Cacofonix is prepared by the Matamata training partnership of Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott and was recording his second win from only three starts.
He is raced by Kelt and his wife in partnership with fellow Havelock North couple Andrew and Lauren Scott.
The colt was a $200,000 purchase from the 2020 Two-year-old Ready To Run sale and is out of the Australian-bred Redoute's Choice mare Lodore Falls.
Cacofonix is now nominated for the Group 1 $260,000 Wellington Seamarket Levin Classic (1600m) at Trentham on March 19 and will head there without another run.
The colt provided the Kelts with a winning double in the space of 10 days as Asterix carried their distinctive green and red colours to victory in a maiden 2100m race at Tauranga on February 16.
The three-year-old Tavistock gelding was having his third start, following a sixth and an eighth, and scored an impressive three-quarter-length win in the hands of top jockey Opie Bosson.
Bosson settled the gelding midfield, against the inside rail, in the early stages before improving his position quickly to be just in behind the leaders rounding the home turn.
Asterix drove between horses soon after to take the lead and fought well in the run to the line to stave off the late challenge from Pearl Hart.
Asterix is out of the European-bred mare Mourasana and was a $450,000 purchase from the 2030 Two-year-old Ready To Run sale. His dam is a half-sister to French Group 2 winner Mouramara, dam of the Sydney Cup (3200m) winner Mourayan.
He is raced by the Kelts in partnership with Havelock North couple Andrew and Lauren Scott and former Black Cap cricket player Mark Greatbatch.
Despite being the winner of only one race from three starts, the connections of Asterix have paid up to run him in today's Group 1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie. He has drawn one from the outside at barrier 12 and will be ridden by Johnathan Parkes.
"I thought it was a good, strong, staying performance at Tauranga," Lance O'Sullivan said.
"We've had a few issues with him, that's why he's done as little racing as he has, but he worked well on Tuesday morning and he's ready to go.
"He's bred to run a long way. It's just a question of whether it's 12 months too soon for him."
Asterix is rated a $31 outsider for today's Derby and will race in the same colours as Popsy, who won the 1993 New Zealand Derby for Sam and Birdie Kelt when trained by Lance's O'Sullivan's father Dave and brother Paul.
Brosnan chasing sentimental Derby win
Mark Brosnan will attempt to honour an old mate when he produces Arjay's Flight as the sole maiden runner in today's Group 1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie.
For many years Brosnan trained alongside Richard Coxon at Matamata and the pair forged an enduring friendship.
"RJ" Coxon prepared the likes of 15-win galloper Desert Flight and his 12-win half-brother Last Flight as well as Fellowship, who went on to top-level success in Hong Kong after he was bought from the stable.
A dairy farmer who trained racehorses more as a hobby, Coxon died of cancer in 2015. He, along with wife Anna and his brother Wayne, bred most of what he trained and Arjay's Flight represents the last of his breed.
Brosnan, who got involved in training for the Coxons when Richard's daughter Kim relinquished her trainer's licence, would love to provide the family with a richly sentimental win in the biggest event on the New Zealand racing calendar.
"Kim Coxon got married and gave up training so the Coxons decided to give me Tammie Wynette, which was their pride and joy, and I trained her," Brosnan said.
"Then this one came along. He's the last one to do with Richard."
Brosnan was happy to try Arjay's Flight but was unimpressed with the Highly Recommended gelding at first.
"He was very lazy and I didn't think he had much at first but once we woke him up, he changed," Brosnan said.
Arjay's Flight may be still chasing his first win from six starts but a second placing in a 1600m maiden at the Christmas meeting at Matamata earned him a start in the Listed Gingernuts Salver (2100m) at Ellerslie, in which he finished third.
That led to a start in the Group 2 Waikato Guineas (2000m) at Te Rapa, in which he finished fourth, and that meant a start in the Group 2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) at Ellerslie, his resulting second placing to Derby favourite La Crique assuring him of a start in the Classic.
"It was a pretty good run. He didn't get the best of runs in transit but still kicked on well so I was very happy," Brosnan said of the Avondale Guineas performance.
Arjay's Flight has drawn well at barrier three for the Derby and will be ridden by senior woman jockey Trudy Thornton. TAB bookmakers have the horse as a $15 sixth favourite in a market headed by La Crique at $1.85 and Pinarello at $3.80.
Noverre to stand at Waikato Stud
Noverre, a Group One-winning son of Savabeel, will join his sire at Waikato Stud this coming breeding season.
An exceptional type, the brown colt was an $800,000 purchase for Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis at the 2020 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka, topping the Waikato Stud draft that year.
After finishing second on debut as a two-year-old over 1200m, he broke his maiden three weeks later. He won the Group 3 War Decree Stakes (1600m) in late October before displaying a scintillating burst to go from last to first in the Group 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton, assuring his position on the Waikato Stud roster.
"From the moment I saw him as a yearling, Noverre was a colt we had to have," Ellis said.
"He was as close to perfect as one would see in a yearling. He was an incredible athlete, with a deep girth and quality head.
"We paid a bit more for him than we thought we would have to, but right from day one he showed us he was special. He put in a freakish effort in the 2000 Guineas, giving them a start at the turn and beating them the way he did.
"He's right up there with the best Te Akau have trained."
Noverre is the first-named foal out of the Group Three-winner Magic Dancer, herself a daughter of multiple stakes winner Dazzling Belle.
Magic Dancer has returned to Savabeel every season since producing Noverre in 2018, such was the impression he left on the team at Waikato Stud as a young colt.
Another three colts have followed, including the current yearling that sold for $950,000 at the Gold Coast, and the mare is in foal again to the Champion sire.
"We are absolutely delighted to be standing this talented and classy colt," Mark Chittick said.
"It's pretty special for us to have Noverre join his legendary sire Savabeel on the roster and believe me, picking his heir apparent was not a decision we have taken lightly.
"Savabeel showed speed and precocity as a racehorse, as did his dam, and I believe these were crucial ingredients in his success as a stallion. Noverre has the same profile, as a smart two-year-old out of a fast dam and grandam, all with their share of juvenile ability.
"He's a big, strapping, dark horse, like his sire, and possibly even better-looking than Savabeel. He's been on the farm for two months and has let down into an absolutely beautiful horse, both physically and mentally."
Savabeel is enjoying yet another stellar season, having sired six individual Group One winners over the first six months of the new season, including current New Zealand Horse of the Year, Probabeel.
The champion stallion has also sired 16 individual stakes winners across Australasia this season, the winners of 27 stakes races, more than any other sire in Australasia.
