(Credit: NZB)
The brightest star of New Zealand racing, Well Written (Written Tycoon), answered a number of questions in her deceptively simple victory in the Proisir Plate (Gr 1, 1400m).
Why deceptive? One only had to listen to trainer Stephen Marsh’s comments, both before the race as well as after. The common theme pre and post race was his concern about competing against the older brigade for the first time.
Three-year-olds mostly race against their own age group, especially in stakes company. Why tackle the older, bigger, stronger and meaner horses if you don’t have to? That all changes at four. There is nowhere to hide.
Added to that is protecting an unbeaten record, a pressure that only the trainer and jockey face. Of the horses that make it to the races, less than one in two, or about 45 per cent, actually gain a maiden win. A second win is achieved by about 8.5 per cent of all runners. Prior to Saturday the filly’s record read: six wins from six starts including a Group 1, two Group 2s and two Listed races. Such a record is extremely rare.
So many things can trip up the best preparation not to mention races themselves, sometimes a minefield including barrier draw, pace, race incidents and being blocked for a run. A thousand and one things can and do go wrong.
A well-grounded Stephen Marsh would have been aware of all the above but behind the scenes he might also have harked back to Well Written’s last race at three, her narrow win in the NZB Kiwi (Listed, 1500m) last March. That race looked all over at the 200 metres except that Belle Cheval (Savabeel) stormed home and a stride past the post was in front. Only the camera kept Well Written’s record intact.
Fast forward to August 16 and a Heavy 8 Taupo track for a trial. Not an ideal way to get a season underway but she made it look easy. However, a trial is just that – a trial.
Ellerslie, Saturday September 5 arrived and the season’s first Group 1 was set. The pressure was sustained in that Well Written started as the $1.50 favourite, fresh up after a six-month break. Expectations were at their highest, creating more pressure.
One advantage that Marsh had over his rivals was numbers. Among his three was natural, on pace runner Media World (Written Tycoon) to ensure a consistent and solid pace. From Well Written’s good barrier (7) she was able to find the ideal one-out-one-back spot to the top of the straight. Rider Matt Cartwright had her beautifully poised. They drew alongside Alabama Lass (Alabama Express) short of the 200 metres then broke clear from the 100. Nothing was going better to the line as she increased her lead with every stride.
A huge weight was lifted off Marsh’s shoulders. His elation combined with relief was only too obvious. While it must be extremely satisfying to train the best, the responsibility is enormous.
“I’m proud, real proud,” said Marsh “I’m not going to get emotional, but I was very nervous as it is hard for these mares to take on the older horses. When she really let down it was just awesome to see.” Cartwright added: “I popped out 100m metres earlier than I wanted to as I wanted to keep her in a beautiful rhythm. When she kicked into gear it was all over.”
Now seven from seven including two Group 1s, the pressure does not suddenly cease. Likely next is the Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m), again against the older gallopers and in mean ol’ Sydney where they don’t take prisoners.
Well Written will need to be as good as we think as the Epsom has not been kind to mares. In the last 50 years just three have been successful but two were quite recent. Probabeel (Savabeel) took out the 2020 contest while Winx (Street Cry) scored in 2015. That’s quite a club to join.
After the Epsom is the 2026 and eighth edition of the Golden Eagle (1500m) to be run as a Group 1 race for the first time. Restricted to four-year-olds, it has been won by two mares. Last year it fell to Australia’s darling Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun). This year she will be up against the outstanding Sheza Alibi (Saxon Warrior). Stay tuned.
Such a trip to Australia is also a reminder that we in New Zealand may well have seen Well Written for the last time. Should she march on, there would be no reason to race here. Beyond the Epsom and the Golden Eagle are not only a brace of Australian million dollar weight-for-age miles, this time next year may include a Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) tilt, at the new Moonee Valley facility. Could 2027 Royal Ascot be on the cards? Anything is possible.
An $80,000 on-line purchase, she has advanced her bank account to more than $2.8 million and 24 hours after her smashing win she was named 2026 New Zealand Horse of the Year at the annual NZTR Awards. She is the sole winner from twice Listed-placed Mozzie Monster (Sebring) and granddaughter of Valentine Miss (Danetime), a six-times winner whose best was the Group 3 How Now Stakes (1200m).
Her roots are in New Zealand. Her third dam, Torolosa (Housebuster), purchased at the Karaka Yearling Sale of 1999, is a daughter of Perth Listed winner Yuleda (One Pound Sterling) and is a direct descendant of the sharp Group 3 two-year-old Jocasta (Pakistan II).
