Taranaki visitor Tisse (NZ) (Belardo) announced himself as a serious Cups contender for the summer months with an impressive victory in the Barfoot and Thompson 2100 at Ellerslie on Saturday.
After racing well on heavy tracks this campaign, the son of Belardo finally struck a good surface in the staying contest and started favourite in the hands of Opie Bosson, who let him settle near the tail of the field.
The early leader Gillian slowed the tempo as the field streamed down the back straight, before a keen Cleese took over and maintained a moderate pace down to the 600m. Mindful of giving the leaders a decent head start, Bosson got moving on Tisse and the big striding chestnut started to go through his gears up the home straight.
There were a number of winning chances passing the 200m, but Tisse had the edge late to power clear and score softly on the line ahead of a game I Park and Maldini, with only a length separating the first six horses home.
The five-year-old always showed ability but has been a work in progress for trainer Allan Sharrock, making Saturday’s result all the more satisfying.
“It’s taken a while, he’s a big rangy horse and mentally impaired, a typical Belardo, but he’s getting better at every start,” Sharrock said. “He didn’t hang today, he’d hung going the other way around at Te Rapa but he’s learning.
“I was (concerned about the speed) through the middle, but he snuck closer at the 600 and Opie rode him really, really well – that’s what you get from Opie.
“He was soft on him late, I think he’s the sort of horse you could see in a Waikato Cup (Gr.3, 2400m) over a mile and a half, he likes good ground which belies the Belardo side but he’s a lovely horse.”
Purchased for just $30,000 out of Woburn Farm’s draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sales in 2022, Sharrock said it was Tisse’s distinctive white socks and blaze that caught his eye at Karaka.
“I bought him because he looked like Furys Order, so I hope he’s half as good,” he said.
The victory was Tisse’s third in 16 starts, in addition to six second placings earning over $112,000 in stakes for The Crow Family Trust.
While he has the looks, Tisse has plenty of breeding on his side as well, being out of the Sir Percy mare Miss Percy. Herself unraced, Miss Percy is a half-sister to Group One winner Titch and stakes performers Soph and Streets Away, with dual-Oaks winning mare Pennyweka also in the family.