Te Aroha: Possibly Not The Usual From Guide

Breeders Stakes Day at Te Aroha is one of the best days on the calendar and this year's edition was no exception although it would pay to be wary of form particularly out of the supporting card as many of the fields lacked their usual depth and a track bias towards the inside rail played into the hands of on pace runners.

Despite it's long straight Te Aroha has always had a propensity to favour horses racing handy but Saturday was even more pronounced.

Nancho Bella despite laying in, made ground stylishly for third in the juvenile race - she had beaten Macavity in a trial. The few Mr Nancho stock that I've seen all look like they'll be better at three and this filly strikes me as no exception. Of the remainder, Murray Baker debuted a tall weakish son of Australian shuttle stallion Rakti in Arakti who may have some potential if he furnishes while Chris Wood's Scardee Cat filly Party Cat is a nice enough type, with more length and rein than a lot of her sires progeny.

Sam's Town has never been a horse I've particularly warmed too. Apparently he's a bit of a clown and often it shows on race day with performances in the birdcage that would make Fred Astaire proud. He was up to his usual tricks on Saturday but his winning performance showed a touch of class and a fair bit of heart, overcoming a significant check in the home straight yet still powering home to win the R90 sprint despite racing well out of his grade. Rarely without a top class sprinter the Otto stable may have found a capable replacement for the aging Atapi although I'm inclined to think Attackum, who co incidentally won the corresponding race last season, is that heir apparent.

Surely it's only a matter of time before we have another fillies and mares race elevated to group one status. The Breeders is currently our only such race yet year in year out it's depth makes for an exciting contest and a great betting race, which is in stark contrast to some of our group one WFA races. Australia has steadily increased such events and races such as the Coolmore Classic and the Mile on Derby Day a Flemington are always ultra competitive contests drawing the best of the fairer sex.

Keeper is having a great season spearheaded by Keep The Peace and in My Keepsake he looks to have another promising type, joining a burgeoning club that includes Finderskeepers, Tanalised, St Germaine and last weeks Ellerslie debutant Macavity. My Keepsake was the only horse all afternoon to make significant ground in the home straight greater than three horse widths off the inside rail and what was especially pleasing was that her run never faltered, sustained as it was from before the turn, right to the post. You could be in clover if you have a nice Keeper yearling come Karaka Sale time next year should Keep The Peace come up at four and some of his promising progeny take the next step.

Racing is littered with good two and three -year-old's who never recapture that form and many, myself included, were probably consigning Juice to that category before Saturdays performance. Expertly placed by John Wheeler, the daughter of Bertolini arrived at the start line fighting fit from three middle distance lead up runs and aided by a nice draw and a typically heady ride by Hayden Tinsley, she was too good for a very brave Culminate.

The runs of the three-year-olds Obsession and Lady Chaparral were excellent lending more weight that this seasons filly crop are the best for some time.

I won't be getting too carried away with the wins by Tinseltown and The Hombre. The former beat very little and ran three seconds slower than the corresponding event last season while The Hombre - given he was more impressive - still didn't look physically as well as he did last spring and there must still be some doubt about him settling well enough to run the distances of the Rough Habit and the Queensland Derby.

Oriental Lad and Better On Top should be in for lucrative autumn campaigns judging by their encouraging fresh up runs on ground firmer than they refer.

If you've yet to visit the track under the mountain I can thoroughly recommend an excursion for the Breeders and take your togs for a dip at the near by hot pools afterwards.

Ellerslie Prospecting

They may have run a second and a half slower than the other two-year-old race at Ellerslie today but don't be surprised if the race won by The Diamond Duke turns out to be a significantly better guide to three-year-old form next season.

As a race the Legends Fellowship for maiden juveniles was an ordinary affair with the last 600m time of 34.86 hardly noteworthy given the hack tempo of the first half of the contest but one got the impression that the first two horses across the line were far from wound up for their debuts and both certainly possess the breeding and physical makeup to develop into nice prospects for next season.

While Sean Ritchie has deservedly received good press for his emergence as a trainer of real quality this season, his exceptional eye for a yearling has been underplayed slightly by the media with The Diamond Duke another example of this skill. As a $90,000 Karaka Premier yearling, today's winner was considerably more expensive than Military Move, Keep The Peace and My Scotsgrey who all came from the Select Catalogue, but given Ritchie's success it's not hard to predict him having a significantly larger budget when he shops at Karaka next summer.

It's not difficult to understand why The Diamond Duke fetched the equal top price for progeny of his sire Bachelor Duke at last year's Karaka Sales. He's imposing to say the least with a good deal of his dam sire Seattle Slew about him,; probably already 16.1 hands going on 16.2, but well put together and balanced like so many of the good Bachelor Dukes.

As a type he's a typical Ritchie purchase, good sized but athletic with plenty of rein.

The gelding has plenty going for him on pedigree too with his dam the unraced Volksraad mare Doneze Girl a half sister to the highly talented but injury plagued Diamond Deck, who in turn is a three quarter sister to the champion racehorse and now emerging sire Lohnro.

Macavity, the runner-up to The Diamond Duke is also a most striking individual. She's a very well built filly particularly through the neck , shoulder and hindquarter, physical traits more in common with her maternal grand sire than her sire Keeper.

Cat Shmea the dam of Macavity looks an exciting broodmare prospect. Her first foal Velocitea by Volksraad has really found form as a four-year-old mare in Melbourne this season winning twice at group 3 level before a last start second in group one company in Adelaide.

A daughter of the disappointing Storm Cat stallion Felix the Cat, Cat Shmea was a handy three-year-old filly in the South Island winning three times and running third on a wet track in a listed Filly of the Year event at Wingatui. While Cat Shmea's female family would be considered only Festival Sale quality it is a nice blend of stamina and soundness through the presence of successive dam sires Beaufort Sea, Super Gray and Bellborough; the later a particularly underrated presence, featuring as he does in the pedigrees of the likes of Starcraft, Zeditave, Jet Spur and Taras Bulba.

From stables not known for producing two-year-old's and as types certain to improve at three in line with their sires typical get, The Diamond Duke and Macavity are two interesting prospects for next season.