10 Dec 2023The lightly raced War Of Succession delivered on two fronts when he posted a breakthrough victory at Rotorua.
At his fourth appearance and off the back of consecutive placings, the three-year-old son of Tavistock successfully stepped up in distance to score over 1950 metres.
Trained by Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, the gelding improved from midfield to be within striking distance of the leaders on the turn under Opie Bosson and they surged clear to win with ease.
“It was a really good win and he’s a pretty nice staying prospect, this horse,” Walker said.
“Obviously, we’ve got the Derby in the back of our minds, but he’s still got a bit to learn. He was a little bit keen early, but I loved the way he rounded the race off.
“Given his pedigree, he was originally bought with the hope of being retained as a colt, but we had to geld him to get his mind on the job of racing and we can now concentrate on him becoming a good staying type.”
We bred War Of Succession who was sold at Karaka in 2022 to Te Akau’s David Ellis for $500,000 and we remained in the ownership group.
He is a son of the Zabeel mare Ziffel and we will offer her Hello Youmzain colt as Lot 544 at the upcoming New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale.
Ziffel is a half-sister to the ill-fated G2 Silver Slipper Stakes winner Amelia’s Dream and a family that also includes Cambridge Stud graduate Young Werther, a multiple winner and three-time Group 1 placegetter.