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NZTR Update on Thoroughbred Welfare

Welcome to the first of NZTR’s updates designed to keep participants up to date with work undertaken to safeguard and enhance the welfare of our equine participants. NZTR understands the importance of accountability and transparency regarding how the 1% levy is spent. In this update we will focus on providing an overview of the eight key areas that this money has been allocated to in the 2021/22 season and give some insight into why each area has been identified as key in ensuring the very bes...

Probabeel’s date with Almanzor locked in

We are delighted and excited to announce that star mare Probabeel will be visiting our own Almanzor next breeding season. The daughter of Savabeel exceeded all expectations on the track under trainer Jamie Richards’ guidance with four Group 1 victories in Australia and made history at home as the only horse to win the Karaka Million as a two and three-year-old. After careful thought, we decided her first mating will be to Wootton Bassett’s son Almanzor, who has made an outstanding beginning ...

Rich Hill to sponsor new Autumn Sprint Series

Rich Hill Stud has combined with the Wellington Racing Club to sponsor a new race series primarily aimed to increase opportunities for Rating 64 to 75 horses.   The inaugural Autumn Sprint Series will be run over the next two months at various venues throughout the country and will involve 21 qualifying heats leading into the $50,000 Rich Hill Stud Autumn Sprint final to be held at Trentham on May 28. “Any initiative which helps prizemoney in New Zealand racing is a major positive an...

NZ Horse Ambulance Trust Latest Addition

Last week the NZ Horse Ambulance Trust unveiled their ninth ambulance and now their fleet is complete. The latest ambulance will be in the second in service in the Auckland area, and complements the ambulances based in Waikato, Manawatu, Canterbury and Otago/Southland, now New Zealand can boast the world’s first dedicated national horse ambulance service. At a small gathering to mark the event at Veterinary Associates property in Karaka NZ Horse Ambulance Trust trustees Mike Godber and Dr Pete...

Dunlop looking on the Brightside ahead of Day 2 at The Championships

Phoenix Park principal Janine Dunlop is hoping the second day of The Championships at Royal Randwick this weekend can provide even greater celebrations than those she had after day one on Saturday. Dunlop is a part-owner of Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) aspirant The Chosen One and will make her way to Sydney this week to be on course to watch the Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained entire make his bid for the Group One title. She was however left beaming with pride in the performance of kiwi-bred ...

Zola Express provides Millar with biggest win

Trainer Janelle Millar was trying hard to keep her emotions in check as she waited for her gallant mare Zola Express to return to the Awapuni birdcage after providing the New Plymouth mentor with her biggest career victory in the Gr.2 City Of Palmerston North Awapuni Gold Cup (2000m). The five-year-old daughter of Shamexpress had just downed a quality field of middle-distance performers with a daring late run for rider Chris Dell, with Millar left a little in disbelief at the final result. The l...

Mr Brightside shines in Kiwi-bred Doncaster trifecta

Ben and JD Hayes have claimed their first Group One victory since taking the helm at Lindsay Park when Mr Brightside headed home a New Zealand-bred 1-2-3 in the A$3 million Gr.1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) when finishing over the top of I'm Thunderstruck, with consistent mare Icebath finishing third.  The son of Bullbars has been a model of consistency since joining the Hayes stable from New Zealand, winning seven of his 12 starts for the young trainers while placing on a further two occasions.&...

Moroney mare shows Verve in Chairman’s victory

The Michael Moroney-trained mare Nerve Not Verve scored her biggest success to date when landing the Gr.2 Chairman’s Quality (2600m) on Day One of The Championships at Royal Randwick.  Ridden by Regan Bayliss, the six-year-old daughter of Shocking sat handy to a sedate tempo set by Knights Order and shortly after straightening the pair cleared out from their rivals with Nerve Not Verve going to the post a short neck in front. Luncies was a further 3¼ lengths away in third.  A winner...

