KEY POINTS:
The TAB has slashed Tell A Tale's price for the $1.2 million Two Thousand Guineas at Riccarton on November 15 to $10 after his strong win in the group two Hawkes Bay Guineas at Hastings on Saturday.
Tell A Tale was at $41 for the Two Thousand Guineas (1600m) before landing the Hastings race for the Fortuna No 5 Syndicate.
Trainer Mark Walker said he would decide this week whether Tell A Tale would run in the Wellington Guineas on October 25, as well as the Two Thousand Guineas.
The win was unexpected by punters - he paid $25.30 for the win - and appeared a surprise to the Walker stable, too, as he had them worried at trackwork on Tuesday.
"He worked like a camel," Walker told reporters.
Jockey Troy Harris said Tell A Tale, a son of Tale of the Cat, would appreciate the step up in distance to 1600m. He said the gelding always seemed to finish off his races well, so he saved him up for the last run.
He got home by half a neck from Fully Fledged, with a nose back to Altered Image, down the outside.
Tell A Tale was bought by Te Akau Stables principal David Ellis at a Magic Millions yearling sale on the Gold Coast last June for A$125,000.
The syndicate is managed by John Galvin, one of 10 syndicates he is running under the Fortuna Ltd umbrella. He has about 130 shareholders in his syndicate.
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Mufhasa will likely head for Christchurch for the group two Couplands Mile in Christchurch next month after his strong win in the listed GR Kelt Memorial (1400m).
Mufhasa was balloted out for the first two legs of the Hawke's Bay triple crown, but gained a more than handy consolation prize in the hands of Lisa Cropp.
It was Mufhasa's seventh win from 16 starts, the Pentire gelding always having looked an above average horse.
Trainer Stephen McKee had planned to take him to New Plymouth for the 4YO Linepower last weekend, but scratched him out of concerns over the wet track.
"It looked a gimme race at New Plymouth," McKee said. But the decision paid off as the Linepower was worth $60,000, while the GR Kelt Memorial had a stake of $100,000.
Mufhasa worked to sit outside Tootsie and kicked at the top of the straight.
Despite a reasonable headwind, he still had enough at the line to beat the fast finishing Bulginbaah by a length, with a nose back to Vosne Romanee third.
Avaroadi rocked punters in the $45,000 NZ Bloodstock Premier open handicap, scoring at a price of $48.30 when ridden expertly by Sam Spratt, who shot him through late on the rails to beat a gallant Nanjara, with Shariat's On Fire.
Avaroadi brought little form into the race, but Te Aroha trainer John Steffert said there had been excuses for his recent failures.
It was Spratt's third victory of the day, after wins on Kovak and Anuthahoarse.
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Upper Hutt man Scott Stone so enjoyed the past four national punter of the year competitions at Hastings that he insisted his father Peter also compete this year. The result was a family triumph on Saturday, with Scott winning with a return of $19,217 and Peter finishing third with $14,827.
Scott Stone said he was well ahead after a splurge on Hawke's Bay Guineas winner Tell A Tale, who paid $25.80 for a win in the fifth race.
"I was tipped it," he said.
But he was overtaken as leader as his luck plunged in races seven to nine, before overcoming his personal credit crunch, with daring bets in the final race on Timetaken who won, paying $10.30.
His win, quinella and double bets on the horse netted him around $8000, the punter of the year title, a trophy and a Ford Fiesta.
- NZPA
