Rider rewarded with another Savabeel stakes winner
Dennis Ryan - Raceform • November 13th, 2025 2:36 PM
Tony Rider’s distinctive colours have been carried to bigger wins, but not many to match the satisfaction that the Milan Park principal derived from Force Of Nature’s black-type breakthrough at Pukekohe last Saturday.
Having just his 11th start, the Andrew Forsman-trained five-year-old claimed his sixth win – and his first on a right-handed track – in the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint. All five previous wins had been at Te Rapa and it was with some relief that he adapted to the foreign clockwise direction after the originally scheduled Te Rapa November meeting had been transferred to Pukekohe.
“He’s got hock issues and you can’t race him often, he does with his races at least a month apart,” Rider said of the younger brother to fellow stakes winner Shezzacatch.
“We weren’t sure how he would go right-handed but the boy (Triston Moodley) did a very good job. He was able to make use of his inside draw and follow the rail all the way to the finish.”
In a blanket finish, Force Of Nature snatched victory by a half-head from Jaarffi, with margins of a head, half-head and a long neck to the remaining placegetters Moving Melody, First Five and Whiskey ’N Roses.
“It was great to see him win a stakes race. He’s always had ability but it hasn’t been easy, so it’s fair to say he and everyone involved deserved it.”
Force Of Nature was one of three winners on the Pukekohe card by champion stallion Savabeel, complemented by the Waikato Stud homebred pair Smart Love and Magice. And therein lies much of the success enjoyed by Rider, whose notable successes as a breeder and owner are headed by a trio of Savabeel progeny, The Chosen One, The Perfect Pink and Provence.
The Chosen One was one of the best of his era, finally claiming the Group One success that was his due as a six-year-old in the 2022 Thorndon Mile. His string of placings at that level covered the spectrum of some of Australasia’s best handicap and weight-for-age races, including the Melbourne, Caulfield and Sydney Cups, and the Tancred, Underwood, Herbie Dyke and New Zealand Stakes.
Like that horse, his close relation New Zealand 1000 Guineas winner The Perfect Pink was bred and raced by Rider in partnership with Southland’s Dennis brothers, while his name stands alone as the breeder of last season’s Gr.1 Thorndon Mile and New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes winner Provence.
While other stallions feature on Rider’s list of big winners, he freely admits that Savabeel has been the most significant influence in his breeding and racing fortunes.
“He’s a great stallion and I’ve been lucky to have three shares in him, which has meant six service nominations each year.
“I bought my first Savabeel share in the early days – I probably paid overs for it, but that was balanced by the next one, which I bought from memory for $60,000 when others were getting rid of their shares in about his fourth or fifth year.
“The third one cost me a fair bit more when he was on the up, but that $350,000 was still worth it when shares in him ended up selling for up to $600,000.
“The secret to Savabeel is the horses he leaves – like Zabeel before him, they’re strong, and even though some of them are not the easiest (to train), they’re real racehorses, they love competing. And the other thing about Savabeel is that he goes so well with so many of our mares.”
In common with an incredible 13 of Savabeel’s 35 Group One winners, Waikato Stud homebred O’Reilly – a champion sire and broodmare sire – features on the distaff side of Force Of Nature’s pedigree.
That elite list includes The Chosen One, who Rider is predicting as a candidate to continue Savabeel’s legacy from his base at The Oaks Stud, where he stands at a fee of $4,000.
“I’m putting my balls on the line, but I guarantee we’ll breed some good racehorses by him,” Rider says with conviction. “He had good-size books in his first three years, but this year Rick (Williams) tells me he’ll end up with close to 100 mares.
“That includes 18 or 20 that I’m sending to him, a lot of them mares I’ve bought specially to put to him, which tells you how much I think of him.
“The main reason for the numbers is the types he’s leaving – they’re unbelievable! Just like him, they’re so well put together, and that’s obviously left an impression on people.
“He was such a sound and genuine racehorse. He could have raced on beyond his six-year-old season, but it got to the point where we figured if he’s going to stand at stud, he needed to get on with the job.”
Rider’s ever-increasing racehorse team includes Milan Park’s entire two-year-old filly crop, having made the decision a year ago to offer none of them for sale.
“I had just recovered from quadruple bypass surgery and I figured ‘who’s to know how long you’re on this earth?’ That’s why I decided to keep all my fillies and put them in work, so along with the rest of them, they’re going to be something to look forward to.”
