A barnstorming finish has delivered Te Akau Racing with a stunning late Christmas present as underrated galloper What You Wish For came from last on the home bend to take out the Harcourts Taupo Cup (2000m) in front of a bumper holiday crowd.
There will be more than just the healthy $57,500 first placed cheque on the line for talented galloper Agera when he contests the Harcourts Taupo Cup (2000m) at Taupo on Sunday.
Having become the most improved galloper in the north this season, the Tony Pike-trained Agera may be given his chance at racing’s elite level in the TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m).
Three months after starting the season as a two-win horse with a rating of 70, Agera stepped on to the big stage at Tauranga on Saturday and became a weight-for-age winner in the Gr.2 Gartshore Construction Tauranga Stakes (1530m).
Cambridge trainer Tony Pike will be chasing stakes success at both ends of the country on Saturday, with Agera leading his northern charge at Tauranga.
Agera’s coming-of-age campaign has carried him all the way up to black-type level, flying home to score a last-gasp victory in Friday’s Listed Team Wealleans Matamata Cup (1600m).
Improving six-year-old Agera stepped into open company for the first time in Sunday’s Vision Complete Earthworks/Stronger Together (1600m) at Te Rapa, and he passed that test and carried on his winning way.
