Month: September 2020

Group One winner Tiptronic (NZ) (O’Reilly) was one of the eye-catching runs at Ellerslie on Saturday, with the O’Reilly seven-year-old lumping 60kgs into a close-up fourth in the Auckland Co-Op Taxis 1600 won by Codecracker (NZ) (Nadeem) and looks set to make an impact deeper into the campaign. The Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall-trained galloper was second-up after resuming with a sixth placing at Taupo. “I was very happy with the run on Saturday because he carried six kilos more than anything else, with the exception of Fiscal Fantasy (57kgs).…

Kiwi four-year-old Dragon Leap (Pierro) has suffered a set-back that will curtail his Sydney spring campaign. The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained gelding had looked in for a good preparation, having found the line well for eighth in the Gr.2 Tramway Stakes (1400m) , beaten just two lengths, and was on target for the Gr.1 Epsom Handicap (1600m). “It’s a minor injury and certainly nothing of any note that is going to have any long-term effect on his racing career,” O’Sullivan said. “It is a case of six weeks rest…

Opie Bosson’s loss is Danielle Johnson’s gain. With Bosson unable to make the 56.5kg weight to ride the Jamie Richards-trained Avantage (Fastnet Rock) in Saturday’s Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) at Hastings, Johnson will be the beneficiary. Johnson partnered the mare into an impressive first-up win in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) earlier this month and has forged a good relationship with Avantage, victorious on four of the five occasions she has ridden the Te Akau star. A five-time Group One winning jockey, two of those elite level wins have come…

Graduates of New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale have reached heights unmatched by any other Australasian two-year-old sale and a quality catalogue of 311 two-year-olds has been compiled for this year’s sale. Breeze ups will take place at Te Rapa racecourse on October 12 and 13, with the auction to be conducted as a physical sale at Karaka on November 18 and 19, with a later start time of 1pm on both days to accommodate international buyers biding remotely. In the last six seasons alone, graduates of NZB’s Ready…

Danica Guy couldn’t be happier with her talented galloper Germanicus (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle) as the five-year-old begins a Group One programme of assignments this season at Hastings on Saturday. The Matamata trainer has Germanicus set to resume in the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m), in which he will be ridden by Chad Ormsby, his rider in each of his two lead-up trials. The latest of those trials resulted in a win over Group One performer Supera at Te Teko on September 3. “Chad suits him,” Guy said. “He came over…

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Trainer Phillip Stokes has described Caulfield Guineas-nominated Savannah Cloud (NZ) (Savabeel) as “exciting” following his impressive win at Cranbourne on Sunday. The highly-regarded three-year-old was dominant as $2 favourite, gapping his rivals over 1200m. Stokes said he expected the horse to have a bright future. “He’s an exciting horse,” Stokes said. “I was happy with the way he relaxed today and put pay to them. He can go onto better things now. “We’ve got two weeks to the (Caulfield Guineas) prelude, if he comes through this that might be the logical step…

Group One winning mare Travelling Light (NZ) (El Roca) is the latest elite-level performer to be ruled out of the spring. The Ben Foote-trained daughter of El Roca finished a disappointing 10th when resuming in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) earlier this month and her sub-par work since has prompted Foote to pull pin on her spring campaign. “The horse looks amazing, but I galloped her yesterday myself with Sam Collett riding Babylon Berlin (All Too Hard) (stablemate) and I just wasn’t happy,” Foote said. “I am going to do some further…

The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman stable experienced luck on both sides of the coin at Flemington on Saturday. The pair saddled up their main Melbourne Spring carnival hopefuls inThe Chosen One (NZ) (Savabeel) and Quick Thinker (So You Think) and came away from the day with mixed results. Five-year-old entire The Chosen One produced a barnstorming finish to take out the Winning Edge Presentations Handicap (1700m) under the steadier of 61.5kgs however Quick Thinker found the going a lot tougher in the Gr.1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m), dropping out in the…