Wild Night Keeps Party Going for Vanbrugh!

Media Release - Monday October 24

Running a time faster than both the winners of the Group II Soliloquy Stakes and Open 1400m events, hugely impressive three-year-old Wild Night (Vanbrugh) announced his arrival in the top echelon of three-year-olds this season when winning the feature Gr.2 James & Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes (1400m) at Te Rapa  on Saturday.

Wild Night is the third SW for Vanbrugh.

The winner of two of his three starts prior to the race, Wild Night looked a forlorn chance when in last position shortly after the field commenced the run home as Academy Award shot to a four-length lead.

However rider Craig Grylls brought Wild Night to the outside to make his run and with several huge bounds he strode into contention before finishing off resolutely to down Academy Award by three-quarters of a length.

Grylls was taken by the closing speed of his charge.

“He is a relaxed type of horse and they went fast enough where I had to niggle at him a little bit, but at the 600m he gathered up underneath me and gee he had a good turn of foot once he balanced up.

“He is a beautiful big horse altogether and when he gets to a mile or further, he is going to relish that”’ said Grylls.

Trained by Mark Walker for Team Te Akau, Wild Night continued the impressive performance by the stock of his sire Vanbrugh (Encosta De Lago), becoming the third individual stakes winner for the Windsor Park-based stallion in the space of just seven weeks.

Represented by just 11 runners to date in NZ this season, Vanbrugh now sits in second position on the Sires’ table however the stallion stallion has a big future given he has an ultra-impressive current stakes winners to runners ratio in NZ of 27%.

Raced by the Te Akau Love To Party Partnership, Wild Night was purchased by Te Akau Racing supremo David Ellis for $50,000 from the Windsor Park Book 1 draft at Karaka in 2021.

Advertisement

Bred too by Windsor Park Stud, Wild Night is the fourth foal of the Falkirk mare Supreme and is the younger half-brother of Gr.2 Eclipse Stakes stakes winner Play That Song who also finished second in the 2020 Karaka Million 2YO and fourth in the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes.

Vanbrugh has sired three stakes-winners in seven weeks!

Vanbrugh, a son of internationally acclaimed sire Encosta de Lago, stands at Windsor Park Stud and is also the sire of last weeks’ Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) winner Mustang Valley along with Sheez Dominant, winner of the Listed Wanganui Guineas (1340m) earlier in the season.
 
Windsor Park Release
Advertisment
More Reading...
Marble Nine Brings Up Second Stakes Winner For Aquis’ Kobayashi
The withdrawal of the top weight in Saturday’s $175,000 Listed VRC Santa Ana Lane Sprint Series Final (1200m) at Flemington saw the field down to just six, with Marble Nine continuing his outstanding recent form to secure his first black type victory.
Spring Potential for Darby Racing's Raging Force
Unplaced in the Group III ATC Breeders’ Plate last spring on debut, Raging Force came out of that race with an injury that required significant time on the sidelines, but since returning to full work his progress has been swift.
Invincible 2YO Colt wins for Bennett Racing
The $150,000 VRC Next Gen Sprinters Series Final (1200m) for two year-olds at Flemington on Saturday drew a competitive field of progressive juveniles and the colt that stood out on type in the yard was the one that got the cash with I Am Invincible colt Jimmy Recard proving too good for race favourite Bacash.
Juvenile Trial Watch – Rosehill
There were six heats for juveniles at Rosehill on Friday morning and the winners include unraced youngsters by Cool Aza Beel and I Am Invincible, plus a Farnan colt that tried his luck in Group races in the autumn and was far from disgraced.
Sires With Winners - Friday July 4
Here is the full list of 38 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Sword Poised to Strike
When the first crop yearlings by a young stallion are well received and go into the right stables that’s always a good sign and then a few months after that is when things start to get really interesting.
Breeding To Win – Crystal Ball – New Season 3YOs to Follow
Analysis of the G1 winning 3YO’s for this season has made us realise how many horses on this list took giant strides from two to three, so we are looking into the crystal ball to find some juveniles we believe could end next season as G1 performers if not G1 winners.
One to Watch – Ballarat
Synthetic track meetings at Ballarat can throw up some misleading form, but a debut winner from the Tony and Calvin McEvoy stable that started in the red and won by nine lengths is probably worth a closer look.
Sires With Winners - Wednesday July 2
Here is the full list of 44 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
2026 Golden Slipper Entries – Sortable, Sale Mail – Find Out More
The new season is nearly upon us and that means all over the country a new crop of rising two year-olds are taking baby steps in the best stables in the land with the Australian Turf Club announcing this week they had received 1927 entries for the 2026 Golden Slipper, so who is in the race?