Rowe On Monday – Many winners from SA Derby, a Down Under carrot for Bizakov, Tutta La Vita plans on hold and Aussie bookies’ Ascot adventure

Irishman Ed Stapleton, who has made New Zealand his second home, has an art for skirting around the bloodstock edges to carve out a living, both in Europe and across Australasia. 

On Saturday, agent Stapleton and his Kiwi industry colleague Dylan Ralph celebrated Group 1 success with South Australian Derby winner Wigmore.

The gelding was a $1700 pinhook who was resold for $25,000 as a yearling by Ralph and Stapleton at the 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale.

The three-year-old by Hong Kong Group 1 winner Lucky Sweynesse’s sire Sweynesse has been a winner for all those involved with him since.

The pinhookers won, including trainer Caley Myers, on-selling Wigmore for high six figures to agent Phill Cataldo and Terry Henderson’s OTI Racing after his luckless fourth in the New Zealand Derby.

Two starts later, Wigmore delivered OTI and new trainer Phillip Stokes with a Group 1 and a potential Cups’ horse in the spring.

“My whole model is value and our sort of our modus operandi is that we’re buying racehorses that we believe will be successful for people,” Stapleton said from the Inglis Weanling Sale in Sydney. 

“Whether that costs $170,000 or costs $1700 … we sold this horse with full confidence that it was going to be a successful racehorse from somebody, not just a fashionable pinhook.” 

Stapleton was keen to credit Ralph for much for the success, having inspected the son of Novara Park’s Sweynesse at Mark Baker’s Hallmark Stud.

“Basically, we were searching for horses for our draft for Karaka, and Lucky Sweynesse was going gangbusters in Hong Kong,” Stapleton recalled.

“And we realised there were only 25 colts in existence in that entire year. And we went searching, scouring the countryside for these Sweynesse colts, and we couldn’t find any that anybody wanted to sell. This one came up on Gavelhouse, and it was with Mark Baker at Hallmark.

Baker’s reputation caused Stapleton to perhaps second-guess himself but he and Ralph took a punt and got him cheaply online.

“Let me preface this by saying Mark Baker is probably the greatest pinhooker in New Zealand, right, so if he’s selling a weanling, the assumption is there’s something wrong here,” Stapleton said. 

“With credit to Dylan, he went down, he looked at the horse, he sussed out the story, he said, ‘listen, the client is XYZ, just moving the horse on, didn’t get into a sale, Mark’s a genuine guy.

“We really liked the horse because he basically exploded (as the yearling preparation went on). He moved like a panther, which was great, and we had this lovely Sweynesse horse who we thought was going to have a rarity factor.”

The yearling price was still enough to show a profit, given his bargain Gavelhouse purchase.

After Wigmore’s eye-catching Derby performance, agents came calling.

“Our good mate Dave Mee and Phill Cataldo were both – and I think there was a Hong Kong connection trying to buy the horse as well – interested in the horse.

“And Phill ended up buying him and sending him over to Mr Stokes. He was bought to win this Derby, and he has, so credit to them.”

Ralph and Stapleton are entitled to celebrate their small role in the Derby victory.

“We’re probably clutching at straws, in comparison to some of the bigger players, but there’s nothing else to clutch at straws for, so we’ll do it with this,” he said.

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Bizakov’s investment welcome

Confirmation late last week that large-scale European owner and breeder Nurlan Bizakov would extend his bloodstock interests to Australasia is significant.

Australian agent Will Johnson has been appointed as Bizakov’s southern hemisphere racing and bloodstock manager, with the Sumbe principal recently coming to terms with New Zealand’s Cambridge Stud to shuttle top-class miler Charyn.

It is Charyn’s link that could prove important as a carrot to ensure Bizakov, who raced Golden Eagle runner-up Lazzat until selling him to Qatari operation Wathnan Racing.

Aushorse, the marketing arm of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia, and New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing spend countless hours and money attempting to convince international bloodstock investors to participate in the respective southern hemisphere markets.

“To have Nurlan and his Sumbe operation expand their footprint to Australia and New Zealand is an endorsement for our industry,” Johnson said in a statement. 

“I look forward to working with Nurlan, Tony Fry and his team to grow their commercial presence in the southern hemisphere.”

US owner-breeder John Stewart of Resolute Racing made a splash across two years at the Inglis and Magic Millions yearling sales but did not get involved this year. 

With some promising two-year-olds on the track, Stewart may well be back next year. Ensuring these overseas investors remain engaged in the long term is a challenge for the industry as a whole.

Early success plays a key role in that – it’s just not that easy to guarantee it.

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Tutta La Vita waiting for another day

John Stewart’s Resolute Racing was to sell his Group 1-placed filly Tutta La Vita, a daughter of The Autumn Sun, whom he paid $3.2 million for at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale two years ago.

The now five-year-old, who was exported to the United States in mid-2024, was to be offered via Inglis Digital last month but the auction never proceeded and it fell under the radar.

“Effectively, something materialised that she would be unable to be offered at that time, but she would hopefully be available to be offered at a later date,” Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch said of Tutta La Vita’s non-sale.

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Australian bookies to take bets at Ascot, Cheltenham

Joliestar, Overpass, possibly Generosity and Lady Of Camelot could all join Asfoora at Royal Ascot in June as part of the Aussie invasion where past great sprinters Nature Strip, Black Caviar, Takeover Target and Choisir have all made the famous straight course their own.

There’s sure to be a big travelling party following the Australian contingent, soaking up the pomp and pageantry of Royal Ascot.

Bookmakers Robbie Waterhouse and Warren Woodcock will also be there, continuing their regular visits to the Royal meeting, taking bets in partnership over the five days on pitches at Ascot.

In 2027, the bookies intend to expand their UK presence, acquiring pitches for the famous Cheltenham jumps festival in Gloucestershire.

“I go to Ascot every year and work there in England and then next year I’m hoping to add Cheltenham to my array of ventures,” Woodcock told this column.

“What I’ve done is I’m in partnership with Rob Waterhouse because the licensing process is very extensive in England, so we work under his license. 

“We have three positions at Royal Ascot and we’ve enjoyed it immensely and we’ve had one we’ve then added a second and we added a third and so on and so forth.

“This year I watched Cheltenham and I said to Rob, ‘you know, how about we look to go to Cheltenham next year?’. 

“He said if you want to go we’ll look into buying a pitch and we’ll go because we’re both getting to that stage where if we don’t go now we probably won’t ever go.”

Woodcock will be fielding at this week’s Warrnambool carnival, Australia’s biggest jumps meeting.