Group 1 performer Riodini has returned home to New Zealand and will rejoin former trainer Nigel Tiley’s Pukekohe stable in the new season.
The son of Proisir was a standout youngster for the South Auckland horseman, winning his sole start as a juvenile before impressing in his 3-year-old term with three successive victories, including the Group 3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m), before placing in the Group 2 Auckland Guineas (1600m) and Group 1 Levin Classic (1600m).
“He was a pretty exciting horse,” Tiley said. “Alan Galbraith [breeder-owner] had races that he wanted to target [in Australia] and we had problems with Covid and me having to be away for an extended period of time. The sensible thing was to find a good home for him over there and see what he was capable of.”
Riodini was subsequently transferred to the care of Sydney trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, for whom he won the A$1 million The Gong (1600m) and placed in the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m), Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m), Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m), and Group 2 Shannon Stakes (1500m).
Galbraith decided this year to bring his gelding home to NZ and thought it fitting Riodini would end his career where it started, in Tiley’s care.