Chestnut sends out a shark warning

Te Akau Shark sent an ominous warning to his Australian rivals as he finally got a Group I prize, taking out the BCD Group Sprint (1400m) with a scintillating effort.

The showy chestnut was making his first raceday appearance since finishing a meritorious third behind Lys Gracieux in the Group I Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley in November.

An eye-catching gallop between races on Karaka Million night at Ellerslie was preceded by a handy performance behind gun three-year-old Catalyst at the Matamata trials. It saw the Rip Van Winkle five-year-old installed an overwhelming $1.40 favourite in a small but select field at Te Rapa.

His large ownership group and thousands of supporters had their hearts in their mouths midway through Saturday’s contest as the free-going The Mitigator had his rivals struggling to make up ground as he went for glory at the 600m. A conservative six lengths adrift of The Mitigator with less than 300m to run, rider Opie Bosson didn’t panic as he set the Shark alight.

With a devastating turn of foot, Te Akau Shark circled then swooped on his rival as he dashed past to score by two lengths.

‘‘I’m so happy for him as the monkey is off his back now and there are plenty more Group Ones to come for him,’’ Bosson said.

Te Akau Shark will likely contest the Group One trio of the Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) on February 29, George Ryder Stakes (1500m) on March 21 and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) on April 11 during his Sydney campaign.

NZ Racing Desk