Karaka graduates are setting Singapore alight winning 8 of the 11 stakes races run so far this season.  

Remarkable eight-year-old Waikato (NZ) continuing the winning streak in the G2 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2000m) at Kranji on Friday night.

Waikato (8g Pins – Skywalker Wilkes) showed he has lost none of his competitive edge winning for the 19th time in 66 starts.  He has earned over S$2.3 million for Laurie Laxon’s Silver Fern Racing Stables.

One of five Karaka stakes winners in Singapore this season, Waikato is peaking at just the right time for the $3 million G1 Singapore Airlines International Cup over 2000m in May.  The son of Pins has contested the race twice before finishing third last year and fourth in 2010.

“I am totally amazed by him,” said Laxon.  “To see him racing he is just so happy in himself.  He has never put his ears back at any stage of his career.  He’s a racehorse and just loves being one.

Bred by Amadi Park in Cambridge, Waikato was purchased by Laxon from Brent Gillovic’s Highview at NZ Bloodstock’s 2005 Karaka Premier Sale for $50,000.

Besides Waikato, the stakes winning NZ Bloodstock graduates in Singapore this season include Super Easy (Darci Brahma), Better Than Ever (French Deputy), Flying Fulton (Flying Spur) and Nandowra (Savabeel).

NZ Bloodstock graduates have also featured in the Singapore two-year-old ranks with Super Good (Fastnet Rock) winning the Golden Horse Shoe Preview on debut by more than two lengths.