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Unwanted youngster joins Everest challenge

Buyers passed over War Machine (Harry Angel) a younger horse and his Masterton breeders and part-owners continue to count their blessings that he returned home after two tours of the Karaka sale ring.The New Zealand-bred son of Harry’s Angel was offered by Ardsley Stud at both New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale and Ready to Run Sale and failed to attract the expected interest.“We always liked the horse and put what we thought was a realistic value ($100,000) on him,” Ar...

War Machine superb in Everest audition

David Hayes has a New Zealand-bred superstar heading into the A$20 million Gr.1 The Everest (1200m) in two weeks, where his sons Ben, Will and JD Hayes might line up against him with a Kiwi-bred Group One winner of their own.Lindsay Park’s last-start Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) hero War Machine (Harry Angel) kicked off his new campaign in sparkling style in Saturday’s A$300,000 Gr.2 Gilgai Stakes (1200m) at Flemington.The Hayes team hopes War Machine’s blockbuster first-up perfor...

Lindsay Park wins two-year-old opener with Per Incanto colt

Ben, Will and JD Hayes know a thing or two about the juvenile progeny of Per Incanto, and they unveiled another exciting son of the Little Avondale Stud stallion in Melbourne’s first two-year-old race of the season on Saturday.The Lindsay Park team took out the A$175,000 Listed Darley Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (1000m) at Flemington with Eurocanto, who is by Per Incanto out of the Savabeel mare Shespending.Eurocanto’s perfect debut came just under three years after the Hayes brothers saddled a...

Plenty of sass displayed in thrilling stakes victory

Quality mare Hi Yo Sass Bomb (Spartacus) showed she is in for another plentiful spring campaign when she exploded over the final 150m to storm over the top of her female rivals and score a stunning victory in the feature race at Hawera on Saturday, the Gr.3 Grangewillim Stud Breeders Stakes (1400m).Kim Reid’s now seven-year-old daughter of Complacent has fashioned a top-class record over the past two years including a runner-up finish behind Snazzytavi in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) ...

Good times keep rolling for family operation

Continued success with resident stallion Unusual Suspect and their racing team has kept Nigel and Adaire Auret busier than they may have envisaged, but without any complaints.They own and operate Letham Stud on the outskirts of Wanganui, with son and Group One-winning trainer Fraser close by at Marton.The family celebrated a winning trans-Tasman double at the weekend with homebred She’s Unusual (Unusual Suspect) scoring at Rosehill on Saturday and a day later enjoyed further success at Wa...

Meet the Breeder -Jenna McLeod

This week in Dunstan Horse Feeds’ Meet the Breeder, we spoke with Jenna McLeod, who, together with her family, bred Magic Carpet, the impressive winner of last Saturday’s Gr. 2 Timberspan Hawke’s Bay Guineas.Tell us the story of Magic CarpetMagic Carpet was bred by myself, my brother Brian Rogers, and my parents Phil and Jackie Rogers.He is by Satono Aladdin and out of From Eden, a Tavistock mare who has long been one of my favourites on the farm.She won on debut at Taupo but never got the...

Jenni bringing pride to Trelawney with comeback success

Comeback mare Pride Of Jenni (Pride of Dubai) has given Trelawney Stud a number of reasons to look forward to the spring after a dashing victory in the Gr.2 Feehan Stakes (1600m) on Friday night.Pride Of Jenni was crowned Australia’s Racehorse of the Year in the 2023/24 season after claiming three Group Ones, but was thought to be retired after finishing back in the Gr.1 Doomben Cup (2000m) in May.Her breeders Brent and Cherry Taylor had an idea that she might return as an eight-year-old ...

Magic Carpet taking McLeod on a great ride

Jenna McLeod got a massive thrill when watching the latest generation of her family’s breed score at stakes level at Te Rapa on Saturday.Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) victor Magic Carpet (Satono Aladdin) hails from the same lineage that has been in her family’s care for nearly 70 years, and she is delighted to continue that legacy.“The original mare was bought by my great-great-grandfather in 1957 at the Trentham sales,” she said.“My grandfather, Gerald Shand, has raced and b...

Per Incanto’s hot run of form continues

Evaporate (Per Incanto) crowned a stellar period for his sire across the Tasman when he produced a gallant performance to land the thick end of the stake in Saturday’s Gr.3 Sandown Stakes (1500m).The Ben, Will and JD Hayes-trained four-year-old is a Little Avondale Stud homebred son of resident sire Per Incanto.“He had an outstanding week in Australia with eight winners, capped off by Evaporate,” Little Avondale Stud principal Sam Williams said.The farm had also earlier celebrated a v...

Evaporate brave in Sandown Stakes triumph

Smart four-year-old Evaporate (Per Incanto) bounced back from a setback to win Saturday’s Gr.3 Sandown Stakes (1500m) in gallant fashion, defeating favourite Transatlantic by a nose.Lumping 59kgs and racing three-wide early in the piece, jockey Blake Shinn threw the map out of the window and elected to roll forward and dictate the running on the son of Per Incanto, who ran out a deserved winner.Trainers Ben, Will and JD Hayes will now target the Gr.1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) with the geldi...

Magic Carpet flies to impressive Guineas victory

Talented colt Magic Carpet (Satono Aladdin) chose the ideal moment to break his maiden status when he produced a dogged effort to claim victory in the Gr.2 Timberspan Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400).Prepared at Cambridge by Stephen Marsh, the son of Satono Aladdin had looked to have plenty of ability when finishing third at his first two starts, with Marsh confident that if he received even luck in running on Saturday he was definitely not a forlorn hope.Those circumstances played out perfectl...

