Cool Aza Beel has now had four starts for three wins and a fourth and has total stake earnings of $573,560 while Bordeaux Le Rouge has also had four starts for a win, a second, a third and a fourth and has amassed stake earnings of $57,525.
Both horses are trained at Matamata by Jamie Richards and were syndicated after being purchased from last year's Karaka yearling sales by Te Akau Stud principal David Ellis.
Cool Aza Beel was a $150,000 yearling purchase and is raced by the Te Akau Sassy Beel Syndicate while Bordeaux Le Rouge was a cheap $20,000 buy and is raced by the Te Akau Fine Red Syndicate. Both are managed by Karen Fenton-Ellis, the wife of David Ellis.
Jager has always had a keen interest in thoroughbreds. When she was younger, she spent four years working for Hastings trainer Marlene Todd, regularly riding trackwork on the Hastings track. She now works at the Aspyre Fitness Centre in Hastings and is the only Hawke's Bay person with a share in both Cool Aza Beel and Bordeaux Le Rouge.
Jager made the trip to Auckland to be on course for last Saturday's big meeting and soaked up the pre-race excitement and celebrations that followed.
"I went up on the Friday and stayed at my sister's place at Papakura. We went to the Auckland trots on the Friday night and it was the first time I've ever been to a trotting meeting.
"We then got dressed up on Saturday morning, with the hair done and makeup on and headed off to Ellerslie.
"It was great to just be there and be part of it. I said to Jamie Richards (the trainer) that I was just stoked to have two runners in the race and, whatever happened, it was going to be a great experience."
Cool Aza Beel, aided by a 10 out of 10 ride by top jockey Opie Bosson, scored a dominant 1-1/2 length win in the 1200m event.
Bosson urged the colt out of the gates to be prominent early before easing back into a perfect trailing position in fourth.
Race favourite Play That Song and Cool Aza Beel surged forward at the top of the home straight to fight out the finish and, for a moment, it looked like Play That Song would scoot away for a fourth straight win.
But Cool Aza Beel kicked powerfully on her inside and shook her off, opening up a comfortable margin in the run to the line. Play That Song finished second, a neck in front of the Brendan and Jo Lindsay-owned filly Taroni.
"I saw the favourite's head come up beside me, but I have to give credit to my horse – he gave a really good kick in the straight," Bosson said. "It's a great result and a privilege to be part of the Te Akau team."
"We've always had a lot of faith in this horse," Richards said. "We took our time with him. He missed a run here at Ellerslie a couple of weeks ago, but we had Tauranga as a back-up plan and he won there.
"We'd been really happy with his work coming into today. It's been a great effort by the team at home with this horse, and a great ride by Opie, who's just a freak."
Plans for Cool Aza Beel now are that he heads to Matamata for the Group 3 $70,000 Waikato Stud Slipper (1200m) on February 22 and then will be aimed at the country's two Group 1 races for 2-year-olds, the $200,000 Sistema Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie on March 7 and the $225,000 Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes (1400m) at Awapuni on March 28.
Jager said Bordeaux Le Rouge is more of a 3-year-old type and may not be seen competing too much more this season before being spelled and brought back in the spring.
Stakes race next for Wicket Maiden
The Group 2 $100,000 Matamata Breeders' Stakes on February 22 could be the next assignment for exciting Hawke's Bay owned and trained 2-year-old Wicket Maiden.
The Power filly scored an impressive debut win in a maiden 2-year-old race over 1000m at Trentham last Saturday and is held in very high regard by her Hastings trainer John Bary.
After easily winning two Hastings jumpouts earlier this season, Wicket Maiden was supposed to make her race debut over 800m at Otaki on January 6. However, she became fractious at the start that day and was a late scratching after refusing to enter the barrier stalls.
The filly then had to trial to the satisfaction of the stewards before she could race and went to the Foxton trials on January 14, where she loaded into the barrier without a problem and won by 1-1/2 lengths.
"When we took her to Otaki for her first start there was a lot of wind that day and other horses played up so I think she was just over-awed by it all," Bary's racing manager Mike Sanders said this week.
