Snitzel blitzes 2YO trans-Tasman features
Arrowfield graduate Blitzburg defeats Hillier & Peleus to become Snitzel's 3rd Canonbury S. G3 winner in the past four years, after Prost (2024) & Best Of Bordeaux (2022).(PHOTO: Bronwen Healy)
Three weeks after posting the highest yearling sale average of his extraordinary career, many-times Champion Sire Snitzel has boosted his status as Australia’s dominant active sire of stakes-winning juveniles with a trans-Tasman Group 3 double.
It is Snitzel’s 38th same-day stakes double and takes his tally of 2YO stakeswinners to 59 on his overall lifetime record of 154 black type winners.
Te Akau Racing’s 2YO colt Return To Conquer, already a Listed winner, stepped out at Ellerslie in the NZ$120,000 Colin Jillings 2YO Classic 1200m G3. Ending up three wide without cover made his task more difficult than expected, but he proved well up to the challenge, quickening smartly when asked to score by a half-length from Tajana with Vittoria third.
Return To Conquer stays unbeaten for @TeAkauRacing with his 2nd win in as many starts
The short-priced favourite had work to do but was ultimately too good, taking out the Gr.3 Colin Jillings 2YO Classic with Wiremu Pinn riding
Replay here: https://t.co/BoyaeYj9CV#BigSaturday pic.twitter.com/iRPdC2EdHt
— Trackside NZ (@TracksideNZ) February 1, 2025
Return To Conquer’s jockey Wiremu Pinn said, “He’s just a very good horse…He jumped a length in front of them, but I tried to pull him back from there and get a bit of cover. There wasn’t anywhere I could get in, so I decided to slide back up outside the leader.
“But he relaxed really nicely and kicked well. I think he would have found a fair bit more if someone had really challenged him.”
Bred by Mike Howard with former Blue Gum Farm owners Philip & Patti Campbell, Return To Conquer is the second and sadly, final foal of Vaujany, an unraced daughter of Lonhro and dual Group winner Portillo, and full sister of Ghisoni (Surround S. G2), from the family of Group 1 winner Snowland.
The Snitzel/Lonhro cross has produced 4 stakeswinners and three other stakes performers, including Group 1-placed Love Poem, from only 23 named foals.
A $1.3 million purchase from Blue Gum Farm at Magic Millions 2024, Return To Conquer is one of 8 Snitzel yearlings that Te Akau syndicator David Ellis signed for in 2024. Three have raced, with He Who Dares (ex Rondinella) & To Bravery Born (ex Milunka) also winning on debut in New Zealand to join Snitzel’s 2022 crop record of 10 winners from 16 runners so far this season.
Return To Conquer is the second million-dollar Snitzel colt to star this season, after brilliant Coolmore Stud S. G1 winner and Arrowfield Inglis Easter graduate Switzerland.
A couple of hours later Blitzburg, a winner and city-placed from his first three starts, led all the way at Rosehill to win the $250,000 ATC Canonbury S. 1100m G3 by 1.2 lengths from Hillier and Pariah’s son Peleus. Promising 3YO filly Art’s Alive & talented 4YO Yorkshire subsequently completed a Rosehill treble for Snitzel.
BLITZBURG is SW154 for Snitzel making all in the Gr3 Canonbury
Dam Orfevre 1/2 to 🇯🇵Gr3 Albert Dock
Granddam 🇺🇸Gr1 Golden Doc A@GRyanRacing @G1TySchil @TFI_Racehorses @kiaorastud @mmsnippets @ArrowfieldStud @LongBallToNoOne @netkeiba @tetrarch1911 pic.twitter.com/TMFVNOlwXI
— Pedigree Update (@pedigreeupdate) February 1, 2025
The colt’s performance certainly impressed jockey Tyler Schiller.
“Blitzburg jumped sharp today, he got to dictate and I think that was the main thing. He doesn’t really like horses getting past him, I thought he was very aggressive when he got challenged and he attacked the line awesome.
“He did everything right with the winkers on, he travelled really well, but then when I asked him to quicken he was quite sharp.”
Arrowfield’s 10th yearling sale graduate stakeswinner this season, Blitzburg (ex Sierra by Japan’s 2011 Horse of the Year Orfevre from US Grade 1 winner Golden Doc A) was purchased for $500,000 from Magic Millions by TFI and the colt’s trainers Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou, with Kia Ora Stud (also a co-owner of Return To Conquer) & Arrowfield joining his racing ownership.
Ryan, who trained Snitzel to Group 1 success, has now prepared 15 winners by the Champion Sire of 39 Group & Listed Races, with the latest 4 stakes victories achieved in partnership with Alexiou.
Sierra has a yearling colt by Snitzel, a 2024 colt by The Autumn Sun and is in foal to Maurice.
Snitzel has 4 lots (inc. two colts in Arrowfield’s draft) on offer at the Inglis Classic Sale, 8 lots for the Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale and 45 lots for Inglis Easter, including 7 colts & 3 fillies offered by Arrowfield, among them Lot 161, Blitzburg’s full brother.
