Month: November 2021

Former Kiwi Lord Ardmore (NZ) (Reliable Man) continued his good late spring form when landing his second Sydney success from his past three outings, having finished runner-up to stablemate Mightybeel (NZ) (Savabeel) on the other occasion. The son of Reliable Man, who sports the blue and white silks of Go Racing, led throughout under a good ride from Tom Sherry to win over 1800m at Rosehill. Initially prepared in New Zealand by now retired trainer Stephen McKee, the four-year-old gelding looks to be a handy addition to the Chris Waller…

Trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr have posted their first Group winner from their new stables at Cranbourne after Blue Army proved too classy for his rivals to win the Gr.2 Sandown Guineas (1600m). The three-year-old feature was contested at Caulfield for the first time, the base Price and Kent had previously called home prior to its closure as a training centre during the week, with plans afoot by the club for a second turf track for racing purposes and a host of commercial developments. A New Zealand bred…

Seven-year-old mare Polly Grey landed her fourth stakes race when successful in Saturday’s Listed ATC Cup (2000m) at Rosehill on Saturday, lumping a clear topweight of 59kgs on the Heavy track. The daughter of Azamour has a liking for rain-affected ground and handled the rise in distance from 1400m fresh-up to 2000m with aplomb, scoring a comfortable win under James McDonald. Prepared by Chris Waller for her New Zealand owners, the champion trainer joked that a pep-talk from a star stablemate may have worked the oracle in seeing Polly Grey…

Underrated New Plymouth mare Zola Express captured the biggest win of her burgeoning career when she claimed the Listed Steelform Roofing Group Wanganui Cup (2040m). The Janelle Millar-trained five-year-old has struck a purple patch of form since commencing her latest campaign, winning her first two starts this season before not having much luck in her next two races before Saturday’s contest. Millar legged aboard lightweight jockey Chris Dell for his first ride on the mare on Saturday, who carried just 54kgs and he responded with a sparkling effort that saw…

Exciting three-year-old Pareanui Bay made it three wins from three starts when he took out the Listed Trevor & Corallie Eagle Memorial 3YO (1500m) on Saturday at Te Aroha. The Tony Pike-trained Lonhro gelding hadn’t been seen since recording a stunning win in the Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes (1400m) at Te Rapa last month and was sent out a dominant $1.90 favourite on the strength of that performance and a strong midweek trial. Rider Michael McNab had the long-striding individual away well from the starting gates and…

A cool ride from Leith Innes paved the way for talented galloper Demonetization to make it back-to-back victories to open his latest campaign as the pair took out the Gr.3 Eagle Technology Stakes (1600m). Innes has done it tough over the extended COVID lockdown in the Auckland area which precluded him making any raceday appearances until the special meeting that was held at Pukekohe on November 11, where he piloted Demonetization to a comfortable victory in an open 1400m contest. Having relocated to Cambridge in the last week, Innes was…

Kiwi stayer Dragon Storm came from last to land the Listed Sandown Cup (3200m) at the Caulfield meeting on Saturday under a well-timed Blaike McDougall ride. The son of Shocking had won last season’s Gr.3 New Zealand Cup for Chris Gibbs and transferred to Mike Moroney’s Flemington stable after an unplaced effort in the Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m). The seven-year-old gelding’s three runs leading into Saturday’s triumph had been less than inspiring, with Moroney resorting to training the stayer over hurdles in the lead-up to the A$160,000 contest. In a…