Group One Gold for Here To Shock (NZ)

Kiwi-bred Karaka graduate Here To Shock (NZ) (Shocking) returned to the country of his birth and scored a superb Group One victory in Saturday’s $500,000 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa.

Here To Shock races in the colours of Rob Slade, who paid only $70,000 to buy him from Cambridge Stud’s Book 1 draft at Karaka 2019. The ever-improving gelding has now banked more than $2.9m from a 36-start, 13-win career. He has earned more than 41 times his purchase price.

The gelding was five years old when he scored his first black-type win in the A$200,000 Listed Golden Mile (1600m) at Bendigo in April of 2023. In his six-year-old season, Here To Shock added the A$200,000 Group Three Victoria Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield and the A$300,000 Group Three BRC Sprint (1350m) at Eagle Farm.

He has continued to go from strength to strength since turning seven, winning the A$250,000 Group Three Cameron Handicap (1500m) at Newcastle and following that up with the two biggest paydays of his career in the A$1.5m Alan Brown Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill and the A$1m The Supernova (1400m) at Pakenham.

On Saturday he stepped that upward trajectory up to Group One level. He was given a perfect run by Nash Rawiller, who positioned him just behind the front-running Babylon Berlin (All Too Hard) before striding forward to look that mare in the eye at the top of the home straight.

Here To Shock had too much firepower for Saturday’s star-studded Kiwi sprint field, powering clear down the straight and romping to victory by four lengths.

“I’m a bit blown away by him,” Rawiller said. “He’s shown that he can do that. He’s just racing with so much confidence now and has won some very good races in this preparation.

“You sense he could go back to Australia and be very competitive in a Group One while he’s fit and confident and others might still be on their way up. He’s really got his tail up, this horse. He’s turned his career around and he just gives you a lot of confidence going forward.”

Here To Shock is trained by Ben, Will and JD Hayes at Lindsay Park.

“It’s so special to come here and win this race,” Will Hayes said. “I’m just so proud of the team and everyone back home. This horse presented so well on raceday today and it was a terrific ride by Nash.

“It’s my first time here at Te Rapa, but with that long run into the first corner, it gave Here To Shock a nice chance to find his rhythm and get across when he could. He got a bit of cover. He was slightly overdoing it early, but as the race went on, he got more and more comfortable and then gave a good kick at the top of the straight. He was really dominant today.

“We picked out this race and came over because we thought he was well placed. It’s good to see the form stand up. He’s replicated that good form from his Supernova win. He’s incredibly consistent.

“We can’t thank New Zealand racing enough. With the prize-money on offer, it was a no-brainer to come here today. It was a hit-and-run mission on this race, because we’ve got some plans for him in the autumn in either Melbourne or Sydney. We’ll just space his runs, because we know that works for him.”

Vendor	Cambridge Stud
Purchaser	Slade Bloodstock (Victoria)
Breeding	Shocking – Frescoes
Sale	Lot 48, Karaka 2019 Book 1, $70,000
Bred by	The Sunlight Trust