Matahga (NZ) Makes His Mark in Oaklands Plate

Less than a month after his raceday debut, Matahga (NZ) (Tivaci) became a black-type winner in Saturday’s A$120,000 Listed David Peacock Oaklands Plate (1400m) at Morphettville and lifted his earnings past his Karaka 2024 purchase price.

Trainer Phillip Stokes bought Matahga from Waikato Stud’s Book 1 draft for $80,000. The grey colt’s three-start career has now produced two wins, a second placing and A$144,800 in stakes.

Runner-up on debut at Morphettville on May 31, Matagha won impressively at Murray Bridge two weeks later and earned the step up to stakes level for Saturday’s Oaklands Plate, where he was sent out as a warm favourite.

After settling back near the tail of the field, jockey Jacob Opperman began to weave him through the pack.

Matahga burst through a narrow gap in the straight and sprinted up on the inside of the leader Ethereum Girl (Maurice). He bounded past her in the shadows of the finish line and got up to win by a neck.

“He’s a nice colt, this horse,” Stokes said. “He dug deep today and went for runs.

“We were cursing Jacob for a while, thinking he might have been better to go around them, but he rode him very well. He’ll take a lot out of it, this colt. He’s nice horse going forward. I’m just rapt for the Brooks, who own him.

“He’s come a long way in this prep. The team have done a fantastic job with him. He’ll go for a break now and I think he deserves to be aimed at some of the nice three-year-old races in the spring.

“We bought him in New Zealand. David (Brook) picked out a few yearlings when we were over at Karaka, and he liked this horse, and we were able to bid on him and get him. He wasn’t an expensive horse either, so it’s going great.”

Matahga was bred by Simon Lawson and is by Tivaci out of a half-sister to the Group One Blue Diamond (1200m) winner and new Little Avondale Stud stallion Little Brose (Per Incanto).

Matahga became the ninth graduate of Karaka 2024 to win a black-type race for two-year-olds this season, joining fellow Australian stakes winner Field Of Play (Deep Field) along with the Kiwi stars La Dorada (NZ) (Super Seth), Intention (NZ) (Bivouac), Too Sweet (NZ) (Satono Aladdin), Bona Sforza (Written By), Do You Just (So You Think), Towering Vision (NZ) (Circus Maximus) and Platinum Diamond (Hello Youmzain).

Vendor	Waikato Stud Ltd
Purchaser	Phillip Stokes Racing (Victoria)
Breeding	Tivaci – Mohegan Star
Sale	Lot 242, Karaka 2024 Book 1, $80,000
Breeder	S J Lawson
Owner	Saddlers Knife