New Zealand Champions Crowned

The New Zealand racing community gathered for the New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards last night, celebrating the champions of the 2014/15 season. Karaka graduates swept up five awards including the supreme honour of Horse of the Year, won by Mongolian Khan (Holy Roman Emperor).

Mongolian Khan crowned NZ Horse of the Year, Champion Three-Year-Old & Champion Stayer.

It was an exciting night for the connections of Mongolian Khan as the pin-up colt was awarded with three prestigious titles; Horse of the Year, Champion Three-Year-Old and Champion Stayer.

Raced by Mr Lang Lin’s China Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Group, who was also named the Owner of the Year, the son of Holy Roman Emperor has earned almost A$2 million in prizemoney in his first season of racing, highlighted by his dual Derby victories, the Group 1 New Zealand Derby and the Group 1 ATC Australian Derby. 

Trained from the Cambridge stable of Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, who concluded the 2014/15 season as Trainer of the Year, five of his seven wins have been at stakes level from just nine starts.

The China Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Group purchased the champion horse as a two-year-old at NZB’s 2013 Ready to Run Sale for $220,000 from Regal Farm, after being sold as a yearling at NZB’s 2013 Select Sale to Bryce and Ginger Tankard’s Waikato Bloodstock for $140,000 from Ainsley Downs Stud. 

This success of the Ready to Run Sale is timely with entries for the 2015 NZB Ready to Run Sale closing today.  The 2014 edition achieved a record aggregate and median, and recorded the highest ever average at a two-year-old auction in Australasia with $80,073. 

New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale is the most successful sale of its kind in Australasia, producing four times the number of Group wins of any comparable sale in the past three seasons including 12 Group 1 wins in that time.

The Champion Middle Distance Horse title went the way of dual Group 1 winner Soriano (NZ) (Savabeel), a graduate of the NZB Premier Sale, finishing the season with two well-earned Group 1 victories in the Group 1 Zabeel Classic and the Group 1 Herbie Dyke Stakes, both at 2000m.

The daughter of Savabeel had a stellar season with three stakes wins to add to her previous two stakes successes for owner and breeder Denise Howell, and trainers Graeme and Debbie Rogerson. Soriano was just shy of a third Group 1 accomplishment, finishing runner-up to fellow nominee in the Champion Middle Distance Horse category Puccini (Encosta de Lago), in the Group 1 Thorndon Mile.

The Group 1 producing dam Parfore (NZ) (Gold Brose) claimed the Broodmare of the Year title. Parfore’s most recent progeny achieving Group 1 success is Terravista (Captain Rio), winning the Group 1 Darley Classic. Other noteworthy progeny include Tiger Tee (NZ) (Dubawi), who was victorious in the Group 1 Galaxy Handicap, and the twice crowned Horse of the Year in Singapore in 2012 and 2013, Super Easy (NZ) (Darci Brahma), following three Singapore Group 1 wins.

Parfore was purchased at New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2004 National Broodmare Sale by Paul Willetts for $30,000 from Westbury Stud.

The New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year was also crowned at the awards last night with the coveted title secured by the Group 1 New Zealand Bloodstock 1000 Guineas winner Platinum Witness (California Dane).

A strong contender throughout the three-year-old Filly Series, Platinum Witness won three of the ten races including the Group 3 Desert Gold Stakes, and ran a dead-heat in the Group 3 Lowland Stakes before narrowly missing victory in the final of the Series, the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks.

From the stable of last year’s Trainer of the Year, Lisa Latta, Platinum Witness concluded the Filly Series on 29.5 points, 6.5 points ahead of Saavoya (NZ) (Savabeel), for owners John Street of Lincoln Farms and Neville McAlister.

Waikato Stud dominated the stallion awards with their resident stallion Savabeel taking ownership of both the Grosvenor Award and the Dewar Award while the late Waikato Stud sire, O’Reilly, was awarded the Centaine Award for the third year running.

Next on the NZB calendar is the Ready to Run Sale of Two-Year-Olds on 18 & 19 November with Breeze Ups on 19 & 20 October. Entries for the Sale close today (Friday 14 August) and the entry form can be downloaded from our website www.nzb.co.nz.

2015 NZTR Horse of the Year Winners