La Dorada eyes dream start to a big spring for team Te Akau
An emphatic maiden win by Street Artist (Super Seth) at Mornington on Friday kicked off what could be a big weekend for his sire, with La Dorada and Linebacker both vying to add to their black type tally when they commence their respective spring campaigns in the Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) and the Tramway Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m).
The precocious pair capped a magical month for New Zealand’s most exciting young stallion after joining Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) hero Feroce in the Group 1 winners’ club in March this year, with their combined achievements putting Super Seth (Dundeel) firmly on the map on both sides of the Tasman.
A significant service fee hike to NZ$75,000 (inc GST) would be partially justified should either La Dorada or Randwick Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) victor Linebacker – who harbours Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) aspirations – land a first-up blow for the Waikato Stud resident on Saturday afternoon.
Of the two, it is undoubtedly the Australian debut of Te Akau Racing’s La Dorada that provides the more intrigue, with the beautifully-bred filly – a $190,000 purchase from the NZB Karaka Book 1 last year – attracting some early market support in what would appear a wide-open renewal of the first top-tier sprint contest held in Victoria this season.
Having raced exclusively as a juvenile in her native New Zealand, where she won three of four starts, La Dorada is something of an unknown quantity to Australian audiences but according to Te Akau’s assistant trainer Ben Gleeson, the three-year-old has shown more than enough in her work to suggest that she can comfortably outrun her $21 quote.
The second foal to race out of stakes-winning mare Gold Fever (Savabeel), La Dorada made her black-type breakthrough under Craig Williams in the Karaka Millions 2YO (RL, 1200m) at the start of the year and promptly followed her dam onto the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) honour roll at her next start.
Having made a mess of her rivals in the Manawatu Sires’ Produce (Gr 1, 1400m), she enjoyed a brief winter spell before boarding a plane to Melbourne, where she has spent the past few months acclimatising to her new surroundings under Gleeson’s watchful eye.
An impressive recent jump-out convinced team Te Akau, led by head trainer Mark Walker, to throw La Dorada in at the deep end at Moonee Valley, where she will bid to become the first New Zealand-bred sprinter since Our Egyptian Raine (Desert Sun) in 2003 to claim the Moir Stakes.
La Dorada will be ridden in the 1000-metre scamper by apprentice jockey Luke Cartwright, who is rated by Gleeson as “probably the most promising young rider in the country,” and has been rewarded for his work for the stable with his first taste of action in the Group 1 arena.
Cartwright’s task was made a touch more daunting when the pair were assigned barrier 11, although they will now move in two gates following the scratchings of both Jedibeel (Savabeel) and Tiger Shark (Rich Enuff).
Gleeson concedes the stable would be content with a top four finish to springboard La Dorada’s maiden Australian campaign, but given the success they enjoyed in Melbourne with her stable companion Bellatrix Star (Star Witness) last year, it would not be a huge surprise if she were to exceed those expectations.
“She’s impressed us in all her gallops so far and we’re really excited to see what she can do over here,” Gleeson told ANZ News.
“She came across as arguably New Zealand’s best two-year-old, so she brings some very good form lines and she’s shown she’s a very fast filly. She’s small in stature but she really packs a punch and she’s got a great professional attitude, so she’s a real competitor and those traits will carry her a long way in the game.
“It will be interesting to see how she measures up against the locals, but she probably brings a better profile than Bellatrix Star. She won three stakes races in a row last spring before finishing second in the Coolmore [Stud Stakes], so that gives us plenty of confidence with this filly.
“There’s no doubt she’s up against it on Saturday, we had considered running her in the Atlantic Jewel Stakes on Saturday but she would’ve had to carry 59.5 kilos. Being a small filly coming off a short break, we just thought that might’ve been a bit too taxing for her, especially over 1200 metres. So even though it’s obviously a big test for her first-up in Australia, we just thought the Moir would be a more appealing option for her and if she can run in the top four, we think she’s in for a big spring.”
La Dorada is one of two fillies in the $750,000 contest alongside Esha (Extreme Choice), a dominant last-start city winner for her trainer Shane Nichols and owners Kia Ora Stud. Encouragingly, the fairer sex boasts an impressive recent record in the Moir Stakes, with fillies and mares claiming five of the last eight editions of the race.
That roll call of champions includes Te Akau’s former pin-up girl Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), whose dazzling list of achievements persuaded Yulong to purchase the mare for $6.6 million at the 2024 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
While La Dorada clearly has a mountain to climb to emulate the phenomenal feats of her former Te Akau companion, Gleeson explains it is possible to draw some comparison between the two speedsters.
“Laura Winks rode Imperatriz in all her work and she’s also been riding La Dorada since she arrived, so she knows them both really well and she rates this filly very highly,” he said.
“Laura’s an amazing track rider and an incredible judge, she has a wonderful feel of any horse so when she speaks it’s worth listening and hopefully her opinion of the filly will be justified come Saturday.”
The filly’s spring path after Saturday’s pipe-opener is yet to be set in stone, but Gleeson is confident that her breeding and temperament should both enable La Dorada to stretch out in distance as the preparation progresses.
With the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) having been switched to its traditional slot on the calendar in mid-October, the Caulfield Classic shapes as a logical option as Te Akau supremo David Ellis looks to produce yet another highly valuable broodmare prospect.
“We’ll probably look to run her in the Scarborough Stakes [Gr 3, 1200m] second-up, although if she were to win the Moir then obviously the Manikato Stakes [Gr 1, 1200m] would then come onto the radar,” said Gleeson.
“She’s by Super Seth who won the Caulfield Guineas, so she’s bred to get a mile and she won her Group 1 over 1400 metres with ease. So based on that, we’d have to be pretty confident that she’d eat up the mile. The program leading up to the Thousand Guineas probably isn’t ideal for her, but she’s already built a good fitness foundation so by the time she got there, I’m sure she’d be ready to go.”
La Dorada’s NZB Kiwi (Listed, 1500m)-winning stablemate Damask Rose (Savabeel) was certainly ready to roll on her Australian debut at Caulfield last Saturday, producing the quickest last 400-metre splits of the meeting to finish 1.5 lengths behind Magic Time (Hellbent) in the Cockram Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m).
Shortly after dismounting, her rider Blake Shinn suggested to connections that she gave him the feel of a legitimate Cox Plate horse, but the lure of the $10 million bounty in the Golden Eagle (1500m) might prove irresistible.
“We were absolutely thrilled with her run in the Cockram, it was the perfect opening run for her campaign,” said Gleeson.
“It was an enormous effort and she’ll take great benefit from the whole experience. She pulled up fantastically well this past week under saddle, so all roads now lead to the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes [Gr 1, 1400m]. She’ll get in on the bottom weight and we’ve already got Craig Williams booked for the ride, which is a good sign that he has great faith in the mare.
“After that she’s qualified for the Golden Eagle, so although we’d really love to run her in a Cox Plate, she’s only four once and the prize-money is huge, so it’s very hard for the owners to turn down the chance. That said, a lot would probably depend on the barrier draw, because it’s such a big field for the Golden Eagle.
“So if she were to draw out wide, then we’d consider running her in the Empire Rose Stakes [Gr 1, 1600m] at Flemington on the same day instead. They are both pretty nice options to have, but we’ll see how she runs in the Rupert Clarke before making any definite plans with her.”