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Hayes keen for another Everest tilt

Trainer David Hayes has confirmed another tilt at the A$20 million Gr.1 The Everest (1200m) is on the cards for Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) after the Hong Kong star underlined his champion status with an Everest victory for the ages on Saturday.Back in Hong Kong less than 24 hours after Saturday’s triumph, Hayes soaked in the satisfaction of the victory as he looked forward to the five-year-old gelding’s return home.“He is a champion, and he got the job done,” Hayes told RSN. “Th...

Brilliant Linebacker heads Kiwi quinella in Silver Eagle

Two New Zealand-bred horses lined up in the A$1 million Silver Eagle (1300m) at Randwick on Saturday and filled the first two placings, headed by a sparkling performance by Linebacker.Previously the winner of three of his 10 career starts headed by the Gr.1 Randwick Guineas (1600m) in the autumn, the first-crop son of Waikato Stud’s rising star stallion Super Seth had a spring setback last month when he sprained an ankle and was ruled out of the Gr.1 Epsom Handicap (1600m).But Linebacker ...

Stunning Waitak leaves Livamol rivals in his wake

Waitak (Proisir) was a class above his rivals in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) at Ellerslie on Saturday, completing a spring Group One double in the early stages of what might be a career-defining season.The son of Proisir has been a Group One horse since his two-year-old days, when he ran third in the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) in April of 2022. He went on to be a Listed winner at three, along with placings in the Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1600m) and Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (21...

Ka Ying Rising conquers Everest

New Zealand-bred champion Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) climbed the highest mountain of his career and claimed a piece of racing history in the A$20 million Gr.1 The TAB Everest (1200m) at Randwick on Saturday.The world’s highest-rated sprinter lived up to his red-hot favouritism and became the first overseas-trained winner of the world’s richest race on turf.Ka Ying Rising’s record spoke for himself when he arrived on Australian shores for his Everest mission. He was the winner of 14 ...

Ceolwulf defends King Charles crown

Ceolwulf (Tavistock) mastered the Randwick mile again on Saturday, going back-to-back in the Gr.1 King Charles III Stakes (1600m) and heading an all New Zealand-bred trifecta in the A$5 million showpiece.The Tavistock gelding defended his King Charles crown with a powerhouse performance to beat 10-time Group One winner Mr Brightside by a length and three-quarters. The Matamata-trained Proisir gelding Pier finished another neck away in third.That trifecta capped a remarkable day at Randwick ...

Torture inflicts pain on Debutant rivals

Trainers Ben, Will and JD Hayes have unleashed another promising juvenile when two-year-old filly Torture proved too good for her rivals on debut in the Listed Debutant Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield.Sent out a $21 chance, Torture came from just behind the leaders to score by half a length from stablemate Free Flying in the hands of Ethan Brown in what was a professional performance.The well-related filly is the first winner and stakes winner by freshman sire Sword Of State, a Group One winning son...

Shamexpress and the Ka Ying Rising Effect

At Windsor Park Stud in Cambridge, pride runs deep in the paddocks where so many champions have been nurtured.Among the stallions to have carried the stud’s hopes, few have left such a complex legacy as Shamexpress. A Group One-winning sprinter turned stallion, he is the sire of the world’s best racehorse, Ka Ying Rising, a fact that cements his place in New Zealand breeding history.Yet his story is also tinged with a sense of what might have been, for despite his talent as a sire, Shamexpre...

Mighty result delivers timely RTR Sale update

Barry Donoghue has savoured his first top level success as a breeder and one that has boosted prospects of another major celebration.The Waikato-based horseman bred and sold Gr.1 Might And Power Stakes (2000m) winner Globe (Charm Spirit) and will offer a half-brother through his BMD Bloodstock draft at next month’s New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale.“It was brilliant and not something that we expected or dreamed of until it came around,” Donoghue said.Globe’s latest victory at...

Kiwis driving forces behind star Group One winner

High class three-year-old Autumn Boy (The Autumn Sun) may not have a New Zealand suffix next to his name, but his Kiwi roots run deep.The Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) winner was bred and sold by Beltana Stud’s Richard Rutherford, who is continuing to breed from the Chris Waller-trained colt’s dam Rosegarden.“It was terrific result all around and he’s a cracking horse,” said Rutherford, whose boutique breeding operation is located at Parnassus, about 130km north of Christchurch.A...

Twain all class in Sweynesse Stakes

It seemed as though it would be only a matter of time before Twain (Per Incanto) added a stakes victory to his name and the rising star did just that at Rotorua on Sunday, powering late to take out the Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes (1215m).A winner in his debut last July, the John Bell-trained gelding has never finished out of the first four in 12 starts, including six victories and a fourth placing when starting favourite in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m).He continued to improve out of that perf...

Globe goes all the way for Group One triumph

An all-the-way victory in the A$1 million Gr.1 Might And Power Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield on Saturday marked a career-defining triumph for New Zealand-bred gelding Globe (Charm Spirit).The weight-for-age feature was the first appearance at Group One level for the seven-year-old Charm Spirit gelding, who had previously won five of his 14 career starts headed by the Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m) last November. In his only previous attempt at the 2000m of Saturday’s big race, he had run third in...

Josie and Graeme Reid

This week in Dunstan Horse Feeds’ Meet the Breeder, we spoke with Josie and Graeme Reid, who, together with their daughter Kim — the trainer of Hi Yo Sass Bomb— celebrated her impressive victory in last Saturday’s Gr.3 Grangewilliam Stud Breeders’ Stakes.Tell us the story of Hi Yo Sass BombKim made the choice of Complacent as the stallion after attending the Mapperley Stud Stallion Parade, and we’ve had wonderful success with that decision. When Hi Yo Sass Bomb (Complacent) won the G...

Josh Herd - Sunline Trust International Management Scholarship - Blog Four

As my time in the UK came to a close, I headed off to Hong Kong for the next chapter of my scholarship. On my first day, I visited the Hong Kong Jockey Club headquarters at Happy Valley racecourse. From the moment I stepped inside, I was amazed by the scale and professionalism of the operation. The office itself was enormous, and it was immediately clear that this was a world-class organisation operating at an entirely different level.My first stop was meeting up with Danny Rolston, former New Z...

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...

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) ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...