Wexford Stables have an enviable cohort of three-year-olds in their care this season, which made selecting a $3.5 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) representative a challenging task for Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott.
But with the interests of the remainder of the group in mind, Wexford have announced that their hugely-promising galloper Checkmate will fill their slot in the inaugural running of the southern hemisphere’s richest three-year-old race.
Checkmate has made just five appearances to the races and in that time has made a big impression with three victories, including the Listed Armacup 3YO Stakes (1500m) and an open three-year-old 1500m last Sunday at Ellerslie.
The O’Sullivan and Scott partnership already have Sought After in the feature under Waikato Stud’s slot, and the former is hoping others in the stable will get their opportunity with the son of Mongolian Khan locked in.
“We have some nice horses there and we felt it was best to state who we were going to take in case anyone else had any interest in the others,” O’Sullivan said.
“That was one of the reasons why we went early, but in saying that, Checkmate is a horse that gets around Ellerslie, which is important. He’s won at the trip and just ticked a lot of boxes.
“He should acquit himself well, we’re happy with him and his condition, although he’ll have another run before then. We’re still undecided where (he will race next), we have a couple of options to work through, but the horse will tell us what he needs.
“He’s a nice horse for the race and one of many chances.”
A former champion jockey and multiple Group One-winning trainer, O’Sullivan is looking forward to seeing what the race does for an industry he has spent most of his life immersed in, and more importantly, having the Wexford brand play a major role.
“It’s exciting to have the biggest prizemoney in the southern hemisphere for three-year-olds, who would’ve thought that would happen,” he said. “It’s great for the industry, it’s new and creates a lot of interest.
“It’s important for Wexford, we wanted to be a part of the big dance and to have two horses in the race, it’s fantastic. It’s nice to be able to produce horses that warrant running in the big event.
“We’ve had a long time for everyone to put forward their horse and make decisions in which way they’re going to go. It’s like jockeying for positions really.
“It’s going to be a very exciting day.”
Owned and bred by Okaharau Station, Checkmate currently holds equal favouritism for the NZB Kiwi at $8 with horse racing bookmakers, alongside the TAB slot-holder Evaporate and star colt Savaglee. The race will be run on Champions Day at Ellerslie on March 8.
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