New Zealand's Champions Day is all about putting Kiwi racing on the map

Cover image courtesy of Nicole Troost

For Entain’s outgoing Manager Director of New Zealand Cameron Rodgers, Saturday’s Champions Day at Ellerslie was the perfect culmination of his and outgoing Deputy Chief Executive Lachlan Fitt’s endeavours within the company. The jewel in the race card’s crown was the inaugural running of the NZ$3.5 million New Zealand Bloodstock The Kiwi, which was particularly special for Rodgers, who owns a share in the winner.

“I think it (the Kiwi) couldn’t have gone better,” Rodgers told The Thoroughbred Report. “The way the race came together, the field - it drew a large amount of attention and cut through to the mainstream. Things were shaping up so well leading into it, and the race itself didn’t disappoint.”

Rodgers was trackside to enjoy the festivities; “it was the most electric atmosphere that I’ve ever seen at the races. For the first time, there were a lot of people coming across the ditch to come over here for a race day. That might not sound like much, but that’s a huge step forward for us.”

Even as he transitions out of Entain and into the breeding and racing world, Rodgers hopes this year’s Champions Day can be a blueprint for success for years to come.

Preparing a headline race day

“The objective for us (Rodgers and Fitt) is to drive domestic wagering, turnover, and interest, but being able to export the New Zealand racing product into Australia and out to the world is what gets attention more than anything else,” Rodgers said. He recognised that the presence of three Australian-trained raiders in the Kiwi - as well as visiting jockeys such as in-form Ashley Morgan, Blake Shinn, and Michael Dee - was a huge additional boost to the program.

“Seeing horses in colours they recognise, with jockeys they recognise, that’s a huge, huge part of it. So to be able to have that quality of the horses that came (was) fantastic). It was a really big kick for the race, and a huge get for New Zealand as well.”

Gallery: Australian-trained raiders and jockeys add a boost to the Kiwi program, images courtesy of Sportpix

All the better, then, when a local takes out the top prize, owned and trained by one of the nation’s biggest investors in the local racing scene. Rodgers owns a slice of the winner, Damask Rose (NZ) (Savabeel), and was full of praise for the efforts of Te Akau Racing and winning trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson.

“I’m very pleased to see Te Akau doing so well,” he said. “It is an amazing reward for David (Ellis) and Karen (Fenton-Ellis), they've carried so much of the load in terms of keeping racing going down here through some of the harder times. So it's been awesome to see them do so well in the first running of it.”

Te Akau Racing’s race day was crowned with their 100th Group 1 victory, courtesy of unbeaten colt Return To Conquer’s (Snitzel) victory in the G1 Sistema Stakes.

The enduring power of Savabeel

Now the winner of over NZ$2.2 million across seven lucrative starts, Damask Rose has been an incredible jumping off point for Rodgers’ personal investment in New Zealand racing.

“When we got the keys (to Entain in New Zealand), one of the first things we did was get down to Waikato and meet some of the breeders,” Rodgers shared. “I got the chance to meet (Waikato Stud’s) Mark Chittick and Garry Chittick for the first time, and we got to see Savabeel, which was great.”

New Zealand’s multiple Champion Sire left an indelible impression on Rodgers - which is no surprise, given his offspring’s exploits on the track and in the breeding barn - and they were keen to invest in one of his yearlings. As luck would have it, the Te Akau Racing team had a few shares remaining in a Savabeel filly out of Sombreuil (Flying Spur), a daughter of previous Te Akau flagbearer Te Akau Rose (NZ) (Thorn Park).

“She was actually the last yearling that Te Akau had shares in,” Rodgers said. “So we said, ‘okay, we’ll take her’.”

A shrewd choice; Damask Rose was runner-up in the R. Listed Karaka Millions 2YO last year and won the R. Listed Karaka Millions 3YO en route to Saturday’s win, booking herself a ballot exempt ticket to the $10 million Golden Eagle across the Tasman in November. Her full sister Provence (NZ) contributed to a huge Saturday for their sire - who also had a Group 2 winner in Sydney with emerging sprinter Jedibeel (NZ) - by winning the G1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes on the same card, further enhancing both fillies’ pedigrees.

It was the beginning of a strong friendship with the Chitticks as well; Rodgers and Fitt were able to get involved in I Wish I Win (NZ) (Savabeel) and enjoy the ride of having a slot in the G1 Everest in the spring.

