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Pencarrow graduate continues family legacy

Pencarrow Stud’s foundation mare Richebourg (Vice Regal) has left a lasting impression on the Australasian thoroughbred landscape, with Gr.1 Queensland Derby (2400m) victor Maison Louis (Super Seth) further adding to that legacy with his Classic triumph at Eagle Farm on Saturday.The likes of Gr.1 Melbourne (3200m) and Caulfield Cup (2400m) heroine Ethereal, five-time Group One winner Darci Brahma, Group One winner Grand Echezeaux, and Group One performers Burgundy, Romanee Conti, Sup...

Vale bloodstock agent Michael Wallace

The New Zealand and international thoroughbred industries are mourning the loss of Michael Wallace, who passed away in the United States on Saturday night.Wallace was a highly respected bloodstock agent who successfully ran his own business before an eight-year stint as the chief operating officer for the China Horse Club.During his tenure, they celebrated 44 Group One victories and he was a key player in the purchase of the Triple Crown winner and successful sire Justify for the group.He left t...

Fresh Western Empire wins Hyperion

A gritty performance by Western Empire (Iffraaj) to win Saturday’s Gr.3 Hyperion Stakes (1600m) at Pinjarra has enabled the seven-year-old gelding to break the A$3 million barrier in career earnings.The Grant and Alana Williams-trained son of Iffraaj was as brave as ever, coming from a three-wide position midfield to wear-down favourite Magnificent Andy over the concluding stages.Western Empire missed the Belmont Sprint with a foot issue and hadn’t raced since finishing ninth in The Quo...

Bold Maison Louis resolute in Queensland Derby

The training partnership of John O’Shea and Tom Charlton continues to flourish as evidenced by a stable quinella in Saturday’s Gr.1 Queensland Derby (2400m) as Maison Louis (Super Seth) defeated King Of Thunder in a perfect result for the Sydney trainers.Charlton joined O’Shea in partnership this season and Maison Louis becomes the duo’s third Group One winner for the term after elite-level wins from Schwartz and Linebacker.Ridden by Ryan Maloney, Maison Louis came from three back o...

Meet the Breeder - Ricky and Anna Rhodes

This week in Dunstan Horse Feeds Meet the Breeder, we caught up with Ricky and Anna Rhodes who bred progressive stayer Campaldino (Ghibellines) who won two races in New Zealand before sold privately to Darby Racing, and took out the Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2400m) at Doomben on Saturday.Tell us the story of Campaldino?Campaldino is by Ghibellines and is the 2nd foal out of our shocking mare Zuzana. Her first foal was a full brother called Zappolino. We purchased Zuzana off Gavelhouse.com ini...

BetaVet Under The Radar - John Atkinson

Our BetaVet Under The Radar focus this month is John Atkinson of Whitehall Farriers. John is extremely passionate about his role as a farrier and with three apprentices under his tutelage, he is also passionate about ensuring the future of the hoof is in good hands!Explain your role and how long you have working in it?My name is John Atkinson,  I am a New Zealand qualified Farrier and the owner-operator of Whitehall farriers. I began my apprenticeship with my father in 2017 and passed ...

Niance makes bold return in Bel Esprit

Exciting New Zealand-bred mare Niance (Swiss Ace) has bounced back from a serious injury and picked up right where she left off last spring, collecting her third consecutive black-type win in Saturday’s A$175,000 Listed Bel Esprit Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield.The five-year-old Swiss Ace mare has now had 11 starts for seven wins, a placing, and A$449,467 in prize-money. She announced her arrival on the big stage in Melbourne last spring with victories in the Listed Alinghi Stakes (1100m) in...

Southern raider strikes black-type gold

A two-race North Island campaign has ended on a career-defining high for Ears Back (Jakkalberry) and her Rangiora trainer John Blackadder, who scored their first black-type win in Saturday’s Listed AGC Training Stakes (1600m) at Wanganui.Bad luck has been a recurring theme throughout the career of the Jakkalberry mare, including a check in the straight when beaten by only 2.7 lengths in the Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m) at Riccarton last November, along with a close fifth after a less-than-perfec...

