DARCI’S DREAM victorious at Taupo 20th August 2014 – Matt Cameron aboard
Late in July, John and Jessica Galvin hosted Jason and Stacey Bridgman at dinner one evening and toasted the results of the 2013/14 season which saw four individual Fortuna NZ based horses salute the judge for six wins. Naturally enough, we also focused on what the 2014/15 season may bring us and, in general terms, we agreed that the Fortuna NZ team had real depth to it and the upcoming season may prove to be a fruitful one. Now, with one month of the new season gone, Fortuna horses have trialed five times for four wins and a second and had two horses to the races (Darci’s Dream and Highly Likely) for two wins, heady stuff forFortuna and its Members. Read more on these results in the news items below.
The 3yo Fillies race over 1100 metres at the Taupo August meeting is often a starting point for some very good 3yo Fillies, with 2013/14 season Sprinter of The Year, BOUNDING winning in 2013 and the multiple Group winning FIX successful in 2012. The 2014 renewal lacked little for class with eight of the ten runners having been successful as 2yo’s. The Fortunarunner DARCI’S DREAM was one of those who had been successful as a 2yo, having had five starts for one win, a second and a third. A smart trial winner at Te Teko on the 5th August, she had certainly declared her hand as having the potential to carry over her fine 2yo form into her 3yo season. Confidence in the camp, however, was tempered by the quality of the field.
In the run, DARCI’S DREAM was three wide but strode nicely into the race before the turn, however as they turned, she was six lengths shy of the race leader Queen of Navarre, who had not covered an inch of extra ground. 2014 Premiership winning jockey,Matthew Cameron, knuckled down to ride the Fortuna filly out and she showed great strength to run out the final two hundred metres strongly and take out the event. Click HERE to view Race Video Replay.
Fortuna Director, John Galvin was on hand, along with a number of the Syndicate Members, to cheer their charge home, “A great result for this horse, every Filly in the field today has Classic race aspirations and for her to win like that is a great thrill for us and all of her owners. This horse has been patiently handled by Jason Bridgman and his team and that patience is bearing fruit” he said.
DARCI’S DREAM, bred by David Ellis and Karyn Fenton-Ellis, was acquired by Fortuna Syndicators at the 2013 Karaka Select Sale, is owned by the Darci’s Dream Syndicate, comprising 30 individual owners.
FORTUNA four year old Gelding, HIGHLY LIKELY, showed that his debut win at Te Aroha in June at just his second race day start was no fluke, when taking out the Rating 65 1600 event at Matamata Wednesday 27th August. Freshened since his June win, connections regarded the distance as possibly too short for this strapping son of High Chapparral out of the Volksraad mare Starrinka and with track conditions steadily drying out, there was also a concern that the going may be too good for him. In his favour was a good barrier draw, blinkers for the first time and a 3kg weight allowance for apprentice jockey, Lee Magorrian.
The horse dwelt slightly at the start, however, his rider soon had him up on the rail just in behind the leaders and enjoyed a lovely run in transit. Magorrian peeled him out as they straightened and he burst to lead with 150 metres to go, however faced a stern challenge from Thats How We Roll, who was finishing like a train down the outside, but in a dramatic head bobbing finish, HIGHLY LIKELY got the nod from the judge. Click HERE to see the race replay
FORTUNA Director, John Galvin, who was on track along with a number of the Syndicate Members, was naturally proud of his charge. “He is a lovely horse, a real stayer in the making, he has come on beautifully since his Te Aroha win and still has a lot of maturing to do yet; we probably won’t see the best of him until he is a five and six year old. Full credit to Jason Bridgman and the Te Akau team for their work with this horse; in particular Jamie Richards who rides him in most of his work and has taken him up Ann Brown’s hill at Cambridge a few time recently; this has contributed to his development and fitness levels as well.”
HIGHLY LIKELY was the top priced lot at the 2012 South Island sale, where he was selected on behalf of Fortuna by Te Akau Racing Supremo, David Ellis. The horse is raced by the Fortuna Highly Likely Syndicate, an ownership group consisting of 25 individuals.
As is customary, the month of August saw two sets of trials at the Te Teko racecourse, its pumice surface providing a reasonable racing surface for those horses getting their Spring campaigns under way. At the first set of trials on the 5th August, Fortuna produced three runners, 3yo Filly DARCI’S DREAM, 4yo gelding SIR DARCI and 3yo Gelding PRINCE HENRY. Incredibly, all three won on the day.The second set of trials on the 26th August saw two Fortuna runners, 2yo Filly,WINDBORNE, having her trials debut and PRINCE HENRY having a final trials run before making his race day debut. There was a lot of interest inWINDBORNE, for two reasons. Firstly, she is a full sister to the two time winner,DARCI’S DREAM and secondly, the quality of her track gallops at Matamata had been turning a few heads. She didn’t disappoint, going straight to the lead from a widish draw in her 600 metre event and showing a clean pair of heels to her rivals, winning under a hold by two and a half lengths. “This filly is well named”, said rider Matt Cameron as he dismounted, “she runs like the wind.”
