Our Kris Lees Racing-trained Written Tycoon mare Kind Words has delivered a game win in the Gr.3 Belle of the Turf Stakes at Gosford today.
Kind Words entered the race with a last-start win at Rosehill over 2000m, and reiterated this form under pilot Tom Sherry to notch the black-type success over the mile.
Raced by Elsdon Park’s Lib Petagna, Kind Words has returned to scale victorious on four occasions and has achieved medal distinction on a further eight occasions.
Bred by Cambridge Stud, Kind Words is a daughter of the Champion Yulong Investments sire Written Tycoon and is out of the winning Redoute’s Choice mare, Gracious Grey.
Kind Words was purchased by Bruce Perry from Cambridge Stud’s 2022 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale draft.
Kind Words joins Ammirati and Ardalio as successful stakes winners raced by Elsdon Park so far this season.
Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
Lux Libertas has come close in several stakes races, but she was able to shed her bridesmaid tag at Trentham on Saturday when taking out the Gr.2 Bramco Granite & Marble Manawatu Challenge Stakes (1400m).
The five-year-old mare was first-up since her runner-up performance in the Listed Tauranga Classic (1400m) in June, and she was kept safe by punters as a $6.60 third elect.
She jumped away well under leading Central Districts hoop Bruno Queiroz, who gave her a beautiful trip in the one-one position before finding clear running room at the top of the straight.
Race favourite Marotiri Molly kicked clear at the turn, but Lux Libertas took chase and was able to slowly wear down the pacemaker in the concluding stages to win by a long neck.
“It was a really good ride by Bruno, who gave her a sweet trip, and she moved into it well,” said Andrew Scott, who trains the mare in partnership with Lance O’Sullivan.
“She had been building to this for a good while. Through her last preparation she was close in a couple of big ones and it is good that she is a stakes-winning mare now.”
The daughter of Almanzor was set to resume at Te Rapa last week, but was withdrawn after she drew an unsuitable alley, and Scott was glad they played the patient game with their mare.
“We have taken our time. We scratched her from last Saturday with the wide gate,” he said. “To (owners) Peter (Sain) and Kylie (Bax) with their patience to sit in another week and head down the line (to Trentham).
“She deserved it and it was a really good effort from all of the team to have her fit and ready to go with such a long break between runs.”
Scott and O’Sullivan are now left pondering their next move with Lux Libertas.
“We need to sit down and work it out,” Scott said. “She is reasonably high in the ratings now, so hopefully there are some nice fillies and mares races through the summer.”
Bred by Blandford Lodge principals Graham and Helen-Gaye Bax, in partnership with Elsdon Park principal Lib Petagna, Lux Libertas is out of stakes performer Miss Fi, a half-sister to stakes winner Peaceful.
Lux Libertas is raced by the Bax’s daughter Kylie’s Goldeye Trust in partnership with Sain, and she has gone on to win six of her 18 starts to date, including placings in the Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes (1400m), Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) and Tauranga Classic, and has accrued nearly $285,000 in earnings.
Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
Wexford Stables’ exciting juvenile filly Dashing Dixie is TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) bound following her debut victory at Te Rapa on Saturday.
The daughter of Alabama Express had placed in her two trials over 800m leading into her first raceday appearance, and trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott were hopeful of a bold showing.
In a compact field of four, Dashing Dixie jumped away well and maintained her advantage on the rail to take up the pace making role. She was eyed by Sword Of Stars throughout but was able to get the better of her rival in the concluding stages to win by half a length.
With her debut earnings of $37,375, she has jumped to fourth-equal in order of entry for the Karaka Millions 2YO, guaranteeing her spot in the rich feature, much to the delight of her trainers.
“It’s probably no surprise to the team that she did what she did,” O’Sullivan said. “We certainly rated her quite highly. With four runners, she was able to relax in front and quicken off the corner.
“The team certainly likes her and we have got a ticket in the big lottery now.”
Dashing Dixie will likely have one more run before the January 24 showpiece, and O’Sullivan said they will lock in that target in the coming days.
“We will get home on Monday and Andrew, myself and the team will go through it and make a decision where to from here,” he said. “It will be good to have a runner (in the Karaka Millions).”
