Spring racing in the South Island has been a happy hunting ground for Te Akau Racing throughout the last couple of decades, and that trend is set to continue with another strong team of seven runners at Riccarton Park on Saturday.
New Zealand's leading trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson won 63 races in the South Island last season, and they have continued in much the same vein with a dozen winners through the first two months of 2024-25.
Perhaps the highest-profile of those is the three-year-old Savabeel colt Age Of Discovery, who scored a smart debut victory at Riccarton on September 14. He beat talented older rival Full Moon Fever by a neck in that 1200m maiden race, with the rest of the field more than four lengths adrift of the first pair.
Bought by David Ellis for $625,000 as a yearling at Karaka last year, Age Of Discovery will attempt to bolster his claims for the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) when he makes the second start of his promising career in Saturday's Rangiora New World Guineas Trial (1400m).
"He's pretty smart and is building himself a bit of a reputation," Te Akau's Riccarton stable foreman Hunter Durrant said.
"Opie (Bosson, jockey) got off him after that debut win and said all he'll do is improve, and he's definitely done that already.
"It's going to be good to see him run against his own age group on Saturday, and the step up to 1400m should give us a bit of a line on him ahead of a potential Guineas campaign."
Age Of Discovery is already prominent in the TAB's fixed-odds market for the 2000 Guineas on November 9, sitting on a quote of $8 and sharing second favouritism with the recent debut Taupo winner Sought After. That market is headed by Savaglee at $5.
Another notable member of Te Akau's southern squad on Saturday is Tokyo Tycoon , who will make his South Island debut in the Elmwood Trading Company Rating 75 (1200m).
The son of Satono Aladdin was the champion two-year-old of his year, winning four races including the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) and the Gr.3 Matamata Slipper (1200m). He added the Listed El Roca-Sir Colin Meads Trophy (1200m) as a spring three-year-old last season, and his six subsequent appearances included a fifth in the Gr.2 Hawke's Bay Guineas (1400m), a third behind Pendragon and Quintessa in a strong age-group race at Te Rapa, and a fifth in the Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m).
Saturday's race will be Tokyo Tycoon's first appearance since he was unplaced in the Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m) in March. The four-year-old holds a nomination for the Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m) during the New Zealand Cup Carnival in November.
"He's obviously a quality animal," Durrant said. "He's travelled down and settled in really well, and he seems to be coming up nicely.
"He has a good record on soft ground, so even if we get a bit of rain leading into the races on Saturday, it shouldn't worry him too much.
"It'll be good to see how he goes fresh. He'll have bigger targets in store for him down here later in the spring."
Tokyo Tycoon will be joined in that Rating 75 event by stablemates Malmaison and Superbly Written. Malmaison has been a back-to-back winner on synthetic surfaces in his last two starts, while Superbly Written resumed at Taupo late last month and played little part in the race after rearing at the start.
"Malmaison has had a bit of a freshen-up since he last ran at the end of last month," Durrant said. "He's definitely building up nicely. Wiremu (Pinn, jockey) knows him well and should give him a nice run.
"You can't read too much into Superbly Written's first-up run. The Matamata team have sent her down here in great order and her coat is immaculate. She's spent time down here before, so knows the system ere well. I'd expect her to run well this weekend."
Perfect Scenario will line up as topweight in the Marshall Batteries Open Handicap (1400m), having kicked off his seven-year-old season with a bold win over 1200m on September 14. Bought by Ellis for $165,000, the Iffraaj gelding has won 10 of his 38 starts and banked almost $400,000.
"He's just a gem," Durrant said. "If all horses were like him, the game would be easy. He's a real stable favourite. He's spent a lot of time down here and seems to love South Island life.
"Ngakau Hailey's 3kg claim will obviously be a big help on Saturday. He still has a bit more of his coat to come through, but he's improved a lot from his first-up run and should be a good chance again."
Te Akau's other Riccarton runners are El Viento in the Thank You Gordon Fulton Rating 75 (1600m) and Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) contender Fierce Flight in the Waimakariri Businesses North Canterbury Cup (2000m).
"Considering it was a day where they were running fast times and on-speed horses were favoured, we thought El Viento ran well first-up," Durrant said. "He made up good ground. He didn't make the field off the ballot two weeks ago, so he's been to the trials instead and his trial was huge. He should put in a really bold performance this weekend.
"Fierce Flight has been finding the line nicely over 1600m and 1800m. He's got some bigger aims coming up, moving towards the New Zealand Cup. He's taken good improvement from his last-start run and has been working well."
