Author: NZRacingDesk

One of the most formidable partnerships in Australian racing will reunite at Caulfield on Saturday to try to improve on their Group One tally. Leading hoop Craig Williams has ridden New Zealand-bred Group One winner Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars) in 30 of his 34 starts, including 14 victories, with five of those at elite-level. The pair enjoyed a stellar spring last season, winning their first three starts of the preparation, including the Gr.2 PB Lawrence Stakes (1400m), Gr.1 Memsie Stakes (1400m), and Gr.1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m). They will join…

Hilal has received a warm welcome from breeders with Grangewilliam Stud close to putting up the no vacancy sign on their newcomer. The regally bred son of Fastnet Rock will stand his first season at Mark and Jane Corcoran’s operation at Waitotara following a decorated racing career across the Tasman. “We have been very happy with the response, we have had really good support and he’s got over 100 mares booked to him already,” Mark Corcoran said. “I think I will limit him to 120, so he’s not far off.…

Trainer Debbie Rogerson talks Sharp ‘N’ Smart on Racing HQ with Steve Hewlett and says the Melbourne Cup is well and truly on the radar. Debbie Rogerson 27.08.2024 – Racing HQ with Steve Hewlett – Apple Podcasts

Jockey Jamie Kah can’t wait for the official opening of the Spring Carnival which coincides with the first Group One race of the new season in Melbourne.  Kah will ride Queensland visitor Antino (NZ) (Redwood) in the Gr.1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday, her first ride on the gelding under race conditions.  After a three-run campaign in Brisbane where Antino scored first-up at Eagle Farm in the Gr.2 Victory Stakes and that was wound up after finishing 12th in the Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m), Antino has had the finishing stages of his campaign completed in Melbourne.  Trainer Tony Gollan sent Antino to…

Te Akau Racing are hoping Skew Wiff’s (NZ) (Savabeel) placing in last Saturday’s Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa bodes well for her Group One title defence at Hastings on Saturday-week. The Waikato Stud-bred and raced mare placed in the same race last year before winning the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m), and the now five-year-old appears to be on a similar trajectory. “We are really happy with her. I thought it was a really good first-up effort,” said Sam Bergerson, who trains the mare in partnership with Mark Walker.…

Stable stalwart Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls) will spearhead a three-strong team for Andrew Forsman at Caulfield on Saturday when he attempts to build on a bold but luckless first-up showing across the Tasman. The seven-year-old will tackle the Gr.1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) for a third time while black-type challenges also await his younger stablemates Yaldi and Positivity. Unplaced in last season’s Memsie and fourth in 2021, Aegon opened his Australian campaign when a resuming fourth in the Gr.2 PB Lawrence Staes (1400m) from a horror barrier. “We were rapt with…

Loyalty is a core value for Sandy Moore, and he is now reaping the rewards from that virtue with his Group One-winning mare Bonny Lass (NZ) (Super Easy). Growing up with Trentham Racecourse on his back doorstep, racing has always been a passion for Moore, which he took with him when he moved to Auckland and got involved in racing administration. “I was on the board of the Auckland Racing Club for 15-odd years and that kept the interest going very strongly,” he said. During this time, Moore had a…

Group Three winner Sudbina (NZ) (Almanzor) will make her raceday return at Cambridge Synthetic on Wednesday, kicking off her new campaign in the Majestic Horse Floats 1300. A daughter of Almanzor, Sudbina won a trio of races through her three-year-old term highlighted by success in the Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) over subsequent Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m) winner Grail Seeker. She was also fourth behind the likes of Lupo Solitario and her high-flying stablemate Orchestral in the Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) and had the same result behind Molly Bloom in…

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New Zealand-bred horses dominated the Australian Grand National meeting at Ballarat on Sunday, winning four of the six jumping races, including a phenomenal performance by The Good Fight (NZ) (High Chaparral) to win the A$400,000 Grand National Steeplechase (4500m). In his first preparation over fences, The Good Fight has made a rapid rise through the grades progressing from a maiden hurdle success at Warrnambool in late June to a game second behind fellow-Kiwi bred Affluential (NZ) (Zed) in the Australian Grand National Hurdle (4200m) on August 4. The 10-year-old was…