Finalists announced for New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse Of The Year Awards
The high quality of New Zealand’s three-year-old crop last season is illustrated by the finalists for the Champion Three-Year-Old category at the NZ Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards.
Eight horses, including five fillies, are finalists in the three-year-old division, which will provide the voting panel with plenty to mull over.
Seven of the eight contenders won a Group 1 race in the 2019-20 season and between them the finalists recorded 29 wins and 29 placings from 67 starts.
The Kiwi three-year-olds made a mark on both sides of the Tasman, with Probabeel (Savabeel) and Quick Thinker (So You Think) winning Group 1 races at the Sydney autumn carnival. Quick Thinker became the fifth New Zealand-trained winner of the Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) in the past eight years.
Two Illicit (Jimmy Choux), who never finished further back than third, did not win a Group 1 race but still presented a compelling case to be a finalist. The filly won two Group 2 races, including a runaway victory in the Waikato Guineas (Gr 2, 2000m), and finished a brave second in the New Zealand Derby (Gr 1, 2400m).
In a rare situation, Te Akau’s Jamie Richards is the sole nomination for Trainer of the Year, after experiencing an extraordinary season that included 11 Group 1 wins and more than NZ$7 million in stakes.
The Te Akau stable will be represented by five of the 20 individual horses who will be finalists in the flat racing categories. Cool Aza Beel (Savabeel), Probabeel, Avantage (Fastnet Rock), Melody Belle (Commands) and Te Akau Shark (Rip Van Winkle) will fly the flag for Te Akau, with Melody Belle and Avantage nominated in two categories.
Two Cambridge stables will each provide three finalists. Tony Pike will be represented by (The) Bostonian (Jimmy Choux), Loire (Redoute’s Choice) and New Zealand Derby winner Sherwood Forest (Fastnet Rock) and the Baker-Forsman partnership by Quick Thinker, True Enough (Nom Du Jeu) and The Chosen One (Savabeel).
The Horse of the Year Awards dinner will be staged at Claudelands, in Hamilton, on Sunday, October 11.
The finalists for the categories that will be decided by the voting panel are:
Champion Two-Year-Old: Cool Aza Beel, Play That Song, Vernazza
Champion Three-Year-Old: Catalyst, Jennifer Eccles, Loire, Probabeel, Quick Thinker, Sherwood Forest, Two Illicit, Travelling Light
Champion Sprinter-Miler (up to 1600 metres): Avantage, Bostonian, Julius, Melody Belle, Te Akau Shark
Champion Middle Distance (1601 metres to 2200 metres): Avantage, Melody Belle, True Enough
Champion Stayer (2201 metres and further): Platinum Invador, Roger That, The Chosen One
Champion Jumper: Bad Boy Brown, It’s A Wonder, Wise Men Say
Trainer of the Year: Jamie Richards
Jockey of the Year: Opie Bosson, Lisa Allpress
Jumps Jockey of the Year: Shaun Fannin, Aaron Kuru, Shaun Phelan
Owner of the Year: Joan Egan, Hermitage Thoroughbreds, Kevin Hickman, JML Bloodstock, Dick Karreman, B J & J E Lindsay Partnership, NZ Thoroughbred Holdings, OTI Management Ltd, Trelawney Thoroughbred Ltd, Sir Peter Vela