Kiwi topliner Te Akau Shark is set to make his Australian debut in the Saturday’s Group 2 $200,000 Tramway Stakes (1400m) at Randwick.
Tom Melbourne, above, is among the nominations for the 2019 Tramway Stakes at Randwick. Photo by Steve Hart.
Te Akau Shark is the winner of five of his seven race starts in New Zealand and the Jamie Richards trained five year old is the early $2.80 for the Tramway Stakes at Ladbrokes.com.au.
Te Akau Shark is also listed in the betting at $15 for the Group 1 $5m Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley on October 26 and a good performance from the gelding on the weekend will see cement his spot in the market order.
Richards has a high opinion of Te Akau Shark and expects a lot of improvement on his first up second to Endless Drama in the Group 2 NZ$100,000 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa in New Zealand on August 17.
“He has got to step up to another level coming over to Australia and competing against the big boys but we are happy with him and we think he can be competitive,” Richards told Racenet.
“We think he is right up there with some of the best horses we have had. We will let the horse do the talking and find out on Saturday.
“He has settled in well over here.”
Te Akau Shark is one of twenty nominations for the Tramway Stakes which is run under set weights and penalty conditions.
Sydney’s premier trainer Chris Waller has almost half of the Tramway Stakes nominations with nine entries headed up by Tom Melbourne and Queensland Guineas winner Kolding.
James Cummings has only one entry for the Tramway Stakes in Cascadian and the European import has been installed as the second pick at $5 following his first up fifth in the Group 3 $160,000 Mostyn Copper Show County Quality (1200m) at Randwick on August 24.
Early betting for the 2019 Tramway Stakes at Ladbrokes.com.au: $2.80 Te Akau Shark, $5 Cascadian, $7 Invincible Gem, Kolding, $11 Dreamforce, $13 Samadoubt, $14 El Dorado Dreaming, $16 Eckstein, $17 Penske, Rock, $18 Mister Sea Wolf, $21 Archedemus, Life Less Ordinary, $26 Aliferous, Star Of The Seas, Tom Melbourne, $41 Kaonic, $61 Le Juge, Mantastic, $101 Delectation Girl.
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