Taree to signal the Mitchell move south
of the 6-year-old Tavistock gelding.
It’s a firm “no” to weather making any difference today or offering any advice to Rusof on how to ride Melody Belle, who has pocketed the owners $1.1 million to date.
The 31-year-old rider, who has the Singapore Gold Cup victory under his belt, was on a five-race winning streak after the Tarzino Trophy victory.
If luck does really play a decisive role then Richards is overly blessed with a No 1 barrier for Avantage, with jockey Johnson in the saddle, in the $70,000 group three Hawke’s Bay Breeders Gold Trail Stakes.
The 1200m dash for the 3-yearold fillies, which starts at 2.42pm, puts the Fastnet Rock (Australia) filly in good stead, after having “travelled and galloped well leading into the race”.
Richards takes all that favouritism talk in his stride.
“You’ve got to get used it,” quips the 28-year-old trainer from the Taieri Plains, in east Otago, who went on to assume the mantle of the head of New Zealand’s richest racing stable, Te Akau Racing.
The former Wingatui stablehand and track work rider is the son of former Wingatui trainers Paul and Leanne Richards and said he is living his dream.
But for the former Otago Boys’ High School student, tertiary tuition, in tandem with equine pursuits, was the order in realising those dreams.
With an Otago University bachelor of commerce in management and accounting and a postgraduate diploma in marketing, his credentials left an indelible impression on Te Akau Racing honcho David Ellis.
“It has certainly helped David promote me, the fact that I went to university,” Richards had told
before officially taking his position.
“Certainly having that university education and doing a bit of travel and having that scholarship has been a big help.”
Richards ground his teeth working alongside his parents and, reportedly, his father will work for Te Akau Racing and under his son’s direction.
Ellis’ decision to muster fewer horses opened the door for Richards “to step up” with the former’s blessings.
While bouncing ideas with Autridge had its benefits, Richards is embracing the challenges of a solo trainer.
“I haven’t changed too much,” he says. “I’ve also got good staff around me to bounce ideas off.”
Richards’ prowess hasn’t missed the attention of Hastings trainer Guy Lowry.
“He’s a very confident young fellow who’s going to high places very quickly,” says Lowry.
“He’s going very well and bring plenty of energy and knows a lot.” Cambridge horsewoman Tarissa Mitchell will launch another chapter in her life at Riccarton today with a horse who seriously injured her 11 months ago.
Mitchell, a promising trainer and former jockey, made the permanent move from Cambridge to Riccarton this week and her first runner from her racecourse boxes will be Taree in the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m).
It was on October 9 last year that Mitchell was rushed to hospital for eye surgery after being kicked by Taree, who was then an untried two-year-old.
“I was just putting the horses out from the boxes because it had stopped raining,” Mitchell said at the time.
“I had walked her over for a bit of a pick. She just got a fright at something and lashed out at me. She kicked me in the head and got the inside of my eye.”
After losing the battle to save the sight in her injured eye, a prosthetic eye has replaced the original one and Mitchell has carried on in life doing what she does well, training racehorses.
As for Taree, she went a little way to saying she was sorry for the serious accident when scoring a debut win over 1150m at Te Awamutu a couple of weeks ago.
It was that hard-fought win on a heavy 11 surface after just one unplaced juvenile trial six months earlier that has earned Taree a crack at the New Zealand Bloodstock Canterbury Belle Stakes.
“It’s a big step up for her and there’s a question mark over her on a good track, but she’s very well,” Mitchell said. “She’s tough and it’s a good chance to find out how good she is.
“She’s not nominated for the 1000 Guineas but there’s always a late nomination if she proves she deserves to run in it.”
Mitchell holds no grudge against Taree for the accident. In fact, the filly she races with Jim and Libby Telfer has also had to endure serious setbacks.
“She’s had to overcome a fair bit,” Mitchell said. “She got hurt in a fence then one day she got badly injured in the float by another horse kicking out when she was to run at the Te Teko trials. She’s tough the way she bounces back.”
The daughter of Pins is responsible for the most recent of the 17 wins Mitchell has on the board since taking out her trainer’s licence three years ago and today she will get her opportunity to credit the stable with its first stakes win.
Taree was one of the nine horses Mitchell took south to her new quarters at the Riccarton racecourse and it wasn’t a smooth trip for all of the team.
“I took four down on my own float and the other five went with Majestic [Horse Floats], but unfortunately their truck blew up near Taumarunui and they had a three-hour delay,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell is looking forward to her new life in Christchurch with partner Carl Sheehan, who represented New Zealand as a rower in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.