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Expert eye for young equine talent

The Bloodstock Agents’ Federation of New Zealand (BAFNZ) is the leading professional body representing accredited bloodstock agents across the country.This series takes an in-depth look at the varying backgrounds of BAFNZ members and their work within the thoroughbred industry.Chris Rutten established his bloodstock agency after more than three decades operating a successful breaking-in and pre-training operation.It proved to be a seamless transition and from limited budgets can boast an excel...

Elsdon stakes double claim at Pukekohe

Elsdon Park was in the thick of the black-type action at Pukekohe Park on Saturday, with a winning double for the Matamata nursery.De Armas (Ardrossan) set the ball rolling with her stunning strike in the Listed Couties Challenge Stakes (1100m) and Ardalio (Ardrossan) carried farm principal Lib Petagna’s colours to victory in the Gr.3 Counties Bowl (1100m).Both are by Waikato Stud’s Ardrossan, with Petagna enjoying a racing share in the stakes-winning son of Redoute’s Choice and has r...

Gringotts goes back-to-back in The Gong

With a successful defence of his title in Saturday’s A$1 million The Illawarra Mercury Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange, Kiwi-bred marvel Gringotts (Per Incanto) has now won five races worth $1 million or more within the space of barely a year.The Per Incanto gelding’s back-to-back victories in The Gong sit alongside his dual triumphs in the A$3 million The Big Dance (1600m) at Randwick, plus the most prestigious victory of his career in the A$1 million Gr.1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at ...

Ka Ying Rising extends unbeaten streak to 15

New Zealand-bred sprinting sensation Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) continued his dominance on Sunday when defending his crown in the Gr.2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin.Fresh off returning back to Hong Kong following his heroics in last month’s A$20 million The Everest (1200m) at Randwick, he wowed his local fans once again when running out an effortless 2-3/4 length victor and extended his unbeaten streak to 15.Jockey Zac Purton was pleased with his charge’s...

Nicholas captures Counties Cup with mid-race masterstoke

Comeback jockey Elen Nicholas took her career to its greatest heights yet with a masterful ride aboard Final Return (Reliable Man) to take out the Gr.3 MyRacehorse Counties Cup (2100m) at Pukekohe on Saturday.A horror run of injuries has forced Nicholas to spend more time on the sidelines than in the saddle during her apprenticeship, but she has made a triumphant return this season to sit in eighth place on the national premiership with 21 wins. She ranks second among apprentices behind onl...

Ardalio sets up stakes-winning farewell for Asano

Kozzi Asano signed off his brief New Zealand homecoming with a winning treble at Pukekohe on Saturday, headed by black-type success aboard Ardalio (Ardrossan) in the Gr.3 Haunui Farm Counties Bowl (1100m).Originally from Japan, Asano arrived in New Zealand in 2017 and became champion apprentice two years later. He racked up a total of 336 wins, 20 of them at stakes level, before departing during the 2023-24 season for a successful stint in South Korea.The 30-year-old returned to his Cambrid...

De Armas seals Karaka Millions berth with stylish stakes victory

A professional display from speedy Otaki visitor De Armas (Ardrossan) paved the way for a decisive victory in the first stakes race on Saturday’s Pukekohe programme, the Listed Counties Challenge Stakes (1100m).Trainer Johno Benner trekked north with the daughter of Ardrossan, who went into the race off the back of an 850m trial victory at Foxton earlier in the month, following a winning debut on her home track in September.Benner had been content to give his charge plenty of time to get ...

Qali Al Farrasha on top in Breeders’ Stakes

Perennial black-type bridesmaid Qali Al Farrasha (Almanzor) shed that unwanted tag in outstanding fashion when she downed a quality line-up of mares in Saturday’s Gr.2 Dunstan Horsefeeds Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) at Pukekohe.The five-year-old daughter of Almanzor has been desperately unlucky on several occasions at the highest level, having been stakes-placed six times in her 16-start career, with four of those coming in Group One features.The Mark Walker and Sam Bergers...

