Promising three-year-old Pokuru Gold provided Te Akau Racing trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson with their 150th winner of the season with a solid display at Te Rapa on Saturday.
Walker, who rewrote the history books with his 203-win haul last term, was joined in partnership by Bergerson in August and accumulated 149 wins prior to Saturday’s meeting, after recording winning doubles on the Cambridge and Riccarton Synthetic surfaces through the week.
A son of Darci Brahma, Pokuru Gold was tipped to produce the stable’s milestone success in the opener at Te Rapa, rated a $2.30 race-favourite for the KPMG 3YO (1100m) after a solid trial performance in behind Group One-performer Babylon Berlin at Te Awamutu.
The three-year-old field travelled almost in a line through the first 600m, before Wind Of Change and second-favourite Ima Brazen One ($3.20) surged forward to dispute the pace, while Opie Bosson bided his time just better than midfield aboard the favourite.
Ima Brazen One cleared the field early in the straight but was soon joined by a firing Pokuru Gold who sailed past the filly to stride clear and score by 2 ½ lengths, with City Girl producing an eye-catching run to narrowly secure the runner-up position.
The victory maintained Pokuru Gold’s unbeaten record from two starts, with the eight-month hiatus between his debut victory on the Cambridge synthetic surface and Saturday’s triumph explained by the removal of a bone-chip in mid-December.
Te Akau’s racing manager Reece Trumper indicated the stable headed into the race with plenty of confidence, which was duly rewarded.
“He’s had his issues, but he’s a very tough horse and his trial at Te Awamutu was excellent. We came here today with a lot of confidence,” Trumper said.
“The reason we came here was because Opie could ride him, and he had a lot of confidence in him.
“Opie gave him a peach in transit, he’s probably a horse now that doesn’t want to get there too early and he did gawk around a bit, but he’s just going to get better as he gets older.
“He’s probably only going to have one or two more starts this season, I think the better tracks are going to be to his liking, not firm but with the cut out.
“We’ll keep targeting these meetings at Te Rapa because they always give us such a lovely track to race on.”
Out of the one-win Stravinsky mare Pokuru Nugget, Pokuru Gold was bred by Te Awamutu owner Ian Farrelly, who has had a multitude of success with the stable with gallopers including Fon Memories and Pokuru’s Gift.
“Ian’s a great farmer and stockman, loves breeding horses, and it’s obvious that this horse has had a great upbringing on his farm,” Walker said.
“He had a setback after he won his first start earlier in the season, but the way he won today suggests it won’t be his last win.”
With 21 stakes successes collected through the season, Te Akau Racing also added an additional 18 victories through their Cranbourne barn in Australia, headed by recently retired star Imperatriz.