Author: NZRacingDesk

Fresh from celebrating Group One glory with Grail Seeker (NZ) (Iffraaj) in the Tarzino Trophy (1400m) at Hastings last weekend, emerging player Jamieson Park is set to have further industry impact with the sale of four well-credentialled mares in the latest fortnightly auction on gavelhouse.com. Jamieson Park bred Grail Seeker and sold her for $130,000 as a yearling at Karaka in 2022. Her victory in the first Group One race of the New Zealand season increased her earnings to $413,465 from a rapidly improving 10-start, three-win career. “For Grail Seeker…

The Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival is set to get an injection of international flavour, with Warrnambool raider Rolls set to contest the final two legs of the Hastings triple crown. Trainer Maddie Raymond was in search of more forgiving ground during spring, and after consultation with her expat Kiwi partner Patrick Bell, she decided the Hawke’s Bay carnival presented as a nice option for last year’s Listed Warrnambool Cup (2350m) winner. “My partner, Patrick Bell, who is travelling over with him, is originally from New Zealand and he is really…

Cambridge Stud shuttle stallion Hello Youmzain recorded his first stakes-winner when smart two-year-old colt Misunderstood produced a dominant performance to land the Gr.3 Prix des Chenes (1600m) at Longchamp yesterday. Trained by Mario Baratti and ridden by Alexis Pouchin, Misunderstood was having just his second start after making a winning debut at Deauville over 1500m in July. Misunderstood lead throughout and forged clear of his rivals to win by an impressive four and a half lengths. “He has a tendency to be keen and we don’t have much choice but…

By just one season, Kylie Little missed an opportunity to take a horse to the iconic Jericho Cup (4600m) at Warrnambool, and she is hoping in-form stayer Irrigate (NZ) (Ocean Park) can take the Kiwi spot through Saturday’s NZB Airfreight Road To The Jericho (3210m) at New Plymouth. The annual contest is New Zealand’s longest flat race, exceeding the traditional two-mile Cup distance, and as of 2017, the winner has been offered a trip across the Tasman to run in the Jericho Cup, and a past member of Little’s barn,…

Saturday’s Taranaki meeting was the final step towards Mustang Valley’s (NZ) (Vanbrugh) second Group One title last season, and the mare will return on an identical path to contest the Seaton Park 1400. A powerful wet-track galloper, Mustang Valley skipped through the heavy conditions to take both this race and the Gr.1 Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m) 12 months ago. Her rating of 107, with a mare’s allowance, places her at 62.5kg, and she will carry the topweight despite apprentice jockey Ngakau Hailey’s three-kilogram claim. Andrew Forsman, who prepares the daughter…

Winter is usually the busiest time of year for jumps jockey Emily Farr, but she decided to sacrifice the majority of New Zealand’s jumps season this year to head home to Wales where she felt she was most needed. While racing is the centrepiece of Farr’s life, there is one thing that is more important to the 33-year-old rider – family. With her father suffering from dementia, and her mother bearing the brunt of caregiver duties, Farr felt it was time to head home and help ease the burden for…

Ben Hayes believes that the conditions are more in Mr Brightside’s (NZ) (Bullbars) favour this time around as he prepares to take on Via Sistina in Saturday’s Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m). The pair has only met once before, in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick during the autumn, when Via Sistina finished second and Mr Brightside third in a race that they were both comprehensively beaten in by tearaway leader Pride Of Jenni. “I think at a mile, it will be a great race,” said Hayes, who trains…

A sense of pride, not regret, is the overarching emotion when Kiwi trainer Anna Furlong watches Warmonger (NZ) (War Decree) step onto the racetrack. Furlong and her then-training partner Shane Kennedy paid NZ$165,000 for the son of War Decree at the 2022 NZB Ready To Run Sale at Karaka, almost 12 months after he was sold as a yearling for NZ$75,000. It was obvious the youngster had ability but an offer from OTI Racing following his dominant win in an Ashburton trial meant his time in their stable was short-lived.…

Grey filly Diablo Blanco (NZ) (Super Seth) will be out to gain some valuable black-type on Saturday when she heads to Riccarton Park to contest the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m). The daughter of Super Seth, who carries the Milan Park silks of co-breeder and part-owner Tony Rider, won two of her five starts as a juvenile, including first-up this preparation over 1200m at Oamaru in July. She was also fourth in the Gr.2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes (1100m), with that form being franked at Hastings last weekend…

Mark Oulaghan’s star jumpers West Coast(NZ) (Mettre En Jeu) and Berry The Cash (NZ) (Jakkalberry) were unstoppable in last month’s Grand National contests, and on Sunday, they are heavily-favoured to add the Great Northern equivalents to their formidable records. West Coast has largely been the benchmark for steeplechasers in New Zealand for the past two seasons, winning a multitude of prestige crowns, including three-straight editions of the Grand National Steeplechase (5600m), the first in history to do so. Contesting the Ben and Ryan Foote Racing Great Northern Steeplechase (6500m) for…