Germanicus upsets in Flying Stakes

Enigmatic galloper Germanicus was back to his best when he produced an irresistible finish to take out the Listed Bramco Granite & Marble Flying Stakes (1400m) at Awapuni. The Danica Guy-trained son of Rip Van Winkle, who finished sixth in the Gr.1 El Cheapo Cars WFA Classic (1600m) at Otaki at his last start back in February, appreciated the strong pace throughout the race and loomed into contention for rider Taiki Yanagida rounding the home turn. A wall of horses stretched across the track at ...

Maven Belle in dramatic Group One triumph

Drama surrounded the finish to Saturday’s Group One feature at Awapuni when the final result was settled by the judicial committee after a protest was lodged by the connections of runner-up Wolverine (NZ) (Tivaci) against first-past-the-post Maven Belle (NZ) (Burgundy x Doyenne). Maven Belle, the Mark Walker-trained daughter of Burgundy, had led out from the barrier in the Gr.1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) and skipped clear with 400m to run. Local filly Wolverine was ...

Regal Lion puts Redcraze Racing in the spotlight

As well as giving his retiring co-trainer Murray Baker a shot at an astonishing sixth and final win in the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick on Saturday, rapid improver Regal Lion (Jakkalberry x Red Delight) is shining the spotlight on an emerging family-run New Zealand breeding and syndicating operation. An eye-catching placegetter in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) and Gr.2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m) in his last two starts, the Jakkalberry gelding was bred by Barbara and Carl McComb. He...

2023 Karaka Million

2023 Karaka MillionNew Zealand Bloodstock wishes to advise that after discussion with NZTR, Auckland Thoroughbred Racing, Wellington Racing Club and Race, and in the interests of the racing industry as a whole, the 2023 Karaka Million Twilight Meeting will now be run on Saturday 21 January at Pukekohe.  NZB's 2023 National Yearling Sales Series will kick off at the Karaka Sales Centre on the following Sunday, 29 January and run through to Friday 3 February....

KEITH & FAITH TAYLOR EQUINE SCHOLARSHIP | March update from George Chittick

It has been another very few busy months here at the Irish National Stud since my last blog. We are currently just over half way through the breeding season and have 187 foals on the ground. I have completed full circle and worked in every yard of the Irish National Stud which I have loved and learnt so much. We are quickly approaching the second part of the 2022 course in the next coming days. I’m amazed how fast time has gone over the last few months but I’m also happy to say I have made t...

Irish Girl adds another generation to Roberts success

Three decades and five equine generations after taking an uncertain dive into racing and breeding, retired Northland farmer-come-horseman Vince Roberts is still reaping the rewards of his original thoroughbred investment. “I’d always had an interest in horses, breaking them in, riding them around the farm, that sort of thing, but I was sick of just milking cows and farming,” Roberts recalled this week in the wake of Irish Girl’s win in the Gr. 3 Valachi Downs South Island Breeders’ Sta...

Debutant strikes Pearl Bonus

Debutant Enraptured (Preferment x Grey Swallow) picked up a valuable bonus at Matamata on Wednesday when posting a debut win. The two-year-old filly, bred by Milan Park’s Tony Rider, scored in the NZB Insurance Pearl Series Race (1050m) impressing trainers Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray. “We will probably have one more go now based on the fact that her win was soft because of the barrier (2),” Ritchie said. “She was three back the fence, angled out and didn’t have to do a lot of work i...

Tarzino leaving his mark

His oldest progeny may only be three-years-old but Westbury Stud stallion Tarzino is already starting to leave his mark. He celebrated another pleasing weekend of results, led by Jungle Magnate’s win in the Mornington Guineas (1600m) on Saturday. The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained gelding showed form in the spring, placing in both the Listed Hill Smith Stakes (1800m) and Gr.2 Moonee Valley Vase (2040m). His trainers subsequently set the Gr.1 South Australian Derby (2500m) as a key tar...

Arrowfield takes share in $900,000 Kingsclere colt

What Roger James describes as a “light-bulb moment” has led to one of the major forces in Australian breeding and racing, John Messara’s Arrowfield Stud, taking a significant share in the headline lot purchased by the Cambridge trainer at the National Yearling Sale. James and his partner at Kingsclere Stables, Robert Wellwood, approached the New Zealand Bloodstock auction with a determination to secure as many of their pre-sale selections as possible. That was a departure from what had hap...

