NZ Horse of the Year Finalists Announced

Media Release - Friday July 23

The stellar racing season experienced by the Te Akau Racing team is reflected in the first group of finalists for the New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards.

Eight horses prepared at Matamata by Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards are among the 17 individual flat racing finalists, with Richards represented in each of the five categories.

Melody Belle

The Te Akau contenders include reigning Horse of the Year Melody Belle, who is a finalist in two categories and in contention for a third Horse of the Year title.

Melody Belle and stablemate Avantage, who between them won nine Group one races in the 2020-21 season, are finalists for both the sprinter-miler and middle distance awards.

The sprinter-miler section looks particularly strong, with the other finalists being Callsign Mav, who was a Group One winner and three times Group One-placed, and Te Akau mare Probabeel, who won four Group races in Australia, including two at Group One level.

Sword Of State and On The Bubbles will represent Te Akau in the two-year-old section and their stablemates Amarelinha and Need I Say More are finalists for champion three-year-old.

Savy Yong Blonk, who won the City of Auckland Cup for Richards, is a finalist for champion stayer, a section that also includes Melbourne and Caulfield Cups placegetter The Chosen One, Auckland and Waikato Cups winner Ocean Billy and Wellington Cup winner Waisake.

Finalists for champion jumper, trainer, jockey, jumps jockey and owner will be confirmed at the end of the season. The 2021 Horse of the Year Awards dinner, in association with major partner SENZ, will be held in Hamilton on 12 September.

Advertisement

The finalists in the flat racing categories are:

Champion Two-Year-Old: Bonny Lass, On The Bubbles, Sword of State.

Champion Three-Year-Old: Aegon, Amarelinha, Need I Say More, Rocket Spade.

Champion Sprinter-Miler (up to and including 1600m): Avantage, Callsign Mav, Melody Belle, Probabeel.

Champion Middle Distance (1601-2200m):  Avantage, Beauden, Concert Hall, Melody Belle, Royal Performer.

Champion Stayer (2201m and further): Ocean Billy, The Chosen One, Savy Yong Blonk, Waisake.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit loveracing.nz/awards

Advertisment
More Reading...
Yes Yes Yes 3YO Shooting for G2 on Monday
Last year’s Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) set Savaglee up for Group One glory in Christchurch, and Matamata trainer Pam Gerard is hoping to follow a similar blueprint in 2025 with her Yes Yes Yes 3YO Affirmative Action..
Second Wootton Bassett Son Added to Coolmore Stallion Roster for 2026
Set to join Camille Pissarro as the second G1 winning son of Wootton Bassett on the stallion roster for Ireland in 2026 is Henri Matisse, who this time last year was about to claim his first G1 victory at the Breeders Cup meeting at Del Mar.
Sale Cup Winner Adds to Fastnet Rock Super Weekend
It’s been quite the weekend for the late great champion sire Fastnet Rock with a Cox Plate quinella on Saturday and then on Sunday he produced a new stakes-winner when seven year-old gelding El Rocko captured the $200,000 Listed Sale Cup (1600m).
Good News Week for Geisel Park
Geisel Park’s black-type mare Laced Up Heels is in foal off a maiden cover to Champion Australian Sire Zoustar and an orphan foal has found a new mum.
Wootton Bassett Colt Leads Coolmore G1 Trifecta
The last British Group I race of the flat season was run overnight at Doncaster with Aidan O’Brien producing a trifecta of two year-old colts led by a son of the late Wootton Bassett (GB) in Hawk Mountain, who was too good for a pair of Frankel colts.
Sires With Winners - Saturday October 25
Here is the full list of 136 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
A Century of NZB National Yearling Sales Success: Cox Plate
Moonee Valley’s A$6m Group One WS Cox Plate (2040m) is known as the weight-for-age championship of Australasia and has been won by many of Australia and New Zealand’s greatest thoroughbreds.
Hi Yo Sass Bomb Wins G3 on Sunday
Kim Reid bypassed a Group One in favour of Sunday’s Gr.3 Gee and Hickton Funeral Directors Thompson Handicap (1600m) at Trentham with Hi Yo Sass Bomb, a decision that paid dividends when the mare led from the outset to claim her third stakes success.
Cream Rises at Trentham
A half-sister by Hello Youmzain (Fr) to dual Group I winner Mustang Valley, exciting filly Cream Tart is set to line up in one of the major three-year-old races over New Zealand Cup Week following her impressive win in Sunday’s Upper Hutt Car Sales LTD Three-Year-Old (1400m) at Trentham.
Transatlantic Takes $1million Five Diamonds Prelude
Transatlantic’s lucrative spring carnival continued at Randwick with an arrogant victory in the $1m Five Diamonds Prelude.