Hooked On Scotch set Sandown Park showed why he is regarded by some as ‘the fastest greyhounds on the planet’ with a breathtaking victory on his 595m debut tonight.
Month: July 2020
ID travel essentials for GRV participants.
GRV would like participants to ensure they have the following forms of identification when traveling to and from their places of work. 1) Drivers licence 2) GRV trainers ID 3) Your greyhound’s registration card (if racing) 4) Digital or printed form guide for the race meeting you are traveling for (if racing) 5) Proof of trials. This can be found through your Fasttrack account (Club trials – Manage my bookings) (if trialing). GRV confirms that greyhound racing and trialling are permitted activities under Stage 3 Covid restrictions. If you have…
Speed Call primed for Cup tilt
The John Turkington Forestry LTD Rangitikei Gold Cup (2100m) may not have its Listed status this year, but that doesn’t concern Foxton trainer Chrissy Bambry who will line-up race favourite Speed Call (NZ) (Any Suggestion). The five-year-old son of Any Suggestion has won his two starts this preparation and Bambry has been pleased with the way he has returned after a six month break. “I am very happy with the way he has been progressing,” she said. “The way we have to ride him he probably doesn’t help himself and…
National double defence begins for star jumper
Arguably Australasia’s best jumper Tallyho Twinkletoe will begin his Australian campaign to defend his Grand National Hurdle (4200m) and Steeplechase (4500m) titles at Pakenham on Sunday. The rising 10-year-old gelding has arrived at trainer Patrick Payne’s Plumpton stable in superb order, according to the Victorian horseman, and he is primed to tackle his first-up Australian assignment, the Brendan Drechsler Hurdle (3500m). “He looks fantastic,” Payne said. “Jo Rathbone (part-owner) and Dummy (Kevin) Myers (New Zealand trainer) have done a great job, he looks fit, healthy and well, and all we…
Quality filly heads Rogerson arsenal
Trainer Graeme Rogerson is confident smart two-year-old De La Terre (NZ) (Reliable Man) can notch the third win of her juvenile year when she tackles the Dylan Johnson Bloodstock 2YO (1100m) at Te Rapa on Saturday. The well-related daughter of Reliable Man will likely have a brief let-up after Saturday and be targeted at more lucrative races in spring and heads a host of runners for Rogerson, who trains in partnership with wife Debbie, with 14 runners accepted at Te Rapa in addition to three at Awapuni on Saturday. “She…
Shalwa looking to bow out in style
Trainer Tony Gollan might need to hold a farewell party to go with any celebrations if one of his four mares can win the Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic (1350m). Gollan has accepted with New Zealand-bred mare Shalwa, as well as Twitchy Frank, Solar Star and Amicita in the Ipswich feature. Shalwa, Twitchy Frank and Solar Star are listed to go under the hammer on the Gold Coast next week. “At this stage the four mares running on Saturday will be off to the sales next week,” Gollan said. “Combined with…
No Singapore return for Collett
Alysha Collett will not return to Singapore this year. Licensed until the end of the year Collett, as well as Michael Rodd and Patrick Moloney, recently informed the Singapore Turf Club they were relinquishing their visiting jockeys’ licences. The Club has subsequently cancelled their licences with immediate effect. Collett has indicated she will base herself in Sydney after travelling there when racing was ceased in Singapore due to COVID-19 restrictions. The common push factor for the trio’s departure was the suspension of Singapore racing due to the COVID-19 Circuit Breaker…
Kiwi sourced horses feature in Hong Kong awards
Golden Sixty was crowned Four-Year-Old Champion at the Hong Kong Horse of the Year Awards on Thursday. The Francis Lui-trained galloper became only the second horse after Rapper Dragon to win all three legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, including the Hong Kong Derby (2000m). The Medaglia d’Oro gelding, who was purchased for $300,000 by Lui out of Riversley Park’s draft at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run 2YO Sale, went through the season unbeaten with seven wins. Golden Sixty, who trialled in New Zealand on a number…
Chris Grace in the footsteps of his great-grandfather G.G. Stead
Chris and Susanna Grace with the 1884 Wellington Cup. Graphic is a Grace-bred horse to have won the Wellington Cup but dual Flemington Group One winner Shillelagh is the best horse they have bred by Brian de LorePublished 17 July 2020 When you’re a descendant of one of the most successful owner-breeders this country has ever known, pressure may exist to uphold the family tradition, but the truth is Christopher Grace QSM isn’t a man who was ever looking back, and for most of his youth he was blissfully unaware…
Stakes levels for 2020-21 announced
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) have announced that stakes levels for the 2020/21 racing season will return to those in the 2019/20 season pre-COVID-19. “The NZTR Board met yesterday and I am pleased to advise the wider industry that our stake levels were determined for the coming season,” NZTR chief executive Bernard Saundry said. “It is our intention that stakes levels will remain consistent with the pre-COVID levels, however we need to be aware that we continue to operate in an uncertain environment. “As an industry we need to be…