Karaka Clean Sweep In Canterbury Gold Cup

There were three Karaka graduates in Saturday’s G3 Canterbury Gold Cup at Riccarton - and they finished first, second and third.

The $44,000 Festival Sale purchase Who Dares Wins (Iffraaj x Wee Tiple by Centaine) completed a black type double in a week after he collected the first stakes win in the Listed Easter Cup the previous weekend.

Raced by a large group of owners and trained by Tony and Lyn Prendergast, Who Dares Wins was purchased by Phill Cataldo Bloodstock and has now had 48 starts for eight wins, 13 placings and $250,963 in stakes – more than five times his purchase price.

Runner-up Residential (Pins) was passed in at the 2015 Premier Sale with a $60,000 reserve while third-placed Dee And Gee (Darci Brahma) cost just $16,000 at the 2015 Select Sale.

Who Dares Wins and Residential had finished first and second in the Easter Cup and repeated that result when he edged away to win by three quarters of a length.

Who Dares Wins was beaten in a photo finish by Saint Emilion in last year’s Canterbury Gold Cup.

Wee Tipple, the stakes winning dam of Who Dares Wins, has produced four other winners including the G3 placed Mae West (Sir Percy).

The family includes G1 winners Linc The Leopard (Balmerino) and Trap For Fools (Poet’s Voice) is among 11 stakes winners under Wee Tipple’s first three dams.

A 2YO full sister to Who Dares Wins was sold for $85,000 at Karaka last year and she was bred back Ifraaj last spring.

• Saturday’s Listed Hawkes Bay Cup winner Felaar could have been bought for just $10,000 at the 2015 Festival Sale at Karaka.

The son of Ekraar picked up his first stakes win with a thrilling victory at Hastings after placings in the Listed New Zealand St Leger, Listed Metropolitan Trophy and G3 New Zealand Cup.

On Saturday Felaar (Ekraar x Felt That by Faltaat) beat the G3 Counties Cup winner Igraine (Galileo) and G2 Awapuni Gold Cup winner Jacksstar (Zed).

Felaar has now had 19 starts for four wins, nine placings and $177,300 in earnings – more than 13 times his Karaka reserve.

Felaar is the second foal of the winning mare Felt That.

Felt That’s third dam produced two-time G1 winner Riverdale (Riverton) while Felaar’s younger full brother That Said has won two races. He was Felt That’s final foal. * Saturday’s Listed NZB Finance Sprint at Hawke's Bay was another highlight in a sensational campaign for the Pins mare Princess Kereru.

Passed in with a $40,000 reserve at the 2015 Select Sale at Karaka, the Matamata mare began this season as the winner of three of her 16 starts but has since added another four wins from nine starts.

They include two at stakes level plus a close second in the G1 Sistema Railway at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day.

Princess Kereru’s black-type breakthrough came in the G3 Waikato Stud Plate at Ellerslie in March.

Princess Kereru (Pins x Fleur d’Amour by Thorn Park) has now had 25 starts for seven wins, eight placings and $253,125 in stakes – more than six times her reserve at Karaka. She is trained by Ken Kelso for her breeders K R and R P Humphries with the PR Partnership.

Her dam Fleur d’Amour is a half-sister to the G2 winner and G1 placed Thunder Lady (Mastercraftsman).

Fleur d’Amour’s second dam also produced the G1 winner Tully Thunder (Thunder Gulch), the granddam of G1 ATC Derby winner Levendi (Pierro) and G1 placed Fleur De’here, the dam of G1 placed Zamzam (Redoute’s Choice).

Princess Kereru’s only other foal to race was placed this season. She also has an unraced 3YO full brother to Princess Kereru in training with Will Clarken in Australia

Fleur d’Amour had a Shocking colt in 2017 that will be offered at the 2019 NZB Karaka May Sale.