New Zealand-bred horses won every Derby in Australia last season. Below we take a look at the six NZ-Breds in Saturday’s Gr.1 VRC Derby (2500m)
Forgot You (NZ)
3YO Colt – Savabeel x Simply You
Busuttin Racing paid $330,000 for the Waikato Stud-bred colt from the draft of Ohukia Lodge at the Sydney Ready To Race Sale.
Prepared by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, the pair previously won the VRC Derby a decade ago with Sangster, another son of Savabeel providing them with a breakthrough Group One triumph.
Forgot You was bought as a three-year-old classic type and that’s exactly the way he’s headed with everything up until this point suggesting the Derby would be the perfect race for him.
By champion sire Savabeel, who has produced 24 individual Group One winners, including Derby winners Sangster and Brambles, Forgot You is the second foal out of the winning O’Reilly mare Simply You, who hails from one of Waikato Stud’s best-known families.
Forgot You’s granddam is the Group One-winning sprinter Glamour Puss and the family includes Group One winners Steps In Time and Vision and Power. While his dam line doesn’t immediately scream ‘stayer’, his performances to date, including his win in the Gr.2 Vase (2040m) at the Valley suggest 2500m will suit.
Tutukaka (NZ)
3YO Gelding – Tavistock x Meleka Belle
Melody Belle’s half-brother was purchased by trainer Tony Pike for $250,000 at the 2020 NZB Karaka Yearling Sale.
While Melody Belle (Commands) won 19 races from 900m to 2040m, this gelding appears to be more in the mould of his late sire, Tavistock, with his two wins coming in Listed races over 1800m and 2200m, the latest in the Listed Geelong Classic (2200m).
Tavistock needs little introduction as a sire and his recent record in the VRC Derby is phenomenal, thanks to the wins of his sons Tarzino in 2015 and Johnny Get Angry in 2020.
His dam Meleka Belle, by Iffraaj, only won over 1200m, but grand-dam Empress Belle is by Sir Tristram and won up to 2100m so am confident he can be there fighting out the finish.
Gunstock (NZ)
3YO Colt – Tavistock x Zeranti
The colt was bred by Cambridge Stud and initially sold for $80,000 as a yearling at Karaka before Import Racing paid $135,000 for him out of the Ohukia Lodge draft at the Sydney Ready To Race Sale.
Prepared by Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr, Gunstock is by the outstanding classic sire Tavistock, whose stock have been greatly admired by Price, who at one stage prepared the multiple Group One winner, who was predominantly trained by Andrew Campbell throughout his career, in a brief Melbourne campaign.
Gunstock is out of the unraced Zabeel mare Zeranti, whose only other foal to race is the multiple Stakes-placed The Irishman.
Bred on the magic cross of Tavistock over a Zabeel mare, which has also been responsible for classic winners Werther, Tarzino, Johnny Get Angry and Toffee Tongue, Gunstock is lightly-tried, with two wins and a third from just four starts.
He was a very impressive last start winner of the Gr.3 Caulfield Classic (2000m) where the addition of blinkers made a world of difference.
Jungle Magnate (NZ)
3YO Gelding – Tarzino x The Love Of Money
Given he prepared Tarzino to a string of feature wins, including the 2015 Gr.1 VRC Derby (2500m), it was no surprise to see Mick Price pay $75,000 for a colt from his first crop at the 2020 NZB Karaka Yearling Sale.
Bred by Gerry Harvey and sold through his Westbury Stud, which is home to Tarzino, Jungle Magnate won on debut at two and was Stakes-placed in the Gr.2 Vase over 2040m at The Valley, catching the eye when finishing third in last week’s pre-cursor to the Derby.
Jungle Magnate is the first foal to race out of the Casino Prince mare The Love Of Money, who was a maiden on the racetrack, but is out of a Brazilian Group One winner up to 2000m with plenty of top class South American black-type on the page.
Commander Harry (NZ)
3YO Gelding – Reliable Man x Our Josephina
A $50,000 purchase at the 2020 NZB Ready to Run Sale from the draft of Kilmore Farm, Commander Harry landed in the stables of previous Victoria Derby winners Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, who love sourcing staying types from their native New Zealand.
A son of Reliable Man, the gelding is out of the Zabeel mare Our Josephina, whose only win came over 2200m.
Bred by Greg Perry’s Greenwich Stud, Our Josephina is a sister to Luminova, the dam of last year’s Victoria Debry winner Johnny Get Angry, so this pedigree ticks all the boxes.
Our Josephina is a daughter of Stakes-winning mare Pavlova, who also ran fourth in a Queensland Oaks.
There’s no doubting Westbury Stud stallion Reliable Man’s ability to sire classic winners, with VRC Oaks winner Miami Bound and New Zealand Oaks winner Sentimental Miss among his best-performed southern hemisphere progeny.
Cheerful Moment (NZ)
3YO Colt – Mongolian Khan x Baralo’kash
Originally purchased for a fairly modest $15,000 from Highview Stud’s draft at the 2020 NZB Karaka Yearling Sale by Horse Feng Bloodstock, this son of Mongolian Khan, who resides at Windsor Park Stud, was originally prepared by Stephen Marsh.
Placed on debut behind subsequent Group One winning juvenile Sword Of State, Cheerful Moment was a private purchase horse for a syndicate headed by Gerry Ryan, which includes noted form analyst Deane Lester.
His sire Mongolian Khan won three Group Ones, all at 2400m, including the New Zealand and ATC Derbys, in addition to the Caulfield Cup.
Not surprisingly, many of Mongolian’s Khan’s early offspring have shown staying prowess, including Oaks-placed filly My Squeeze Louise.
He is the seventh named foal out of Kashani mare Baralo’kash, who has produced four winners, including two that have won out to 1800m.
It’s a versatile family that has produced an Oaks winner in Dear Demi but also plenty of sharper types, including Golden Slipper winner Capitalist.
The Lindsay Smith-trained runner commenced his campaign with a win at Northam in WA and has been building nicely towards the Derby, with last week’s tenth placing in the Gr.2 Vase (2040m) a total forgive run.
