Back Of The Bus (NZ) Claims Ryder Stakes

NZB’s National Online Yearling Sale has existed for only five years but has already produced the likes of superstar filly Well Written (Written Tycoon) and fellow stakes winners Hitabell (NZ) (Embellish) and De Armas (NZ) (Ardrossan), and on Thursday another name joined that list.

The $80,000 Listed Phils Electrical & Gipsy Caravan Ryder Stakes (1200m) at Otaki was won by Back Of The Bus (NZ) (Hello Youmzain), who was bought for $25,000 by Pike Racing from the Wentwood Grange draft in the 2025 National Online Yearling Sale on Gavelhouse Plus.

Back Of The Bus has now had five starts for two wins, a third and a fourth, and she has earned $94,825 in prize-money.

Trained by Tony Pike in Cambridge, Back Of The Bus began her career with a sixth and a fourth before scoring an impressive win in the $70,000 Lawn Shed Winter Series 2YO Final (1200m) at Ellerslie in June. That performance came in good time on a Soft5 track, but Back Of The Bus has since proven her versatility with a pair of strong black-type performances on Heavy10 ground. She ran third in the Listed Castletown Stakes (1200m) at Otaki on July 10, then returned there on Thursday and showed both quality and courage to come out on top in the Ryder Stakes.

After sitting outside the leader, Back Of The Bus and jockey Lisa Allpress hit the front coming around the home turn.

Back Of The Bus faced stern challenges on both sides down the straight, with Rising Moon (NZ) (Time Test) fighting back bravely on the inside while Midnight Dart (NZ) (Derryn) and Sonar (NZ) (U S Navy Flag) ran on strongly wider out. But Allpress got the very best out of Back Of The Bus through a hard-fought final 100 metres, digging deep for a narrow but tenacious win.

“She tried really hard,” Allpress said. “I was thinking back to the previous races and watching jockeys go for home way too soon, so I was thinking ‘wait’. It was just a matter of when to let those brakes off. I could hear them coming, so I knew they were right there, and just tried to hold it together to get to the line.

“She went a really nice race last time here, she just got a little bit held up at the top of the straight and found the line hugely.

“Tony said to try and be outside the leader and she should be fit enough to get through the track.”

Pike was thrilled to cap the filly’s two-year-old season on a stakes-winning note.

“She is a really tough and brave filly,” he said. “She has been consistent all season and has done a really good job, winning the Winter Series Final at Ellerslie, third in the Castletown and now a stakes win in the Ryder.

“I couldn’t have asked for much more this prep, she has done a good job for a cheap purchase.

“We bought her for $25,000 and we have got a couple of new owners in her and an existing owner, and they have had a great run. I am sure they will be over the moon with the preparation that she has had.

“It was the intention for this to be the last run of her prep, she has been up a fair while. We will just have a look at what is coming up around the three-year-old races and how she pulls up from this.”

Pike was drawn to Back Of The Bus during the National Online Yearling Sale because of his previous experience with the family.

“She is out of a family I know reasonably well,” he said. “She is out of a half-sister to Witz End (NZ) (Savabeel), from a good old Trelawney Stud family. So, with a couple of wins and a stakes win under her belt now, she has got a good enough pedigree to carry forward to stud when that time comes.”

The Ryder Stakes produced a trifecta for NZB graduates. Runner-up Midnight Dart was a $20,000 purchase from Book 2 of Karaka 2025 and has now earned $54,650, while the third-placed Rising Moon was also bought for $20,000. Her Ryder Stakes placing came on raceday debut and banked $7,200 in stakes.

This was the second year in a row that the Ryder Stakes was won by a NZB-purchased filly by Cambridge Stud stallion Hello Youmzain. Last year’s winner was the $90,000 Karaka 2024 Book 2 purchase Platinum Diamond (NZ) (Hello Youmzain).

Vendor	Wentwood Grange
Purchaser	Pike Racing (Waikato)
Breeding	Hello Youmzain – Luce Del Sole
Sale	Lot 16, 2025 National Online Yearling Sale, $25,000
Breeder	B Lyons
Owner	Pike Racing, Kinsale Bloodstock Ltd, C Lorenz & M Searle