Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North)
Matt Cartwright announced his arrival among the top echelon of New Zealand’s jockeys with a stunning treble on the opening day of the Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival at Hastings on Saturday, culminating in a giant-killing Group One win with Grail Seeker (Iffraaj) in the Tarzino Trophy (1400m).
Formerly a leading apprentice in Victoria, Cartwright decided at the beginning of the season to move across the Tasman in search of better opportunities as a senior rider. Barely a month later, the 22-year-old stole the show on one of New Zealand racing’s biggest stages with victories aboard Wolfgang in the Livamol International Health Products Premier (1600m), Poetic Champion in the Listed El Roca-Sir Colin Meads Trophy (1200m), and the super-impressive Grail Seeker in the Tarzino.
“I’m over the moon,” Cartwright said. “To come over here and have this happen so soon, it’s a big thrill. I was happy just to get a ride in the first Group One race, let alone win it. It’s what I came over for.
“I’m speechless, to be honest. It would have to be my best moment in racing, a treble and a Group One winner, and I can’t thank everyone enough. Onwards and upwards from here.”
Grail Seeker showed glimpses of something special as a three-year-old last season. She stormed home from third-last to win the Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m) by almost three lengths at Trentham in March, and she also picked up placings in the Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m), Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) and Listed Trevor & Corallie Eagle Memorial (1500m).
The Iffraaj mare was overlooked as a $32 outsider for her first-up tilt at the Tarzino, in which she faced a formidable field featuring no fewer than seven Group One winners. But Grail Seeker rose to the occasion with a sensational coming-of-age performance.
Cartwright took up a comfortable position in sixth along the rail as the favoured pair of Crocetti and Bonny Lass set a solid speed out in front. Those two rounded the home turn side by side, seemingly set to renew their rivalry after fighting out a thrilling finish in the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa earlier this year.
But that script was torn up in the straight as Faraglioni and Sacred Satono sprinted past the two favourites with 200m remaining. Cartwright had angled Grail Seeker out to the middle of the track in the meantime, and when he let her rip, the four-year-old came with giant bounds and blasted past Faraglioni to win by a length and a quarter. The race was run in a slick time of 1:21.46 – the fastest Tarzino since 2006.
“She travelled beautifully,” Cartwright said. “She jumped and settled. In her previous prep, it looked like she could get quite keen, but she travelled lovely for me and tracked into it perfectly. Once I let her go, she accelerated really well.”
Grail Seeker was bred by Jamieson Park and was a $130,000 purchase from their Book 1 draft at Karaka 2022. Her 10-start career has now produced three wins, four placings and $413,465 in stakes for owners Trevor Clarke and Chris Jones.
She delivered the second Tarzino Trophy victory in the last three years for Matamata trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott, who had previously won the season-opening feature with Dark Destroyer in 2022.
“It’s just amazing,” Scott said. “It’s great to have owners who believe in the dream and are happy to bypass a Foxbridge (Gr.2, 1200m) and believe in what we hope could happen. They believed in Wexford, believed in us and believed in our team.
“We sat back for this and hoped that she’d just come with one big run. What a ride from Matt. He’s just on the crest of a wave today.
“We’ve got a massive team, and we can’t do this without the people we have around us. It’s a team thing and it’s just amazing.
“We had dinner in Rarotonga with Trevor, and we said we’d sit back and have one go at this race. Chris and Trevor have been amazing. It’s a fairytale and a great result.
“Rudy Liefting sent Trevor and Chris our way. They wanted to try some fillies, buy them from the sales and invest in the game. To get results for guys like them is what racing is all about.”
Grail Seeker became the fifth newly turned four-year-old mare to win the Tarzino in the last 20 years, joining Seachange (2006), Keep The Peace (2010), Melody Belle (2018) and Skew Wiff (2023).
Faraglioni and Sacred Satono collected highly creditable second and third placings in Saturday’s weight-for-age showpiece, with defending champion Skew Wiff fourth and Waitak fifth. Bonny Lass and Crocetti crossed the finish line in sixth and seventh place respectively
