Xtravagant Provides Sire Pentire GI Double
Description:
Rich Hill Stud-bred Xtravagant easily took the New Zealand Two Thousand Guineas (NZ-I), winning by 8 1/2 lengths Nov. 7 at Riccarton.
The victory marked a group I double for the New Zealand farm's foundation sire, Pentire (by Be My Guest), whose son Prince of Penzance, co-bred by Rich Hill Stud, carried Michelle Payne to a historic win in the Emirates Melbourne Cup (Aus-I) earlier this week at Flemington.
Campaigned by Te Akau 2014 Breeding Syndicate, managed by David Ellis, Xtravagant overcame his wide post position to make the lead, and when Matt Cameron gave the cue at the top of the stretch the bay colt put the race out of question in the matter of a few powerful strides.
"I had to use him a bit to get across, but he was just cantering and when I gave him one or two behind the saddle his acceleration was just amazing," Cameron said.
Xtravagant covered 1,600 meters (about one mile) in 1:33.59 on turf rated good.
Battle Time won the race for second place, followed by Serena Miss.
Cameron has been close to winning the New Zealand Guineas several times previously, including a runner-up finish in 2010 aboard Xtravagant's full brother He's Remarkable in 2010. Their dam is the Zabeel mare Axiom.
"He was just humming along and he was way too good for them," Cameron said of Xtravagant. "It was incredible."
Xtravagant is trained Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards; the latter enjoying his first win at the top level. The Te Akau group enjoyed a fifth New Zealand Guineas victory, previously winning the classic with King's Chapel (2003), Darci Brahma (2005), Tell A Tale (2008) and Rock 'n' Pop (2011).
Ellis purchased Xtravagant for $375,000 ($308,738) from Rich Hill's 2014 New Zealand Bloodstock premier yearling sale consignment for $375,000. He has a 3-0-1 record from five career starts, with the New Zealand Guineas marking his first stakes triumph.