Winning Homecoming for Karaka Graduate Magnum (NZ)

After a successful career in Singapore, Magnum (NZ) (Per Incanto) is back in his homeland and picked up a black-type win in Saturday’s $50,000 Listed Bramco Granite & Marble Flying Handicap (1400m) at Awapuni.

Bred by the Little Avondale Trust, Magnum was offered by Little Avondale at the 2014 Premier Sale and sold for $100,000.

He had 15 starts in Singapore for owners the Waterford No 2 Stable and trainers Michael Freedman and James Peters. He won four times and placed in four stakes races, earning S$377,152 in prize-money.

Back in New Zealand and raced by Sam Williams, Ben Falloon, Jason Fleming, Justin Knight, Johnnie Walker, Peter Taylor, David Wallace and Michael Wallace, Magnum kicked off with a second at Ellerslie in February before finishing outside the placings in the Group 3 Darley Stallions Plate (1200m).

He was right back at his best in the third start of his campaign on Saturday, surging to the lead in the straight and holding on gamely to win by a long neck.

“He had a little break when he first got back to New Zealand, he stayed out at Dean Hawthorne’s, then he came back into work and it was like he’d never left,” trainer Lauren Brennan said. “He’s just got the best temperament in the world, and he’s the coolest horse to be around. He’s got a great mind.”

With combined prize-money now in excess of NZ$392,000, Magnum has earned almost four times his purchase price.