NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Racing

Racing: Excalibur draws first blood

NZ Herald
19 Feb, 2017 04:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Excalibur draws clear to win at Ellerslie on Saturday to stake his claim for the NZ Derby. Photo / Trish Dunell

Excalibur draws clear to win at Ellerslie on Saturday to stake his claim for the NZ Derby. Photo / Trish Dunell

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The $100,000 Retina Specialists Avondale Guineas at Ellerslie on Saturday was going to provide us with the perfect guide into the Vodafone Derby next month.

It didn't, but perhaps Ellerslie's last race on the card did.

Excalibur might have pushed his handsome frame into the Derby field with a stylish victory against the older horses in the $22,500 Auckland Eye 2100.

It was only a R65 event, a couple of grades below that a handful in the Guineas aspire to, but Excalibur won it like a good horse and, more importantly, one that is about to step up to the top ranks as a stayer.

In a depleted field, Excalibur sat third behind the speed for Jonathan Riddell before moving forward to challenge approaching the home bend.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The pair settled into what looked like being a desperate battle before Excalibur's staying potential entered the fray and he powered away late to score easily. The impressive part was how strong the 3-year-old was through the line.

There had been a fair level of pressure for trainer Shaune Ritchie, as Excalibur ran a series of minor placings, mainly as favourite, over short courses through the spring and early summer before being tested in longer races.

"Jonathan said he worried that he might have gone too soon on the horse this time, but he was worried that he would lose concentration if he had waited any longer."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Riddell is as strong a rider as we have in New Zealand and exactly the right type for Excalibur who, like some colts, can have their mind somewhere else during a race.

"He's a beautiful moving horse," says Ritchie. "He has a long stride and he was always going to get better as the distances increased. He's going to be a very fit horse come the Derby."

The ARC run 18 in the Derby and as the order of entry sat on Saturday night Excalibur was at No 18. But if the connections of surprise Guineas winner Gingernuts pay the $30,000 late entry fee, which includes the final acceptance, Excalibur goes to first emergency as the field sits, but Gingernuts' stablemate Shocking Luck, scratched from Saturday after being sold to Hong Kong, will not run and with one or two others considered unlikely, he should make the field.

Co-trainer Stephen Autridge said the decision on Gingernuts will be today or tomorrow. "It's entirely over to the owners and David Ellis, and I'd say at this stage it's at least 50-50. A lot depends on how he has come through the race, but at this stage that looks fine."

Discover more

Racing

Lazarus may need miracle

19 Feb 08:24 AM
Racing

Lightning strikes twice for Terravista

19 Feb 04:00 PM
Racing

Winx on target for Chipping Norton

19 Feb 04:00 PM
Racing

Demolition crew to have their fate decided today

19 Feb 04:00 PM

Gingernuts raised just about every eyebrow watching Saturday's Guineas. He was coming off a lowly R65 Te Teko victory and his chances looked hopeless when he gave the rest of the field five or six lengths out of the barriers.

He sat last until the home turn then sprinted past the entire field to score, not effortlessly, but almost untouched. The bunch he ran past included all the Derby favourites.

"We knew that being out of a mare by Generous he was going to handle the rain-affected track and that he would stay, but you have to say it was a surprise the way he did it," said Autridge.

That is true, even if the footing - better than most expected it to be, but still testing - hampered most of the leading chances.

Charles Road ran well in finishing second, looking all over the winner until Gingernuts produced an extraordinary finish, and Mongolian Wolf and Redeen The Dream were close up next.

Stewards requested a follow-up report from trainer Tony Pike on the favourite Sacred Elixir, who finished three lengths away in seventh, just ahead of the well fancied Camino Rocoso.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Both horses looked to be badly hampered by the testing footing.

Phillip Devcich is one of racing's nicest guys. However, if he had told you last Friday that 10-year-old El Soldado is probably better than when he made punters cry by winning last year's Auckland Cup at better than $120, you would have had to hide your laugh.

Well, after a similar upset in Saturday's $100,000 Go Racing Syndications Avondale Cup, this time at a mere $69 on the tote, you might have to give that statement a little more credibility.

As he did in the Auckland Cup a year back, El Soldado led them up Saturday and several top fancies in the race had their chance to run him down and couldn't. "Well, that's how he races," said Devcich yesterday, almost oblivious to the shock he had once again provided for the industry and ready to go back to his main occupation as a fencer.

El Soldado clearly likes leading because he finished last at Te Rapa at his previous start after settling mid-field.

Confusion reigns

• The NZ Derby has been thrown wide open after the moderate efforts of several of the likely favourites in Saturday's Avondale Guineas.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• Surprise winner Gingernuts gave his rivals a start and a sound dunking in the lead-up event.

• Excalibur threw down the gauntlet with a strong win in a minor race.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Racing

Racing

Mick On Monday: Pike pair could be two new stars of the saddle

06 Jul 06:13 PM
Racing

Brosnan stable stars with jumping double at waterlogged Te Rapa

05 Jul 05:00 PM
Racing

Caitlyns Wish claims seventh win in Te Rapa sprint race

05 Jul 06:26 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Racing

Mick On Monday: Pike pair could be two new stars of the saddle

Mick On Monday: Pike pair could be two new stars of the saddle

06 Jul 06:13 PM

Two talented young jockeys from very different back rounds have become stablemates

Brosnan stable stars with jumping double at waterlogged Te Rapa

Brosnan stable stars with jumping double at waterlogged Te Rapa

05 Jul 05:00 PM
Caitlyns Wish claims seventh win in Te Rapa sprint race

Caitlyns Wish claims seventh win in Te Rapa sprint race

05 Jul 06:26 AM
Bosson in right head space and weight range for racing return

Bosson in right head space and weight range for racing return

04 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP