A good staying mare, Court Of Appeal (5 m Eminent – Katy O’Beel, by Zabeel) wrapped the day for Mark Walker & Sam Bergerson with a strong winning performance in the $25,000 Corin & Bobbity Murfitt Rating 75 2000 metres on 18 February at Riccarton. It bookended the day for the Te Akau trainers, after winning the first race on the programme with Aishiteru (Satono Aladdin).

Impressive when winning the Open Handicap 2200 metres on 11 October at Ashburton, set Court Of Appeal on a path to contesting both the Metropolitan Handicap (Listed, 2600m) and New Zealand Cup (Gr. 3, 3200m) during Cup Week in November, and although fighting hard for sixth in the Metropolitan, she found the Cup a bridge to far on what developed into testing Heavy9 conditions. Given a freshen-up by the trainers, she made ground down the outside from last when resuming on Heavy8 in the Rating 75 1600 metres on 24 January at Riccarton, and her previous four wins to 2200 metres assured she was strongly supported.

Combining again for her third win with Brazilian jockey Bruno Queiroz, Court Of Appeal was urged from the gates to secure a handy position on the rail, lifted into contention at the 300m, and drew away from pacemaker Peecee Pussycat (Pure Champion) over the concluding stages. On footing that remained Heavy8 throughout the day, Court Of Appeal ran 2000 metres in 2:06.4, last 600m in 37.0 (approx.) and tumbled late in betting to pay $2.60 & $1.30 on the NZ TAB tote.

Click HERE to see the race replay

“It was a terrific win by Court Of Appeal and caps off a golden run in the stable for the Fortuna Racing team, managed by John and Jessica Galvin,” Walker said. “Bruno (Queiroz) gets on really well with the mare. She’s taken time and the owners have been very patient, but being by Eminent, out of a Zabeel mare, she was always going to be slower to mature and we’re starting to see the rewards coming through now. “It was unfortunate when she contested the New Zealand Cup on the day that the weather bomb came through Christchurch, but she’s shaping up to be a really nice staying mare and we expect her to improve again next season.”

Walker said that Court Of Appeal will prepare for the $180,000 Positive Signs + Print Dunedin Gold Cup (Listed, 2400m) on Saturday 28 February at Wingatui.

Court Of Appeal – 5th career victory – Riccarton 18th February 2026
Bruno Queiroz aboard

Purchased for $20,000 by David Ellis CNZM and Fortuna Racing from the Karaka 2022 Book 2 Sale, from the draft of Brighthill Farm, she is owned by Fortuna Court Of Appeal Syndicate (Mgr: John Galvin) an Ownership Group of 46 individuals

“It was a good result today, after we were a bit apprehensive yesterday with all the rain, but Mark (Walker) and I had a good chat last night and all things considered we elected to start,” John Galvin said. “With the Dunedin Gold Cup in mind, she needed to run today, and while I don’t think she was overly comfortable in the ground, her class was good enough to get her home. She had run home stoutly to finish only three and a half lengths away over a mile, in her fresh-up run, and it was just the question mark over the track conditions. That’s her third win this season which has helped the Fortuna Racing strike rate to 4.1, with 10 wins from 41 races in New Zealand and Australia,” added Galvin, whose star filly Lara Antipova (Russian Revolution) remained unbeaten in three starts when winning the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (Gr. 2, 1200m) last Saturday, while also providing Te Akau with their 11^th win in the race.

Court Of Appeal is by Brighthill Farm stallion Eminent, a Group Two winner and dual Group One placed son of peerless racehorse and sire Frankel (Galileo) – currently leading the TRC Global Sires Rankings – trained by Sir Mark Todd and owned by Sir Peter Vela.

From the first crop by Eminent, Court Of Appeal is out of a mare that won three times to 2200 metres, in turn from sensational staying mare Katy Keen (Zorro’s Lad), a Group Two and Group Three winner that won 10 times to 2500 metres. Court Of Appeal is the second winner from Katy O’Beel, following Enright (Power), a four-time winner to 2100 metres.

Court Of Appeal was strapped by Amelia Southworth.