Category: Featured

Malaysia continues to emerge as a leading racing jurisdiction, with many participants making the move to the growing region following the closure of Singapore and Macau. New Zealand Bloodstock has had a long-standing relationship with the major racing club in Malaysia, Selangor Turf Club (STC), and have worked closely with them again prior to the leading sale of two-year-olds, NZB’s Ready to Run Sale. As a result, STC have since announced another raft of bonus races for graduates of NZB’s Ready to Run Sale as well as incentives for their…

John O’Shea has provided James McDonald with seven of his 100 Group 1 victories and the trainer suspects those numbers can increase by one when McDonald rides for him in Saturday’s $2 million Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington. It has been more than eight years since the pair combined for a win at the elite level, when Hauraki took the Epsom Handicap at Randwick at a time when O’Shea was the head trainer for Godolphin Australia. “We’re due to have another nice race win,” O’Shea said on Tuesday. “We’re pleased…

Te Akau principal David Ellis has extended his buying arm to Europe with the recent purchase of three-year-old stakes-winning colt Bright Stripes at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale in England.  A winner of four races, Bright Stripes was victorious in the Listed Coolmore Stud Tetrach Stakes (1600m) in May at the Curragh, and was secured by Ellis for 145,000 guineas (NZ$316,000 approx.) out of Stragrane House Stables’ draft.  Bright Stripes will continue his racing career under the care of Te Akau trainer Mark Walker out of their Cranbourne…

Wexford Stables look to have another exciting youngster on their hands following Hankee Alpha’s (NZ) (Proisir) impressive debut victory in the Donaghys Uddermax 1200 at Te Aroha on Wednesday. The three-year-old daughter of Proisir was fair away from the gates and settled at the rear of the field for jockey Lynsey Satherley, who gave her an economical trip along the rail. Satherley continued to take the shortest path home with her filly and made up significant ground on her rivals when rounding the final bend and Hankee Alpha soon found…

The road to Riccarton Park has not been an easy one for Savaglee (NZ) (Savabeel), but the colt indicated he is right on track with a stunning performance in Wednesday’s transferred Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) at Te Aroha. Savaglee, alongside a number of other runners in the race, has fallen victim to a pair of abandonments, firstly with the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) which was rescheduled to Matamata, then the Sarten, which was set to be run on Monday at Te Rapa. The adaptable colt overcame…

High-class sprinter Babylon Berlin put a challenging season behind her with an impressive return to the Te Awamutu trials on Tuesday. Babylon Berlin has been a leading light for Ben Foote’s stable since she debuted as a three-year-old, performing consistently up to Group One level, including a trio of elite-level placings behind top-class mares Imperatriz and Levante in her five-year-old season. The daughter of All Too Hard picked up where she left off in the new term, winning the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m) last November before finishing second to…