Month: November 2021

It was a night for the mares when Probabeel took the New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year honours for the 2020-21 season. The results were announced at a virtual event screened on Trackside on Monday night. Probabeel gained just over half over of the 57 votes cast when heading off her Matamata stablemates Avantage and Melody Belle for the top award. It was a trifecta for mares and for trainer Jamie Richards and Te Akau Racing. It is the fifth successive year that a mare has been named the…

Grant and Alana Williams confirmed on Monday that exclusive ties with leviathan owner Bob Peters are to be cut in 2022 so to welcome outside clients and to open a satellite stable in Victoria. Western Australia’s leading stable, which has won two Group One races over the past fortnight for the millionaire owner’s Peters Investments, issued a press release on Monday to say they that while they will still train for the owner, they are to welcome new clients into their stable and will no longer train full-time for Peters.…

After two photo finishes in the first two races at Cromwell on Sunday, Megalomaniac (NZ) (Pure Champion) gave the judge a breather with a dominant three-and-a-quarter length win in the Wingatui Function Centre (1400m). Under a positive ride from Kozzi Asano, Megalomaniac found the front from the widest barrier (13), he was then able to dictate the tempo and never looked in doubt putting on a show for the large crowd in attendance. “Kozzi rode him super,” trainer Andrew Carston said of his stable apprentice who has been on loan…

Saturday’s Gr.1 Rydges Wellington Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) could be a swansong to New Zealand racing, at least for a while, for class Taranaki gelding Justaskme (NZ) (No Excuse Needed). The six-year-old has been one of the best wet-weather gallopers in the past 12 months and showed his adeptness in the conditions with a facile five-length victory in the Gr.2 Tauranga Stakes (1600m) at Tauranga on November 13. With rain forecast for Trentham this week, Justaskme will clearly be in the reckoning for the weight-for-age Captain Cook Stakes if the…

Racha Cuneen has added another string to his racing bow with the Group One-winning jockey posting his maiden success as a trainer. The Riccarton-based horseman prepared Stop Yelling (NZ) (Proisir) to dead-heat for first in Sunday’s Otago Farm Machinery Maiden (1400m) at Cromwell and, for good measure, was also in the saddle. “I’ve got four in work and it’s not easy, but I really enjoy it. It gives more insight into the horses and it was a good feeling to get my first winner,” he said. Cuneen enjoyed a successful…

Trainer Paul Harris is eyeing major staying targets this season with his promising mare Wannabe ‘N’ Paris (NZ) (Reliable Man) and longer-term would dearly love to travel further afield to Australia. The Rangiora-based horseman prepared the daughter of Reliable Man to claim top honours in Sunday’s Cromwell Cup (2030m) and confirm plans for a northern campaign. “She deserved that, she’s been a model of consistency and punched way above her weight in some really nice races,” Harris said. “It was a very, very good ride and I said to Kavish…