Category: Gallops

Te Akau Racing will be hoping Group 2 winner Wild Night (NZ) (Vanbrugh) can start his Australian campaign on a strong note in Saturday’s Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m), after the stable reported the ‘cool, calm and collected customer’ had ‘settled in beautifully’ at their Cranbourne base. “He arrived last Wednesday … they often arrive sort of a week-and-a-half before their run, it gives them time to settle in,” said Ben Gleeson, who is Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson’s assistant trainer. “He’s got a really good attitude.” The team utilised Southside…

New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2024 Ready to Run Sale is just moments away, set to take place on 20 and 21 November at the iconic Karaka Sales Centre. Inspections and parades and well and truly underway, and the grounds are busy with many guests also staying onsite at the DoubleTree by Hilton Karaka hotel situated just a minutes’ walk from the complex. Various international buyers will be met by an astute line up of Kiwi judges to provide strong competition in the sale ring, all looking to secure their next champion from…

The past year has been a tough one for Matamata horseman Gary Hennessy, but he got plenty of satisfaction out of watching Mystic Park (NZ) (Ocean Park) take out Saturday’s Listed Stewards’ Stakes (1200m) at Riccarton.  Hennessy bred the five-year-old gelding, who is by his five-time Group One winner and Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) hero Ocean Park, and out of unraced Dubawi mare Spirit of Karlu.  “It was terrific. I have followed him all the way through, and I have his dam set to foal any day to Ocean Emperor,”…

New Zealand has an exciting group of apprentice jockeys coming through the ranks, and last season’s standout performers were recently recognised at the Northern, Central Districts and South Island Apprentice Awards. On Monday night, the Milan Park Northern Apprentice Jockey Awards acknowledged the achievements of the region’s rising stars, with Niranjan Parmar awarded the Premier Apprentice Jockey Award as the highest-achieving Northern apprentice on the premiership table. Parmar, who was apprenticed to Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, recorded 50 winners last term, finishing second to Lily Sutherland in the premiership.…

Last week will live long in the memory of northern race caller George Simon. On New Zealand Trotting Cup Day at Addington Raceway, he became a Group One-winning standardbred breeder when Marketplace took out the Woodlands Stud Sires’ Stakes Series Final (1980m), and four days later he called Talentoso, who he bred and part-owns with his wife Maryanne, to victory at Tauranga. “It was an unbelievable week,” Simon said. “I was calling Te Aroha last Tuesday and I just sat in the commentary box and watched the race from Addington…