Campaldino hits new heights in Queen Elizabeth II Cup

Promising New Zealand-bred stayer Campaldino (Ghibellines) passed his biggest test with flying colours at Eagle Farm on Saturday, stepping up to stakes company and adding the A$200,000 Gr.3 Living Turf Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2400m) to his winning sequence.The lightly raced four-year-old gelding headed to Brisbane as the winner of his last two starts, having taken out the Orange Cup (2100m) on April 11 and a Benchmark 78 over 2400m on Randwick’s Kensington track two weeks later. Those per...

Highview Stud announce 2025 service fees

Highview Stud have announced the service fees for their quartet of stallions this coming breeding season, headlined by Group One producer Wrote, who will stand for a fee of $12,000+GST.A Group One winner himself of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Stakes (1600m), Wrote sired last year’s Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) heroine Pulchritudinous, while his stakes-winning honour roll also includes Group One performer Best Seller and Group Two winner Wrote to Araraki.“We have increased his fee to $12...

Second time’s a charm for Belclare

It was a case of second time’s a charm for Belclare (Per Incanto) at Magic Millions’ Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale, with the dual Group One winner selling for A$700,000 on Tuesday.After a pleasing career in New Zealand, where she won 11 of her 36 starts for trainer Lisa Latta, including two editions of the Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m), owner-breeder David Woodhouse elected to offer her at the sale last year.However, she failed to meet her A$700,000 reser...

Atishu sells for A$2.7 million

It’s the end of an era for New Zealand syndicator Go Racing after they parted company with their multiple Group One-winning mare Atishu (Savabeel) on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.They initially purchased her out of Waikato Stud’s 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $260,000 and she went on to take her syndicate members on the ride of a lifetime.Initially in the care of Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh, the daughter of Savabeel won four and placed in four of her nine s...

Stradbroke next for flying War Machine

Hot favourite War Machine (Harry Angel) made light work of his rivals in the Gr.3 BRC Sprint (1350m) at Doomben on Saturday and it is now all systems go as the four-year-old heads towards the Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 14.  Prepared by Ben, Will and JD Hayes, the New Zealand bred galloper is a recent addition to the Lindsay Park team, having transferred from the stable of the late the late Michael Moroney and Glen Thompson.A last-start Caulfield winner from ...

Dashing Antino dominates Doomben Cup

Trainer Tony Gollan has earmarked the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) as the long-range target for star galloper Antino (Redwood) after a stunning victory in the Gr.1 Doomben Cup (2000m) on Saturday.Paired with Blake Shinn, the six-year-old son of Redwood has thrived with a pattern of circling the field and dashing for home early and the tactics again paid full dividends as the near-black gelding surged to a four length triumph over Fawkner Park and Kovalica.Campaigned predominantly as a sprinter-mi...

Pulchritudinous snares Australian Group Three

Last year’s Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) winner Pulchritudinous (Wrote) landed her first blow across the Tasman with a gritty victory in the Gr.3 Magic Millions Fillies & Mares Mile (1600m) at Doomben on Saturday for trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.The four-year-old daughter of Wrote was having her fourth run since being sold out of Chad Ormsby’s stable and despite sitting three-wide throughout fought doggedly under jockey Tim Clark to defeat Adiella and Exotique Miss.“Sh...

Stakes performers on the market on gavelhouse.com

The latest fortnightly auction on gavelhouse.com offers buyers a golden opportunity to add black-type performance to their broodmare band.The catalogue for the current auction, which closes on Monday evening, features stakes performers Macaluso (NZ) (Savabeel), Expressiveness (NZ) (Shamexpress) and Miss Layla (NZ) (Burgundy).Opportunities are few and far between for buyers to get their hands on stakes-performed daughters of Hall of Fame sire and emerging powerhouse broodmare sire Savabeel, and i...

Meet the Breeder - Mark Chitty

This week in Dunstan Horse Feeds Meet the Breeder, we caught up with major industry figure Mark Chitty - Managing Director of Haunui Farm. Mark co-bred Listed Rangitikei Cup winner Francee under his Haunui Bloodstock Ltd banner along with BF Bloodstock Ltd.Tell us the story of Francee.The late Don McLaren was a very good client of mine and he was a breeder who had between 10-12 mares at any one time in which we owned a few in partnership. When Don passed away, his family decided that they wouldn...