As for Marsh, whose charges finished first, third and fourth, while he is in Australia this spring, he might seek the advice of both Chris Waller and Peter Moody. They know a thing or two about pressure, winning streaks and Royal Ascot.
The result of the Plate provided little joy for the New Zealand breeding industry as the first four home were all foaled in Australia.
Becoming a habit
(Credit: Cambridge Stud)
An old saying goes: If something happens once, it’s an accident. If twice, it’s a coincidence. If three times, it’s a habit. Cambridge Stud’s Almanzor (Wootton Bassett) is becoming a habit – but in a good way.
Almanzor is proving the very definition of versatile. He has sired stakes winners at two and three, a Group 1 sprinter such as First Five, a Derby winner and four stakes winners at 3200 metres.
This week marks the third in succession that Kiwi Chronicles has had much to report regarding Almanzor’s successes. Only this time he scored a super Ellerslie double which included Pounce, winner of the Sunline Vase (Listed, 1200m).
On course at Ellerslie was the stud’s CEO Henry Plumptre whose smile after race one, due to a highly promising win on debut from Asturia (Almanzor), would have grown to a huge grin by race seven with Pounce, Almanzor’s 32nd individual stakes winner, announcing herself as a potential spring star.
Although run two races earlier than the Plate, the Vase was won in very much the same fashion as Pounce sat one-out-and-one back to the straight entrance, moved out a lane to challenge, levelled up to the leaders shy of the 200 metres then ran clear. Like Well Written, she too was travelling best at the line to land her second win in four starts.
Her maiden win, at two, took place in May at Ellerslie after which she was put aside, returning for the Chittick Family Fillies Classic (Listed, 1100m) at Taupo last month. A fair sixth, she was not suited by the Heavy 8 surface and showed far more sparkle this time, as explained by rider Craig Grylls: “The key today was back on a better track and she has done the rest.”
A graduate of NZB’s 2025 Karaka Yearling Sale (Book), Pounce was purchased by Wexford Stables (Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott) for $110,000. She is the only foal of her dam Caminata (Darci Brahma) to race. Caminata was also sold at Karaka, in 2019, to Cambridge Stud. A dual winner, Caminata is a sister to Tauranga Classic (Listed, 1400m) winner Summer’s Day (Darci Brahma).
Their dam, One Perfect Day (Fusaichi Pegasus) made $540,000 at the 2005 NZB Premier Year Sale, was a Rosehill winner and daughter of the fine sprinter, Railway Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Cannsea (Canny Lad). This is a top producing line and it is no surprise that Cambridge Stud would invest in such a family.
Cannsea’s dam was Wakeful Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) winner Beachside (Crested Wave), a half-sister to three further group winners including Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) victor Procol Harum (Western Symphony).
Sandown success
Rich Hill Stud, sponsor of Ellerslie’s feature race, also enjoyed a win from their mare Sharapova (Grunt) but they had something bigger to celebrate the same afternoon when Blind Raise, by resident sire Ace High (High Chaparral), saluted in the McKenzie Stakes (Listed, 1300m) at Sandown, whose ten-race program was shortened due to a potentially dangerous weather cell.
In a solid day for the Kiwi-breds, three of the eight winners, Ocean Bay (Vanbrugh), Blind Raise and Evaporate (Per Incanto), were all foaled on the eastern side of the Tasman.
Busuttin Racing sourced Blind Raise at the NZB 2025 Karaka Yearling Sale (Book 1) for $70,000 from The Oaks Stud draft. Saturday’s win, taking his earnings beyond $250,000, was his third in four starts. He was an impressive Listed winner at Flemington on ANZAC Day but in Brisbane, for the Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m), he faded badly over the final 100 metres when looking to have every chance. Post race he was found to have a nasal discharge and clearly was not himself.
For the McKenzie Stakes, often a good guide to top spring 3YO form, he announced his readiness with a Cranbourne trial win last month. At Sandown he had to make some space (a bumping duel) from an awkward spot just prior to straightening but then had his opponents in trouble from the 200 metres to score easily. The Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) is the obvious target and he made a worthwhile statement on this occasion.
Like Pounce (above), he is from a Darci Brahma (Danehill) mare, Away Cruising, herself the daughter of twice New Zealand Horse of the Year, champion sprinter Seachange (Cape Cross) whose fantastic record included seven Group 1s in a career of 14 wins.
