Puccini (horse)

Puccini (foaled 25 September 2010)^[1] is a New Zealand thoroughbred racehorse. On 1 March 2014 he won the 139th running of the New Zealand Derby.^[2]

Born in 2010, Puccini is a half-brother to six-time Group 1 winner Sir Slick. He is also closely related to stakes-winning and Group 1-placed sprinter Little Wonder, who won a Group 3 event on the undercard on the day Puccini won the Derby.

Taking time to grow and mature, Puccini took eight starts to win his first race. After that he won five of his next seven - including the Group 1 Derby and three Group 2 races. With his increasingly impressive and dominant victories in the Great Northern Guineas, Waikato Guineas and Avondale Guineas, Puccini became renowned for his bold front-running style. It was a tactic that was widely expected to be repeated in the Derby. But Puccini was slow out of the gates and was fourth last in the 18-horse field after the first 500m. He made a spectacular move halfway down the back stretch, sweeping to the lead. He kicked strongly at the turn and held on for an impressive and convincing two-length win over Rising Romance, with Glorious Lad another three lengths away in third.

Rated by rider Michael Walker as the best horse he's ever ridden,^[3] Puccini is now expected to go to Australia and target such races as the Australian Derby and Cox Plate.

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