Te Akau’s Talented Two-Year-Old Secures Memorable Victory

[Wandering Eyes]

Te Akau Racing had more than one reason to celebrate after winning Saturday’s Cavallo Farms Chris Rutten Bloodstock 2YO (800m) at Otaki with Cool Aza Rene.

The filly’s debut victory was a memorable moment in its own right and stamped her as one to watch in upcoming juvenile features over the summer months.

But just as significantly, Cool Aza Rene became the first winner for Cool Aza Beel. That son of Savabeel was a $150,000 yearling purchase at Karaka 2019 by Te Akau principal David Ellis, and he went on to a stellar career in those same tangerine Te Akau colours. He won four of his six starts including the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) and the Karaka Million 2YO (1200m), and he was New Zealand’s champion two-year-old of 2019-20.

Cool Aza Beel retired to stud at Newhaven Park in New South Wales, where he stands for a service fee of A$16,500. His oldest progeny are two-year-olds this season, and Cool Aza Rene was just his third raceday runner.

The Newhaven-bred Cool Aza Rene was bought by Ellis for A$55,000 from the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale at the beginning of this year, and she was a $2.30 favourite for Saturday’s debut after winning her only trial on September 17.

She produced a performance to match that billing at Otaki, sitting outside the early leader Abbakiss before taking command in the straight. Under a hands-and-heels ride from Craig Grylls, she swept to victory by a length and a quarter over Sierra Leone and Abbakiss.

“It is fantastic for us to have bought and trained the first winner for Cool Aza Beel,” Ellis said. “It’s also a big thrill that she’s out of a mare by Xtravagant. He’s another horse we bought at Karaka, and he won the 2000 Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m) and now stands alongside Cool Aza Beel at Newhaven Park Stud.

“Cool Aza Rene was bred by Newhaven Park’s Kelly family, whose 15,000-acre property in south-west New South Wales is just magnificent and beautifully farmed, and they’ve bred some great horses there.

“All three of the first-crop two-year-olds by Cool Aza Beel that we’ve got in the stable are showing potential, and I was very impressed by how well this filly raced on debut.

“We bought Cool Aza Beel at Karaka, off the Fell family at Fairdale Stud. After winning the first two-year-old race at Wanganui, he went on to win the Karaka Million 2YO and the Sistema Stakes, and he was champion two-year-old. To see him go on to stand in Australia, then be able to buy his first winning progeny really is a great result.

“She had to do a bit, too, because they kicked up on her inside and I thought it was a really good run to win.”

Premiership-leading trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson will now look at taking Cool Aza Rene to Christchurch to contest a $65,000 two-year-old race on the middle day of the New Zealand Cup Carnival at Riccarton on November 13.

“We’re a great believer in the benefits of travelling young horses, because it seems to be the making of them long-term,” Walker said.

“It was a really good win today, and it’s always exciting to see the progeny of one of our former stable stars winning for the first time.

“She was certainly another good-value purchase by Dave (Ellis) from Book 2 of the Magic Millions Sale. He bought the filly from a great nursery, Newhaven Park Stud, where Cool Aza Beel stands. They’re incredible breeders that have been excited by the progeny of the sire, and they’ve been breeding Group One winners for decades.

 “They are certainly one of the best stud farms in Australia, and it’s exciting for the Kelly family to have the first winner on the board by Cool Aza Beel.

“She’s a very professional and well educated filly, and I really like the patience she showed. She was required to stand in the barriers for a long time. It just showed how well she’d been broken-in and handled by the team at Te Akau Stud, plus all of our good track riders that we’ve got established at Matamata.”

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