Akuta retired after stop-start career

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk 

The career of brilliant multiple Group 1 winner Akuta is over.

The pacing millionaire has been plagued by injury in recent years, with trainer and part-owner Mark Purdon confirming that he will not race again.

"We got him scanned at the end of June to determine if there was an injury or a stress tear with his suspensory," says Purdon.

"It showed there was damage and it was stress-related so we knew the odds of him racing again were remote."

His record makes impressive reading. A $170,000 purchase at the 2020 National Yearling Sales, he ended up with 18 wins from 48 starts and $1.4m in stakes.

"He was a great young horse and he was robbed of what could have been his best," says Purdon.

In January 2024, in what would have been his 5YO season, he injured his tendon in a paddock accident. He was away from the racetrack for 20 months, returning in mid 2025, having 17 starts (and two wins) in his 6 and 7YO seasons.

His last start was a fourth behind The Lazarus Effect, Got The Chocolates and Swayzee in the Dawson Harford Taylor Mile at Alexandra Park in April. 

An X-factor performer in age-group racing, Purdon says there are two of Akuta's wins that immediately come to mind - the Harness Jewels at Cambridge in 2021 and the 2022 New Zealand Derby at Addington.

"The Harness Jewels was something special but that Derby win. To win after being so far back was incredible."

In the 2YO Emerald at Cambridge in 2021 Akuta was last with a lap to go but showed jaw-dropping acceleration to not only round up the field but power away, prompting commentator Aaron White to ask "is he the best two-year-old you've ever seen? He may well be."

He won four from five that season and seven from 13 as a 3YO including his Derby win. On that occasion he was about 30 lengths behind the leader Republican Party with 1800 to go then got into the three-wide train to go to parked before dashing clear by 10 lengths. It was another stunning performance.

Other big wins included the 2023 Auckland and Kaikoura Cups and the 2022 and 2025 Hannon Memorials. He had three tilts at the New Zealand Cup, the best result being a second to Swayzee in 2023.

Having already been re-educated to saddle, Akuta is now being prepared for his Life After Racing - something Purdon is confident he will also excel at.

"He's a very kind horse and very quick to learn."

STATISTICS : 

Akuta 

7YO Bettor's Delight - Adore To Our Dreams
Breeder : Paul and Pauline Renwick
Owners : Cullen Breeding Limited, Mark Purdon, Tony Shaw (as at 01-08-2025)
18 wins from 48 starts
Stakes : $1.4m

Footnote : Akuta's full brother Akula, a $130,000 purchase at the 2025 National Yearling Sales in Christchurch, will make his debut for trainer-driver Kimberly Butt at Addington on Friday night.