WINDBORNE all alone near the wining post-Te Teko 26th August 2014
3yo PRINCE HENRY had won as he liked at his 800 metre trial on the 5th August; this time he was going over 1000 metres and the trial plan was to ride him a lot quieter in order to teach him a bit more about the racing game. However, blessed with early speed, he burst to the front as they jumped, but rider Matt Cameron restrained him, letting a few runners go around and then allowed the horse to run on strongly in the straight, but under no real pressure, to finish second to another runner who was being pressured all the way to the line. A powerfully built 3yo with a lovely smooth galloping action, PRINCE HENRY will probably debut at Taupo on 19th September.
Recent winner HIGHLY LIKELY (High Chapparal), is pencilled in to run in a rating 75 event over 2200 metres Rotorua 14th September, PRINCE HENRY (Henrythenavigator)
will probably debut at Taupo on 19th September, while the very promising 3yo filly, DARCI’S DREAM, will chase black type in theCanterbury Belle Stakes over 1200 metres at Riccarton on 20th September.SIR DARCI is ready to go to the races and is just awaiting suitable track conditions.
In other news 4yo Mare SELINE (Pentire) will trial at Cambridge (track conditions being suitable) on 9th September. 3yo Geldings DURAN (Darci Brahma) and ROYAL ASCOT (Keeper) are both having paddock spells, while 3yo Filly, OUR DRAHMA QUEEN (Darci Brahma) continues to recover from a shoulder injury suffered some time ago. Of the Two year Olds that we we acquired as yearlings at Karaka earlier this year, filly EBONY EYES (Bachelor Duke-Keepa Cruisin) will probably trial late in September, 2yo gelding BUTCH CASSIDY (Darci Brahma-Twelve Carat) is currently spelling at Te Akau and will return to work late in September while the physically outstanding 2yo“BELLA” Savabeel-Lynisky filly returned to Matamata in this past week for her second stable preparation. “LORDE” (Iffraaj-Naturo) is recovering from some fetlock swelling and will resume work in late September and “JACK” (Sakhees Secret) is in the final stages of his breaking in regime at Te Akau Stud.
4yo Gelding KING SAVINSKY (Savabeel) has completed all of his early Singapore preparation and will debut there in a Class 4 event over 1200 metres on Sunday 7th September. A genuine staying type, the 1200 metre trip will no doubt be too short for him, but is a good starting point for the horse. 3yo fillySECRET SPICE (Sakhees Secret) who ran a fair 5th when resuming from a spell recently, starts again Friday 19th September. The staying type 4yo, DOUBLE JEOPARDY (Mettre En Jeu) is back in work after spelling and will return to the races soon. 5yo READY FORTUNE (More Than Ready)who was successful in July, has been enjoying a spell and resumes work this coming week, while 6yo VON SNITZEL (Snitzel) continues to campaign solidly, running into the money in most of his runs since winning in June. EATONS GOLD (Jetspur) and OUR RIVER DANCER (Danehill Dancer) are both spelling in Malaysia, following knee surgery and will return to Singapore later in the year.
VON SNITZEL with Lisa Allpress aboard and Trainer, Mark Walker, after wining in Singapore 27th June
Often we get emails or phone calls for clients asking how they can know when FORTUNA horses may be racing. The very simple answer is to check the FORTUNA website www.fortuna-nz.com on a regular basis as we have a section on the Home Page which features upcoming starts forFORTUNA runners. Members should save the website to their favourites and check on a regular basis.
Near the top right hand corner of the FORTUNA website are a number of links to Social Media sites, such as FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Blogger. Clicking on any of these will take you to the FORTUNA pages on these sites. “Liking” and “Sharing” the Fortuna page on FaceBook is particularly helpful to us in this day and age of Social Media and does help us immensely in spreading the FORTUNA story. Clicking on the YouTube link will take you to replays of Fortuna horses winning races and trials, either on the Home Page or at PlayLists/Fortuna Horses Racing.
In our August newsletter, we mentioned the possibility of a lovely Darci Brahma 2yo Filly becoming available. Unfortunately, this Filly failed a vet check and so we have not proceeded. We continue to look for a suitable opportunity. In the meantime, there are still a few shares left (10% on total) in the strong, powerful 2yo Filly by Savabeel out of Lynisky. Nicknamed BELLA, she was acquired by us at Karaka Select Sale this year and we really rate her. She has completed an initial stables preparation, has been spelled for two months and has just gone back to Matamata for her second prep.
She won’t be a Two Year Old type but with her pedigree and physical attributes, will furnish into a real staying type as a 3yo and older. The mare, Lynisky (by Stravinsky) has had four foals to the races and all have been winners, Each 5% share in this filly is $7400 for Initial costs plus $900 to cover the monthly ongoing expenses April to September inclusive with $150 per month ongoing from October. We will also do shares in this filly as low as 1%, so if you have interest in a parcel of any size. contact John Galvin.
BELLA – TwoYear Old Filly by Savabeel out of Lynisky
No question that the new season has got off to a flyer for us, although we would be the first to observe that this racing game can be a great leveller. However, we do seem to have lot of firepower across the board with our runners in both New Zealand and Singapore and we wish all of our Members the very best of luck over the ensuring months.
Contact John Galvin directly by email john@fortuna-nz.com or cell phone 021 921 460