Day: 24 December 2024

Matscot will take his place in the Group 1 Zabeel Classic (2050m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. Photo: Race Images South Sharon Robertson had a taste of the Group One action at Ellerslie nearly 16 years ago, and on Boxing Day she will return to the northern headquarters with Matscot taking on the Group 1 Zabeel Classic (2050m). Back in 2008, the Canterbury horsewoman took her stable star Delbrae to Ellerslie to contest the Group 1 New Zealand Stakes (2000m), where he finished just out of the placings behind Sir…

Rory Hutchings has returned to New Zealand for a three-month riding stint. Photo: Trish Dunell A decade ago, Rory Hutchings had the most successful day of his career at Ellerslie on Boxing Day, and the expat Kiwi hoop will kick off a stint riding in his homeland at the iconic meeting this Thursday. Hutchings was a three-time champion apprentice jockey in New Zealand whilst under the tutelage of Graeme Rogerson, for whom he won his first Group One aboard Soriano in the 2014 edition of the Zabeel Classic (2000m). “That…