Month: March 2024

A return to the scene of his greatest win has worked wonders for He’s A Doozy, who burst back into form with victory in Saturday’s The Hits Autumn Cup (1600m) at Trentham. The Wellington track has always brought the very best out of the Zacinto gelding, whose 10 previous visits to Trentham had produced five wins including last season’s Gr.1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) and Gr.3 Thompson Handicap (1600m). But the current season had been a fruitless one for the six-year-old, finishing no closer than fourth in his six appearances before…

An inch perfect front running ride by Irishman Joe Doyle paved the way for outsider El Vencedor to upset the applecart in the Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie. Despite a consistent form-line with a win and three placings along with a last-start fourth in the Gr.1 Otaki-Māori Weight For Age Classic (1600m), the five-year-old son of Shocking was overlooked by punters as he closed at $21 on the Fixed Odds market. All the smart money was on class four-year-old mare Legarto ($1.20) who had taken out the…

Superstar filly Velocious cemented herself atop the country’s two-year-old ranks with a tenacious victory in Saturday’s Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie. Velocious burst onto the juvenile scene on debut at Te Rapa in November, the daughter of Written Tycoon swiftly collecting black-type honours in the Listed Counties Challenge Stakes (1100m) at the following start. Her sole defeat in a dazzling five-start career came on heavy track conditions in the Gr.2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m), a performance rectified in spades when she delivered trainer Stephen Marsh with a triumphant Karaka Millions…

Luckless in feature races in her two previous starts, Eternal Flame turned things around and collected a deserved first black-type victory in Saturday’s A$200,000 Gr.3 Matron Stakes (1600m) at Flemington. The New Zealand-bred daughter of Sacred Falls was already a three-time winner, but her previous appearances at stakes level had produced a sixth in the Gr.2 Angus Armanasco Stakes (1400m), sixth in the Gr.2 Kewney Stakes (1600m), fifth in the Listed Black Pearl Stakes (1200m), fifth in the Gr.3 Frances Tressady Stakes (1400m) and a last-start fourth in the Gr.3…

Promising New Zealand-bred Von Hauke took his career to new heights with his first black-type victory in Saturday’s A$200,000 Gr.3 Furphy Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap (1400m) at Flemington. The Savabeel gelding had made only one previous appearance in stakes company, finishing fifth in the Listed Paris Lane Stakes (1400m) over the same course and distance back in October. But the four-year-old had caught the eye with a strong finish in his resuming run over 1100m at Caulfield on February 24, giving trainer Cliff Brown the confidence to raise the bar on…

Bidding to add to an impressive collection of Hong Kong feature wins this season, James McDonald is wary of emerging threats to Lucky Sweynesse as the world’s top-rated sprinter attempts to win a second successive HK$13 million Gr.1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (10 March). McDonald reunites with Manfred Man’s speedster for the first time since the pair’s 2023 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup triumph as the New Zealander shapes to add to Hong Kong Group One races – the 2023 Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup…

Five-time Group One placegetter Young Werther earned himself another shot at the elite level with a dominant front-running performance in Saturday’s A$200,000 TAB Australian Cup Prelude (1800m) at Flemington. The New Zealand-bred son of Tavistock is well used to performing on the biggest stage, having finished second in the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) and Turnbull Stakes (2000m) and third in the Gr.1 Victoria Derby (2500m), Turnbull Stakes and Champion Stakes (2000m). The six-year-old was clearly the highest-rated runner in Saturday’s field at 106, but he got in at level weights…