Yourdeel - You're a Grp 1 Beauty (again)

Not one, but two Group One wins for Yourdeel   (2 g Dundeel - Miss Zapper, by Red Ransom) after he stormed to victory in the $225,000 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires' Produce takes (Gr. 1, 1400m) on 30 March at Awapuni - providing Te Akau with their fifth win in the race.

After bagging the Sistema Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m) three weeks earlier at Ellerslie, Yourdeel made it a clean sweep of the Group One juvenile classics and now won four of his six starts and $380,000 in prize money. 

Having won the last two renditions with Champion Two-Year-Olds Avantage (Fastnet Rock) and Melody Belle (Commands), respectively, and beforehand with Kindacross (Cape Cross) andMaroofity (Maroof), Yourdeel was a hot commodity in betting ($1.70) to complete a hat-trick, but at no stage other than the line did it appear a formality.

The training camp had been less than impressed with an important track gallop by the horse last Tuesday, which improved Thursday, and quite distant in the run until arriving late his prospects were heart in the mouth stuff.

Steadied for cover in seventh by rider Opie Bosson on a genuine pace, well back (eight lengths) at the 600m and still standing them five lengths a furlong out, commentator Tony Lee said: “Yourdeel and Aretha (second) are flashing, look at Yourdeel, wow, what a win.”

And watching the replay: “Boy, you've got to be good to do this, at this grade, as well. Here he is, wide out, he's class Opie Bosson, Yourdeel really starting to lift, gee he only gave him a couple behind the saddle, would you believe, a great Sires'”, he said.

On Good3 footing, Yourdeel covered the 1400 metres in a very respectable time of 1:22.9.

Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards said: “He's really stood up and raised the bar this season. He's quite an incredible horse. After the way he worked on Tuesday, I didn't know if we were going to be here or not and a great effort by the team at home to get him here in such good order. 

“He's taken a fair bit of making. He was very colty in the spring and got laidback and started to overdo it, but he's done a fantastic job and full credit to the horse. And a big thanks to Chris Rutten and the owners (John Norwood and Rod Preston), they're getting such a big thrill out of it.

“That man on top (Opie Bosson), he's such an important part of our team.” 

On stable-mate Equinox (Exceed and Excel), ridden by Johnathan Parkes to finish seventh, Richards said: “I thought he was in it until halfway down (mid-straight). Maybe 1400m is too far at this stage, but we'll give him a break now and get him ready for next season. He's going to be a lovely sort of horse and hopefully with a bit more maturity he'll improve again”.

Richards said that both Equinox and Yourdeel would now be spelled, before preparing for spring assignments. 

For rider Opie Bosson, who advanced to 63 Group One wins (NZ record) when guiding Yourdeel and Melody Belle to back-to-back victories on 9 March at Ellerslie, his great season in the saddle continues. Bosson rode stable-mate Avantage to Group Three victory a week ago at Rosehill Gardens, Sydney, bagged a treble at the local meeting midweek at Matamata, and is right in the zone both physically and mentally. 

“He (Yourdeel) wobbled around the last corner, a bit,” Bosson said. “Even across the top I was thinking ‘Jamie is going to kill me', but I'm lucky he's a champion trainer and he's got this horse back on track after an ordinary gallop on Tuesday. All credit goes to him and the horse. 

“Once he balanced up, he changed leg and really charged the line. I actually dropped my inside rein, so couldn't really get at him with the stick. He did it all on his own. He's a top quality horse and he's going to be exciting at three, too.”

Purchased by Chris Rutten at Karaka, from Sam Williams' Little Avondale draft, and shared with him in ownership by John Norwood and Rod Preston, the trio chose Richards to train the horse and certainly reaping the benefits.

“That was Jamie's 20^thGroup One win and our 18^thblack type winner this season,” said Te Akau principal David Ellis. “It's an unbelievable achievement by a very smart young man who is disciplined, very committed and determined - and with the help of a terrific team that was his third Sires' Produce in a row.

“Our first Sires' Produce winner (Maroofity, in 2003) was ridden by the great Lance O'Sullivan, in his last Group One win and it took Opie (Bosson) to beat his total (62) earlier this month. 

“Yourdeel winning the race is a classic example of the team all working together and Opie identified this horse in the Spring as a really smart horse, which shows the importance of having him riding track work.

“It's such and honour to have this horse in work for Chris Rutten, John Norwoo and Rod Preston, and we're so thrilled that they chose us to train him.”

Ellis also noted the gap closing between stable-mates Yourdeel and Probabeel (Savabeel) with regards the Champion Two-Year-Old title. At present, Yourdeel has won two Group One races and a Group Three, plus finished third to Probabeel in the Karaka Million (Restricted Listed, 1200m).

“And now the Two-Year-Old of the Year is becoming very, very interesting,” he said. “It will probably depend how Probabeel goes in the Sire's Produce Stakes next Saturday (6 April) at Randwick.

“Paul Richards is looking after our horses in Sydney, and I was really pleased with the way In A Twinkling raced today in the Tulloch Stakes on a heavy track at Rosehill. He never gave it away and had a good puff after the race, as you'd expect with a month off after our Derby.

“And Libby (Richards) was with our two horses at Ellerslie, where we got a win with Kingsguard and Griffin ran a very good second. So, it's been a great day and Karyn and I have hired out Workman's (Matamata) to take the staff out for dinner on Monday. Everyone is working very hard and it's resulted in a fantastic season.”

In summary of the race, Ellis said: “I didn't think Yourdeel could win at the 300m. He seemed to be going nowhere, but it was quite incredible that he got up. I was watching Equinox and thought he was going to win at the 300m. He went a super race, he's just not a natural two-year-old but he'll keep.”

Yourdeel was strapped by Kate Belsham.

“She loves him and looks after him every day,” Richards said. “Kate moved up from Wanganui to work for us 12 months ago and it's really good to have these young people coming through the stable. Hopefully, we can keep them interested and keep them in the industry because it's so important to have people like her coming through.”

Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz

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