Affirmative Action Lands Listed Prize in Second Start

The $110,000 Listed Sir Colin Meads Trophy (1200m) at Ellerslie on Saturday was a monumental step up in class for Affirmative Action (Yes Yes Yes) in only the second race of his career, but the talented Karaka graduate rose to the occasion and secured a black-type triumph.

Affirmative Action was bought by Ballymore Stables, Paul Moroney Bloodstock and Catheryne Bruggeman for $115,000 from the Book 2 draft of Wentwood Grange at Karaka 2024. He has now had two starts for a win, a placing and $66,850.

Trainer Pam Gerard gave Affirmative Action two trials as a spring two-year-old. When he returned to the trials in the early stages of his current preparation, he showed signs of real progress with a win and a placing from those two appearances. His raceday debut was at Taupo on August 17, where he stuck on solidly for third over 1100 metres.

That five-horse field at Taupo was a long way below the quality of the line-up Affirmative Action faced on the big stage at Ellerslie, but Gerard always believed he had the ability to measure up. On Saturday he proved her right.

Affirmative Action was ridden by George Rooke, who sent him forward from his wide gate to take up a position on the outside of the front-running Lady Iris (NZ) (U S Navy Flag).

Rooke pushed the button in the straight and Affirmative Action pulled ahead of Lady Iris. He Who Dares (NZ) (Snitzel) came with a late run and briefly posed a threat, but Affirmative Action had enough in reserve to hold him out by a neck.

“There wasn’t as much pace as I thought there would be, and ideally I would have liked to be behind one and getting cover,” Rooke said. “He has done everything wrong, he came around the bend on the wrong leg, but I made sure he was balanced. Although he waited for a bit of company, he has a very big engine. He’s a really nice horse.”

Gerard is delighted to have another classy three-year-old in her Matamata stable, having guided fellow Karaka graduate Savaglee (NZ) (Savabeel) to win the Group One New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) and three Group Two races last season.

“We’ve been waiting for this horse for a long time,” Gerard said. “We tried to get him going as a two-year-old. You can see how big and lanky he is. He had niggly little issues, so if we pushed him, I think he would have gone the wrong way. So we’ve been patient.

“We gave him a couple of trials this time in and brought him here for a gallop. He hasn’t put a foot wrong. I just couldn’t believe the price this morning.

“But it’s always good to get out and perform against the good ones, and it’s super exciting to get this win. The staff at home have been working super hard, so I’m really proud of him.

“We had a good three-year-old last year, and that just makes things so much easier for the team and everything flows a bit better. He’s a good horse – we always thought he was.

“It gave us confidence when Michael McNab said this horse was probably his second pick of the three-year-olds after Quantum Legend (Castelvecchio), and that one has gone to Hong Kong, so you get a decent line on him from that.

“There’s not many similarities between Savaglee and this horse, one’s small and one’s huge. But they’ve both got great attitudes and so much ability, which they’ve got to have.”

Runner-up He Who Dares was bought for $825,000 by David Ellis from Haunui Farm’s draft in Book 1 of Karaka 2024.

Vendor	Wentwood Grange
Purchaser	Ballymore Stables/Paul Moroney Bloodstock/Catheryne Bruggeman (Waikato)
Breeding	Yes Yes Yes – Search Approach
Sale	Lot 941, Karaka 2024 Book 2, $115,000
Breeder	Marquee Stud Pty Ltd
Owner	Ballymore Racing NZ Ltd, W N Campbell, D G Devonport, Enough Is Enough Syndicate, V J Gregan, I H & M Harrison, Kariba Racing Pty Ltd, B Taylor & G Webb