Bred by Elsdon Park principal Lib Petagna, under his JML Bloodstock banner, Dashing Dixie is out of unraced Zoustar mare War Goddess, whose grandam is Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) winner She’s Country.
Dashing Dixie was offered through Elsdon Park’s New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft in January where she was purchased by Wexford Stables for $340,000.
“We go through and do our homework, and she was one that we selected,” O’Sullivan said. “We really liked her and we had to pay a little bit of money for her. Often it doesn’t come off, but today it has.”
O’Sullivan has been rapt with her progress to date and he expects her to improve as she strengthens and matures with time.
“In her first prep she was a little bit weak,” he said. “She still has a lot of improvement and she is only going to continue to get better.”
LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
A bright future is being tipped for well-bred three-year-old Day One following his maiden victory in the Barfoot & Thompson 1600 at Ellerslie on Thursday.
He had shown a lot of promise at the trials before running fifth on debut over 1400m at Arawa Park last month, and trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson had been pleased with his subsequent progress.
He jumped away well from his wide gate on Thursday, but there was plenty of speed inside him and jockey Opie Bosson was forced to ease his charge back to sit midfield.
At the 600m, Bosson followed race favourite Arthur three-wide and presented his charge at the turn and Day One showed a good turn of foot in the concluding stages to score a 1-1/4 length victory.
“It was a really good effort, especially after not getting all favours in running, but Opie didn’t panic and the horse produced a big effort to win,” Walker said.
“I think he would have learned a lot from the experience and he quickened up like a nice horse.
“He’s a big, scopey type of horse with a lot of raw ability, which we saw today, and he’ll only get better as we step him up in distance.
“I loved the way he relaxed and then quickened so well in the straight.
“Obviously he’s very well bred and it’s great to get another win for Lib Petagna and the Elsdon Park team in Matamata.”
Day One hails from a rich pedigree, being a son of ill-fated Coolmore stallion Wootton Bassett and Group One performer Eleonora, a half-sister to Group One performer Supera and the dam of stakes winner Ethereal Star.
He was bred and is raced by Elsdon Park principal Lib Petagna, whose bloodstock agent Bruce Perry purchased Eleonora as a yearling on his behalf out of Pencarrow’s 2015 Karaka draft.
“As a broodmare, she (Eleonora) seems to be doing a great job as well and it’s exciting to have another nice prospect in Day One,” Perry said.
“Day One had a leg issue as a yearling, so we didn’t put him through the sales, but he seems fine now. He’s racing as a gelding and Te Akau are doing a good job with him.
“We’ll try and get some black-type with him at his next start, and there’s some nice options over New Year onwards.
“The stable has had a high opinion of him and it’s good to see that rewarded at his second start.”
Perry is also looking forward to seeing his Maurice half-sister go through the Karaka sales ring next month when offered as lot 178 through Elsdon Park’s draft.
“We’ve got a cracking filly by Maurice in the Elsdon Park draft going to the yearling sales in January at Karaka, and Eleonora is in-foal to Super Seth,” Perry said.
The Caspar Fownes-trained Ardrossan gelding Audacious Pursuit franked his strong recent form with a tough win in Hong Kong last night.
The son of Sebring mare Dolce Amore was well supported in the market, and drew on his fighting reserves to get past the leader, landing victory by a short head for owner S Leung.
Audacious Pursuit was purchased by Waikato Bloodstock at the 2023 NZB Book One Yearling Sale.
A full sister to Audacious Pursuit will be offered at the NZB Book One Sale in January.
-Richard Edmunds, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh won the Gr.3 Jennian Homes Wellington Stakes (1600m) for the fifth time at Otaki on Sunday with emerging talent Ammirati, but this was a win unlike any other.
Marsh had previously taken out the three-year-old feature with Lucia Valentina (2013), Crown Prosecutor (2018), Scorpz (2019) and Zee Falls (2020).
He went into Sunday confident of a bold showing from Ammirati, having commented during the week that the Savabeel gelding had “taken the next step” since his last-start maiden success at Rotorua. But Marsh could never have expected what unfolded.
Jockey Matt Cartwright put Ammirati in a handy position in fifth, racing on the outside of fellow last-start winner and race favourite Road To Paris. Those two horses were travelling better than any others coming around the home turn, and they seemed set to fight out the finish.
