Delighted Brazilian-born jockey Bruno Queiroz brings La Dulcin’ee back at the head of the field after their success in a Rating 65 race at Whanganui last Saturday.
The silky hands of international jockey Bruno Queiroz were instrumental in the return to winning form of Hastings-trained La Dulcin’ee in a $35,000 Rating 65 race over 1340m at Whanganui last Saturday.
The Patrick Campbell-trained mare had been ruining her chances by over-racing in recent starts, leaving her without a sprint at the finish. She was coming off a sixth over 1100m at Trentham on May 17, where she was caught wide in the running and went too keenly. That followed a ninth on the same track in April, where she also over-raced in the running.
La Dulcin’ee began quickly in last Saturday’s race and was keen to get on with things again. But Queiroz managed to settle her perfectly in third in the middle stages, and she had something in reserve approaching the home turn.
Queiroz let her slide forward to join leader Maryrose rounding the bend, before kicking her clear in the home straight for a half-length win over Exit Left, with a length back to third-placed Gum Basher.
The 24-year-old Queiroz, winner of more than 1100 races internationally, has taken little time to make his mark in New Zealand.
La Dulcin’ee completed a winning double for him at last Saturday’s Whanganui meeting and took his tally to six wins from 35 rides since he arrived in New Zealand at the beginning of last month.
Brazilian-born Queiroz began his riding career in his homeland five years ago and recorded his first Group 1 win there 12 months later, aboard Dynamic Spirit.
The son of jockey Antonio Queiroz, he was always destined for a career in the saddle and collected a pair of Rio de Janeiro champion jockey titles before deciding to ply his trade internationally, on the advice of world-renowned jockey Joao Moreira.
After discussions with Moreira, Queiroz decided upon Singapore as his first port of call and began riding there in 2023 until it ceased racing in October last year, securing the jockeys’ premiership in Singapore’s final season.
“I rode in Singapore for one-and-a-half years,” Queiroz said. “It was very good, I had a nice experience there.”
When his Singapore stint was cut short, he called again on Moreira’s advice. He then contacted former Singapore trainer Stephen Gray, now training in partnership with his father Kevin in Manawatū.
“He’s a huge talent,” Gray said. “He’s Joao Moreira’s godson, and Joao and I have been good friends since his days riding in Singapore. Joao wanted to get Bruno to Singapore for some international experience and asked me to help him get started.
“After being unable to speak a word of English when he arrived, his progress was incredible – to the point where he rode four winners on the very last day of racing in Singapore, clinching the premiership.
“He’s a huge talent, young, light and a very humble, hard-working person.
“Joao wants him to learn his trade a bit more over here in New Zealand with us. It’ll give him a great grounding for his future career.
“His record is incredible. I expect him to be a real asset to New Zealand racing, and he could well prove to be as good as any rider in the country.”
Queiroz was quick to reward the Grays, placing in his first ride in the country aboard Albarossa at Trentham on May 10, before guiding stablemate Tycoon Boss to a comfortable four-and-a-quarter-length victory one race later.
La Dulcin’ee was recording her second win from 21 starts when successful at Whanganui last weekend, her first coming in a 1200m maiden race at Ashburton in February. She has also chalked up six seconds and five thirds.
The Per Incanto mare was originally trained at Cambridge by Stephen Marsh, who gave her 11 starts for four seconds and three thirds.
Campbell then took out a lease on the mare from her Wailkato breeder Bob Emery, and races her with fellow Hastings-based Dean Smith and the estate of the late Norm Stewart, a close friend of Campbell’s who died of cancer just over three months ago.
Campbell said this week that La Dulcin’ee was now likely to be turned out for a winter spell and return in the spring.
Dennis Choux defying the odds
There probably wouldn’t be any current galloper earning the description “warhorse” better than Hawke’s Bay-bred Dennis Choux.
