Yourdeel - Group 3 Real Deal

In a one act affair, Yourdeel(2 g Dundeel - Miss Zapper, by Red Ransom) was a massive winner in the $70,000 Waikato Stud Slipper (Gr. 3, 1200m) on Saturday at Matamata.

Having won the race last year with Sword of Osman (Savabeel), Yourdeel provided Te Akau with their seventh win in the race, and a quinella on this occasion with stable-mate Aotea Lad (Savabeel) finishing second.

A horse going places in a hurry, Yourdeel won his debut by over five lengths in December at Te Rapa, followed with a second to stable-mate Probabeel (Savabeel) in the 2YO 1200 metres on 13 January, and finished third, again to Probabeel, providing a Te Akau trifecta - Aotea Lad finished second - in the $1m Karaka Million (Restricted Listed, 1200m), both at Ellerslie. 

Able to secure a lovely trip in the trail from barrier one, Yourdeel was clear on straightening before the afterburners kicked in at the 200m and he raced clear to record an outstanding six length victory. 

“He was going even faster after the post, appreciated the give in the track and should love getting over more ground,” said jockey Matt Cameron. “He's run into a smart one the last couple of starts and only been a couple of lengths off them. 

“Once I got halfway up the straight he really attacked the line and I'm rapt with him. He's a horse going forward, looking for further, so a good sign.”

On footing downgraded to Slow7 after race one, Yourdeel ran the 1200 metres in 1:12.0 and vying for favouritism with Aotea Lad he paid $2.30 & $1.60 on the NZ TAB tote.

“His work had been really strong and I was a little bit worried about the track, but a pretty exciting horse I think,” Richards said. 

“He'd always shown us ability, but was pretty colty in the spring and as soon as we got that out of the road he's really turned the corner and turned into a racehorse. The team has done a great job and he's enjoyed a bit of a freshen-up and hopefully it's onwards and upwards into the Sistema, from here.

“A big thank you to Chris Rutten for buying the horse and sending him to us and it's great to get that outside support.”

The $200,000 Sistema Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m) is raced on Auckland Cup Day, 9 March at Ellerslie. Te Akau won the race last year with Sword of Osman, having previously won it with Heroic Valour (Fastnet Rock) in 2016, Warhorse (General Nediym) in 2012, and Maroofity (Maroof) in 2003.

“Jamie (Richards) and Te Akau have been really good to deal with and I'd like to thank David (Ellis) and Jamie for their professionalism. The information feedback and communications is great and Jamie is doing a really good job training the horses,” said Rutten, who owns Yourdeel with John Norwood and Rod Preston.

“I liked the look of this horse. He looked like he could go early and I follow early types, but I think he'll train on. He was from Sam Williams' draft (Little Avondale). I've bought three from there and we're one-hundred percent now, all winners and all good horses. 

“Being by Dundeel, I was a bit reserved about him going early. But looking at the type of horse he is, I know the sort that might and I thought he'd be a very good chance. I'm rapt about that, but he should be a better three-year-old.

“He goes well on good tracks, so we really didn't know if he'd handle the slow footing. But Dundeel could have played a part because he went alright in the wet, and a son of High Chaparral, but basically he's just progressively getting better.”

By the Champion Three-Year-Old and Horse of the Year in New Zealand, Dundeel (High Chaparral), who was also Champion Middle Distance Male in Australia, Yourdeel is from the Red Ransom mare Miss Zapper, a winner of three races from 1200m to 1900m in Australia.

“It's enormously satisfying to train a winner for Chris and Donna Rutten at Cavallo Farm and it's great to get their support at Te Akau,” Ellis said. “They're wonderful supporters of racing, an all round thrill, and his team with John and Rod are fantastic to train for. 

“Chris is such a wonderful horseman and would only give horses to people that he has a lot of confidence in. So, it's a great accolade for Te Akau. And it looks like they've got a really top horse.”

Race sponsor Mark Chittick (Waikato Stud) said: “It's great to have the involvement with the Matamata Club. It's important to us, where racing is our lives, and important to the community.

“It's always a good horse that wins this race and as we saw today it was a very impressive horse. 

“The involvement of the owners, Jamie and Te Akau, Waikato Stud, Matthew (Cameron), brings together a whole lot of horsemanship, history, and years in the racing industry. The Preston family has been involved for as long as I can remember. The Norwood's have always been involved and John (Norwood) has had a lot of success off the back of Chris (Rutten), who has been going a hell of a long time. You'd come across no better horseman than Chris Rutten in the way he's handled horses over the years. He deserves a lot of credit and it's great to be giving back to these people that put so much into the industry.”

Ellis also said that results speak for themselves and having won the Karaka Million and three stakes races in the past fortnight helps selling the recently purchased yearlings.

“In racing, there's a winning post every Saturday that determines how well you're going,” he said. “How well the horses we buy are going, how well staff are looking after them, how well they're being trained, and the winning post is the deciding factor. 

“It's quite incredible the strike rate (4.6) that Jamie has and when you think that in some races we're starting three horses, to have a strike rate around four is amazing in anyone's language. To have that success, everything has to be working well and it shows that Jamie and our team are doing that.

“It all helps us to sell the yearlings. There's not a day goes by that we don't sell more shares and we've already started breaking the yearlings in.

“We've got shares available in some very nice horses and when I look around the horses at the farm, this is the year that we've really cracked it. This is the best lot of yearlings I've ever seen at the farm and we invite people to come out and see them themselves.”

Yourdeel was strapped by Kate Belsham. 

Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz

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