Entries for NZB’s 2024 Ready to Run Sale of Two-Year-Olds are now open, with the Sale set to be held at the Karaka Sales Centre on 20 and 21 November. Unprecedented results were witnessed at the 2023 edition of the Sale, with the total aggregate increasing by 39% to over $35.1 million and no less than 12 lots that sold for $500,000 or more. NZB’s graduate success continues to confirm the status of the Sale as the best of its kind in the world, with Ready to Run Sale graduates claiming 29…
Day: 5 July 2024
Blinkers to spark Thompson duo at Randwick
John Thompson will saddle up two runners at Randwick and both will be sporting a key gear change, one for the first time. Blinkers go back on With Your Blessing (NZ) (Vadamos) for Saturday’s Catanach’s Jewellers Handicap (1200m), while Jojo Was A Man will wear the shades for the first time in the Listed Winter Stakes (1400m). With Your Blessing raced well in blinkers last preparation but Thompson kept them off for his first-up run and he finished a solid fifth to Opal Ridge in the Ortensia Stakes at Scone. Thompson opted to keep them off for…
Massive Finals Day for Lindsay Park?
Enigmatic galloper Crosshaven (Smart Missile) will try to do something he hasn’t done in close to four years on Saturday as he chases back-to-back wins at Flemington. The Ben, JD and Will Hayes-trained galloper last posted successive wins as a spring three-year-old in 2020, when he won the Listed Exford Plate (1400m) and the Gr.3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) in a campaign that saw him finish fourth in the Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) and then take out the Gr.3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) on Victoria Derby Day. Crosshaven broke a…
Melbourne Cup Tour brings past and present together
Whether recalling the deeds of past champions or pondering which horse might be the next, there’s no getting away from the allure of the Melbourne Cup. Past and present came together this week when the Victoria Racing Club’s Melbourne Cup Tour arrived in New Zealand. First stop on Monday was Cambridge’s Kingsclere Stables to check out Mark Twain, the son of 2009 Cup winner Shocking who nailed a golden ticket to the big dance on November 5 with his last-to-first win in the Roy Higgins at Flemington in March. On…
Sharrock eyes another Opunake Cup with Justaskme
Justaskme will contest the Valley D’Vine Restaurant Handicap (1400m) at Hastings on Saturday. Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North) Winter warhorse Justaskme is already a two-time winner of the Listed Opunake Cup (1400m), and New Plymouth trainer Allan Sharrock is using Saturday’s Valley D’Vine Restaurant Handicap (1400m) at Hastings as a springboard into another shot at the local feature on July 20. Justaskme won his first Opunake Cup with a two-length victory over his stablemate London Express in 2021. He finished fourth behind Helena Baby a year later, then…
Phelan to feature prominently at Te Rapa & Hastings
Pacheco will contest the TAB Hurdle (2800m) at Te Rapa on Saturday. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Shaun Phelan is set to be represented by leading contenders at both New Zealand race meetings on Saturday, despite the likely scratching of his six-race winner Enchanted Elle. The daughter of Jakkalberry is entered for the Beard Brothers Handicap (2200m) at Hastings, where the 4kg claim of apprentice jockey Rihaan Goyaram would reduce her impost to just 50kg. “Unfortunately, she’s got a bit of a sore foot, so it’s looking like she might…
Latta dominates local synthetic meeting
Sir Mikki winning at Awapuni on Friday. Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North) Local trainer Lisa Latta was a dominant force at Awapuni’s Synthetic meeting on Friday, winning four races, including the Ashurst-Pohangina Cup (2140m) with Sir Mikki. It was the second consecutive win on the surface for the son of Mikki Isle, who was once again piloted by Chris Dell. Dell settled the four-year-old midfield and enjoyed an economical passage throughout before he was asked to improve with 500m to go and quickly found the lead at the…
Livamol a long-range target for Solidify
Solidify will contest the John Young Family (2200m) at Te Rapa on Saturday. Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images) Solidify has been finding his feet over middle-distances this autumn and winter, and another bold performance in Saturday’s John Young Family (2200m) at Te Rapa could be a stepping stone towards a Group 1 target in the spring. The son of Redwood was a stakes-winning autumn two-year-old in last year’s Listed Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre Stakes (1200m) at Te Rapa, and a placing in Group 2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) last September…
Caitlyns Wish aiming for sprint hattrick at Te Rapa
Caitlyns Wish will contest the Group One Turf Bar Sprint (1200m) at Te Rapa on Saturday. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Quality mare Caitlyns Wish has fashioned an enviable record through the past two winters for Stephen Autridge, and she will chase a winning hattrick at Te Rapa on Saturday. The daughter of in-form sire Belardo has recorded six wins and five minor placings over 15 starts, consistently performing in the favoured heavy conditions that she struck at Wanganui and Te Rapa at her two latest appearances. “She was really…
Hugh Bowman hopeful The Winnabe can continue streak
The Winnabe makes it two in a row. Fresh from a Happy Valley double on Thursday night (4 July), Hugh Bowman is optimistic unbeaten The Winnabe can continue an impressive debut campaign with a strong performance in the Class 3 Chow Silver Plate Handicap (1400m) at Sha Tin on Saturday (6 July). Stepping to 1400m for the first time after a pair of 1200m victories, The Winnabe faces 12 rivals including a string of recent winners led by Lovero, Gracious Express, Galvanic, King Miles and Greenwich. The Caravaggio three-year-old shapes…
