NZB Kiwi Caps Perfect Season for Well Written

New Zealand racing’s pin-up filly Well Written (Written Tycoon) survived a huge scare to win Saturday’s $4m NZB Kiwi (1500m) at Ellerslie in a nail-biting finish, capping a perfect six-from-six season.

Well Written was offered by Brighthill Farm in the 2024 NZB National Online Yearling Sale, where Stephen Marsh Racing and Dylan Johnson Bloodstock bought her for a sale-topping $80,000. Her unblemished six-win season has now banked more than $2.6 million, plus another $600,000 from the NZB Kiwi Bonus Pool.

Most of Well Written’s season has been a story of spectacular dominance. She won the Group Two Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) by six and three-quarter lengths in her second start, then added the Group One New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) by two and a half and the $1.5m Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) by six.

The NZB Kiwi was expected to be more of the same, but these things rarely go exactly to script.

Again her jockey Matt Cartwright gave her a perfect run just behind the speed, and again she ambled up alongside the leaders at the top of the home straight.

But after kicking away into a clear lead, this time Well Written began to drift around and wobble. And this time Belle Cheval (NZ) (Savabeel) launched a powerful challenge out of the pack, flying up alongside the hot favourite. Well Written lifted again to meet the challenge, and the two hit the finish line side by side – with the photo finding a short-head margin in Well Written’s favour.

“I wasn’t sure if we’d won,” trainer Stephen Marsh admitted. “The other horse was coming so fast. When George Simon (commentator) said ‘she’s done it’, I was hoping he was talking about us.

“She got to the front so easily, but it’s her sixth start as a three-year-old and she’s still not fully mature and had to carry 58 kilograms – I wonder if all of that was a factor today. She just floated around.

“But we came into this huge raceday just hoping we wouldn’t let anyone down – Mr Zhang from Yulong is here today. It’s a relief.”

Cartwright echoed those sentiments.

“Everything worked out perfectly in the running,” he said. “I would have loved a cart into the race, but she was just travelling that well and I had to let her go.

“Probably with the big weight and being in front so long, she just wandered around a bit. But she’s a very good horse. You just didn’t see the very best of her today.”

Vendor	Brighthill Farm
Purchaser	Stephen Marsh Racing/Dylan Johnson Bloodstock (Waikato)
Breeding	Written Tycoon – Mozzie Monster
Sale	Lot 36, 2024 National Online Yearling Sale, $80,000
Breeder	Mr D Digney
Owner	Yulong Investment NZ Ltd, 8 Mates Syndicate, W L Bolton, Ms S E Bourke, N V Burnside, J Carter, V Carter ONZM, P Dench, N N Dobson, J R Gray, S W Hawkings, J Lewis, Rayas Bloodstock Ltd, P L Sparrow, Vencedor Partnership, M & R Yortt