Road To Paris produced the sharper turn of foot of the two and went to a clear lead early in the run home, with Ammirati taking a little longer to move through his gears and build his momentum.
Ammirati was in full flight coming into the final 100m and gaining ground, although he was running out of time with Road To Paris still the best part of a length in front of him and going well.
But just when it looked like that would be the final finishing order, Road To Paris shied at the finish line and veered sharply to the right. He dislodged his rider Masa Hashizume and also carted Ammirati sideways and all but stopped him in his tracks.
Tulsa King and Landman were both finishing strongly and almost swamped the staggering Ammirati, but he held on by the skin of his teeth to win by two noses.
“It’s a funny old game,” Marsh’s stable representative and bloodstock manager Dylan Johnson said.
“It was a good performance from the horse. He was under a bit of pressure from the 600m, but he just kept finding and he was actually starting to pick the favourite up in that last little bit before everything happened. It’s an unusual way to win the race, but it’ll go in the book.”
Ammirati has now had six starts for two wins and $73,305 in stakes for owners Hawridge Developments Ltd, Jamieson Park Ltd and Elsdon Park.
Ammirati is Marsh’s third Wellington Stakes winner in Elsdon Park’s colours, following on from Lucia Valentina and Crown Prosecutor. The latter went on to win the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie a few months later, and Ammirati is rated a $21 chance to complete the same double in the $1.25 million classic on March 7.
“Lib Petagna of Elsdon Park has been unbelievable supporter of the stable, and it’s been great to pick up a couple of Group Three wins for them in the last week or so with Ardalio and now this horse,” Johnson said.
“Ammirati seems to be getting better and better. Stephen and I mentioned to Lib (Petagna) and Bruce (Perry) after his last win that he’s potentially the type of horse that could get through to a Derby. The way he raced today and kept coming at them late, it gives us confidence to carry on that way.
“It’s just great to have success in these colours. They put so much into New Zealand racing, and it’s nice to see the people that really stump up get the returns.”
Ammirati is by champion sire Savabeel out of the winning Pins mare Happily, who is a half-sister to the Marsh-trained Listed Wellesley Stakes (1000m) winner Exuberant. The third dam McHappy is a half-sister to Scandinavia, the granddam of Black Caviar and All Too Hard.
Waikato Stud offered Ammirati in Book 1 of Karaka 2024, where Bruce Perry Bloodstock bought him for $450,000. Waikato Stud has a full-brother catalogued as Lot 467 for Book 1 of Karaka 2026.
Hashizume and Road To Paris escaped injury in Sunday’s alarming incident, with Hashizume cleared to ride in the final race on the Otaki card.
Elsdon Park’s homebred Ardrossan mare Ardalio added a third Gr.3 win to her resume, with a spirited win in the Haunui Farm Counties Bowl (1100m) at Pukekohe today.
The Stephen Marsh-trained four-year-old swept to the lead in the homestraight under Kozzi Asano, but gave connections a brief fright when shifting out on the mounting challenge of Twain. Corrected and straightened up again, she pulled away to win by a decisive 1.5 lengths.
“She was super,” Asano said. “She’s not the easiest to ride and has got a few tricks, but she has a real killer instinct. I felt something coming up beside us, and she ducked out a little bit, but she was too good in the end.”
Bred and raced by Elsdon Park, Ardalio has now had eight starts for four wins, a second and $417,100 in stakes. Her previous Gr.3 wins comprise of the Gr.3 Almanzor Trophy (1200m) and Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) as a three-year-old.
According to Marsh’s stable representative Dylan Johnson, Group One sprint features are now on Ardalio’s agenda.
“She’s putting together a great record and is just so tough,” Johnson said. “Kozzi gave her a beautiful trip, and then she just fights all the way to the finish. Those attributes made her a multiple Group winner as a three-year-old, and today was outstanding.
“Stephen is keen to keep her to those sprint trips this season, and we’ll have a look at races like the Telegraph (Gr.1, 1200m) and Railway (Gr.1, 1200m).”
Ardalio is the second foal of Petagna’s Written Tycoon mare Bridgewater whose extended family represents a strong European flavour along with the Australian Gr.3 winner Index Linked.
