Simon and Katrina Alexander came close to winning the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) a few years ago with their stable star La Crique, and now it looks like they may have another Derby prospect on their hands.
Three-year-old gelding Aksil had already attracted the attention of eagle-eyed scouts in his four trials prior to making his debut in the Master Builders Taupo (1300m) at Taupo on Friday, and he lived up to his early promise when comfortably winning by 1-1/4 lengths in the hands of jockey Masa Hashizume.
“He’s impressive and did it nicely, albeit still quite green,” Katrina Alexaner said. “We are really thrilled to see him do that and live up to our expectation of him, hopefully he will go on with it.”
Alexander said they are taking a patient approach with the son of Ace High, and they are hoping his connections will reap those rewards at the business end of his Classic season.
“He was quite a nuggety, little two-year-old and then he has really grown and developed structurally quite a lot,” she said.
“We have had to be relatively patient and just get a line on what we think he is going to be. I think distance will be his go, so we are trying to nurture him along in that direction.
“He’ll have a couple of runs for experience now and we might give him a breather and concentrate on the other end of the season.”
The Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie on Champions Day in March looms as an obvious target, with the Alexanders dreaming of going one better than La Crique’s effort in the 2022 edition.
“He could be a lovely Derby horse because he has also got a super turn of foot,” Alexander said. “We have been quite particular to educate him that way, in that he is tractable and can take a sit midfield and not overthink it.
“Hopefully he will continue along that track. I would like to see him get out in distance and I think he can be whatever we want him to be.”
While there was plenty of interest in Aksil following his trials, Alexander’s phone is set to be ringing red-hot once again following his debut effort, and she is hoping the stable can retain him a little longer.
“Even after his first trial, he attracted a lot of interest and even when he was out spelling they kept coming back,” she said. “He is a very eye-catching individual, and you can’t get too carried away with looks, but he certainly lived up to his looks today.
“We have got a very happy group of owners and some of them are first time owners, so it is a big thrill for them. Hopefully we can keep him a bit longer and when he is mature, I think he will be quite an exciting horse.”
Alexander said Aksil is also proving a hit at home as a stable favourite, and is looming as an heir apparent for the stable’s multiple Group One winner La Crique.
“You have those lovely horses like her (La Crique) in the stable for so many years and you can’t help but think that you won’t get one as good as her again,” Alexander said. “It is nice to be able to retain a horse like Aksil in the stable, particularly for the team in general who put in a lot of work in behind the scenes. He has been a stable favourite all the way through.
“For the owners to decide to keep him at this point, is really nice for the guys at home to have a quality animal to continue on with for maybe when La Crique is gone.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
