Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images)
Three months after starting the season as a two-win horse with a rating of 70, Agera (Complacent) stepped on to the big stage at Tauranga on Saturday and became a weight-for-age winner in the Gr.2 Gartshore Construction Tauranga Stakes (1530m).
The $150,000 feature capped an incredible rise for the Complacent gelding, who came into his six-year-old season with 18 starts to his name for two wins, eight placings and $81,490 in stakes.
From eight starts this season, Agera has recorded six victories and has added $259,500 to his career earnings.
He began his breakthrough season with back-to-back wins on the Cambridge synthetic track in August, followed by a sixth under 62kg in a Rating 75 at Ellerslie in early September.
Cambridge trainer Tony Pike stepped Agera up into open company for a 1600m race at Te Rapa on September 14 and came away with another win, followed by a fourth in the Russell & Yvonne Green Memorial (2000m) at Matamata on October 4.
Agera has been unstoppable since then, winning the Listed Matamata Cup (1600m) on October 17, the Feilding Cup (2050m) at Tauherenikau on November 1, and now the Tauranga Stakes.
“He’s won six from eight this season and has found a real purple patch of form,” Pike said. “To step up to weight-for-age today and win again is remarkable. He’s really had a fantastic season.”
Pike has repeatedly planned to turn Agera out for a spring and summer spell when the tracks began to firm up, but an extraordinarily wet spring has led to a series of changes of plans and additional assignments. Agera has risen to meet every challenge.
The Tauranga Stakes only came on to Pike’s radar when rain was forecast to hit Tauranga during the week. That rain sent the track rating down to Soft7 on Thursday, although it returned to Soft5 on raceday under blue skies.
That late change of plans, along with the fact that many leading jockeys were at Riccarton on Saturday for the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) and Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m), handed a big opportunity to 18-year-old apprentice Sam McNab.
In his very first ride in a black-type race, McNab took up a handy position in third along the rail before driving Agera through a narrow opening on the inside of front-runner Khafre at the top of the straight.
Agera quickened and dashed to the lead with 150m remaining. A late challenge came from the strong-finishing Meaningful Star, but Agera responded to McNab’s urgings and held on by a short head.
Pike took special satisfaction from Sam McNab’s success. The teenager’s father Chris McNab is Pike’s assistant trainer, while Sam’s premiership-winning brother Michael has also had a long and successful involvement with the stable.
“This race was a bit of a late choice for us, just with that rain that came during the week, because he’s a horse who needs a little bit of rain,” Pike said. “With Riccarton on today as well, we were struggling to find a rider. We decided to give Sam the opportunity. It’s not that often you see a 3kg claimer riding in a Group Two weight-for-age race, but he’s riding really well and he’s done a great job.
“It’s fantastic for the McNab family. Michael’s here today cheering him on, he’s rapt.
“Sam probably only started riding 18 months ago, so it’s been a remarkable rise for him. He’s had massive support from his father Chris and brother Michael, and you’d have to say he’s got the breeding for a very successful career.”
Agera’s incredible breakthrough campaign has come over a range of distances. He has won over as far as 2050m in the Feilding Cup, while Saturday’s race was reduced from 1600m to 1530m because of a burst water main near the 1600m start point. Pike joked that Agera’s victory came in track-record time.
“We always thought a mile was probably his optimal distance,” Pike said. “He won a Feilding Cup last time over the 2050m. Going down to 1530m was probably not ideal, but he got the job done. He’s a versatile horse in great form.”
