Auckland Reactor
| Auckland Reactor | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sire: | Mach Three | |
| Dam: | Atomic Lass | |
| Broodmare Sire: | Soky's Atom | |
| Sex: | Stallion | |
| Foaled: | 3 November 2004 | |
| Country: | New Zealand | |
| Colour: | Bay | |
| Breeder: | A J Parker | |
| Owner: | Auckland Reactor Ltd. | |
| Trainers: | Mark Purdon & Grant Payne (New Zealand) Kelvin Harrison (USA) |
|
| Record: | 35:26-2-0 | |
| Fastest Mile Rate: | At 3: 1:55.9 At 4: 1:53.5 At 5: Q1:51.3 US |
|
| Prizemoney: | NZ$1,487,814 | |
| Group One Wins | ||
| 2007 2008 2008 2009 2009 2009 2009 |
New Zealand Sires Stakes 3yo Final New Zealand Trotting Derby New Zealand Free For All Auckland Pacing Cup Noel J Taylor Memorial Mile New Zealand Messenger Championship 4-Year-Old Emerald |
|
| *Correct as at 2 January 2009 | ||
Auckland Reactor is a New Zealand standardbred racehorse bred by Dr. Tony & Anne Parker. He has been crowned New Zealand Horse of the Year in two seasons. He was also given the nickname The Reactor Factor because most Trainers supposedly feared him.
Auckland Reactor's raceday debut was much anticipated, with efforts at the trials leading many people to label him a top horse in the making. He won his debut at Timaru in September 2007. Three more wins followed before he won his first Group One race; the Sires Stakes 3-Year-Old Championship in November, where he came from an outside barrier draw to win easily. He returned to racing in January 2008 with a win. Another two wins in March preceded convincing wins in the Flying Stakes and the New Zealand Derby. In what was to be his final start for the season, he won the Southern Supremacy Stakes, where he recorded the fastest last 800m of a race ever in New Zealand of 54.0 seconds. This completed an undefeated 11-start season which saw him crowned New Zealand Horse of the Year.
In early May 2008, Auckland Reactor was purchased by an American syndicate for a reported $3.5 million, an unprecedented sum for a New Zealand pacer. Despite the sale, he remained with his original trainers, Mark Purdon and Grant Payne. His final race as a 3-year-old was set to be the 3-Year-Old Emerald, at the Harness Jewels raceday at Cambridge at the end of May. However, he had to be scratched from that race with an injury concern. That injury was expected to rule him out for the rest of 2008, including the New Zealand Trotting Cup in November.
Auckland Reactor recovered from the injury better than expected, and returned to racing with a win at Ashburton in late October. Connections ruled out a run in the New Zealand Trotting Cup, where he probably would have been favourite, because of his hampered lead-up and lack of standing start ability. Instead, he won the Junior Free-For-All on the Cup undercard, before meeting many Cup starters, including the winner Changeover, in the New Zealand Free-For-All. In the biggest test of his career, he won the Free-For-All in record time, confirming his status as clearly New Zealand's best pacer. A planned clash against Australian champion Blacks A Fake in the Miracle Mile Pace in Sydney was aborted due to the length of time it would take for the horse to return to New Zealand with quarantine issues. Instead, the horse contested the Franklin Cup at Alexandra Park in Auckland, where he broke the track record for 3200m. His first start for 2009 was in the Waikato Flying Mile at Cambridge, which he won in a time of 1.53.5, equalling the New Zealand record. He returned to Cambridge the following week to win the Cambridge 4yo Classic, taking his record to 17 wins from as many starts.
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