Waikato Guineas Triumph For Tony Pike

The G2 Waikato Guineas at Te Rapa was a triumph for trainer Tony Pike when his two starters Rangipo and Raghu fought out a thrilling finish.

Stryker gelding Rangipo narrowly defeated his Karaka Million winning stablemate Raghu (Showcasing) by a nose. The pair will be set for a rematch in the G1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) in March.

Rangipo is the first horse Pike has trained for prominent owners John and Margaret Thompson, who bred the 3YO from the race-winning Zabeel mare Holloway.

Rangipo (Stryker x Holloway by Zabeel) is now the winner of five races from 10 starts. He won the G2 Great Northern Guineas (1600m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day and then finished second in the G1 Levin Classic (1600m) last month.

He is the only winner out of the Zabeel mare Holloway, a daughter of Strangeways (Veloso) and a half-sister to the stakes winners Maze (Housebuster), Barlinnie (St Petersburg) and Penitentiary (Pentire).

• TALE Of The Cat mare The Diamond One earned herself a slice of New Zealand racing history when she completed a hat-trick of victories in the G3 White Robe Lodge Handicap at Wingatui on Saturday.

The Wingatui-trained six-year-old is not the only three-time winner of the event but she is the first to complete the feat in successive years.

The outstanding Grey Way claimed the feature mile in 1976 and 1977 and was also successful in 1979.

The Diamond One was prepared for her first win by Steve Anderton, who tragically passed away in the lead-up to last year’s event when his wife Claire took over the training of the mare.

The Diamond One (Tale of the Cat x The Jewel by O’Reilly) has the overall record of eight wins and seven placings from 22 starts with prizemoney topping $267,000.

She is a half-sister to stakes-placed The Glitzy One and is the best of three winners from the dual G1 winner The Jewel, who comes from the family of noted G1 winners The Phantom and The Phantom Chance.

• HUNTER Valley based stallion Al Maher sired his 28th stakes winner with the previously G1-placed Son Of Maher won the Listed Dunedin Guineas at Wingatui.

The Michael and Matthew Pitman-trained Son Of Maher (l Maher x Dance Hit by Tights) could now be headed to a start in the G1 NZ Derby after his next start in the G2 Avondale Guineas.

Son Of Maher was coming off a runner-up finish in the G1 Levin Classic at Trentham and has now won three of his 10 career starts with four placings.

A $42,500 yearling purchase, Son Of Maher is a full brother to Dance With Her, a dual stakes winner of 12 races including the Listed Warrnambool Cup and second in the G2 Brisbane Cup.

Their dam Dance Hit was a dual stakes winner of seven races

Both Son Of Maher and Dance With Her are examples of Al Maher successful mix with mares carrying Nijinsky blood. Stakes winners Majestic Music, Budriguez, Marheta and Bigelow are all bred on the same lines.

• CANGON Stud-based sire Ad Valorem sired his 11th stakes winner when Kaharau continued a lucrative South Island campaign with a win in the Listed Dunedin Gold Cup at WIngatui.

The Kenny and Lisa Rae-trained four-year-old had won at Cromwell, Ashburton twice and Greymouth, providing a great return on the $14,000 he cost at the 2012 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale from the draft of Royston Stud. Kaharau boasts the impressive record of six wins and six placings from 19 starts.

• BORDEAUX, an older half-brother to the star of last month’s NZB National Yearling Sale at Karaka, won at Te Rapa on Saturday.

The Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards-trained son of High Chaparral and the Zabeel mare Our Echezeaux cost $620,000 as a yearling, a figure well and truly eclipsed by his sibling at Karaka last month.

His half-brother by the unbeaten champion Frankel was offered by Pencarrow Stud and was knocked down to an international consortium for $1.3 million.

The 4YO Bordeaux has made his mark as he is now the winer of four races from nine appearances for the Te Akau 2013 Breeding Syndicate.