Month: March 2024

Sabah Ace (NZ) (Swiss Ace) secured his spot in the lucrative 4yo series with his first win in nine months in the S$50,000 Class 4 1400m race under a gun ride by jockey Vlad Duric. After jumping from gate one, Sabah Ace stalked the speed and sailed past in the straight to win easily by three-and-a-quarter lengths on the line. Previously a four-time winner in races over 1100m and 1200m, Sabah Ace has now won five races in 12 starts and amassed closed to S$170,000 for connections. The Gerry Harvey…

Lindsay Park trainers Ben, Will and J D Hayes cannot ask much more of Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars). The gelding is the winner of 16 races and almost A$13 million in prize money and has put the Lindsay Park stable and their own names out in the racing world as trainers of Group One winners. But Ben Hayes said there was one glaring omission from Mr Brightside’s CV, a Group One victory at 2000 metres. Hayes hopes that will be rectified on Saturday in the Gr.1 Australian Cup (2000m) at…

Trelawney Stud bred Singapore Horse of the Year Lim’s Kosciuszko (Kermadec) overcame a troubled preparation to get his 18th career win in the S$100,000 Kranji Stakes A race (1200m) on Saturday. Granted it was a drop in class for him after his hit-and-run assignment in the Gr.1 Hong Kong Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin racecourse last December, an overstay with quarantine issues after his second overseas mission had serious repercussions for his upcoming races. Sent out as the expected hot favourite, Lim’s Kosciuszko (Marc Lerner) jumped well from barrier two…

Stephen Marsh is trekking a familiar path with owner Lib Petagna in search of South Island black-type success for promising filly Nikaia (NZ) (Ardrossan), a plan that commenced in ideal fashion on Saturday at Riccarton Park. Cambridge-based Marsh sent Petagna’s talented filly Luella Cristina (Snitzel) to his Riccarton satellite barn for the Autumn last season, after her third-place finish in the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m). The regally-bred daughter of Snitzel went on to finish runner-up in both the Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1600m) and Listed NZB Warstep Stakes (2000m), earning…

After spending most of the afternoon tossing up whether or not to scratch Complicate (NZ) (Complacent) from Saturday’s Snow Williams Bayleys Country (1600m) at Tauranga, Matamata trainer Wayne Hillis decided to roll the dice and was richly rewarded. The Tauranga track was rated Soft5 at the beginning of Saturday’s eight-race card, but an afternoon of miserable weather sent it all the way down to Heavy10 by the time Complicate headed to the start for the final race of the day. Hillis admitted that he was far from confident that Complicate…

Michael and Matthew Pitman will consider options on both sides of the Tasman with their rising stable star Mystic Park (NZ) (Ocean Park), who faced his toughest test to date at Riccarton on Saturday and passed with flying colours. The local four-year-old stepped into open class for the first time in the Johnny Fresh Darfield & Yaldhurst Open Sprint (1400m), and he was sent out as a red-hot $1.50 favourite after showing real X-factor in his rapid rise through the grades this season. Mystic Park kicked off his campaign with…