Waitak and Craig Grylls after winning the Howden Insurance Mile at Te Rapa on Saturday. Photo / Kenton Wright
Saturday’s Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) at Te Rapa took Waitak past the million-dollar barrier and added another triumphant chapter to his Group 1 record.
The $400,000 weight-for-age showpiece was Waitak’s 12th appearance at Group 1 level. Those dozen races have been spread across his 2, 3, 4, 5 and now 6-year-old seasons, and they have ranged from 1200m up to 2400m.
Before Saturday, Waitak’s career highlight came with his burst from the back of the field to win the Group 1 Sistema Railway (1200m) in January of 2024, backed up by third in the Group 1 Manawatū Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m), fourth in the Group 1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m), and fifth in the Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) and Group 1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m). The Proisir gelding also completed a feature autumn double this year in the Group 2 Japan Trophy (1600m) and Group 2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2100m).
But if Saturday’s come-from-behind defeat of five other Group 1 winners is anything to go by, there could still be much more to be written about Waitak.
“This is amazing,” said Andrew Scott, who trains in partnership with Lance O’Sullivan. “It’s great for the horse and great for Team Devine [owner Jill Devine, whose late husband Colin bred Waitak].
“The team has been so confident with this horse all week. He galloped the house down on Wednesday morning and he’s just kept improving.
“It’s all about getting him to relax and settle in his races. When he does that, he’s got such a wicked turn of foot.
“He’s been very lightly raced and has just turned 6. We said at the start of the season that this will be his best year. Not a lot has really gone his way in the last couple of years. Hopefully he can get the momentum going now.
“He’s just such a wonderful racehorse. To win two Group 1 weight-for-age races is amazing. He’s a marvel for our stable and a pleasure to train. He’s just a star.”
Waitak never saw daylight when he resumed with a luckless 11th in the Group 1 Proisir Plate (1400m) at Ellerslie earlier this month. If he was going to turn his luck around in the Howden Insurance Mile at Te Rapa on Saturday, he would have to do it from the outside gate in a 14-horse field.
But jockey Craig Grylls rode a patient race, giving Waitak time to find his feet and settle into a smooth rhythm in fifth-last position.
The favourite La Crique went for gold at the top of the home straight, bursting to the lead with a powerful kick. She quickly went two and three lengths clear of her nearest rivals Sterling Express and Legarto.
But then Grylls unleashed Waitak. He roared down the outside, devouring La Crique’s advantage and sailing past her in the final few strides. Waitak went on to win by half a length, with La Crique second and Ladies Man third ahead of Sterling Express and Legarto.
Waitak delivered a third win in the race for Grylls, who had previously been successful aboard Pure Champion (2014) and La Crique (2022). Those three wins have come at three different venues, with Pure Champion winning at Hastings, La Crique at Matamata and Waitak at Te Rapa.
“I won this race in the same colours with Pure Champion 11 years ago, so it’s great to do it again,” Grylls said. “I’m really grateful to Lance and Andrew for putting me on the horse.
“He was luckless last time, but we got a perfect run today from the outside gate. There was good speed on and we worked into the race at the right time.
“He had a horse to chase in La Crique. I was pretty confident from about 100m out that we’d pick her up, because he had all the momentum.
“He’s a good horse. He’s shown that over the years and today has just cemented that again.”
Scott confirmed Waitak will now be set for the Group 1 Livamol Classic (2040m) at Ellerslie on October 18.
“These were the races we set him for when we brought him up for the spring,” he said. “Hopefully, with a bit more improvement from his second-up run today, he’ll be competitive again in the next one. But for now we’ll just celebrate this win. It’s an amazing result.”
Waitak’s 33-start career has produced seven wins, nine placings and $1.2 million in stakes.
The Howden Insurance Mile was La Crique’s eighth runner-up finish in a Group 1 race and her sixth in a row.
“It’s a little bit frustrating, but at least we’ve won Group 1 races with her as well,” co-trainer Katrina Alexander said. “It would be much worse if we were getting all these placings without having won one.
“We’re proud of her. She’s ultra-consistent and always delivers. She’s never let us down.
“We have tentative plans to fly her to Sydney next weekend to target the Hill Stakes [Group 2, 1900m] at Rosehill. We think the conditions and distance of that race will suit her, and it would be great for her connections [owner-breeders John and Jan Cassin] if she could put her foot in the till in good company in Australia.”
The Hill Stakes will be run for a stake of A$2m ($2.3m) on October 11.
– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk