Volkstok’n’barrell (NZ) Triumphantly Returns to Form at Otaki

Volkstok’n’barrell wins Group 1 Haunui Farm WFA Classic at Otaki.

Volkstok’n’barrell (NZ) (Tavistock) triumphantly returned to form in the Group 1 Haunui Farm WFA Classic at Otaki leading the charge for Karaka graduates, who achieved a clean sweep of the stakes races in New Zealand on Saturday.

Volkstok’n’barrell (NZ) was a stand-out three-year-old last season, winning the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas and three other stakes races to earn more than 10 times his $50,000 price tag at the 2013 Select Sale at Karaka. He also placed behind New Zealand Horse of the Year and fellow graduate Mongolian Khan in the New Zealand Derby and Australian Derby.

There was disappointment in Melbourne last spring, but if anyone had written Volkstok’n’barrell off they were emphatically proven wrong on Saturday. He burst out of midfield to score by a length in the $200,000 weight-for-age feature.

“Amazing,” co-trainer and part-owner Donna Logan said. “He’s back! It was a top effort from Vinnie (Colgan, jockey), a top effort from the horse and a top effort from all our staff at the stable.”

Volkstok’n’barrell, out of the Volksraad mare Volkster, was bred by Dominic Li’s IDL Breeding Limited. Offered by Seaton Park at the 2013 Select Sale, he was bought by Logan for $50,000.

The gelding has now won seven of his 17 starts and more than $985,000 for his owners Donna Logan, Garry Cossey, Chris Gibbs, Jim Gibbs, Ann Gibbs, Ashley Goodwin and Rosemont Stud.