Established by CEO Terry Henderson, with General Manager Shayne Driscoll, OTI has been a successful bloodstock operation for over 20 years in Australia and around the world.
Among 130-odd Group & Listed wins have been New Zealand bred gallopers I’m Thunderstruck (Shocking), a dual Group One winner, Australian Derby (Gr.1, 2400m) winner Quick Thinker (So You Think), Thousand Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m) winner Aloisia (Almanzor), New Zealand Derby (Gr.1, 2400m) winner Vin de Dance (Roc De Cambes) and Victory Derby (Gr.1, 2500m) winner Kibbutz.
OTI in conjunction with Phill Cataldo Bloodstock purchased Lot 240 at the RTR Sale, paying $90,000, from the draft of Westbury Stud.
By successful sire El Roca (Fastnet Rock), who had progeny sell for $400k and $300k, the chestnut filly, from a mare by influential Australian speed sire General Nediym (Nediym), breezed up in 10.7 and stretched out nicely in the process.
Given their base in Victoria (Aust.), the filly will be trained by Mark Walker, from the Te Akau stables at Cranbourne.
“She ran up the straight nicely in her breeze up and I thought the last piece of her work through the line was especially good,” Walker said.
“She looks as though she’ll be a really nice addition to our Melbourne stable, and we’re very excited to welcome those famous OTI racing colours into our racing stable and look forward to having really good association with the OTI group.
“I’ve had a chance to have a chat on numerous occasions with Terry Henderson and it’s a privilege to be doing business with him.”
Walker and assistant trainer Ben Gleeson have 20 boxes at Cranbourne, and plans are afoot for another 40 to be built after Christmas.
“The point of difference with Cranbourne is that it’s a state of the art, purpose-built, training centre,” Walker said.
“As well as the main training tracks they’ve got sand dune tracks with a hill and many lanes.”
Highlighted by the best sprinter in the world, Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), the current team of horses have a winning strike rate of one in four from the stable at Cranbourne.
Imperatriz recently recorded her eighth Group One victory in the $3m Darley Champions Sprint (Gr. 1, 1200m) to end Melbourne Cup week at Flemington.
It was her fourth Group One win in Australia, following the William Reid Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m), Moir Stakes (Gr. 1, 1000 metres), and Manikato Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m).
Purchased for $360,000 by David Ellis CNZM at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale 2020, from the draft of Bhima Thoroughbreds, Imperatriz is owned by Te Akau Invincible Empress Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM), winning 17 of her 23 starts and over NZ$5.3 million in prize money.
The Cranbourne stable also celebrated on Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington, when Waikato Stud bred and owned mare Skew Wiff (Savabeel) won the The Hong Kong Jockey Club Stakes (Gr. 3, 1400m, having also won the Tarzino Trophy (Gr. 1, 1400m) in September at Hastings.
The above is an article from TeAkau Racing and can also be found on their website here.
