Te Akau Racing are renowned for producing horses they have purchased as yearlings or two-year-old’s, but it was a tried eight-year-old, Midnight Blue, that earned Mark Walker a victory in the Listed Seymour Cup (1600m) on Sunday.
A previous winner of the Gr.2 Perth Cup (2400m) and Listed Ascot Gold Cup (1800m) for Grant and Alana Williams, Midnight Blue had won five races before Te Akau principal David Ellis sourced the gelding for $92,500 on the Inglis November Online Sale.
Midnight Blue found success at his third start since joining Walker’s Cranbourne stable when winning a Benchmark 100 2000m contest at Caulfield in May, and was resuming off a spell coming into Sunday’s feature.
In the hands of Daniel Stackhouse, Midnight Blue jumped positively from barrier seven and eased out of a competitive duel for the lead along the back stretch, finding a comfortable trailing position in third. Stackhouse asked for an effort turning for home and his charge responded, hitting the lead early in the straight and kept finding to the line to score by a length to Earl Of Tyrone.
At odds of $29.50 with the New Zealand TAB, Midnight Blue had been among the middle market, but Stackhouse indicated after the race that he had every faith in the veteran galloper.
“It’s always hard when you have a number of rides to choose from, but we were lucky enough to choose the right one,” Stackhouse said.
“It was a great training performance by Ben (Gleeson, assistant trainer) and his team, and Mark, to get this horse here in perfect order, for a mile first-up, after trialling really well leading into it.
“The race worked out as we wanted it to and although I was a bit concerned about going down to the fence (trail), we able to build into the race at the right time.
“He gave me a really good feel when I won on him at Caulfield, and the feeling he gave me today going to the start was unreal, so I was quietly confident.
“He probably got a bit tired late, first-up over a mile, but he’s got so much more improvement to come.”
Walker praised the efforts of Gleeson and the extended Cranbourne team, who have utilised the unique facilities at Cranbourne to rejuvenate Midnight Blue.
“It was a great win today and I was really proud of him,” Walker said.
“Obviously we’re not usually in the business of buying tried seven-year-olds, but we looked at him in the online sale and Ben had had an association with him previously. We set ourselves a budget and full credit to Karyn (Fenton-Ellis), because we went above the budget but she was keen to get a readymade horse to sell between the Ready To Run Sale and the Yearling Sales.
“She got the owners on board and, gee, they’ve had a great run because he’s won twice and seems to be loving his racing as much as ever.
“The training facilities are outstanding at Cranbourne, with the sand dunes out the back, a beach just down the road, which really suits this horse and he’s just so big you can’t help but love him.
“Everyone seems to make a fuss of him, too, and he’s been feeling really good in himself and that’s the difference when they have a spring in their step.
“Full credit to Ben and the team, we’ve thought outside the square with this horse and it was a big thrill to win the Seymour Cup, especially with Daniel Stackhouse aboard who was an original Te Akau apprentice before becoming a fully-fledged rider in Melbourne.”
Out of a Zabeel mare Midnight Special, Midnight Blue has now won seven of his 34 starts and over $902,000 in stakes earnings.
Gleeson indicated the son of So You Think would be targeted towards the A$500,000 Country Cups Final (1600m) during the upcoming Flemington Carnival, which may also feature exciting filly Stage ‘N’ Screen, who broke her maiden on debut earlier on the Seymour card.
Stage ‘N’ Screen trialled on three occasions on home soil before departing for Australia to prepare for her first race-day appearance, which came in the Go Seymour Maiden Plate (1200m), where she was well-liked in the market closing at $2.40.
Michael Dee utilised the filly’s inside barrier draw in the early stages, sitting on the speed at a moderate tempo. On straightening, Stage ‘N’ Screen found a solid turn of foot and lead all the way to the post with plenty left in store.
After an interrupted start to her racing career, Walker was pleased to see the daughter of Ace High deliver on her early promise.
“She’s been a work in progress, especially around the starting gates, and Julien Welsh and his team at Booralite Park have done a really good job building her confidence in that department,” Walker said.
“She showed plenty of ability when trialling in New Zealand, and we had her entered to start last month on the home course at Cranbourne, but a horse slipped over beside her which upset her and she was late scratched.
“I think she’s a very promising filly with untapped ability and great for her to get a win on the board at her first start.
“Stage ‘n’ Screen is on a path towards the 1000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m), and she’ll either run in the TAB Vanity Stakes (Gr. 3, 1400m) on Derby Day (2 November) at Flemington, or Melbourne Cup Day (5 November) in the Amanda Elliott Stakes (Listed, 1400m).”
Stage ‘N’ Screen was purchased by Ellis for $200,000 out of Kiltannon Stables’ draft at the 2023 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sales, and she is a half-sister to Australian Group One performer Japanese Emperor.
The victories continued a phenomenal run of form on Australian racecourses for Walker, with his last 11 runners resulting in seven winners, including Bellatrix Star in the Gr.2 Schillaci Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.