She has backed that up in her three-year-old campaign, taking out the $400,000 Group 2 Levin Track Supporters Levin Classic and finishing a brave third in the $1.5 million TAB Karaka Million 3-Year-Old, underlining her consistency at the highest level.<\/p>\n
Her name, La Dorada \u2013 Spanish for \u201cthe Golden One\u201d \u2013 provides a fitting connection to the NZB Kiwi\u2019s Golden Ticket campaign, which has given everyday New Zealanders the opportunity to secure a direct share in the country\u2019s richest and most exciting race.<\/p>\n
Those winners will now stand shoulder-to-shoulder with three of the country\u2019s biggest sporting brands in cheering home a genuine black-type performer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe People\u2019s Horse\u201d initiative is being led by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) in a bid to engage wider sporting audiences and connect new fans to racing by partnering with high-profile football clubs and creating a genuine ownership experience for the public.<\/p>\n
NZTR chief executive Matt Ballesty said La Dorada was the perfect embodiment of the concept.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe People\u2019s Horse initiative is about connection \u2013 bringing new audiences into racing and giving everyday New Zealanders a genuine stake in our biggest event,\u201d Ballesty said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLa Dorada is an elite-level performer with a proven record in the biggest races of her generation. She represents excellence, opportunity and shared experience \u2013 exactly what the NZB Kiwi is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warriors coach Andrew Webster is a keen racing fan, and said the team were excited to find out which horse they would be cheering for on March 7.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few of the players and I follow the racing game closely and know some of the better horses that are running around in New Zealand,\u201d Webster said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we found out La Dorada would be our horse for the NZB Kiwi, they were pretty excited and thought, \u2018Gee, we might have a chance here\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur fans are awesome, and I know they\u2019ll be keen to get behind the race and get around La Dorada when she goes around in the NZB Kiwi.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blues lock Sam Darry is hoping La Dorada can provide a pre-match boost for the team in the hours leading up to their Super Rugby Pacific clash with the Crusaders at Eden Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe boys are pretty excited to be part of something different with the other footy clubs, and now that we know we\u2019re backing La Dorada \u2013 the lads are up for it,\u201d Darry said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019d be nice to notch up a couple of wins on Saturday!\u201d<\/p>\n
Auckland FC defender Jake Girdwood-Reich hails from Australia, but he\u2019s happy to trade the green and gold of his homeland for the Te Akau tangerine in the NZB Kiwi.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing from Aussie, I\u2019m pretty keen on the racing, so to experience being part of such a big race like this one is unreal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve heard La Dorada\u2019s got a decent chance, so I know myself and a few of the other boys and the coaches are looking forward to cheering her home with the other clubs and the fans. I can\u2019t wait!\u201d<\/p>\n
Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis said the stable was delighted to see La Dorada take on the mantle of the People\u2019s Horse.<\/p>\n
\u201cLa Dorada has been a special filly from day one, since I bought her at Karaka,\u201d Ellis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinning the TAB Karaka Millions and a Group 1 as a 2-year-old, then training on so well at 3, shows her class and durability. We\u2019re incredibly proud that she\u2019s been selected as the People\u2019s Horse, and we, together with her owners, are excited to represent the Warriors, the Blues, Auckland FC and the Golden Ticket winners on race day.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have three runners in the NZB Kiwi is a tremendous achievement for Te Akau trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, and our team. After winning the inaugural race with Damask Rose, we\u2019d love nothing more than to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 LOVERACING.NZ News Desk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She has backed that up in her three-year-old campaign, taking out the $400,000 Group 2 Levin Track Supporters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[145033,1975,35435,161762,8500,2082,14568,194,55623,13617,111,43,139,69,152667,3272,21041,7798,161763,223],"class_list":{"0":"post-292131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-4m","9":"tag-at","10":"tag-becomes","11":"tag-dorada","12":"tag-ellerslie","13":"tag-for","14":"tag-horse","15":"tag-kiwi","16":"tag-la","17":"tag-name","18":"tag-new-zealand","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-newzealand","21":"tag-nz","22":"tag-nzb","23":"tag-nzs","24":"tag-peoples","25":"tag-race","26":"tag-richestever","27":"tag-the"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}