Fortuna has five runners over the weekend, three in New Zealand, two in Singapore
LEADERBOARD contests the time honoured Wellington Cup at Trentham on Saturday Race 9 @ 5.09pm and will be ridden by Joe Doyle from Barrier. Recent form is hot great, but has run this distance twice for a 3rd and a 5th, so he will get the trip. Does prefer a soft track which is a possibility on Saturday and should be putting in at the finish when many of the others are done Probably needs rain to be truly competitive here
MALBOROUGH BAY runs in the 330 Set Weight and Penalties event at Taupo on Sunday 29th – Race 6 @ 3.32pm and will be ridden by Joe Kamaruddin, claiming 1kg, from Barrier 1. Got no luck in the 2000 Guineas at Riccarton in November and then disappointed when resuming at Te Rapa on New Year’s Day. Talented at best, he can bounce back here to feature in the finish and any easing of the track will assist
NAVALHA contests the R75 1100m – Race 9 @ 5.20pm and will be ridden by Opie Bosson from Barrier 10 – a winner at Riccarton in the Spring, he has been freshened and trialed nicely at Tauranga – this may be a bit short for him and he can be tardy away and has drawn out – will take improvement from this outing but can be in the finish if he is away well and gets luck in running.
Singapore
DECEPTION resumes after a solid year in 2022 with two wins – he contests the Class 4 1200 Turf – Race 7 @3pm Sing time (8pm NZT) – will be ridden by Simon Kok from Barrier 8. This strapping son of I Am Invincible has won twice in Singapore and rarely runs a bad race. Drawn out a bit but likes to go back anyway and this race is run on the long course – can feature in the finish here
Here is how the STC tipsters see this race;
1st Pick: WAR PRIDE (1)
All signs through his track work and trials point to the fact that he’s ready to fire first up. Drawn out slightly but gets the services on Nunes this weekend.
2nd Pick: BE YOU (2)
Can be a handful on race day but if he puts it all together, he can win a race like this. Draws to find a nice spot in running and trialed well leading up to this.
3rd Pick: DECEPTION (5)
Another fresh up this weekend. Was really hitting some nice form towards the end of last season and hopefully and can pick right up where he left off.
4th Pick: STRONG N SMART (4)
Recent trial was solid enough. Stable going well at the moment, keep safe in quartets.
KNIPPENBERG makes his raceday debut in the Restricted Maiden 1200m Turf event – Race 5 @2pm Sing time (7pm NZT) – this 3yo son of I Am Invincible has shown a lot of class to date with his trackwork and trials performances and is ready to translate that class into a strong performance on debut – on debut as is the case with several other runners – we have asked a lot of him as he prepared for this race and he delivered – expect a bold performance on debut
Buyer Analytics: who are the best judges in Australasia? This report from an independent analyst company and as you will see NZ’s very own David Ellis comes out on top Here we aim to highlight the Top 4 buyers that we observed in our 2015–2021 yearling dataset.
David Ellis (Te Akau) — 17.02% stakes winners to purchases
On raw numbers, founder and principal of Te Akau racing in New Zealand — David Ellis — performed as the top purchaser of yearlings globally on our buyer dataset between 2015–2021. We identified 188 yearling purchases, an average spend of $212,872 AUD and with a stakes return of 32 winners (17.02%)
Stakes Winners: Summer Monsoon, Age of Fire, Swing Note, Gold Fever, Embellish, Melody Belle, The Real Beel, Avantage, Sword of Osman, Weaponry, Prise de Fer, In a Twinkling, Al Hasa, Markus Aurelius, Aotea Lad, Probabeel, Festivity, Aromatic, Campionessa, Amarelinha, Seajetz, Cool Aza Beel, Kahma Lass, Noverre, On the Bubbles, Synchronize, Imperatriz, Sword of State, Bright Blue Sky, Wild Night, Lord Cosmos, Dynastic, Need I Say More — Spirited Express (H.K)
James Harron Bloodstock (14.89% stakes winners to purchases)
The team at James Harron Bloodstock enjoyed a very successful return of 21 stakes winners from 141 yearling purchases, with 14 Group winners. Aside from MV Magnier, they were the top average spenders on yearlings within our dataset, but that strong opinion was validated by successful returns. They returned 14.89% stakes winners and 9.93% Group Winners from their buys. 74.47% of purchases were winners, which was the top performing result in our dataset.
Stakes Winners: Attention, Defcon, I Am a Star, Capitalist, Pariah, Gunnison, Khan, Dracarys, Espresso Martini, Sangria, Stronger, King’s Legacy, Argentia, Kalashnikov, Cerberus, Glistening, Crosswinds, Cannonball, Leviathan — Healthy Happy (H.K.), Acatour — Great Honour (H.K.), Detective — Bombay Blitz (H.K.)
McEvoy Mitchell Racing 11.16% stakes winners to purchases
The McEvoy Mitchell Racing team consisting of Tony McEvoy, Calvin McEvoy and Wayne Mitchell performed as our second highest rated buyer on our yearling dataset 2015–2021. In that period we identified that they had purchased 207 yearlings, returning 24 stakes winners for a ratio of 11.59%. All this at an average sales price of $184,797. 89 yearlings from the sample had won at a Metro level, for a 43.0% ratio.
Stakes Winners: She Shao Fly, The Astrologist, Xtravagant Star, Twin Stars — Chiu Chow Spirit, Zoushine, Xilong, Pretty Brazen, Game Keeper, Vinco, Westport, Secret Blaze, Kinky Boom, Classic Weiwei, Despatch, Vinland, Azazel, Nistaan, Over Exposure, Manuel, Fox Hall, Hey Doc, Jackson, Concealer, Stoker, Winning Partner
China Horse Club — 10.81% stakes winners to purchases
We identified China Horse Club as the assigned purchaser on sales dockets, either as individual buyer or as part of a partnership on 333 yearling purchases across Australia and New Zealand between 2015–2021. Founded by Teo Ah Khing as a premier lifestyle offering for the Chinese and Asian market, the operation has enjoyed considerable success since formation with 45 Group 1 wins globally. Credit likely goes to John Warren and Michael Wallace, whom we would understand who have the predominant purchasers of bloodstock for CHC in that period. (Apologies if I missed anyone)
Yearlings purchased performed +7.81% above the market average, returning 36 stakes wins from the 333 buys, for a ratio of 10.81%. Average purchase price however, was higher than other buyers featured here, with an average spend of $370,337 AUD across yearling purchases.
Stakes Winners: Calanda, Russian Revolution, Invader, Goldrush, Emmaus, Siem Riep, Yellow Agate, Taking Aim, Assimilate, Plentiful, Queen of Diamonds, Madison County, Dagmar, Eawase, Paths of Glory, New York Central, Justify, National Flag, Hightail, McLaren, Improbable, Fearless, Bulletin, Prime Star, Market Analysis, Nashville, Aim, Americanrevolution, Tiger of Malay, In the Congo, Volcanic Rock, Life is Good, Cobhfield, France — Encouraging (H.K.), Untamed — Super Buddy (H.K.), Irish Bet — Hong Kong Bet (H.K.)