Gift produces dream Melbourne Cup start

A perfect gift continues to keep on giving for expatriate Kiwi horsewoman Emma-Lee Browne who is now in the luxurious position of having a guaranteed Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) runner with a homebred.Pakenham-based Browne and husband and training partner David produced Basilinna (Staphanos) to triumph in the Listed Andrew Ramsden (2800m) at Flemington to earn a golden ticket into the spring staying feature.Basilinna is a daughter of the late Shinko King mare So Royal, who was purchased by D...

Iffraaj mare delivers satisfying stakes win

Francee’s (Iffraaj) victory in the Listed Rangitikei Gold Cup (1600m) was of special significance for Haunui Farm on a number of fronts.Not only was it a first stakes victory for the homebred and raced Iffraaj mare, it also brought back memories of a successful association and coincided with stud managing director Mark Chitty’s university reunion.Trained by Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, the well-related Francee added black-type performance to her pedigree and ensured she will be a valu...

Imperialist rocks Rough Habit

The Queensland Winter Carnival is proving to be a happy hunting ground for Imperialist (Churchill), who collected his second Brisbane black-type prize in Saturday’s A$250,000 Gr.3 HKJC World Pool Rough Habit Plate (2000m) at Doomben.The New Zealand-bred son of Churchill opened his winning account in the Listed The Phoenix (1500m) at Eagle Farm last June, which was only the third start of his career. The Chris Waller-trained gelding had gone winless in nine races since then, but collected ...

Basilinna books Melbourne Cup ticket

Emma-Lee and David Browne’s victory in the A$300,000 Listed Lexus Andrew Ramsden (2800m) at Flemington on Saturday was enormously valuable in more ways than one for the Kiwi couple.A first black-type success for their homebred mare Basilinna (Staphanos) carried plenty of value in itself, but the Andrew Ramsden also guarantees its winner a ballot-free spot in the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) in November.“I’m a bit overwhelmed actually,” Emma-Lee Browne said. “Now we just have to wrap...

Queiroz and Francee combine for stunning Trentham stakes victory

Visiting Brazilian hoop Bruno Queiroz is making every post a winner in his local riding stint by adding a maiden New Zealand stakes success to his bag of tricks as he guided gallant mare Francee (Iffraaj) to a thrilling victory in the Listed James Bull Rangitikei Cup (1600m) at Trentham.Queiroz, who had ridden for kiwi trainer Stephen Gray during a successful Singapore excursion after leaving his native Brazil, joined Gray in New Zealand earlier this month and immediately made an impact by ...

Little Brose Steps Out at LA

Gr.1 Blue Diamond (1200m) winner Little Brose (Per Incanto) has been officially welcomed to the Little Avondale stallion ranks to join his champion sire, Per Incanto.Little Brose was presented in outstanding order and is really letting down into a magnificent animal.   Little Brose is very much in the mould of his father, Per Incanto and it is very exciting for breeders to have access to the 1st Australian 1200m Gr.1 winning 2YO to ever debut at stud in New Zealand.Little Brose was bre...

Widden Stud secures Bonny Lass

Group One-winning mare Bonny Lass (NZ) (Super Easy) will head across the Tasman after being bought by Widden Stud for $480,000 on Gavelhouse Plus on Thursday.Bonny Lass was a Group winner as a two, three, four, five and six-year-old for owner-breeder Sandy Moore, co-owners Brent and Wendy Cooper and the Social Racing Starting Gates Syndicate.From the stable of Matamata trainers Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall, her 26-race career produced eight wins, eight placings and $774,950 in stakes.Widd...

The Oaks Stud Confirms 2025 Stallion Roster

The Oaks Stud has announced its 2025 stallion line-up, headlined by U S Navy Flag, who will stand for $12,500 + GST.A son of War Front out of Misty For Me, U S Navy Flag is a proven performer on the track and at stud, with 141 winners globally, including five stakes winners, headed by Group Two winner The Pendragon and Group Three winner So Naïve.Joining him is The Chosen One, standing at $4,000 + GST. A son of Savabeel, The Chosen One earned $2.7 million in prize money, highlighted by victorie...