Cover image courtesy of Racing Photos
Race-Day Recap
Doubtland gets his first winner with his first runner as the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained Leave No Doubt prevails at Bendigo.
Cool Aza Beel (NZ)’s first winner, Cool Aza Rene, comes full circle for Te Akau.
Widden’s Doubtland notches up first winner with first runner
Tony and Calvin McEvoy trained 2-year-old colt Leave No Doubt (Doubtland) went to Bendigo on Saturday to become the first race day representative for his sire, and he delivered with a 0.25l win for jockey Jarrod Fry. Lindsay Park trained the second and third-placed horses being 2-year-old colt Hello Romeo (NZ) (Hello Youmzain {Fr}) and 2-year-old filly Queens Of Vino (Exceedance).
Doubtland, who stands at Widden Victoria, was an unbeaten juvenile, winning on debut in March and following that up with a win in the G3 Kindergarten S. At three, he won the G2 Danehill S. and was fourth in the G1 Coolmore Stud S. A $1.1 million yearling, he is a son of Not A Single Doubt.
Leave No Doubt was sold by Widden Stud at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale for $160,000 to his trainers and Belmont Bloodstock Agency (FBAA). He is the third foal and first winner for Elusive Melody (Your Song) who won three races and was placed at Moonee Valley. Elusive Melody is a half-sister to G3 Blue Diamond Preview (Fillies)-placed Crossing The Abbey (Helmet) and is out of a winning full sister to Listed Blue Sapphire S. winner City Of Song (Bel Esprit).
Doubtland | Standing at Widden Victoria
Te Akau's Cool Aza Rene provides her sire the perfect start
Te Akau Racing won the G1 Sistema S. and Karaka Million with their Champion 2YO in New Zealand, Cool Aza Beel (NZ), and the same outfit gave him his first winner when exciting 2-year-old filly Cool Aza Rene won on debut at Otaki over 800 metres on Saturday. The third runner for Cool Aza Beel, she won by 1.3l from Sierra Leone (NZ) (Sun City) with Abbakiss (Microphone) only 0.1l from second.
“It is fantastic for us to have bought and trained the first winner for Cool Aza Beel,” Te Akau’s principal David Ellis told Loveracing.nz. “It’s also a big thrill that she’s out of a mare by Xtravagant. He’s another horse we bought at Karaka, and he won the 2000 Guineas and now stands alongside Cool Aza Beel at Newhaven Park Stud.
“Cool Aza Rene was bred by Newhaven Park’s Kelly family, whose 15,000-acre property in south-west New South Wales is just magnificent and beautifully farmed, and they’ve bred some great horses there. All three of the first-crop 2-year-olds by Cool Aza Beel that we’ve got in the stable are showing potential, and I was very impressed by how well this filly raced on debut.
“All three of the first-crop 2-year-olds by Cool Aza Beel that we’ve got in the stable are showing potential, and I was very impressed by how well this filly (Cool Aza Rene) raced on debut.” - David Ellis
“We bought Cool Aza Beel at Karaka, off the Fell family at Fairdale Stud. After winning the first 2-year-old race at Wanganui, he went on to win the Karaka Million 2YO and the Sistema Stakes, and he was champion 2-year-old. To see him go on to stand in Australia, then be able to buy his first winning progeny really is a great result.
“She had to do a bit, too, because they kicked up on her inside and I thought it was a really good run to win.”
Cool Aza Rene, a $55,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale graduate, will head to Te Akau’s South Island stable next with a juvenile race on November 13 as her next target. “We’re a great believer in the benefits of travelling young horses, because it seems to be the making of them long-term,” co-trainer Mark Walker said.
Cool Aza Rene winning at Otaki | Image courtesy of Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North)
“It was a really good win today, and it’s always exciting to see the progeny of one of our former stable stars winning for the first time. She was certainly another good-value purchase by Dave (Ellis) from Book 2 of the Magic Millions Sale. He bought the filly from a great nursery, Newhaven Park Stud, where Cool Aza Beel stands. They’re incredible breeders that have been excited by the progeny of the sire, and they’ve been breeding Group 1 winners for decades. They are certainly one of the best stud farms in Australia, and it’s exciting for the Kelly family to have the first winner on the board by Cool Aza Beel.
“She’s a very professional and well-educated filly, and I really like the patience she showed. She was required to stand in the barriers for a long time. It just showed how well she’d been broken-in and handled by the team at Te Akau Stud, plus all of our good track riders that we’ve got established at Matamata.”
Cool Aza Beel is a son of Savabeel who won on debut as an early September juvenile, then came back over summer to win three of his five starts, including the R-Listed Karaka Million and G1 Diamond S. (now Sistema S.).
Cool Aza Beel (NZ) | Standing at Newhaven Park Stud
Cool Aza Rene is the first foal of unraced mare Irene (Xtravagant {NZ}) who is a half-sister to G3 MVRC Champagne S.-placed Mintha (Redoute’s Choice) and her dam, Hades (Encosta De Lago) is a winning daughter of Champion 2YO Filly in Australia and dual Group 1 winner Hasna (Snippets).
