Author: NZRacingDesk

Ultra-consistent mare Faraglioni (NZ) (El Roca) is out to shed her bridesmaid’s tag in Wednesday’s Gr.1 Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m) at Matamata. Three weeks’ ago, the daughter of El Roca finished a game runner-up to Grail Seeker in the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m), an identical result to last season’s Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m), Gr.1 TAB Classic (1600m) and Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m). Josh Shaw, who trains Faraglioni out of Levin, had the fortune of basing her in Hawke’s Bay throughout the week prior to the original Arrowfield meeting…

Nelson Schick’s decades of contributions to the breeding and racing industries have been acknowledged with Life Membership of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association. A driving force behind the rise of Windsor Park Stud as a domestic and international brand, he was honoured at Monday’s annual meeting in Cambridge. “The industry has been very good to us and I’m very proud to have been made a Life Member, it’s a huge privilege,” Schick said. “I’ve been around for a while and the industry has been through the highs and lows…

New Zealand’s iconic TAB is putting a massive $10 million on offer if a Kiwi punter can correctlypick the finishing order of this year’s edition of The Everest, the world’s richest race on turf, atRandwick in Sydney on Saturday, 19 October. The $10 million The Everest Mega Millions pool was scooped last year in the inaugural year ofthe promotion by an Auckland customer who correctly placed all 12 runners in order, from thewinner Think About It right back to Alcohol Free in 12th place. The free-to-enter competition for TAB customers…

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Warrnambool raider Rolls’ New Zealand campaign hasn’t got off to the best of starts, but trainer Maddie Raymond and jockey Harry Grace are hoping that changes at Matamata on Wednesday. The eight-year-old gelding crossed the Tasman to target the last two legs of the Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival, kicking off in the Gr.1 Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m), which was set to take place at Hastings last Saturday. However, the stable were struck with two pieces of bad luck last week, which began with Rolls failing to make the final field…

Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars) has effectively been ruled out of this year’s A$5 million Gr.1 King Charles III Stakes (1600m) with the gelding’s final Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) lead-up run to be the week prior. Co-trainer Ben Hayes said he and his brothers had settled on an October 12 run for the seven-year-old, with the A$1 million Gr.1 The Might And Power (2000m) at Caulfield or the A$2 million Gr.2 Hill Stakes (1900m) at Rosehill his two options. Mr Brightside ran second in both the King Charles III Stakes and the Cox Plate last year, when the races were…

After a successful change in tactics with Full Force at Hastings, Hollie Wynyard is hoping a step-up in distance will be a further aid to his chances Wednesday’s Gr.2 AHD – Animal Health Direct Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) at Matamata. The son of Cosmic Force showed plenty of class during his juvenile term, highlighted by a third placing in the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m). Returning as a three-year-old at Ruakaka, Full Force diminished his chances as second-favourite in the Gr.3 Northland Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) when over-racing, persuading Wynyard to take…

Trainer Joe Pride is upbeat about the chances of Ceolwulf (NZ) (Tavistock) becoming his latest winner of a feature Randwick mile race, having decided a Gr.1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) start is the right option for the promising galloper at this stage of his spring preparation. Pride has won the Epsom Handicap over the famed Randwick mile with Private Eye (Al Maher) in 2021 while he has also won the Gr.1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) twice, with Sacred Choice (Choisir) in 2011 and Vision And Power (NZ) (Carnegie) in 2009. Pride had a couple of Group One options for Ceolwulf this Saturday at Randwick and decided dropping…

Little Avondale Stud’s Sam Williams didn’t need to be asked twice to remain in the ownership group of rising three-year-old star Evaporate. Williams snapped up the opportunity after the homebred son of resident sire Per Incanto was sold through Sledmere Stud’s draft at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for A$330,000. Secured by Lindsay Park, the Ben, JD and Will Hayes-trained Evaporate posted his fourth consecutive victory when he trumped his rivals in Friday evening’s Gr.2 Stutt Stakes (1600m) at The Valley. “He was a cracking type and…

Robbie Patterson will have seen plenty of the central North Island by Wednesday’s Gr.1 Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m) meeting at Matamata, but a softer track poses a positive for his talented pairing of One Bold Cat (NZ) (The Bold One) and Puntura (NZ) (Vespa). Based at New Plymouth, Patterson travelled across to Hastings last Saturday for the elite-level contest but returned to his base without a representative stepping foot on the track. That has been an unfortunate theme of late for One Bold Cat, a Group Three-winning son of The…