Multiple black-type winner Wrote To Arataki made a welcome return to top form in Saturday’s A$200,000 Gr.3 Frances Tressady Stakes (1400m) at Flemington.
The New Zealand-bred mare had previously won the Gr.3 Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes (1300m) in February of 2023 and the Gr.2 Tristarc Stakes (1400m) the following October, but had gone winless in seven starts through the 16 months since then.
Wrote To Arataki showed a glimpse of her best form with a last-start third in the 2025 edition of the Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes two weeks ago, and on Saturday the six-year-old was right back at the peak of her powers.
In torrential rain that was being blown sideways by strong winds, Wrote To Arataki and jockey Dean Yendall sat in second on the outside of the front-runner Fancify.
Wrote To Arataki faced the headwind turning into the straight and strode forward, shaking free of Fancify and taking command. The only challenge came from a late-finishing fellow Kiwi bred Molly Bloom, but Wrote To Arataki was too tough and crossed the finish line a length and a half in front.
Yendall has now had 10 rides on Wrote To Arataki, including wins in the Tristarc Stakes and Frances Tressady Stakes. He has also guided her to five minor placings.
“To win on this mare today has been a really good thrill for me,” Yendall said. “She went by the wayside and lost her way, but she’s had a bit of an ocean break and she’s obviously enjoyed it because she’s come back really well.
“Today we were able to begin really cleanly. Fancify had to do a little bit of work, not a heap, to hold the lead. I could have taken it up easily, the way I shot out of the barriers, but that wasn’t my plan.
“When the wind was pushing hard across us, I just wanted to sit off the leader and try and get cover off that, which probably worked a little bit, and in the straight I just let her loose.”
Wrote To Arataki has now had 23 starts for six wins, seven placings and A$706,380 in stakes. She is trained at Warrnambool by Matthew Williams, who was represented at Flemington on Saturday by Sarah Woodhouse.
“Matthew’s having a family weekend in Port Fairy, celebrating his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, so there’s your present, everyone,” Woodhouse said.
“This mare came through her last-start run really well. It was really hot that day, but she actually handled the hot conditions nicely. It’s very easy for us at home, because we can get her down to the beach for the next couple of days to recover. She presented really well here today.
“For whatever reason, she just didn’t come up to her best in that last preparation. Nothing went wrong. But just a good break and a bit of a change-around in her training, and it’s got her back on song today.”
Wrote To Arataki was bred by Noelene Bishop and is by Wrote, Highview Stud’s Group One-winning son of High Chaparral. The dam of Wrote To Arataki is the multiple winning Align mare Galloping Gerte.
Wrote To Arataki finished third in her only trial in New Zealand for former trainers Emma-Lee and David Browne before her private sale to the Williams stable through bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo. – NZ Racing Desk.