Ardalio is the third stakes winner by Ardrossan that Elsdon Park has bred this season, with previous black-type heroes here comprising Saltcoats and De Armas.
Story: Kevin Roberston, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
A professional display from speedy Elsdon Park-bred 2YO De Armas paved the way for a decisive victory in the first stakes race on Saturday’s Pukekohe programme, the Listed Counties Challenge Stakes (1100m).
Trainer Johno Benner trekked north with the daughter of Ardrossan, who went into the race off the back of an 850m trial victory at Foxton earlier in the month, following a winning debut on her home track in September.
Benner had been content to give his charge plenty of time to get over that win on a testing Heavy10 surface and came into Saturday’s contest with the express purpose of gaining a guaranteed start in the rich TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 24.
Rider Kelly Myers had De Armas away smartly from the starting gates and outside pacemaker With A Vengeance after just 150m, where the pair matched motors into the home straight.
Myers pushed the go button at the 200m and the filly bounded clear and she held her two-length advantage comfortably to the winning post from the fast-finishing favourite Harvey Wallbanger, who charged home from last of the nine runners on the home bend.
Benner, who shares in the ownership of the filly with some long-standing friends and stable clients, cut an emotional figure as he thanked those who have supported him after some trying times in recent months.
“It’s special in a lot of ways as it’s been topsy turvy of late,” Benner said.
“I’ve been to the top of this industry and there has been a lot (of water) go under the bridge, so to have those loyal owners help me get back here means a lot.
“I needed some down time to process things, but the love of the horse never went anywhere.”
Benner had made no secret of the fact he rated De Armas highly and went further in his opinion of her following the race.
“I think she is the best horse I have put a saddle on,” he said. “I’ve said it to a few people, but I’ve tried to put a lid on it.
“I think she is going to be a better three-year-old, but coming here today has given me the option not to have to come back up here again (until Karaka Millions night).
“She is a beautiful cut of a filly and I don’t want to sound silly, but I said over breakfast I think she will win today and I can put her away with 11 weeks to Ellerslie and I won’t need to run her again.”
TAB Bookmakers reacted swiftly, installing the filly as the $3.50 Fixed Odds favourite for the Karaka Millions 2YO.
Myers backed up Benner’s assessment of De Armas when questioned in the birdcage after unsaddling her mount.
“That’s a big statement as he has trained some good horses, but I just love this filly,” she said. “It was just her second start today and we had a sticky barrier, but she is just class.
“She was able to put herself right there and I knew they wouldn’t catch her as the further she goes the faster she gets.
“The scary thing is she looks like she will be a better three-year-old, so who knows what we have got.”
Benner secured De Armas from the 2025 National Online Yearling Sale for $16,000 and she has now returned over $86,000 in prizemoney from her two starts to date.
Racing Photo: Megan Liefting, Race images
Are you curious as to what happens at Matamata’s Thoroughbred nursery, Elsdon Park?
If so, we’d love to show you what we do by inviting you and your friends to book a spot in one of the following three sessions, when we open our gates to the public as a part of National Thoroughbred Week:
- Thursday, 10am
- Thursday 12:30pm
- Friday 10am
Each of these free tours will last an hour, and you will have the opportunity to meet some of our racehorses, yearlings, and last but certainly not least, the mares and foals.
As we travel over the farm and its various departments, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of what makes the thoroughbred industry so captivating and why we are so passionate about it.
There are limited spots available on these tours, so booking is essential. To register, please use the link below.
If you would like to know a little bit more about Elsdon Park before registering, please visit www.elsdonpark.com, or visit our social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
We look forward to seeing some of you later this week!
Elsdon Park Team.
A game last-stride win under Aaron Bullock in Friday’s Port Macquarie Cup has qualified our Kris Lees-trained Frankel gelding Age of Sail for the A$3 mil The Big Dance at Royal Randwick on Nov 4.
Since being purchased by Bruce Perry for 40,000 gns at Tattersalls in 2023, Age of Sail has rewarded connections – who include Max Brown, Greg Clarke, Bruce, Anna and Becca Perry, Patrick O’Rourke, and Craig and Jo Nelson – with three wins and five placings.