“It’s a really good bond that we have formed (with the Chitticks),” Rodgers said. “It’s scary what Savabeel has done. Even in his twilight years, he is still producing these amazing horses. It’s been a great ride with them.

“And with the Te Akau team, we couldn’t have asked for a better result. When you step back and look at Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, it’s been an absolute masterclass watching them pull this campaign together. We’re very lucky to be a part of it.”

That is not to ignore Waikato Stud’s Super Seth, whom Rodgers was also full of praise for, adding, “he’s had a cracking couple of weeks. The team really are lovely people, so we really want to see them do well.”

Strengthening international connections

The reciprocal link with the Golden Eagle is just one of a range of international relationships that New Zealand racing and Entain have been working to establish, and Rodgers believes it is the next great step in promoting Kiwi racing.

At the beginning of the year, a relationship between NZTR and 1/ST in the United States was announced with a series of ‘golden ticket’ races in both countries that permit winners of certain races to race on the international stage, with travel covered for runners. The NZ$500,000 Champion Middle Distance Series and NZ$500,000 Champion Sprint Series winners have been invited to California Crown day in September.

“For us down here, being able to export our horses and see them run internationally, it's huge for growing the sport down here,” he said, referencing El Vencedor’s (NZ) (Shocking) recent invite to run in Hong Kong for the jurisdiction’s Champions Day. “For the owners to take him up there, it’s amazing. The more of those that we can get, the better.

“The flow between borders is all just helping grow the game, so it’s really exciting to see.”

Championing New Zealand’s breeding industry

As he prepares to move beyond Entain, Rodgers turns his attention now to supporting the Kiwi racing and breeding industry to flourish; last year, he became involved in his first broodmare, and is excited to see his first foal born this spring. Fitt and he have leased a mare from Sir Peter Vela to visit Cambridge Stud’s new shuttler Chaldean (GB).

“Chaldean is going to be our first foray into the breeding game,” Rodgers said. “We're looking forward to it and bought a three year breeding right. Hopefully we can get a decent one going, and if not, we'll learn a few things on the way.”

On a broader scale, Rodgers wants to make the breeding game more accessible

“We have taken a look at the kind of the breeding market here in New Zealand and one of the challenges it's got is that the broodmare band is declining both in number and in quality,” he said. “So we're taking a look at creating a vehicle for people to invest and get into the breeding game, and especially at the elite level.

“We're looking to start something in the coming weeks that’s going to help give people a pathway into that side of things. So watch this space.”

He hinted at taking inspiration for evolving broodmare syndicate models employed by Taylor Made Farm in the States and the MyRacehorse Hitotsu broodmare syndicate in Australia.

“I think the general rationale is for people like me, I became a breeder for the first time last year and would love to invest in a high quality broodmare,” Rodgers said. “It's one thing to get over the first barrier, which is the initial purchase price. But then, even if you can get over that, you're centralising all your risk in just one mare, right? Which is really too dangerous for most people.

“But if you can buy into a portfolio of ten quality mares and spread your risk, while still getting access to that upper level of mare, that’s a lot safer. We think that there's a real opportunity to make it work and to actually potentially do quite well, along with ensuring the quality of the broodmare population stays high in New Zealand.”

The proven quality of New Zealand’s stallions is, to Rodgers, a great complement to the interests of starting breeders; stallion fees are comparably much lower and more accessible than those across the Tasman, and the stallions that do stand for big fees have earned their right to be there.

“These stallions really do it the hard way,” he said. “Proving themselves on those small fees before getting the elite mares is pretty remarkable. They really have to show it all on the track (with their offspring).

“I do think it's part of what I've fallen in love with in the breeding game down here; the land, the quality of the horsemen and women that we have down here, and the strength of our sires.”

He added, “in New Zealand, a lot of it is about finding ways to bring outside capital. As I look at it, the really incredible part about the New Zealand market is that a lot of our farms are running true commercial operations. They have to be functional. Most of them are not bankrolled by external sources. A big part of our goal is to try to find ways to get more people involved, help democratise horse ownership, try and find ways to make it more accessible and more user friendly for everyday people to be a part of, because it really is a great success story of New Zealand.

“I think if people were able to see more and understand more of it, it’s something that people can be really proud and willing to be a part of.”