Month: June 2021

Craig Grylls is enjoying his best season yet in the saddle and is keen on improving his place on the New Zealand Jockeys’ Premiership at Te Rapa on Saturday. With 82 wins to his name this term, including 10 at stakes level, the Waikato hoop currently sits third on the premiership. While runaway leader Danielle Johnson is firmly out of his sights with 146 wins to her name, second-placed Samantha Collett is within touching distance, just two wins ahead of Grylls. He is keen to breach that gap this weekend…

New Plymouth trainer Allan Sharrock is making the long trek down to Trentham with two runners on Saturday and he has high hopes for the pair. Collinstreet will be vying to make it back-to-back wins in the Jennian Homes 2100 and will benefit from apprentice jockey Callum Jones’s three-kilogram claim. “He loves Trentham,” Sharrock said. “I would have preferred a mile after the 1400m, but I couldn’t slot one in. But he will be fit enough, and he will go very well. “Callum is a good kid and you definitely…

There was a time when John Wheeler was an unmissable fixture of the Queensland winter carnival, but these days he’s content to watch from afar. From the late 1980s the New Plymouth-based trainer became a regular in the Kiwi raiding party to the Sunshine State. He quickly achieved legendary status with a raft of feature race wins and a personality that melded perfectly with the Australian racing psyche. If there’s one horse that Wheeler will always be associated with from that era, it’s the unlikely champion Rough Habit, who has…

All the word is on Zaaki ahead of Saturday’s Gr.2 Q22 (2200m) at Eagle Farm, but Randwick trainer John Sargent is keen to upset the apple cart with Brandenburg (NZ) (Burgundy). The New Zealand-bred gelding finished third behind the Annabel Neasham-trained six-year-old in the Gr.1 Doomben Cup (2000m) last start after taking up the pacemaker role, and Sargent is keen for his charge to sit behind the pace this time. “I thought it was a very good effort first step over 2000m and having to lead at a very good…

South Canterbury trainer Len Stewart would love nothing more than to celebrate his 89th birthday with success in Sunday’s Dunstan Horsefeeds Waimate Cup (2200m) at Timaru. Stewart, who began his association with racing as a 14-year-old riding in saddle trots in Waikato in the 1940s, will produce Dundeel gelding Take The Deel (Dundeel) in the Waimate Racing Club feature. A $1200 gavelhouse.com purchase out of Brian Court’s stable, Take The Deel is a form runner in the Waimate Cup, albeit in the lower grades, with Rating 65 wins at two…

Entries are now open for New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2022 National Yearling Sales Series, with the action-packed Sale set to take place next summer at the Karaka Sales Centre. Continuing NZB’s traditional sale format, Book 1 is set to commence from Sunday 23 until Tuesday 25 January, while Book 2 will begin directly after from Wednesday 26 until Friday 28 January. The National Online Yearling Sale will take place in April. Managing Director Andrew Seabrook is already looking forward to the prospect of selling next January, and putting together what will…

Mike Clement has been appointed Chief Executive of the new independent Racing Integrity Board which will oversee the racing industry from 1 July 2021. “The Board is delighted to have been able to secure a leader of Mike’s standing, experience and impeccable integrity,” says Sir Bruce Robertson, Chair of the Racing Integrity Board. The Racing Integrity Board takes over the functions of the Racing Integrity Unit and the Judicial Control Authority for Racing, both of which will be disestablished as of 30 June 2021 with all employees transferring to the…