Photo: Supplied
Riccarton’s Canterbury Gold Cup (Gr 3, 2000m) winner Riviera Rebel (Pure Champion) is proving to be something of a cups specialist. Two starts back, also at Riccarton, he secured the Hororata Gold Cup (1800m) while on New Year’s Day he bagged the Tapanui Cup (1200m). In 23 starts, the chestnut with the pronounced white blaze has six career wins to his name and Saturday’s black-type breakthrough took his earnings to $219,255.
His latest win was due to a masterful ride by Kylie Williams who had the four-year-old in third all the way to the home straight. The defining winning moment was Williams’ next tactic. All the other runners headed for the outside lanes but contrary to conventional wisdom, Williams kept to the fence, saved valuable ground and never relinquished the lead from the 300 metres. The gelding was full of running and only had to be punched out to get to the line comfortably by a length and three-quarters.
The win was also a breakthrough for his sire Pure Champion (Footstepsinthesand), a world-traveller who began his race career in Ireland where he scored as a juvenile and indicated a promising future when running fourth in the Dewhurst Stakes (Gr 1, 7f) at Newmarket at his second start.
In five starts at three, which included one start at Saratoga, he added a Group 3 win at the Curragh, a Listed win at Killarney and ran fourth in the Irish 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) before his export to Hong Kong. There, at four, he won and ran second in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (Gr 2, 2000m). Listed wins and four black-type placings took place at ages five and six but at seven he found himself in New Zealand.
Referring to the six starts the stallion had in New Zealand which included wins in the Windsor Park Plate (Gr 1, 1600m) and the Manawatu Challenge Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m), co-trainer and part-owner Lance O’Sullivan commented: “We basically got him after he had been retired. Who knows what he might have done if we had him two or three years earlier. He still did an outstanding job and he’s a beautiful animal who deserves his chance at stud.”
Pure Champion began his stud career at Totara Park Stud in Northland but now resides at Willow Glen in Waimate, south of Timaru in South Canterbury. His ten seasons at stud have brought 92 foals and Riviera Rebel is one of just five foals born in 2020. A total of 37 foals have been to the races and 16 are winners. Maybe he will get a few more bookings this coming spring.
Riviera Rebel’s distaff family is not often found in recent catalogues. His dam Chambon (Jimmy Choux) was passed in at NZB’s 2015 Karaka Yearling Sale (Select Session). She won twice and her half-brother River Control (Choisir) was a Macau Gold Cup (Listed, 1800m) winner. His grandam is a half-sister to Flemington Matriarch Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) winner Midnight Martini (Street Cry) but the best runner in the family is his fourth dam, New Zealand Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Sawatdee (Deputy Governor).
Let loose
Putting together a nice record is Saturday’s Warstep Stakes (Listed, 2000m) winner Loose Sally (Turn Me Loose). Already a Listed winner of the Dunedin Guineas (Listed, 1600m) two starts back, Loose Sally has been ridden in all her races by apprentice Ruvanesh Muniandy who put the filly into the race at the 800 metres when improving widest. Approaching the home straight they were fifth but took over soon after. In a slog, she ran about for a few strides but kept up a solid gallop and held on to score by three-quarters of a length.
Her dam Sally’s Mustang (Nicconi) was sold as a yearling and as a two-year-old, both times in Sydney, and won her first start as a two-year-old out of Shaune Ritchie’s stable but was not able to add to her tally in a further six starts. At stud, Loose Sally is her sole winner from three to race. Loose Sally’s grandam is a half-sister to the very talented March Hare (Marscay) whose seven wins included three at Group 1 level, namely the Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at two and later the George Main Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) and the George Ryder Stakes (Gr 1, 1500m).
Rising to the occasion
When right, Val Di Zoldo (War Decree) rises to the occasion and delivers as per Saturday’s Travis Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) which was just her fourth win in 31 starts. Along the way she has scored three at Group level, the other two being the Lowland Stakes (Gr 2, 2100m) at three and this season the Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 3, 2050m) immediately prior to the Travis for back-to-back stakes victories.
In 2024, Val Di Zoldo was fourth in the same two races and was unlucky in the ‘24 version of the Travis Stakes when she lost an iron. This time rider Wiremu Pinn had her fifth (rails) all the way to the home straight before moving out four deep to challenge. Pinn waited until the 150 metres to accelerate and the five-year-old took over inside the 100 metres to run out a convincing winner.
