Purple patch
Westbury Stud’s Tarzino (Tavistock) is enjoying a purple patch with four stakes winners this season, two in New Zealand and two in Australia.
This past March his Willydoit outstayed his opponents when taking out the New Zealand Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) rather convincingly by two and a quarter lengths and was not far away when a solid fourth in the Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m), his only start in Australia. Willydoit has raced just seven times for four wins.
Also assembling a high strike rate is Tarzino’s Tomodachi, winner of Saturday’s Rotorua Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m), the four-year-old mare’s sixth win in only nine starts to register Tarzino’s seventh individual stakes winner.
In little more than a year Tomodachi has worked her way through the ranks after breaking her maiden at her second start. That was in March 2024, to which she added two more wins at Matamata and Te Rapa, her then record standing at three wins from four starts. A Queensland campaign was restricted to one start, at Ipswich, where she challenged for the lead soon after straightening but faded late to finish a fair seventh to wrap up her three-year-old career.
A lengthy eight-month spell saw her back in January of this year, when she continued her winning ways with a strong finish at Tauranga to land a Benchmark 75 (1200m) race, running the final 600 metres in a slick 33.18 seconds.
Graduating to open class at Ellerslie the following month she recorded similar figures, 33.66s for the last 600 metres when scoring the Horizon By Skycity 1200 Handicap (1200m).
Yet another sharp finish was her third in the Napier City Sprint (Listed, 1200m) run at Trentham a month back, her first attempt at black-type. She was beaten a half-head and a half-head after receiving a chequered run. Once clear from the 150 metres she rattled home faster than anything in the race.
Ridden for the first time by Joe Doyle last Saturday, Tomodachi was among the back runners before they straightened but rather than go wide, Doyle realised that the heavy Arawa Park track was not much different closer to the inside and elected to cut the corner into the straight, saving valuable ground to the degree that they had the lead at the 250-metre mark.
Doyle confirmed as much: “The track is in bits now and it’s tough wherever you go, so I didn’t see much point in going wide and spending more petrol than I needed to.” To the line Tomodachi was in control and had a length and three-quarters to spare when it mattered.
Don’t let the heavy track indicate that she is a mudder. “It doesn’t matter if it’s quick ground or wet ground – she’s just a really good racehorse, and she can only get better from here,” said her co-trainer Andrew Scott.
Tomodachi represents a lovely family that was established and maintained by Pencarrow Stud and the Velas, in whose blue and white hooped colours the mare races. Her dam Quintessentially (High Chaparral) is a three-time winning daughter of Uberalles (Giant’s Causeway). The latter was a maiden winner who ran thirds in the New Zealand Derby and the Great Northern Guineas (Gr 2, 1600m), and ranks as half-sister to Marton Cup (Listed, 2100m) winner Seraphim (Rip Van Winkle) and two Group-placed winners.
Another half-sister is Sopra Tutto (Van Nistelrooy), dam of Supera (Savabeel), a dual Group 2 winner as well as three times Group 1 placed. Supra Tutto also produced dual Group 3 winner and VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) third Eleonora (Makfi), herself a stakes producer. Although Uberalles did not produce a black-type performer among her six foals, she has as her dam the outstanding stayer Ethereal (Rhythm).
A four-time Group 1 winner, Ethereal earned more than $4.75 million from eight career wins but her legacy is her Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m)-Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) double, achieved in 2001.
The Velas raced Ethereal and her dam, Romanee Conti (Sir Tristram), herself a multiple Group 3 winner. Romanee Conti’s three-quarter sister, Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) winner Grand Echezeaux (Zabeel), produced champion sprinter and successful sire Darci Brahma (Danehill).
Way overdue
Put Nigella Lane (Niagara) in the category of well deserved and overdue, regarding her breakthrough success in Saturday’s Rotorua Cup (Listed, 2200m). Her wins to starts ratio is pretty good, now six from 26, but it’s her run of recent stakes placings which had one wondering if she would ever get her nose over the line first for a bold caps win.
Since her fifth win, in the Thames Cup (1600m) back in January, Nigella Lane raced five times and three of those resulted in stakes placings, including a close-up and desperately unlucky second, beaten a neck, in the Manawatu Breeders Stakes (Gr 3, 2050m), two starts back.
