The $1.3 million colt Burgundy (NZ) signed off his three-year-old season on a high note on Saturday when dealing to his rivals in the $70,000 Group 3 Windsor Park Stud Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) at Te Rapa.

Trained by Te Akau Stud’s Jason Bridgman, Burgundy (Redoute’s Choice x Grand Echezeaux) raced on the speed for jockey Matthew Cameron and put the race beyond doubt in the straight, racing clear at the 200 metre mark with a powerful turn of foot to win by two-and-a-quarter-lengths.

The Group 3 win was Burgundy’s third at black-type level and his second in a row after producing a brilliant performance to win the Listed Mr Tiz Trophy (1200m) at his last start on 10 March at Ellerslie.

The three-year-old ran the last 600 metres of the Mr Tiz Trophy in 34.58 seconds on a dead track and his time was impressive again on Saturday in the Breeders’ Stakes, running 1 minute 9.12 seconds over 1200 metres on the dead Te Rapa surface.

“We were very confident coming into the race and he was very impressive winning like he did,” commented David Ellis – Syndicate Manager for Burgundy. “He is such a fast horse and he just wants to go, he has a big future in front of him.

“It was a great way to finish his three-year-old season. He heads to a nice big paddock now for a five to six week spell and we will look to send him to Australia in the spring.

“I was confident he was one of the best horses at Karaka in 2010 and seeing him produce a performance like that is great for us as it shows us that we are making the right decisions with our yearling purchases.”

With eight career starts under his belt, Burgundy was a winner at his first three outings. His first stakes victory came at his third appearance when he won the Listed Canterbury Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton in October. With five victories and two placings his current earnings are $126,250 for his owners, the Te Akau 2010 Breeding Syndicate.

Bred by Peter and Philip Vela, Burgundy was purchased by David Ellis from Pencarrow Stud at New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2010 Karaka Premier Sale for $1.3 million, the second highest price of his year.

Never in any doubt of the potential of this colt, David Ellis has labelled him the best horse he has purchased, notwithstanding Burgandy’s brother Darci Brahma (Danehill) who Ellis purchased for $1.1m from Karaka, was a five-time Group 1 winner, and New Zealand Champion 2YO & Champion 3YO.

Burgundy also contributed to a unique day of success for breeders Peter and Philip Vela. Burgundy was one of two stakeswinners for the pair, the other being Burgundy’s sister in blood Dolmabache (NZ) (ex Our Echezeaux) who won the Group 2 Travis Stakes on the day. Dolmabache and Burgundy, both being by Redoute’s Choice, are from full sisters Grand Echezeaux and Our Echezeaux, by Zabeel, daughters of Pencarrow Stud’s foundation mare Richebourg.

Grand Echezeaux produced a cracking filly by Encosta de Lago last year and was served by O’Reilly last season.