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National Breeding Awards cancelled

The 2020 Ebbett VW National Breeding Awards has been cancelled due to the constraints and complications of holding a large event during the current COVID-19 situation. After persevering for some time and developing contingency plans dependent on Alert Level responses, the organising committee has made the decision to cancel the physical event. “We are all disappointed the event could not go ahead but we were left with little choice for obvious reasons,” NZTBA council member Shannon Taylor sa...

Exciting Savabeel three-year-olds emerging

The huge impression created by young unbeaten Sydney galloper Mo’unga with his Rosehill stakes win last Saturday highlighted a significant week for champion New Zealand sire Savabeel, one which also uncovered another two of his possible three-year-old stars. While Group Two winner The Chosen One (a five-year-old son of Savabeel) boosted hopes of a start in the Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) next month with a win in the Winning Edge Presentations Handicap (1700m) in Melbourne, winning performances ...

Good friends thrilled with Travi's win

It might have been nearly dusk, but after Travimyfriend (Tavistock-Pineau) won the Listed The Sofitel (1400m) at Flemington on Saturday, Silver (John) Goodin was down to Pineau’s paddock with an extra scoop of feed and a carrot. Goodin, who owns Pineau with his wife Helena and good mate Gavin O’Dea, loves his horses and was so chuffed with Travimyfriend’s win that he had to reward his mother. “Even when she goes to stud, she must be fed twice a day to give her a boost and I don’t mind ...

Feeding Yearlings in the Spring

Article by Dunstan FeedsAs we head into Spring there is much excitement with pregnant mares and new arrivals. However, it is also a critical time for last year’s foals as they hit 12 months of age.  The way these young horses are managed over the next few months will depend a great deal on their body condition, type and if they are to be targeted at Yearling Sales. With Spring comes an increase in pasture availability and within these Spring pastures, elevated sugar levels, resulting in i...

Demand for Almanzor youngsters continues

Impressive sale ring results continued for Almanzor during the second session at the Arqana Select Sale in France. On the first day, a son of the Cambridge Stud shuttle stallion sold for €280,000 and the demand continued overnight. Agent Oliver St Lawrence was in the thick of the action with two high-priced purchases. He went to €260,000 for a son of Almanzor and to €250,000 for a daughter. The colt is out of the Gr.2 Canadian Stakes winner Minakshi and the family of the G1 VRC Oaks winner...

New Zealand Broodmare of the Year announced

At a small gathering at Haunui Farm, Auckland branch member Marie Leicester was presented with the Arion Pedigrees Eight Carat Broodmare of the Year Award for her mare Meleka Belle. The award criteria states that the winner shall be the mare whose New Zealand-bred and/or New Zealand conceived progeny, anywhere in the world, in the season under review, most clearly reflect true breeding merit in quality of racing performance.  Meleka Belle’s daughter Melody Belle certainly achieved that c...

Strong start for Belardo

Haunui Farm shuttle stallion Belardo made a splash in the northern hemisphere this year with his first crop and now his southern progeny are turning heads. The son of Lope de Vega has had seven winners from just 33 starters in the northern hemisphere, including Gr.3 Prestige Stakes (1400m) winner Isabella Giles. Haunui Farm managing director Mark Chitty has been pleased with Belardo’s start at stud, particularly watching Isabella Giles’ dominant stakes victory. “The filly won a Group Three...

Hawkes Bay/ Poverty Bay Racing & Breeding Awards Dinner

The Awards dinner scheduled for Friday 18 September has been postponed due to the ongoing Level 2 restrictions. The time frame after the next announcement on Monday 14 September has become too tight to continue on this date. The awards will now tentatively be scheduled to take place on Friday 2 October before the Windsor Park Plate race day the middle day of the Bostock NZ Spring Carnival. More details will follow once the Club has further information on the time frame around the ...

Guide to NZB Sale Photos & Videos

With COVID-19 and travel restrictions preventing the majority of international travellers physically attending the sales, it is going to be more important than ever to be as transparent as possible by providing photos, videos and information on each horse to give offshore buyers as much confidence as possible. Outside of the sale dates, the most talked about subject during our buyer research this year was the importance of high quality, professional and real-time videos. This media will be cruci...

Lease filly shines in Wanganui Guineas

A lease arrangement brokered by Novara Park principal Luigi Muollo has allowed Sweynesse’s former trackwork rider to share in his black-type success at stud. Muollo bred the Sweynesse filly Only Words, who scored an impressive victory in Saturday’s Listed HS Dyke Wanganui Guineas (1200m). She became the second stakes winner for Sweynesse, who was New Zealand’s leading first season stallion in 2019-20 and has now begun his second season on the perfect note. After Only Words was passed in as...

Pearl bonus struck

Two big supporters of the NZB Insurance Pearl Bonus Series were rewarded with an extra $10,000 in winnings this week after winning bonus races at Avondale. Turrett won a 1600 metre maiden for John McPherson, Kylie Fawcett, Rob Joyce, Dwayne Todd and Jeremy Ruddle, and Vamos Bebe won the 1400 metre maiden for the Taylor Family Trust and Trelawney Thoroughbreds Limited. For Matamata based trainer Kylie Fawcett is was the sixth Pearl Bonus she has won as an owner and her fourth as a trainer since t...