The winning margin on Saturday was only a long head but she appeared to have control over the final 100 metres or so. Kelly Myers sent the mare forward from the 800-metre mark and at the top of the straight she was widest and had only the leader Dark Destroyer (Proisir) to catch but he was a good three lengths in front. Gradually, she levelled up and from the 100 metres held out any possible fight back from a game Dark Destroyer.
She becomes the seventh individual stakes winner for Niagara (Encosta De Lago), who keeps pumping out winners to the tune of 62 per cent winners to runners, or 130 of the 208 that have raced. The stallion’s commercial value ceased after his first four crops which yielded 239 foals. In the intervening seven crops he has just 82 foals, so his winners will be far fewer. Niagara is only rising 17 so there should be plenty of opportunities for hobby breeders whose intentions are to race rather than sell. At $2,500, he represents excellent value.
Nigella Lane’s dam Casabella Lane (Volksraad) was a talented mare, good enough to score at Group 2 level in the Japan-New Zealand International Trophy (Gr 2, 1600m), one her six wins. She also recorded three stakes placings including second in the Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m).
Nigella Lane is one of four winners from Casabella Lane, who has Windsor Park Stud written all over her as she is by Volksraad (Green Desert) from a Kaapstad (Sir Tristram) mare from a Star Way (Star Appeal) mare. All three stood at Windsor Park Stud and all were highly successful, especially eight-time Champion New Zealand Sire Volksraad.
Casabella Lane’s sister Pams Pompallier was a Listed winner in New Zealand and is now at stud in the USA, where she has produced five winners. Their dam, Kaapentyne (Kaapstad), is a sister to Kaapeon, whose 11 wins included the Counties Cup (Gr 2, 2100m).
Australian interest
Westbury Stud’s good Saturday extended to Queensland when their stallion Redwood (High Chaparral) kept his name to the fore via Antino, the sole New Zealand-bred to land a stakes race there this past weekend.
Antino didn’t just win the AD Hollindale Stakes (Gr 2, 1800m), he destroyed a really good field. Last at one point, he passed every runner before they straightened and led them in. Once clear he raced away and gave nothing else a chance for his 12th career win, taking his earnings beyond $2.5 million, a fabulous return on the $27,000 outlayed for him at the 2020 NZB Ready To Run Sale.
This was his second Group 2 success. Previously, he scored the Toorak Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) and has placed at Group 1 level on three occasions. His dam, Mahamaya (Bahhare) is a sister to Trentham Captain Cook Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Hurrah and Group 1 performer best Gift.
Coincidental to today’s lead subject Tomodachi, Antino links to the same family but it is quite distant as Antino’s fourth dam and Tomodachi’s seventh dam are half-sisters, tracing to King’s Stand Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) winner, Easter Bride (Emir D’Iran), herself a half-sister to twice NZ Broodmare of the Year, Sunbride (Tai-Yang).
Proof
Waikato Stud’s Super Seth (Dundeel) has been given plenty of opportunity to succeed at stud and no better proof of the quality of mares he served in his first season took place on Saturday at Caulfield when he sired a notable double.
Race 4 went to his daughter Madiyya, a half-sister to Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Grunt (O’Reilly), now a Yulong Stud stallion who has made a very promising start to his stud career. Madiyya was bred by Trelawney Stud and was quite impressive, racing clear late to take her record to two wins and a second from three starts.
Race 6 went to Eliza Mary, bred by Waikato Stud from the outstanding mare, four-times Group 1 winner Bonneval (Makfi). Mary Eliza was having her fifth start and broke her maiden at Mornington back in January.
With six stakes winners including three Group 1 winners from just two crops, it was likely no surprise that Super Seth’s fee would increase this year and judging from the quality of, especially Madiyya’s win, that number will certainly grow.
Tough call
New Zealand Bloodstock had a difficult decision to make last week. In 2018 the company was keen to keep international buyers on the Karaka site for longer than the old Premier Sale which was held over two days.
The first year of the Book Series, 2018, Book 1 began as a four-day sale, beginning with 100 lots on Day One. That idea held for two years then Book 1 was made a three-day sale and remained three days until 2025.
Reality had to be faced as the Australian bench finds that their time is too stretched to spend a day inspecting then three days of selling. It became increasingly clear that the internationals were gone after two days even if they left buying instructions with local agents. It’s just not the same and, wisely, the auctioneers have made the adjustment. Although expanded to a marathon 290 lots per day, they have brought the top tier sale back to two days for 2026, also the Centenary Sale. The first was held at Trentham in 1927.