Oaks Day glory for Waikato Stud-bred Sulek

Waikato Stud enjoyed a special moment on Oaks Day at Flemington on Thursday, when the New Zealand-bred gelding Sulek – by Super Seth out the O’Reilly mare Tiff And Co, saluted on one of the biggest days of the racing calendar and in front of an international crowd. Bred by the farm in partnership with the Dowager Duchess of Bedford, Sulek took out the A$500,000 Cirka Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Final (1600m) for the third and most lucrative win of his career.

Tim Askew, who now consigns to the Ready to Run Sale under the Pamina Lodge banner, bought Sulek for $70,000 from Waikato Stud’s Book 1 draft at Karaka in 2024. Re-offered by KB Bloodstock at that year’s NZB Ready to Run Sale, he returned $420,000 when knocked down to Dominic Sutton of Sutton Racing and Byron Rogers. Sutton also trains Super Seth’s son Feroce, who gave him his first Group 1 win as a trainer.

Sulek broke his maiden impressively early in the spring of his three-year-old season last year, then ran third in the Listed Bendigo Guineas (1400m), fifth in the Listed Amanda Elliott (1400m) and seventh in the Gr.2 Sandown Guineas (1600m).

“I’ve got to say a big thank you to the team back at home. They’ve put in a lot of hours, worked very hard. We’ve got a big group of owners here from all around the world – from the UK, from New Zealand,” said Dominic Sutton.

“It was always a plan from the get-go to try and get him here. They’ve flown in to see him race today. He runs in Stuart Andrew’s colours. They’ve actually won the Grand National back in the UK, these colours. So they’re very lucky, and I’m just over the moon to have got the result.”