Group One warhorse reigns supreme in Howden Mile

Saturday's Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) at Te Rapa took Waitak (Proisir) past the million-dollar barrier and added another triumphant chapter to his unique Group One record.The $400,000 weight-for-age showpiece was Waitak's 12th appearance at Group One level. Those dozen races have been spread across his two, three, four, five and now six-year-old seasons, and they have ranged from 1200m all the way up to 2400m.Before Saturday, Waitak’s career highlight came with his stunning burst from the b...

Meet the Breeder -Nick Fairweather and Nicole Brown

This week in Dunstan Horse Feeds’ Meet the Breeder, we spoke with Nick Fairweather, who alongside his partner Nicole Brown, own and operate Carlaw Park in Ohaupo. Under their original company Fairweather Bloodstock Ltd, the couple celebrated their first victory as breeders and owners when Perfect Habit saluted at the Cambridge Synthetic meeting on Wednesday.Tell us the story of Perfect Habit.Perfect Habit was bred by John and Jan Cassin (Cass Thoroughbreds Ltd) and Nicole and I (Fairweather Bl...

Favourite yearling posts career highlight

Dean Hawkins admits to shedding a tear or two when With Your Blessing (Vadamos) was sold as a yearling.The family offered the stunning looking youngster under their Wentwood Grange banner at the 2020 Inglis Melbourne Classic Sale where he left the ring with a A$70,000 price tag.“He was absolutely beautiful as a yearling and, hand on heart, the only horse that I’ve loved that much that I cried when he was sold, he was my all-time favourite horse,” Hawkins said.The son of Vadamos has since e...

Ears Back claims another northern prize

North Island raids have delivered rich rewards this year for Canterbury mare Ears Back ( 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 ...

Tajana takes out Sunline Vase in thrilling finish

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 and Tajana (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 th...

With Your Blessing all the way for Bill Ritchie breakthrough

New Zealand-bred gelding With Your Blessing (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 t...

Meet the Breeder - Karen Parsons

This week in Dunstan Horse Feeds’ Meet the Breeder, we spoke with South Island breeder and trainer Karen Parsons, who bred Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes winner Miss Starlight.Tell us the story of Miss Starlight?Miss Starlight is out of Firelight. Firelight used to belong to Mark Todd, he won a maiden race with her at Kurow. Then he gave her to us to train, eventually we ended up buying her. We raced her before making the decision to breed from her.Miss Starlight was always sensible right from...

Mr Brightside makes history in Makybe Diva

Group One warrior Mr Brightside (Bullbars)  became the first three-time winner of the Gr.1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) with a powerhouse all-the-way victory in the A$750,000 Flemington feature on Saturday.It was the 10th Group One victory for the Bullbars gelding, who has had a total of 46 starts for 20 wins, 15 placings and A$17.97 million in prize-money.Mr Brightside beat Alligator Blood by a length and a half to claim his first Makybe Diva win in 2023, then defended that title against Pri...

A star is born in Canterbury Belle Stakes

Exciting three-year-old Miss Starlight (Sweynesse) thrust her name squarely into contention for future Group One honours when she destroyed a quality field of fillies in the time-honoured feature race at Riccarton on Saturday, the Listed NZB Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m)The unbeaten daughter of Sweynesse went into the contest with a pair of wins on the Riccarton synthetic track under her belt but no-one was sure how she would take the leap to the grass surface.The John and Karen Parsons o...

Ardex and Stable Books

As a proud sponsor of the NZTBA, Ardex Technology values every opportunity to highlight the businesses and people who make our industry stronger and we’re delighted to introduce our partner Stable Books. Stable Books provides services to specialist thoroughbred businesses, including (but not limited to) trainers, spellers, breakers and presale farms across New Zealand. By combining industry knowledge with trusted systems like Ardex, they help these businesses save time, save money and stay com...

Building Skills and Empowering Support: Racing’s Commitment to Suicide Prevention

At the end of July, OnTrack hosted a two-day ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) workshop with 16 industry members. The course gave participants practical skills to recognise when someone may be at risk of suicide and how to respond in ways that could save a life.Among the group were Dean Hawkins and Brad Molander from Wentwood Grange. Reflecting afterwards, Dean said:“It was an incredibly valuable couple of days. I’d like to see more breeders take up the OnTrack training �...

Meet the Breeder - Don and Dame Wendy Pye

Dunstan Horsefeeds Meet the Breeder, caught up with Dame Wendy Pye who alongside her husband Don, have been involved in the breeding industry for over 35 years. They have had some fantastic success, including the 2002 Gr.1 Wellington Cup with Cyclades. Their most recent stakes-success came via Lollapalooza in the Gr.3 Gold Trail Stakes at Ellerslie on Saturday.Tell us the story of Lollapalooza?A great name ... meaning 'Celebration' but, we cannot claim all the credit for naming as this was done ...

Meet the Breeder - Linda Huddy

Dunstan Horsefeeds Meet the Breeder caught up with Linda Huddy, who alongside her husband Graham, own Peachester Lodge in Australia. The Huddy's have had some great racetrack success in their Maroon, Gold Diagonal Stripes, White Sleeves, Gold Cap owning the likes of Shoot Out, Preferment and Most Important; however, they are also renowned breeders and bred the now dual-group one winner, Quintessa.Tell us the story of Quintessa?Quintessa came to us through the purchase of an in foal mare fro...

Arigato (NZ) All the Way in Charity Cup

Just a few days after the catalogue was launched for the 2025 Ready to Run Sale at Karaka, the world’s leading sale of two-year-olds celebrated another new stakes-winning graduate – Arigato (NZ) (Charm Spirit).Bought for $150,000 from the 2020 Ready to Run Sale, Arigato led from start to finish and picked up the biggest win of his career in Sunday’s RM100,000 Perak Charity Cup (1400m).Arigato was offered by Henley Park in Book 1 of Karaka 2020 and was knocked down for $100,0...