

“I’d like to thank Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards for a truly wonderful training performance. To bring this colt back from Trentham, and have him run like he did today, only people that really know what they’re doing can do that.

“Also, I’d like to thank all the staff at Te Akau Racing. Daniel Miller, who lives with this colt, is an absolute champion, and all the team from Te Akau Stud and Te Akau Racing all work their butts off and are all very important members of the team and I hope they get a great thrill out of today’s win.

“I would also like to thank our Hall of Fame trainer Colin Jillings, who helped give Steve and myself the confidence to ride Xtravagant on the fence.

“I walked the track first and thought ‘hard up against the fence isn’t too bad’, but if I tell Matt (Cameron) to ride him like that and get beat we’d look the biggest idiots of all time, so I asked Colin to come down and walk the track with me and at least I’d be able to blame him if we get beat.

“So, he came down and he said ‘Davey boy, you’re right, it’s not too bad. Steve had a look and was part of the decision making and Matt just rode him beautifully.

“He’s a champion bloke, a champion rider and we’ve got a champion horse, so thank you.

Ellis added:

“I know you’ll expect me to say this: but I’m just back from the Karaka sales and I’ve got the next Xtravagant here. So, if you’d like to join the team you’d better give me a ring tomorrow because I’ve got the best horse I’ve seen for many years in my front paddock."

Xtravagant ran the 1400 metres in 1:21.9, last 600m in 34.4, and as favourite returned $3.10 & $1.50.

Matt Cameron said: “The owners of Xtravagant, thank you so much for letting me be the little pilot to hoon around with this horse on the fence and make me look special.

“He’s a pretty good horse, we know that, he’s outstanding and thank you to the whole Te Akau team for the privilege of wearing these colours and riding these expensive and beautiful colts.

“Dan Miller (track work rider) has the horse going very well and thanks to Kerry Jones for her efforts and also the staff at the stud who prepare these horses beautifully and make our job so much easier when they come into the stables.

“It’s a whole team effort and it’s good to be a part of it,” said Cameron.

Xtravagant was strapped by Daniel Miller.

Picture credit - www.raceimages.co.nz

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