Knight's Tour Too Good in Guineas

The lightly raced three-year-old Knight's Tour proved too tough for his rivals in the $100,000 Group 2 Waiwera Great Northern Guineas (1600m) at Ellerslie yesterday.

Making his black-type debut for trainer Stephen McKee, Knight's Tour (Reset x Hestia) was ridden by jockey James McDonald and raced close to the pace before going clear in the straight and holding off the tough Ocean Park (Thorn Park) and Burgundy (Redoute's Choice) to win by a determined neck margin at the post.

A winner by one-and-a-half lengths on debut in mid-November at Te Aroha, Knight's Tour then came up against some tough competition when running third to Xanadu (Elusive City) and Vincent Street (Darci Brahma) at Ellerslie.

Bred by Darley Australia PTY LTD Kelvinside, the colt was purchased by IDL Racing from Shelby Park at New Zealand Bloodstock's 2010 Karaka Select Sale for $65,000. The son of Reset has now won over $60,000 in stakes and holds a nomination for the New Zealand Derby.

Running a close second was another lightly raced colt, the Karaka graduate Ocean Park. A son of Thorn Park, the three-year-old showed a strong turn-of-foot in the final stages of the race and is another that will be heading for the Derby.

Ocean Park suffered his first defeat in the race, winning his only two races coming into the event, the last of which was at Ellerslie over 1500 metres earlier this month.

Running third and taking the Group 2 trifecta for Karaka graduates was the $1.3 million colt Burgundy (Redoute's Choice). A three-quarter brother to Darci Brahma, the colt raced well in the straight after racing on the pace and is another heading for the New Zealand Derby in March.