Te Akau Racing, trainer Jamie Richards and jockey Opie Bosson have gone back-to-back in the world’s first Group One race of the year, stealing the show with a scintillating performance by Entriviere in the Sistema Railway (1200m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day.

Last year’s Railway was the fifth of nine career Group One victories for Avantage, but Entriviere is just getting started. The Ellerslie sprint showpiece was the first taste of Group One racing for the super-talented daughter of Tavistock, and only her 11th start overall in a career that began in September of 2020.

She has wasted no time since then in making her presence felt on both sides of the Tasman, shining brightly in the Gr.2 Sheraco Stakes (1200m) in Sydney as well as Ellerslie’s Gr.3 Concorde Handicap (1200m) and King’s Plate (1200m).

Saturday’s Railway brought a new challenge against a quality sprint field headed by the proven Levante, but Entriviere produced something special.

It was billed as a two-horse race, with Entriviere ($1.90) and Levante ($2.50) the only two in single figures in the betting market, and the pair had their own race within a race after jumping from neighbouring gates. 

They sat side by side towards the back of the field, and coming up to the final turn, they came wide together to launch their runs.

Levante briefly appeared to be travelling the better of the two, but Entriviere responded to Bosson’s urgings and changed gears in the straight. She shot clear with a brilliant burst of speed, launching herself a length and a half clear of a gallant Levante, who placed in the Railway for the second year in a row.

“She’s come back so well this time in,” Richards said. “Opie was confident that there would be a genuine tempo up front today, so he was keen to ride her back. That’s probably the best way to ride her, because she can tend to overdo things a little bit when she’s left exposed too early.

“When Opie asked her to quicken in the straight, she really exploded and won like the quality horse we know she is.

“It was a little bit tricky to get a saddle on her out the back before the race, so I was briefly a bit worried that I’d left her a run short for this. But it’s a big thrill to see her produce a performance like that – especially with Dad (Paul Richards) and the whole team here together today, after having to spend an extended period over in Australia through the spring. This is very special.”

Bred by iconic central districts trainer Kevin Gray in partnership with his wife Kathleen, Entriviere is out of the three-race-winning Golan mare Marcey’s Belt, who has a filly by Burgundy in Prima Park’s draft for Book 1 of Karaka 2022.

A half-sister to the Karaka Million (1200m) winner Xiong Feng, Marcey’s Belt is the dam of five winners from five foals to race, including the Listed-placed Satin Belt.

But Entriviere is now the clear headline act of the family, with seven wins, more than $550,000 in stakes and the promise of much more still to come.

“She’ll head to the Telegraph (1200m) at Trentham on January 15, and then the Waikato Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa,” Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis said. “We could look at getting her back over to Australia in the latter part of the Sydney autumn, but there’s too many good races in New Zealand to think about first.

“I never get tired of winning these big races at Ellerslie. I had my first one back in 1978, and I thought that would be my biggest win ever. This is a wonderful result again this year with a mare that’s been brilliantly trained by Jamie Richards and was given such a great ride by Opie. The staff had her in outstanding shape for this, and she’s delivered a terrific performance.”

Richards is now moving into his final few months at Matamata before relocating to Hong Kong, and he will be replaced by Mark Walker at the helm of Te Akau’s all-conquering New Zealand operation.

“Jamie’s certainly going to be a big loss to New Zealand racing, but at the same time it’s very exciting to welcome Mark Walker back from Singapore,” Ellis said.