Two year-old Snitzel colt Sword of State gave promise of big things to come when bolting in carrying the Te Akau colours in New Zealand on Saturday, adding some serious potential upside to his Magic Millions bound sibling.
The Jamie Richards trained colt thrashed his rivals in the 1200m juvenile event at Te Rapa to win by six and a half lengths.
His trainer had been keen to see Sword Of State deliver on the promise he had shown as he is a member of one of Te Akau’s popular breeding syndicates for colts.
“Those horses are important to us as they are high profile colts that we are trying to develop,” he said.
“Dave (Ellis) does a great job picking them out at the sales and it’s good to have them in the stable.
“Sword Of State fronted up nicely and won quite convincingly.
“He is one that we will aim at the Group I juvenile features after he has a run in the Eclipse Stakes (Gr.2, 1200m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day.
“He has improvement to come and is a professional racehorse who is bred to be a two-year-old. He has taken a little time to strengthen up but he is going the right way now.”
Bred by Sir Owen Glenn, Sword Of State was a $600,000 purchase by Te Akau boss David Ellis CNZM from the Newgate Farm drat at the Magic Millions earlier in the year.
He is the first foal from Encosta De Lago mare In the Vanguard, whose second foal, a Russian Revolution filly will be offered by Newgate Farm at the 2021 Magic Millions as Lot 395.
Russian Revolution is a dual Group I winning sprinter by Sword of State’s sire Snitzel, so this filly is a three-quarter sister to a horse that may well be a Group I winner before the end of the season.