Her dam Civetta (Thorn Park) was an only foal but her grandam French Kaper (Kaapstad) ranks as a three-quarter sister to the best performer in her immediate family, Tall Poppy (Kaapstad) who won 11 times including the New Zealand Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), the Thorndon Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) and the Waikato Draught Sprint (Gr 1, 1400m).
Make room for me
Michael McNab copped a fine and a healthy suspension for his efforts aboard Ardalio (Ardrossan) in Te Rapa’s Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m). The filly was full of running with nowhere to go but at the 150 metres McNab barged his way out from the fence, severely impeding Albarossa (Vino Rosso), then finished best to land her third win in six starts.
Her connections have been somewhat patient and didn’t try her as a two-year-old and now they have been rewarded with two Group 3s. At her previous start she finished a fair seventh in the NZB Kiwi (Listed, 1500m), caught three–wide for most of the journey. Two races before that she ran out the winner of the Almanzor Trophy (Gr 3, 1200m) on Karaka Millions night. Judging from her determination it is not difficult to predict a bright future for the filly.
A homebred for Elsdon Park, Ardalio was not offered for sale and is from the mare Bridgewater (Written Tycoon), a graduate of the 2017 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. Bridgewater suffered a pelvic injury which restricted her race career to two starts but according to agent Bruce Perry, she was the “real deal”. At stud has foaled two winners, her only foals to race. Bridgewater’s presence at the Easter sale was due to her being by leading sire Written Tycoon (Iglesia) from a half-sister to Index Linked (Dansili) whose 12 wins included three stakes. Another half-sister, Defy The Odds (Galileo), produced South Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Leicester (Wanted).
Overriding nature
New Zealand race meeting abandonments have been numerous over the last year or two and seem to be increasing. The much anticipated ANZAC Day return at Awapuni lasted just one race due to one runner slipping. It could be argued that the newness of the Awapuni track due to refurbishment is the primary factor yet recent abandonments at the established tracks of Taupo, Hastings and Otaki have still occurred. Ellerslie and its StrathAyr surface faced similar trials and tribulations but has now settled down.
The country is noted for its rain which grows the grass that nurtures our thoroughbreds. Our lush growth and the minerals derived from such natural feed are reasons why the New Zealand thoroughbred is so popular with overseas buyers.
Most modern tracks have a watering system and curators have to be mindful of not only the track surface itself but also be aware of the weather and especially if rain is forecast. Putting all that together days before a race meeting cannot be easy.
The day before the 2025 Karaka Yearling sale series the writer was enjoying a beverage at Windsor Park’s Karaka headquarters. A small gathering at one of the bar tables included Nelson Schick, Steve Till, bloodstock agent Paul Willetts and myself and the track problem became a topic for discussion.
Kiwi Chronicles does not purport to be an expert in agronomy but it is well known that dirt, by itself, is dry. When mixed with water it binds the dirt together. When too much water is added, the result is mud and mud is slippery. Enter Nelson Shick who made an observation that might explain why our tracks have come under so much scrutiny for all the wrong reasons.
Schick explained that grass must have roots to survive. Thus, grass must seek water. If the water is just under the surface, grass roots need not be all that deep. On the other hand, if the water is deeper this forces the grass roots to go deeper to find moisture. The upshot is that deeper roots provide a stronger structure to the turf. Logically, a stronger structure binds the turf together providing a more sturdy galloping surface. In other words, it may well be that the tracks are getting too much water.
It is easy to think that abandoned and postponed meetings are new. Maybe not, but as an older interested party the writer well remembers tracks of the 1960s and 1970s which were dust bowls (pre-track-watering) and the incidents of abandonments seemed far fewer. When Il Tempo (Time And Again) won the 1970 Wellington Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) he was not visible when sitting last at the top of the straight, not because he was hidden by all the other runners. No, it was because he was hidden by a cloud of dust!
Nelson Schick has a year or two on the writer and way more knowledge of farming and farm management. His experience is something that the authorities overseeing tracks might want to pay some attention to. The logic is about as plain as the nose on one’s face.
