Three Year Old Wild Night (Vanbrugh) and Two Year Old Trobriand (Kermadec), both from the stable of Te Akau Racing and both yearling graduates of Windsor Park Stud, returned to the racetrack in emphatic fashion when winning at Te Rapa at the weekend.

The winner of four of his five starts, including the Gr.2 James & Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes at his previous start, Vanbrugh’s leading 3YO Wild Night again demonstrated an outstanding turn of foot in the Wentwood Grange Stakes to gather in his rivals from a rearward position and coast to the finishing line with the race well in hand.

Wild Night winning the Wentwood Grange Stakes - click on photo to watch the race

A $50,000 Karaka Book 1 sales purchase by David Ellis and trained by Mark Walker, the impressive Wild Night is likely to contest the Listed Uncle Remus Stakes (1400m) at Pukekohe on Boxing Day prior to the $1 million Karaka Million 3YO Classic on January 21st, a race in which four of the top ten qualifiers to date are graduates of Windsor Park’s 2021 Karaka yearling draft.

“It was a great run and he’ll be better for it,” commented Walker.

“He will head to the Uncle Remus Stakes on Boxing Day and from there we are aiming him at the Karaka Million 3YO Classic. It looks like it will be a strong field but he’s an exciting horse.”

Wild Night is a second-crop son of exciting young sire Vanbrugh (Encosta De Lago), a crop that also includes Vanbrugh’s stakes winning and Group performed daughter Sheez Dominant while his first crop is headed by this season’s Gr.1 winning racemare Mustang Valley.  

Vanbrugh has nine yearlings catalogued in Book One and Two at the 2023 Karaka Yearling Sales next month.

In Te Rapa’s opening event, the Adashiko Fashion Stakes for 2YO’s, Te Akau’s Ellis/Walker combination were again to the fore with Trobriand (Kermadec) who proved too strong in the run to the finishing line.

Trobriand as a yearling at Windsor Park

“I thought it was a really nice effort, and it will be the Eclipse Stakes next for him,” Walker said.

Trobriand was a $260,000 Karaka yearling purchase by David Ellis from the 2022 draft of Windsor Park Stud and he will aim for his third consecutive victory in the upcoming Gr.2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m) at Te Rapa on New Year’s Day as a leadup race to the $1 million Karaka Million 2YO in January.

Windsor Park will offer a Russian Revolution half brother to Trobriand, Lot 39, at next months 2023 Karaka yearling sales.