Koenigsegg One
Kenton Wright (Race Images)
Excitement machine Koenigsegg One took another step on his development path with a comprehensive winning performance at Ruakaka on the weekend.
The handsome Swiss Ace three-year-old accounted comfortably for another promising type in Bao Shan Magic as the pair cleared out from their rating 75 rivals over 1600 metres on Saturday. It was the third win for the Tony Pike prepared gelding from just five starts with the promise of more to come next season.
"He's a very exciting prospect as he has just got better and better in this preparation," noted Waikato Bloodstock's Bryce Tankard who manages the gelding for his Hong Kong based owner, Ben Kwok.
"He has always showed us plenty from day one but it has taken a little while for the penny to drop with him. He is still inclined to do a few things wrong in his races but he really knuckled down in the run home on Saturday and put away a field that had some very promising horses in it."
The 2014 National Yearling Sales Series graduate was a $130,000 purchase for Tankard who admitted he and father Ginger had been impressed by his athletic nature from the moment they saw him.
"He was just one of those yearlings that caught your eye so once we had taken a good look at him we were keen to get him," he said.
"We ended up paying a little more than we budgeted but we thought he was worth it. On what he has done to date it looks like he could go right through to the top grade which would be a great result for everyone involved."
Although a winner on a soft track at Rotorua two starts ago Tankard is convinced the best will be seen from the gelding on top of the ground.
"He probably got away with the win on a slow track at Rotorua due to his class as he seems best suited on a good surface," said Tankard.
"At this time of the year there isn't much around for him so we will sit down and talk it over with Tony but it might be he heads for a spell before we bring him back in the spring. If he can make the same sort of improvement he has done so far then he could be in for a very good summer as a four-year-old." – NZ Racing Desk
The handsome Swiss Ace three-year-old accounted comfortably for another promising type in Bao Shan Magic as the pair cleared out from their rating 75 rivals over 1600 metres on Saturday. It was the third win for the Tony Pike prepared gelding from just five starts with the promise of more to come next season.
"He's a very exciting prospect as he has just got better and better in this preparation," noted Waikato Bloodstock's Bryce Tankard who manages the gelding for his Hong Kong based owner, Ben Kwok.
"He has always showed us plenty from day one but it has taken a little while for the penny to drop with him. He is still inclined to do a few things wrong in his races but he really knuckled down in the run home on Saturday and put away a field that had some very promising horses in it."
The 2014 National Yearling Sales Series graduate was a $130,000 purchase for Tankard who admitted he and father Ginger had been impressed by his athletic nature from the moment they saw him.
"He was just one of those yearlings that caught your eye so once we had taken a good look at him we were keen to get him," he said.
"We ended up paying a little more than we budgeted but we thought he was worth it. On what he has done to date it looks like he could go right through to the top grade which would be a great result for everyone involved."
Although a winner on a soft track at Rotorua two starts ago Tankard is convinced the best will be seen from the gelding on top of the ground.
"He probably got away with the win on a slow track at Rotorua due to his class as he seems best suited on a good surface," said Tankard.
"At this time of the year there isn't much around for him so we will sit down and talk it over with Tony but it might be he heads for a spell before we bring him back in the spring. If he can make the same sort of improvement he has done so far then he could be in for a very good summer as a four-year-old." – NZ Racing Desk