Trish Dunell
One of the more impressive winners on the opening day of the Hawke’s Bay spring carnival was the Jamie Richards-trained Te Akau Shark.
The lightly-raced four-year-old resumed with an impressive victory over 1200m and will now return to that venue on October 6.
“He will run in the Open 1400m (Gr.3 Red Badge Spring Sprint) on the last day,” Richards said.
“The horse is in good order, he just had a bit of a freshen-up and returned to the stable this morning and we're very pleased with how he's going.”
A winner of three of his four starts, Te Akau Shark finished fourth in last season’s Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) before injury sidelined the talented son of Rip Van Winkle for the remainder of the season.
“It's just one step at a time with him and we'll get through Hastings before we confirm anything else,” Richard said.
“The way he switched off over 1200m the other day suggests he's going to get further, but I'd say he's a sprinter-miler at this stage.”