Excalibur
Trish Dunell
Excalibur was a mover in a classic market on Saturday after he put his rivals to the sword at Te Rapa with an overdue first success.
The Shaune Ritchie-prepared three-year-old came in from $26 to $18 for the $1 million Gr.1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby following a dominant performance to win the Print House 1600.
Excalibur was given a dream run behind the pace on the fence and he rounded off impressively in the straight under rider Leith Innes in the Bonecrusher colours of part-owner Peter Mitchell.
"He's still got his quirks and he sweats up a bit, but he's a pretty talented horse," Ritchie said.
"I don't want to over tax him too much as he's a clean-winded horse. I'll be sitting down with Peter to work out a Derby plan.
"He's by Tavistock out of a Stravinsky mare, who's out of a Zabeel mare and he's looking for 2000 metres now. He's a big, long-striding horse as well."
As another son of Tavistock with Zabeel as the sire of his second dam, the Gr.1 Australian Derby winner Tavago is bred on the same cross.
Excalibur placed in his first three starts and while he then only finished fifth in the Listed Trevor Eagle Memorial 3YO, Innes was more than happy with the colt's showing.
"He ran the fastest 600 metres of that race so it was a better run than it looked," he said.
Innes had no concerns in Saturday and Excalibur was out to challenge soon after straightening and he powered clear to score by two and three quarter lengths.
"With the blinkers on he travelled a lot better and it was all over pretty quickly," he said. – NZ Racing Desk.
The Shaune Ritchie-prepared three-year-old came in from $26 to $18 for the $1 million Gr.1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby following a dominant performance to win the Print House 1600.
Excalibur was given a dream run behind the pace on the fence and he rounded off impressively in the straight under rider Leith Innes in the Bonecrusher colours of part-owner Peter Mitchell.
"He's still got his quirks and he sweats up a bit, but he's a pretty talented horse," Ritchie said.
"I don't want to over tax him too much as he's a clean-winded horse. I'll be sitting down with Peter to work out a Derby plan.
"He's by Tavistock out of a Stravinsky mare, who's out of a Zabeel mare and he's looking for 2000 metres now. He's a big, long-striding horse as well."
As another son of Tavistock with Zabeel as the sire of his second dam, the Gr.1 Australian Derby winner Tavago is bred on the same cross.
Excalibur placed in his first three starts and while he then only finished fifth in the Listed Trevor Eagle Memorial 3YO, Innes was more than happy with the colt's showing.
"He ran the fastest 600 metres of that race so it was a better run than it looked," he said.
Innes had no concerns in Saturday and Excalibur was out to challenge soon after straightening and he powered clear to score by two and three quarter lengths.
"With the blinkers on he travelled a lot better and it was all over pretty quickly," he said. – NZ Racing Desk.
