Author: NZRacingDesk

There was no disguising what winning Sunday’s time-honoured Duke Of Gloucester Cup (2200m) meant to amateur rider Caitlin Rennie as she crossed the line victorious aboard Joejoeccini (NZ) (Puccini). The 21-year-old had partnered the Sam Mynott-trained galloper in a similar event at Te Aroha at the end of August when finishing into third, and chasing her first success in the saddle, her mount was well-backed closing second favourite behind Autumn Beauty. Rennie allowed Joejoeccini to stride forward from the gate and sat outside the leader in Leprekhan early, before easing…

Cambridge Stud owned mare Joliestar (Zoustar) pulled off a stunning win in the Gr.2 Shorts at Randwick on Saturday, beating fellow Everest contenders Briasa and Private Harry despite sitting back without cover throughout. The Chris Waller-trained mare, who hadn’t run since a similarly unbelievable win in June’s Gr.1 Kingsford-Smith Cup, was set a task when drifting to the tail and sitting four lanes from the fence but still slid into the race with purpose. Joliestar ($4.80) and Briasa ($3.10) set off to fight the race out, but the former always…

Stradbroke Handicap winner War Machine (NZ) (Harry Angel) will miss Friday night’s Gr.1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) at The Valley after suffering an untimely foot abscess. Co-trainer Ben Hayes explained connections are still hopeful of gaining a slot in next month’s A$20 million The Everest, with War Machine now likely to run first-up either at Flemington or Randwick early next month. “He got a very minor foot abscess so he missed a week, which put us on the back foot, so he’ll probably run now in the Gilgai,” Hayes said. “He’ll…

Improving stayer Comedy (NZ) (Mongolian Khan) knocked off a Rating 75 victory at just the second time of asking with an impressive performance at Trentham on Saturday. The Harvey Wilson-trained seven-year-old was among the better-backed runners in the Manawatu Toyota and John Turkington Forestry LTD 2100, but punters were picking a two-horse race between Gr.3 162nd New Zealand Cup (3200m) hopefuls McKhan and Just Charlie, closing at $3.50 and $3.30 respectively. Continuing his association with in-form apprentice jockey Liam Kauri, Comedy jumped well from barrier three and settled one off the…

The Gr.3 Sunline Vase (1400m) was expected to be the weekend’s key pointer for the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m), but a spectacular performance on the Ellerslie undercard had its own impact on fixed-odds betting for the Christchurch classic. First-starter Well Written (Written Tycoon) blitzed a highly rated maiden field by three lengths in Saturday’s Join TAB Racing Club (1200m). The TAB immediately slashed her from $61 into $14 for the 1000 Guineas at Riccarton on November 8. “We’ve always rated her highly and made the next payment for…

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Many pre-race pundits had labelled Saturday’s Ellerslie’s feature, the Gr.3 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase (1400m) as a two-horse contest between Lollapalooza (NZ) (El Roca) and Tajana (NZ) (Darci Brahma), the two hottest three-year-old fillies of spring racing to date. While that ignored the legitimate challenges of several well credentialled rivals, those early predictions played out exactly as expected with the Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray-prepared Tajana holding out race favourite Lollapalooza by the barest of margins in a thrilling finish to the black-type event. Both fillies are noted…

North Island raids have delivered rich rewards this year for Canterbury mare Ears Back (NZ) (Jakkalberry), who collected her second black-type prize in the Gr.3 Hunterville Vet Club Metric Mile (1600m) at Trentham on Saturday. Ears Back is trained in Rangiora by her part-owner John Blackadder, who previously took her north in the autumn for a pair of feature assignments. The Jakkalberry mare ran a close fifth in the Listed Rangitikei Cup (1600m) at Trentham, then broke through in the Listed AGC Training Stakes (1600m) at Wanganui at the end…

New Zealand-bred gelding With Your Blessing (NZ) (Vadamos) capped a consistent run of form with his first black-type success in Saturday’s A$250,000 Gr.3 Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m) at Randwick. The Vadamos gelding progressed through the grades last season with a pair of Randwick victories – an 1100m Benchmark 78 handicap on January 4, followed by a 1300m Benchmark 88 just over a month later. Trainer John Thompson then stepped him up into stakes company and he finished second in a photo finish to the Gr.3 Liverpool City Cup (1300m) at…

Spring racing moved up a notch at Ellerslie on Saturday for Stephen Marsh, who came away from the meeting with three wins and plenty to be excited about through the months ahead. Marsh collected back-to-back successes early in the afternoon with Guineas contenders Well Written (Written Tycoon) and Churmatt (Churchill), then saddled Little Black Dress (Snitzel) for a third placing in the Gr.3 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase (1400m). But the Cambidge trainer may have saved the best for last, unleashing the exciting four-year-old entire Tardelli (I Am Invincible)…