GREENE CELEBRATES HIS FIRST GROUP 1 WIN AS FIRST FIVE TAKES OUT THE TELEGRAPH AT TRENTHAM

By Graham Potter | Saturday, January 3, 2026

Trainer David Greene claimed his first Group One success when First Five landed the Group 1 Telegraph at Trentham.

The son of Almanzor had won the Group 3 J Swap Sprint over 1400m in his pervious start on December 13. He was fourth-up this preparation after resuming from a six-month layoff at Te Rapa on November 8 and was clearly fully primed for his first taste of Group 1 action.

An interesting factor was that First Five was coming back from 1400m to the 1200m trip here … you had to go back to March to find the last time he raced over 1200m … but that was never a problem.

Beautifully positioned by jockey Wirtemu Pinn, First Five tracked the leaders to the home turn and when Navigator, who finished third in the race last year, made a significant forward move along the running rail to claim the lead early in the home straight, First Five almost immediately came out of the pack and set about trying to run Navigator down.

It was a battle, but Furst Five was up for it, and he took the measure of a very game Navigator when it mattered most to claim a famous victory for the Greene stable.
Grail Seeker, who won the race last year hit the line hard to claim third place.

First Five saluted at a starting price of $12. Navigator was a $40 chance and Grail Seeker jumped at $15 … the trio all shutting out the $7-4 race favourite Tomodachi who had to be content with fourth place.

The winning margin was a length with a diminishing neck margin separating Navigator and Grail Seeker.

“This is unbelievable really and thanks be to God as we have been waiting for a while.” Greene said talking to Trackside New Zealand. “It’s pretty special and just great to do it with this group of owners.

“When he was sitting outside the leader I was going … looks like he’s travelling comfortably, but I’m not sure if this was good or not.

“Wiremu obviously knew what he had underneath him and he was strong the whole way to the line. It was great for him to show some initiative there and get the job done.

“To win a Group One, weight-for-age race at Wellington, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

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