Consistent performer Tokorangi finally got the luck she needed when she stormed to victory in the Gr.2 Legacy Lodge Waikato Guineas (2000m) at Te Rapa. The Mike Moroney and Pam Gerard-trained three-year-old had had to settle for minor placings in several stakes races prior to Saturday’s effort, having placed third in the Gr.3 Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) before running on strongly for fifth in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) during her spring campaign. Another solid effort for fourth in the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) preceded Saturday’s performance where she…
Month: February 2021
Whale Watch – Riverton – Saturday
Craig “The Whale” Thompson has his top tips for Riverton Cup Day.
NSW raider has the Wow Factor
Young NSW trainer Karina Britton admits her life-changing ride with aptly-named sprint sensation Wow, one of the headline acts in Saturday’s opening night of the Australian Cup Carnival, has taken her way outside her comfort zone. Even to the point of offering the last-start Group 1 Paws Of Thunder hero to another trainer. The shy and softly-spoken 36-year-old is the first to concede she’s more at home with her greyhounds than dealing with the media spotlight. But that attention comes with the territory when you train a greyhound that’s won…
Selections | Invercargill – 13 February
Selections for today’s Riverton Trotting Club meeting at Invercargill Head to www.tab.co.nz to place your bet! Race JONNY TURNER Form Analyst Race 112.00pm 4 Noosa Beach 3 Arizona Doll 5 Hans Ideal7 Marie Long Race 212.35pm 1 Debutante Party8 Delta Three5 Emerald Abbey2 Tangier Tango Race 31.10pm 4 Matrika10 Calico Hill 12 Vintage Rose 9 Dalness Arizona Race 41.45pm 12 Quaddie VC6 Beauty Barry 4 Smilelikeyameanit3 Wonthavtime Race 52.17pm 4 Tartan Roxy3 Miss Auckland 7 Zaccy Mac9 Stratofortress Race 62.50pm 9 Cuchulainn8 Get Lucky 7 Tweedledee4 Whatwillbeewillbee Race 73.17pm 9 Lilac Becky1 Silk 11 Trinity Star6 Chuckles Race 83.52pm 8 U…
Start key for Robyns Playboy
By Jonny Turner Robyns Playboy will be out to redeem himself with a flying beginning in Saturday’s Riverton Cup. The pacer dubbed ‘The Beast From The East’ gave his followers a shock in his last visit to Ascot Park when galloping away in the Invercargill Cup for driver Craig Ferguson. Trainers Ross and Chris Wilson have found what they think is the cause of the rare mistake and hope their five-year-old can make one of his customary fast beginnings when he returns on Saturday. “He normally has a real tight…
Sprint Stars Return in 2021 Black Caviar Lightning Field
A host of the spring’s top sprinters resume racing this weekend at Flemington Racecourse when the stars do battle in Saturday’s Group 1 $750,000 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m). Coolmore Stud Stakes winning filly September Run resumes in Saturday’s Black Caviar Lightning 2021. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos. Eight runners are engaged in the Black Caviar Lightning field at HQ on the weekend including the Godolphin-raced Bivouac, last start winner of the Group 1 VRC Sprint Classic (1200m) at the track in November. Glen Boss is back aboard the four-year-old son of…
Widdup sets Icebath a cool autumn agenda
Brad Widdup says everything is on track for the return of progressive mare Icebath (NZ) (Sacred Falls), who tackles the Gr.3 Triscay Stakes (1200m) at Randwick. Icebath, who was just pipped in a thriller by Collette in the $7.5 million Golden Eagle at her final spring outing, will kick off her autumn campaign in the Group Three mares event over 1200 metres on Saturday. Widdup said everything had been “pretty straightforward” with the mare’s preparation, including two recent trials, and he was expecting her to give a good account first up. “The mare…
Trainer wary as mare resumes off Cup prep
It takes a special horse to come off a Melbourne Cup preparation and return to win a weight-for-age sprint but Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed) might just be good enough to do it. That is the mindset trainer Chris Waller is adopting ahead of the mare’s resumption in Saturday’s Gr.2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) at Randwick. Sydney’s dominant trainer for more than a decade, Waller is cognisant a two-mile preparation could have made Verry Elleegant more dour. But her first-up win last campaign in the Winx Stakes, run over the Apollo course…
Callsign Mav thriving ahead of Te Rapa sprint
Callsign Mav (NZ) (Atlante) upset the apple cart when winning at odds of 82-1 in the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) at Hastings last September, but he won’t start at such a lucrative price when he contests another 1400m weight-for-age feature on Saturday. The John Bary-trained gelding came of age over the spring, also placing in the Gr.1 Windsor Park Plate (1600m), and he has continued his impressive form line over the summer, placing in the Gr.2 Manawatu Challenge Stakes (1400m) in December before winning over 1400m at Awapuni last start,…
Otaki pair primed for Te Rapa features
Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard have yet to saddle a winner at Te Rapa, but classy three-year-olds Montre Moi (NZ) (Showcasing) and Key (Exceed and Excel) give them two chances to open their account with Group Two success on Saturday. The Otaki trainers are no strangers to plundering northern spoils, most notably with Vespa (NZ) (Elusive City) in the Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) and the Gr.1 Diamond Stakes (1200m), and Scott Base (NZ) (Dalghar) in the Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m). Benner and Wynyard have saddled only nine runners at…