The 7-year-old gelding chalked up his sixth victory when taking out an A$60,000 race over 2200m on the Pinjarra track in Western Australia last Saturday. Yet he is lucky to be racing at all.
Dennis Choux was bred by Richard and Liz Wood, who owned and raced his sire, the outstanding galloper and five-time Group 1 winner Jimmy Choux, and he is out of the Flying Spur mare Nimbletoes.
Hastings-based John Bary has trained several horses for the Woods over the years, with Jimmy Choux undoubtedly the star.
Richard Wood recalled this week how he and Bary thought Dennis Choux had the makings of their next racetrack star when he first went into training.
But the horse suffered a severe tendon injury before he even got to the races, and his career looked to be finished before it began.
Wood had taken in Havelock North physiotherapist Andrew Scott as a 50 per cent shareholder in Dennis Choux, and they were both resigned to him never racing.
“I rang a mate in Western Australia one day and was telling him about the horse and his injury, and he put me on to a guy called Lee Everson in Victoria, who was renowned worldwide for rehabilitating horses with tendon injuries,” Wood said.
“I contacted him and he said he was prepared to work on the horse if I sent him over.”
Wood said he was a great believer in stem-cell therapy and how it could help to repair tendon and joint problems. He takes a daily dose himself.
“I sent 30 bottles of stem-cell tablets with the horse when he went across to Lee Iverson, and I told him I want you to give him 12 of these tablets every day.”
Iverson worked on the horse for more than 12 months, and Wood said he was sure the stem-cell tablets helped in his recovery.
Iverson is also a successful trainer of harness horses. He gave Dennis Choux thousands of kilometres of work pulling a trotting sulky, before ringing Wood to say he thought he had him ready to be tried as a racehorse again.
“He said the tendon was like a piece of steel and there was no chance of him breaking down with it again,” Wood said.
Dennis Choux was then put into work with Victorian trainer Simon Morrish and was just starting to get to race fitness when he needed a wind operation that was going to cost A$10,000.
“I said to my partner Andrew Scott that I wanted out of the horse and he thought the same, so we decided to give him to my mate in Western Australia, who said he would get the wind operation done and set up a syndicate to race him.”
Dennis Choux has since gone on to record six wins and eight minor placings from 25 starts for trainer David Harrison.
He has won his last two starts, with last Saturday’s success following a 1600m victory at Belmont on May 24. He was overlooked by the punters in both races, returning odds of 19-1 in the first win and 14-1 last Saturday.
“He’s now lining up again in 10 days’ time, over 2100 metres at Pinjarra, and his trainer thinks he’ll win again,” Wood said
The winning run could not have come at a better time for the Woods, as they have a weanling half-sister to Dennis Choux, by US Navy Flag, entered for the National weanling sale at Karaka on June 26.
“The guys over in Western Australia want me to send her over to them, but I told them she is going through the sale ring,” Wood added.
Velocious making Aussie debut
Velocious will bid to add Australian black type to her impressive domestic record when she steps out at Eagle Farm this Saturday.
The Stephen Marsh-trained daughter of Written Tycoon will run in the Listed Queensland Day Stakes (1200m) with Australian jockey Ethan Brown to don the Go Racing silks aboard the 3-year-old.
Velocious earned her passage across the Tasman with her most recent success over 1100m at Te Rapa a fortnight ago.
“We’ve always had Australia in the back of our minds for her, and she had a couple of unlucky runs before her last start at Te Rapa,” Go Racing general manager Matt Allnutt said.
“That was the race that was going to decide whether she went over or not.
“She duly went out and won that, and there’s not much left for her in New Zealand, especially with the way the tracks are, so we’re trying our luck in Queensland.”
Velocious has six victories from her 12 starts, including the Group 1 Systema Stakes (1200m) and Listed Karaka Millions (1200m) to earn champion juvenile honours before she had a wind operation earlier this season.
She has returned to win twice, both noteworthy efforts against older open-grade opposition.
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