Ownership interest strong says Ellis

Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis is finding it hard to catch his breath at the moment. Ellis was preparing for an influx of visitors on Sunday afternoon as he and wife Karyn put the finishing touches on syndicating the individuals that Ellis purchased at the recent New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling sale at Karaka. Ellis outlaid $8.285 million for thirty-five youngsters at the sale, three of which were for John Galvin’s Fortuna syndicates and the balance for Ellis’ Matamata-based T...

Emotional victory for Satherley at Tauranga

Lynsey Satherley admitted to having a tear in her eye as she made her way back into the Tauranga birdcage following the running of the fourth race on the card on Saturday. The popular Cambridge jockey wasn’t alone in that respect after riding the Debbie Sweeney-trained Clever Ruds to victory, sparking an outpouring of emotion from the racing fraternity in attendance following the tragic death of Sweeney’s brother Mark Sanders in a boating accident last Sunday. Sporting a black armband in tri...

Gelding option proves winning move

Flemington trainer Michael Moroney enjoyed further success with a Kiwi sprinter when four-year-old Not An Option took out Saturday’s Listed Hareeba Stakes (1200m) at Mornington. The stable, which recently sent out New Zealand arrival Roch ‘N’ Horse to win the Gr.1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m), received Not An Option as a tried horse from the Tony Pike stable. After a disappointing effort when ninth in his only start for Moroney last spring, the son of Not A Single Doubt returned to winning ...

Rae celebrates perfect plan with Irish Girl

Trainer Ken Rae admits it’s not often a plan comes together perfectly, but that was the case on Saturday when Irish Girl proved too tough for her rivals in the Gr.3 Valachi Downs South Island Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton. Rae prepares the rugged five-year-old daughter of El Roca in partnership with his daughter Krystal Williams-Tuhoro, who had accompanied the mare south from their Ruakaka base earlier in the week. Rae had pencilled in the Group Three feature for his charge some time...

Memories of training legend to the fore at Tauranga

Underrated galloper Gino Severini provided a fitting tribute to his part-owner, the late Ray Wallace, when he produced a fighting performance to take out the Gr.2 Ultimate Mazda Japan Trophy (1600m) at Tauranga on Saturday. One of the most familiar names in the New Zealand training ranks for over fourty years, Wallace passed away recently at the ripe old age of 92. Sporting the well-known blue and white colours of the Wallace family, Gino Severini overcame a wide run for rider Andrew Calder to o...

Brand new Karaka hotel opens this weekend

A smart new addition to the Karaka countryside is set to open its doors this Saturday with the official opening of New Zealand Bloodstock’s DoubleTree by Hilton Karaka Hotel. Set amid the beautiful grounds of NZB’s iconic horse auction and stabling facilities, the Hotel is just a couple of minutes’ walk from the main sales auditorium, 30 minutes from Auckland city, and just 20 minutes from the airport. Exuding five-star quality and elegance, the 122-room property boasts a pool and gym, it...

Windsor Park celebrate winning roll

Windsor Park Stud proprietor Rodney Schick is delighted but not surprised by the recent deeds of resident stallion Turn Me Loose (Iffraaj [IRE] – Indominable [GB]). In the space of three weeks Turn Me Loose, whose oldest progeny are only three, has had four stakes winners, with three occurring within six days. The run started with Alabama Gold (ex Attalla) winning the Gr.3 Fairview Matamata Slipper Stakes on February 26, then on March 15 Lickety Split (ex She’s Slinky) took out the Gr.1 ATR ...

NZB Confirms Karaka 2023 Sale Date

After careful thought and consideration, New Zealand Bloodstock has decided to stage its Karaka 2023 National Yearling Sales Series in the traditional selling month of January.  After analysing feedback received from both vendors and buyers, NZB Managing Director Andrew Seabrook said January stood out as the obvious time to sell. “Thought had been given to making the move to March permanent, however it is such a congested time of the year with Australian sales and racing.” “A post-sal...