Ocean Park Heads to Dubai on G1 Winning Note

Kiwi star Ocean Park (NZ) made an emphatic return to winning form and showed that he is on track for Group 1 racing in Dubai with a superb performance in Saturday’s $200,000 Group 1 Lindauer New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie.

Punters smashed the son of Thorn Park (ex Sayyida) on the tote, backing him into $1.90, and he duly delivered taking his fifth Group 1 race of the season and showing that he is ready to tackle some of the world’s best in the US$5 million Group 1 Dubai Duty Free (1800m) on 30 March.

He also brought up an Ellerslie Group 1 double for Karaka graduates with Ruud Awakening (Bernardini) winning the Group 1 Diamond Stakes.

The improvement Ocean Park derived from his fresh up run in the Group 1 Haunui Farm WFA Classic (1600m) at Otaki was evident as he was unmatched by any of his rivals in Saturday’s race, powering away in the Ellerslie straight to win by 3.5 lengths from Veyron (Thorn Park) and Better Than Ever (French Deputy).

The performance was just what his trainer Gary Hennessy was looking for as he now heads to Dubai on 17 March.

“It was a good win but really he did what I expected him to do which was win well,” commented Gary Hennessy.

“It was a great result in terms of the timing as he leaves for Dubai this Sunday. He’s a very clean winded horse so I knew he was going to take a lot of improvement from his fresh up run and he is now right on track for his ultimate autumn goal.

“I will give him a couple of track gallops and a hit out on the treadmill but apart from that he doesn’t need any more work, he’s ready.”

Ocean Park will be out to emulate the deeds of Karaka graduate Vengeance of Rain (Zabeel) who was successful at the Dubai World Cup meeting in 2007 when winning the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic (2400m). From there he will head to England where he will be aimed at the Royal Ascot meeting at the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes and then onto other major European Group 1 races.  

Bred by Trelawney Thoroughbreds, Ocean Park was purchased by Gary Hennessy from Brent and Cherry Taylor’s Trelawney Stud at New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2010 Karaka Select Sale for $150,000.

Raced by Hennessy in partnership with Hong Kong owners Andrew Wong and Steve Yan, the son of Thorn Park has now won eight of his 14 starts, five at Group 1 level, for over $3.6 million in stakes.