The successful training partnership of Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray have kicked off the new season with an early milestone, earning their 100th domestic win as a combination at the Cambridge Synthetic on Wednesday. In his own right, Ritchie has been training for more than three decades with 538 domestic winners to his credit including eight at Group One level. Since joining Murray in partnership in 2020, the pair have accumulated six further stakes winners, including a sweep of last season’s Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) and Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m)…
Author: NZRacingDesk
Walker a massive jumps racing fan
New Zealand’s leading trainer Mark Walker is a strong advocate for jumps racing and hopes to see the sport continue and flourish. New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing released a consultation document last week, proposing two options – the continuation of the jumps racing with a dedicated strategy and additional investment, or a managed wind-down and eventual closure of jumps racing. Walker, who trains in partnership with Sam Bergerson, won 169 races in New Zealand last season after a record-breaking 203 wins the season prior. The Te Akau conditioner, who also operates…
La Crique returning to NZ
Classy mare La Crique (NZ) (Vadamos) has enjoyed some time in the Queensland sun after a well-targeted raid on the A$500,000 Magic Millions National Classic (1600m) at Eagle Farm in June where she delivered a workmanlike performance to win the weight-for-age assignment. The Simon and Katrina Alexander-trained Group One winner will be aimed at some lucrative assignments in her homeland rather than remaining in Australia. “She spelled in Queensland and she’s currently in pre-training there at the moment. The time has come to move her a little closer down the…
Moody getting a handle on Lightning
Former New Zealand-trained galloper Desert Lightning(NZ) (Pride of Dubai) is nearing a return for new trainers Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman. The five-year-old gelding finished second in an 800m jump out at Pakenham on Tuesday behind his high profile stablemate I wish I Win. A winner of five of his 18 starts including the Gr.1 TAB Classic (1600m), Desert Lightning also won the lucrative Aotearoa Classic (1600m) last summer but was a disappointing ninth in the All-Star Mile (1600m) won by Pride Of Jenni. With his previous trainers retiring, connections…
Caulfield test first-up for frequent flyer Kiwi
There would be few horses with more frequent flyer points than Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls), and the well-travelled gelding racked up a few more earlier this week when he hopped across the Tasman. The seven-year-old son of Sacred Falls has landed in Melbourne ahead of Saturday’s Gr.2 P.B. Lawrence Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield, and trainer Andrew Forsman said he has made himself at home at his Flemington base. “He has travelled over great,” Forsman said. “He flew over on Sunday, so he had a good gallop on Saturday morning before…
One better for Monza in Richard Bright Memorial
After being denied victory in last year’s Richard Bright Memorial (1500m) in the final bounds, Monza (NZ) (Rios) was back to go one better and the Danica Guy-trained gelding did just that at Cambridge Synthetic on Wednesday. Monza was among several synthetic specialists contesting the race, with each of his five previous victories coming on the surface in nine attempts. An uncharacteristic last-placed run in early July placed Monza over the odds in the $100,000 1400m race at Awapuni Synthetic last Friday, where he finished third to Branciforti, giving Guy…
Turning of the tide for Riverton horse trainer
Ebony Turner has developed a profile as an up-and-coming trainer in the deep south and her talents are now being recognised by outside owners. The Riverton horsewoman scored plenty of success last season with her own horses, primarily led by Drakaina, who won two of her five starts for Turner, including the Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1400m), and was also runner-up in the Listed Dunedin Guineas. Drakaina was subsequently sold to Bob Peters in Perth, but Turner’s talents haven’t gone unnoticed and in the last couple of months she has…
Tanner prepared to cash in again at New Plymouth
What you see is what you get with consistent mare Tanner (NZ) (Telperion) and trainer Kylie Hoskin sees no reason to expect anything else from her charge at Saturday’s Taranaki meeting. The daughter of Telperion has been in grand touch this preparation and will bid to add to her record when she makes her open class debut in the New Plymouth Building Supplies Handicap (1400m). “The one thing you can guarantee with her is that she’ll give 100 percent and she’s quite a tractable horse in the running,” Hoskin said.…
Kiwi star set for Aussie debut
Ben Gleeson was happy to receive a vote of confidence from in-demand jockey Michael Dee ahead of three-year-old-filly Bellatrix Star‘s (Star Witness) Australian debut at Caulfield on Saturday in the Gr.3 Quezette Stakes (1100m). Dee has ridden the Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-trained filly in a jumpout and at trackwork at Cranbourne on Tuesday and he has given the stable’s Melbourne-based manager Gleeson a positive assessment. “He’s been very pleased with her and wants to stick with her, which says a lot,” Gleeson said. The Te Akau Racing filly had…
Respected trainer almost bookends decorated career
Karen Fursdon’s solo training career opened with a winning chapter and she went oh so close to a fairytale ending at the weekend. Successful with her first runner in her own right when Blazing Boy opened her account at Te Aroha in 1998, the popular Matamata horsewoman’s final representative Vino Valentino (NZ) (Zacinto) finished a close second at Te Rapa on Saturday. It signalled the end of a long and successful career highlighted by the 2004 victory of Upsetthym in the Gr.1 Auckland Cup (3200m) off the back of the…