"She was fine when she went to the trials at Foxton and loaded okay again at Trentham."
Wicket Maiden began well last Saturday and rider Holly Andrew positioned her outside the leader Just Ben until the field came across the junction and joined up with the running rail at the top of the home straight.
She then let the filly run to the lead and she kept up a good run to the line to win by half a length from the fast finishing Sumi, with Balalaika a further three-quarters back in third.
"Talking to Holly Andrew after the race she said the filly was still pretty green and probably got to the front too soon but it was a good win," Sanders said.
"She'll take plenty of improvement from that."
Wicket Maiden is owned by Havelock North property developer Jonathan Wallace and Palmerston North's Gerard Gillespie.
Wallace raced the filly's dam, Scarlet O'Hara, who was the winner of six races and is by Fast 'N' Famous out of the three race winning mare Southern Belle.
Queensland Derby plans for Viscosity
Napier businessman Simon Tremain is already starting to make plans for a Queensland winter holiday after a horse he shares in the ownership of, Viscosity, recorded his second win in a row in Australia last week.
"I think the plan is to race him in Tasmania this Friday and then set our sights on the Queensland Derby in Brisbane on June 8," an excited Tremain said this week.
He, along with fellow Napier man Tony Goldfinch and close friends Tim Barry (Auckland), Peter Kean (Cromwell) and Doug Paulin (Nelson) own just under a 50 per cent shareholding in the 3-year-old, who is an impeccably bred being by Savabeel out of the dual Group 1 winning mare Legs.
"The five of us have been great friends for years and have a betting syndicate where someone bets each week," Tremain said.
"Tim Barry, who works for the Auckland Racing Club, got us all involved in this horse."
Viscosity was a $220,000 purchase from the 2018 Karaka yearling sales and was sent to Australia, where he is now prepared at Cranbourne by former New Zealanders Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young.
"When he first got up and going he had five barrier trials and only got out of the gates once," Tremain recalled this week.
"He then finished seventh in his first two starts and we thought we had bought a dud but then he won over 1600m at Cranbourne last month and then took out a A$135,000 race at Flemington last week so we are now pretty stoked."
Tremain, who likes to have a punt, said he didn't back the horse at Cranbourne because he wasn't sure how he would perform and didn't back him again at Flemington because it was a big step up in class.
Viscosity was ridden by former New Zealand jockey Michael Dee in his most recent victory and scored by three-quarters of a length from Mont Madeira, with another three-quarters of a length back to third placed Rogues Point.
The son of Savabeel obviously appreciated the step up in distance and is certainly bred to run out the 2400m of the Group 1 Queensland Derby as his dam Legs included the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham and Group 1 Kelt Capital Stakes (2040m) at Hastings among her five wins.
Tremain, who is managing director of Tremain Real Estate and a son of the late legendary All Black Kel Tremain, has had shares in a number of horses over the years but says "most of them have been no good."
He also shared in the first starter Rum at Hastings on Wednesday and has bred another couple of young horses out of mares he has raced.
Lane to ride Catalyst in Aussie
Top Melbourne jockey Damian Lane has been confirmed as the rider for Catalyst in his upcoming Australian campaign.
The Oaks Stud general manager Rick Williams advised that Lane would replace regular rider Troy Harris when Catalyst takes his place in the Group 3 A$160,000 CS Hayes (1400m) at Flemington on February 15.
"Damian Lane's manager emailed and said Damian wouldn't take another ride until he knew what the riding engagements were going to be," Williams said.
"We had a discussion and decided to go with the local jockey.
"It's tough on Troy but he took it extremely well and he will always be riding Catalyst when he is racing in New Zealand, which could include the Triple Crown at Hastings next spring, depending on what our targets are.
"It's just the local knowledge of the jockeys and the tracks that swayed us to Damian and it wasn't Troy's rides in any shape or form."
Lane was in stellar form during the Melbourne spring carnival where he took out the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) aboard Mer De Glace before piloting the now retired Lys Gracieux to victory in the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m).
Lane is no stranger to riding New Zealand-bred horses to major race success having taken out the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) on Humidor and the Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) aboard Jon Snow.