Rick Hill

This week in Dunstan Horse Feeds’ Meet the Breeder, we caught up with Rick Hill, the breeder behind Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) heroine Bozo (Satono Aladdin), after her impressive staying triumph at Riccarton last Saturday.Tell us the story of Bozo?Yes, it was extra special for us with Bozo’s big win. She won with plenty in hand, proving that Kevin and his team had her spot on—they did a fantastic job. So Ard was found at the Melbourne sales, and she had just started to show us real ...

Perfect timing launches NZB career

Kane Jones’ timing was on the money when he sounded out employment possibilities with New Zealand Bloodstock.Toward the end of his student days, he contacted the Karaka company who responded positively, and he’s since risen to the senior position of Bloodstock Sales Manager.“I went to Hawera High School and then to Massey University in Palmerston North, I knew my limitations early in the piece and that I didn’t have the capacity to be a vet, so I chose Animal Science and got a degree in ...

Catalogue Launched for Landmark 100th National Yearling Sale

Fresh off the back of another record-breaking Ready to Run Sale, the cream of New Zealand’s yearling crop has been revealed for a landmark Karaka 2026, with a total of 1009 yearlings catalogued.Karaka 2026 will take place at the Karaka Sales Centre from 25 - 29 January, the iconic week on the sales calendar marking the 100th National Yearling Sale in New Zealand. Featuring a refreshed format in line with the momentous occasion, Book 1 will be conducted across two days, composed ...

Romanoff hits another high family note

Victory bells have been ringing for Marie Leicester and her family for decades, with Romanoff (Belardo) the latest to hit a Group One note.Leicester bred the Pam Gerard-trained son of Belardo who at Riccarton on Saturday added to an extensive role of honour when he triumphed in the New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m).His pedigree is full of top-quality performers, including the outstanding mare Melody Belle, with all stemming from Belle Star.She is the matriarch of a family line that started w...

Perfect Scenario retired

Group One performer Perfect Scenario (Iffraaj) has been retired following his unplaced run in the Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m) at Riccarton last week.The eight-year-old son of Iffraaj has been a stable stalwart for Te Akau Racing’s southern base at Riccarton Park over the last couple of seasons and retires the winner of 11 of his 59 starts, with $570,000 in earnings.He was purchased by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis out of Woburn Farm’s 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft f...

Proved secures first black-type success

A bargain buy from Windsor Park Stud’s Rugby, Racing and Beer yearling sale has now won six of her seven starts including a first black-type success in Saturday’s A$200,000 Gr.3 How Now Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.Proved (Time Test) was bred by Windsor Park Stud and is by Time Test out of the Shamexpress mare Out To Impress, who is a half-sister to the Gr.1 Victoria Derby (2500m) winner Monaco Consul.Windsor Park offered Proved at the 2022 edition of their popular Rugby, Racing and Beer...

Agera’s astonishing rise continues in Tauranga Stakes

Three months after starting the season as a two-win horse with a rating of 70, Agera (Complacent) stepped on to the big stage at Tauranga on Saturday and became a weight-for-age winner in the Gr.2 Gartshore Construction Tauranga Stakes (1530m).The $150,000 feature capped an incredible rise for the Complacent gelding, who came into his six-year-old season with 18 starts to his name for two wins, eight placings and $81,490 in stakes.From eight starts this season, Agera has recorded six victor...

Bozo reigns supreme in gruelling New Zealand Cup

Respected Wanganui trainer Kevin Myers captured his fourth Gr.3 Martin Collins New Zealand Cup (3200m) at Riccarton on Saturday courtesy of a supreme staying performance by Bozo (Satono Aladdin).An extraordinary storm in the early part of Saturday afternoon made the track a gruelling Heavy9 and turned the $450,000 staying showpiece into a case of survival of the fittest. Five-year-old mare Bozo, who was previously a five-time winner from 14 starts on heavy tracks, was the horse to fit that bill....

Romanoff heads Gerard quinella in 2000 Guineas

The only thing certain as horses slogged their way to the winning post in Saturday’s Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) was that Matamata trainer Pam Gerard would produce the quinella in the Riccarton classic.Heavy rain during the day had seen the track reduced to a Heavy9 rating that threw a massive spanner in the works as connections of the 15 runners tried to work out if their horse could handle the downgraded surface and just how competitive they would be.Gerard...

