Last year’s Gr.1 Sistema Railway (1200m) winner Waitak (NZ) (Proisir) has showcased his versatility and class this autumn with a dominant double over 1600m and 2100m.
The son of Proisir was a three-length winner of the Gr.2 Japan Trophy (1600m) at Tauranga on March 15, and on Saturday he stepped up over even further and won the Gr.2 City of Palmerston North Awapuni Gold Cup (2100m) at Trentham with similar ease.
Waitak has joined a rare club, becoming only the second horse to win both the Railway and the Awapuni Gold Cup. The first was Stretto, who won both races in 1938.
This month’s feature double has been a welcome turnaround for Waitak, who went winless for more than a year after his Railway triumph but was close up in fourth in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m), fifth in the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m), third in the Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes (1215m), third in the Gr.3 Counties Bowl (1100m), second in the Gr.3 Concorde Stakes (1200m), sixth in the Railway, fourth in the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) and sixth in the Gr.1 Otaki-Maori WFA Classic (1600m).
Trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott had no fears about stepping Waitak back up in distance this autumn. Waitak had previously proven himself over more ground as a three-year-old, finishing a close second in the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) in February of 2023 and fifth in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) that March.
Scott has taken special satisfaction from seeing the five-year-old back in the winning groove this month.
“It’s been a wicked team effort,” he said. “He’s been running so well all season, including running the fastest last 600m in three Group One races in a row, but things just haven’t quite worked out for him. After a frustrating run through the spring and summer, it’s great to see him performing like this in the autumn.
“The quick pace at Tauranga last start really set it up for him to boom home. He’s done it again today and it’s just really good to see him successfully stepping up over ground. It opens up so many more options for him next season, with a lot of races we can aim at around the 2000m mark.
“When they learn to relax and settle, they can run out the longer trips much stronger. He’s a big horse that’s only just learning. The penny is still dropping in terms of him relaxing and quickening, and that’s what the game is all about. He’ll be a big, sound six-year-old next season and could be in for a very good year.”
Ryan Elliot rode Waitak for the first time in the Japan Trophy and produced a masterful ride, guiding the gelding through along the rail to charge home from last and score a dominant win.
The same partnership struck again on Saturday, this time coming from midfield with a barnstorming finish down the outside.
Elliot pushed the button at the top of the straight and Waitak went into overdrive, bursting to the lead and going clear to win by two and a quarter lengths. Manifique (NZ) (Savabeel) produced a big late finish for second, with front-runner Town Cryer (NZ) (Tavistock) holding on bravely for third.
“He’s a lovely horse,” Elliot said. “If you present him at the right time, he takes you a long way.
“It’s a big trip down here, and stepping up over this sort of distance for the first time in a couple of years isn’t easy. But he’s done it very well today. If he can keep going like this, he could step up to some of those 2000m races at Ellerslie next season. He’s got an electric turn of foot.
“They ran along at a decent tempo today and he’s done it easily.”
Bred by the late Colin Devine and raced by his widow Jill, Waitak has now had 31 starts for six wins, nine placings and $975,237 in stakes. He has been a stakes performer at the ages of two, three, four and five.
