3 minute read
Kiwi Group 1 winner adds international flavour to The Quokka.
Kiwi Group 1 winner Waitak adds some international spice to The Quokka this Saturday, as he runs for Trackside NZ and Perth Racing.
The son of Proisir scored his maiden elite level success just two starts ago in the Sistema Railway, a time-honoured sprint in New Zealand.
Behind him in the Railway were horses we've seen in Australia such as Dragon Leap, Babylon Berlin and Sacred Satono, who have all been competitive on the east coast.
Waitak will be the first Kiwi-trained horse to race in Perth since 2016 when Kawi contested the Railway Stakes and Northerly Stakes (then Kingston Town Classic).
The four-year-old comes into The Quokka with a peak Racing and Sports rating of 114 from winning the Sistema Railway, building on his previous peak which he set when racing over 2100m.
Both Kawi and fellow New Zealander He's Remarkable both ran right up to their peak rating when competing in WA, so you can expect him to be right up to the mark when lining up on Saturday.
Although the gelding has been stretched to 2400m previously, Waitak has never won beyond 1500m, with his last two wins over 1200m and 1300m.
After initially trying to make the son of Proisir into a stayer early in his career, Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott have kept the gelding fresh and back to sprint trips this season.
Although Waitak will be 70 days between runs, the gelding has never won on a turnaround shorter than 21 days.
He's had two trials in New Zealand since his latest effort in the BCD Group Sprint (Group 1, 1400m), winning his most recent outing at Tauranga in late March.
It was initially reported that Opie Bosson would come across to ride the gelding, but Queensland-based hoop Kyle Wilson-Taylor will do the steering at Ascot this Saturday.
While not having the peak ratings of his rivals like Overpass and King Of Sparta, we mightn't have seen the best of him with the way the O'Sullivan and Scott stable are now handling the son of Proisir.
Prior to his announcement, Waitak wasn't in the TABtouch market for The Quokka, but was installed as a $21. chance.
In that time, the four-year-old has since drifted to be a $51* chance with TABtouch.
*Prices correct as of 11:30am, April 17.
About the Slotholders: Trackside NZ & Perth Racing
Waitak's slot is shared by NZ Trackside and Perth Racing.
NZ Trackside is New Zealand's racing broadcaster with television and radio channels responsible for the co-ordinated coverage of NZ TAB covered meetings.
Their television broadcast arm commenced in 1992 and today has two channels – Trackside 1 and Trackside 2.
This is the first year NZ Trackside has been a slot-holder for the Quokka and provides an international element to WA's $5million feature after their slotholder partnership with Perth Racing was announced in November 2023.
Perth Racing was formed as the Western Australian Turf Club in 1852.
Perth Racing are WA's only metropolitan race club and are responsible for managing both Belmont and Ascot racecourses, the latter of which is home to The Quokka.
Outright holders of their Quokka slot in 2023 prior to partnering with NZ Trackside, Perth Racing was represented by Hot Zed in the inaugural Quokka who finished a close fifth behind Overpass.
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