Jimmysstar all class in Orr Stakes triumph

Brilliant New Zealand-bred gelding Jimmysstar lifted his Group One tally to three with another scintillating performance in Saturday’s A$1 million CF Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield, in which progeny of Little Avondale Stud stallion Per Incanto finished first and third.Jimmysstar (Per Incanto) burst into the top level of Australian sprinters last season with explosive victories in the Gr.1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) and All Aged Stakes (1400m).The Ciaron Maher-trained gelding has gone on to perfor...

Southern mare strikes gold at Riccarton

Southern mare Inflamed (Ghibellines) used every inch of a sodden Riccarton racetrack to storm to victory in Saturday’s Listed Lindauer Stewards Stakes (1200m).Scenes seldom experienced on a New Zealand racecourse saw the meeting delayed shortly after the fourth race as hailstones the size of golf balls and torrential rain struck the venue in a violent 15-minute downpour that also had an accompanying thunder and lightning show.Raceday officials put the meeting back one race, and after jock...

Hong Kong and Chinese buyers dominate Ready to Run Sale

Buyers from Hong Kong and mainland China were an unstoppable force on the second day of the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale at Karaka on Thursday.Picking up where they left off at the end of Wednesday’s opening session, Hong Kong and Chinese buyers combined to purchase 57 horses on Thursday for a total of more than $13 million.That haul included all of Thursday’s four highest-priced lots, including a sale-topping colt by Zoustar out of the stakes-winning Hussonet mare Hijack Hussy.O...

Perry following proud family tradition

Bruce Perry’s long-standing involvement in the bloodstock industry was a done deal from the outset.The die was cast when the Masterton-based identity was born into a racing family and never considered an alternative career path after growing up on the outskirts of Feilding where parents Herrick and Judy owned and operated Highden Stud.“They were breeders and at the end stood Hula Town, who they also bred, so I got the bug very early on,” Perry said.At the end of his high school education, ...

Landmark Ready to Run results for Hello Youmzain and Armory

Back-to-back lots through the Karaka sale ring on Thursday’s second day of the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale produced unprecedented results for a pair of Kiwi sires.Cambridge Stud shuttle stallion Hello Youmzain hit a new high when Lot 283, a colt out of the Zabeel mare Cool Tart, was knocked down to Hongwei Chen for $700,000. The colt was offered by Barry Donoghue’s BMD Bloodstock.It was a new record price not only for Hello Youmzain but also for Donoghue, continuing a remarkable...

Mystic Park heads local quinella in TAB Mile

Riccarton galloper Mystic Park (Ocean Park) prevailed in a thrilling tussle between the locals in the Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m) on his home track on Wednesday.The Michael and Matthew Pitman-trained gelding had been on an upward trajectory this preparation without winning and had the services of Victorian-based Kiwi-expat jockey Daniel Stackhouse, closing a $6.10 hope behind northern visitors Cannon Hill and Archaic Smile.Jumping from barrier six, Mystic Park was a stride slow from the gates and...

Top two lots follow proven ‘Ka Ying’ path

Colts by proven New Zealand stallions Per Incanto and Satono Aladdin provided the highlights on Day One of the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale with the top two lots set to join the Lindsay Park operation of the Hayes family.The father and son combination of David and JD Hayes oversaw proceedings at Karaka as Mainland Chinese owner Mr Sanxiong Gao signed the docket for Lot 105, a Satono Aladdin colt out of Shezdelicious for $675,000 from the draft of Riversley Park....

Homebred Harry brings big result

Manawatu dairy farmers Mark and Tania Stratford had a result to savour on the opening day of the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale when their homebred colt by Harry Angel out of Ocean Spray fetched $425,000 to the bid of Hong Kong trainer Mark Newnham and Sweetbriar Equine.The attractive bay was sold from the draft of Curraghmore and after breezing in an easy 10.75, drew plenty of interest.The Stratfords purchased Fastnet Rock mare Ocean Spray for just $4,250 and after seeking the advice ...