Day: 1 July 2024

Golden Path’s (NZ) (Belardo) Listed McKell Cup (2000m) win was the latest chapter in the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr Sydney success story for 2023/24 and the bad news for trainers permanently-based in the Harbour City is the team is hoping to quadruple its numbers there. The training partnership, whose main base is at Cranbourne, is currently operating out of six borrowed boxes at Rosehill, which are overseen by Ben Elam. Price and Kent have won three Stakes races since setting up base during the Autumn Carnival, which has inspired Price to want a permanent…

In a coup for Central Districts racing, respected track manager Bryce Mildon has returned to New Zealand to take up the position of General Manager of Track Development and Operations with Hawke’s Bay Racing at Hastings Racecourse. Mildon has had a lifelong involvement in the industry, which was instigated by his owner-trainer grandfather Jim Mouat, and he found his way into turf management after studying horticulture, while his brother Rhys was also bitten by the racing bug and is currently assistant trainer to leading Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh. “My grandfather…

The 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour made its way to Cambridge on Monday and local trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood got their first glimpse at the iconic trophy they hope to get their hands on at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November. The Cambridge horsemen have a guaranteed spot in the race that stops two nations courtesy of Mark Twain after he won the ballot exempt Listed Roy Higgins (2600m) at the Melbourne track in March. James has tasted plenty of success at elite-level, but the Melbourne Cup…

Pam Gerard is hoping to finish her final term in partnership with Michael Moroney on a high over the coming month, kicking off with a small team at Rotorua on Wednesday. Gerard has been at the helm of the Matamata stable since 2016 and the pair have celebrated their best season to date with 32 winners, the latest being promising stayer Mineshaft at Ruakaka last Saturday. The Merchant Navy four-year-old relished the step-up over ground, ridden patiently by Kelly Myers at the back before powering through the field to score…

Dan Vegas is continuing Totara Park Stud’s outstanding run of success with the family of the unbeaten three-year-old. He is out of Dirk and Nicci Oberholster’s Savabeel mare Miss Bluebell, who has a 100 percent winning record from two visits to Little Avondale Stud’s Per Incanto. The Kenny Rae and Krystal Williams-trained Dan Vegas followed up his debut victory at Ruakaka over 1400m earlier this month with another dashing course and distance victory on Saturday. He is raced by co-breeders Totara Park and the Little Avondale Trust and is a…