Month: July 2023

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Waverley trainer Erin Hocquard has always harboured a passion for horses and she is now pinching herself that she gets to work with them for a living. Hailing from Palmerston North, Hocquard didn’t have any involvement with horses growing up, but she didn’t let that stop her from following her chosen path. After she left school, Hocquard moved to Wanganui and immersed herself in local racing stables to set a strong foundation before gaining more experience further afield. “I really liked horses, but I had nothing to do with them…

Cambridge trainer Ben Foote will be looking to end the season on a high note at local meetings this week. The Cambridge horseman will line-up three runners at Cambridge on Wednesday, with last-start debut winner Kakadu joined by Ka Ying Lucky and Jimmy Dean. A three-year-old son of El Roca, Kakadu was a dominant winner in his first race day start over 970m under Kozzi Asano last month at Cambridge, leading from the 600m and pulling away by three-and-three-quarter lengths over Medina. Kakadu will step up to 1300m in the…

Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray had themselves a royal day out at the last meeting on the all-weather track at Cambridge and will be hoping for more of the same on Wednesday. The local training duo celebrated success on their home course earlier this month with Brave Spirit, Hammer Time and Nystrom and they will be in action again, along with Timing and Avaya. “They will almost certainly go for a break after this, they’re not really winter horses,” Ritchie said. “Obviously, with the lure of $40,000 stakes in our…

Apprentice jockey Tayla Mitchell finished her season with a bang at Tauranga on Saturday, but it wasn’t the climactic ending she was hoping for. The Waikato hoop was aiming to extend her lead over Kelsey Hannan in the apprentice jockeys’ premiership, but instead found herself in a situation more akin to a rodeo ring than a race track. She was favoured to see out her season in winning style aboard the Daniel Miller-trained Yellow Jersey in the last contest on the eight-race card, however, the gelding had other ideas. Shortly…

New Zealand Bloodstock has announced the appointment of Andrew Buick as the latest addition to the bloodstock team. Buick, who will commence his role as Bloodstock Representative later this month, is well-versed in the racing and breeding scene having worked for world-class trainers John and Thady Gosden and prominent stud farms the Irish National Stud and Arrowfield Stud. The surname is also familiar to many in the industry, with his father Walter and brother William both successful jockeys, while brother Martin is a Bloodstock Consultant for de Burgh Equine. “We…

Rich Hill Stud proprietor John Thompson admitted he was caught off guard at Saturday night’s Property Brokers National Breeding Awards at Karapiro, where he received the Entain NZTBA Personality of the Year award. The award recognises an industry participant who has made a significant contribution to the New Zealand thoroughbred industry, with Thompson, who is also the current New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association President, humbled to be recognised in such a manner. “I was totally surprised and a little shocked when I finally twigged they were talking about me in…