Cover image courtesy of Kenton Wright (Race Images)
Te Rapa: G2 Cal Isuzu S., NZ$175,000, 1600m
Always travelling well and getting clear with 150 metres to go, Campionessa (NZ) (Contributer {Ire}) was classy recording the ninth win of her 26-start career - and her third at Group 2 level.
Bred by Simms Davison, Campionessa was sold by Westbury Stud for $60,000 to David Ellis at the 2010 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale.
Also a winner late last month of the G2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders' S., she is one of seven stakes winners for her Mapperley Stud-based, dual Group 1-winning sire.
And she is one of three stakes winners for her metropolitan-winning dam Bella Carolina (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}) - also dam of the Listed winners Tennessee (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}) and Leedox (NZ) (NZ) (Time Test {GB}).
Hailing from the family of the G1 Metropolitan H. winner Dress Circle (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) and the G1 Easter H. winner Carson's Cash (NZ) (Lord Ballina), Campionessa is a descendant of the influential Kite (GB) (Bustard {GB}).
Bella Carolina was served last spring by Bivouac after producing - in mid-September - a full sister to Campionessa. Her 2-year-old son Naitanui (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}) is a member of the Hayes stable.
Campionessa is one of the 12 (from 14 runners) Contributer (Ire) winners out of mares carrying an O'Reilly (NZ) strain with Family Ties (NZ) also a stakes winner whilst another five are stakes placed.
G3 J Swap Sprint H., NZ$120,000, 1400m
Putting her nose out right on the line, Zecora (NZ) (Power {GB}) was game recording her first stakes victory at the age of six.
Bred by Kendayla Park, she is the 27th stakes winner for her Oaklands Stud-based, dual Group 1-winning sire.
Her two-time-winning dam C'est La Vie (NZ) (Anabaa {USA}) is a full sister to the G1 Railway H. winner Imananabaa out of a daughter of the dual Listed-winning Western Australian mare Born Rich (Beau Sovereign {NZ}).
Dam of the G2 Karrakatta Plate winner Born Priceless (Pricelessly {USA}), Born Rich is also ancestress of the stakes winners Amalfi Prince (Sebring), Simply Adorable (Blackfriars), Scenic Silver (Scenic {Ire}), The Heavyweight (Zeditave), Happy Strike (Gold Fever {USA}), Born Western (Western Symphony {USA}), Malibu Style (Magnus), Excelorada (Exceed And Excel), Zedrich, So Anyway (General Nediym), Rostova (Testa Rossa), Anaheed (Fastnet Rock), Farooq (Frankel {GB}), Mystic Master (Snippetson) and Trigger Express (Citidancer {Ire}).
Zecora is the last of four live foals produced by C'est La Vie who has also produced the winner Girl Of Steel (NZ) (Reliable Man {GB}).
G3 Waikato Cup, NZ$140,000, 2400m
Emerging best from an exciting three-horse battle, the favourite Dionysus (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}) was determined recording his second victory at Group 3 level.
Bred by Sir Patrick and Lady Hogan and sold through their 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale draft for NZ$45,000 to Roger James and Robert Wellwood, Dionysus is one of the 20 stakes winners for his Waikato Stud-based, G1 WS Cox Plate-winning sire.
He is the first foal for the unraced La Quinta (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}), half-sister to the stakes-placed, Singapore-based galloper Our Heir Apparent (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) and to the dam of the spring G3 Gold Trail S. winner Quintessa (NZ) (Shamus Award).
Her dam La Quinta Gold (Encosta De Lago) is a city-placed, winning full sister to he G3 Research S. winner Besamo Mucho (Encosta De Lago).
Served last spring by Turn Me Loose (NZ) after foaling a Proisir filly, La Quinta hails from the family of the Group winners Gold Lottey (Encosta De Lago) and Killua Castle (Churchill Downs) as well as the Listed winners Iconoclasm (Toorak Toff), Frespanol (Choisir) and Essington (Redoute's Choice).
Whilst Dionysus' sire boasts a cross of Nureyev (USA), his dam carries strains of that great stallion's three-quarter brothers Sadler's Wells (USA) and Fairy King (USA).
Trentham: G3 Eulogy S., NZ$100,000, 1600m
It was a close and exciting finish to this Group 3 feature, named after one of the great broodmares, Still Bangon (NZ) (Satono Aladdin {Jpn}) getting the bob in late.
The homebred for the Guise family, is the eighth stakes winner for her Rich Hill Stud-based sire. Her dam is the five-time winner Shebang (NZ) (Le Bec Fin {NZ}), full sister to the stakes-placed Elle Tresor (NZ).
Still Bangon is the final foal of her dam who died young. She hails from the family of the stakes winners Purde (NZ) (Bahhare {USA}) and Unchained Melody (NZ) (Street Boss {USA}).
She boasts an interesting pedigree including a 3 X 4 cross of Storm Cat (USA) and a 5 X 6 cross of Cosmah (USA) (Cosmic Bomb {USA}) via her sons Halo (USA) and Royal Match (USA).