Book full for Almanzor

Cambridge Stud has put up the book full sign for their European Champion three-year-old Almanzor for the third consecutive year. The son of Wootton Bassett is standing his third season in New Zealand at a fee of $30,000 + GST. “We are delighted that Almanzor’s book is full again,” Cambridge Stud chief executive Henry Plumptre said. “Our thanks go, particularly, to our shareholders but also our annual breeders, most of which are using him for the third consecutive year. “New Zealand bre...

Waikato Stud named New Zealand Breeder of the Year

The New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association (NZTBA) has announced that Waikato Stud is the winner of the Sir Patrick and Justine Lady Hogan New Zealand Breeder of the Year Award. In a very successful year for New Zealand breeders, the voting went right down to the wire with Waikato Stud prevailing from a stellar pool of finalists which featured Gerry Harvey, Nearco Stud, The Oaks Stud and Trelawney Stud. According to NZTBA President John Thompson, the competition for the New Zealand Bre...

First stakes success for Belardo as Isabella Giles dominates at Goodwood

Haunui Farm shuttle stallion Belardo registered his first stakes success over the weekend with two-year-old filly Isabella Giles scoring in impressive fashion at Goodwood. Isabella Giles enhanced her position as the leading light from the maiden crop of Belardo as she provided him with his first stakes win in the G.3 Ladbrokes Prestige Stakes (1408m). The filly already boasted victories at Leicester and Newbury and had finished fourth to Santosha (Coulsty) in the Gr.3 Princess Margaret Stakes (1...

January dates retained for New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale

New Zealand Bloodstock has today announced that the 95th National Yearling Sales Series will be held in the original timeslot in January next year as a physical sale at Karaka. While a secondary April date was initially set aside to allow for travel restrictions to ease; with the ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks, non-confidence from government and airlines and the lack of certainty that any change should amount between now and April, the decision was made not to delay the Sale. “If you asked me one ...

New traceability rules require "accountable person"

A considerable body of work in the welfare area comes to fruition on 1 September 2020 with the introduction of new rules regarding traceability at both ends of the spectrum.NZTR’s focus on ensuring comprehensive traceability of the racing and breeding thoroughbred population has involved extensive consultation with industry sector groups.  This sustained commitment from NZTR, and industry participants has led to the development of these new rules around foal notification and those concern...

Southern Hemisphere Time Test Yearlings Step Out

The first public parade of yearlings by Little Avondale’s exciting young stallion Time Test takes place at the stud this Friday at 2pm. Time Test, who has been back in the country a little over a fortnight, will also parade, along with Per Incanto and Nadeem. Interest in the son of Dubawi has been strong from the moment it was announced he would be standing at LA in 2018, and it has only intensified on the back of his sire’s results and the quality of Time Test’s first foals last year. It ...

THE EMINENT FILLIES PEARL SERIES BONUS

Brighthill Farm in conjunction with the New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Pearl Series is delighted to announce an exciting initiative to support the marketing and racing of fillies by our resident son of Frankel, Eminent. For the 2020 breeding season, all paying mares visiting Eminent will qualify to have a complimentary entry to the NZB Insurance Pearl Series paid for by the Eminent syndicate, should a filly result from this 2020 mating (for terms and conditions please contact Brighthill Farm)....

Deauville Group 1 results a boost for Cambridge Stud

Significant international results have been welcomed by Cambridge Stud with Group One outcomes to savour. At Deauville Racecourse in France a two-year-old quinella was posted by Kodiac in the Gr.1 Prix Morny while a daughter of Wootton Bassett won the Gr.1 Prix Jean Romanet. Kodiac is the sire of the part Cambridge Stud-owned dual Group One-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain, who will go to stud next year. The Stonestreet Stables-raced filly Campanelle got the better of the colt Nando Parrado to cl...

First NZ Foal for Ace High

Rich Hill Stud reports that their first NZ-born foal by their magnificent dual Group One winner Ace High made her arrival at the stud on Saturday. The filly is from Gold Rose, a two-time winning daughter of Pentire from the family of dual Oaks winner Domino.  “She is a well-balanced quality filly with her father’s lovely head and colouring,” Rich Hill stud-master John Thompson said. “She is the second foal by Ace High. The first was born at Andrew Ferguson’s Bell River property i...

New Rule - 30 day foal notification

As you are aware there is pressure on our industry to be accountable to the public, and we have been under increasing scrutiny, therefore we welcome the introduction of the new rule regarding 30-day foal notification. An important part of NZTR’s thoroughbred welfare mandate is understanding where our horses are, from birth to death. The new rule regarding 30-day foal notification has been brought in specifically to deal with the “birth” aspect.  Up until now the first NZTR knew of t...

New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse Of The Year Awards Finalists

The high quality of New Zealand’s three-year-old crop last season is illustrated by the finalists for the Champion Three-Year-Old category at the NZ Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards.Eight horses, including five fillies, are finalists in the three-year-old division, which will provide the voting panel with plenty to mull over.Seven of the eight contenders won a Group One race in the 2019-20 season and between them the finalists recorded 29 wins and 29 placings from 67 starts.The Kiwi three...

A HUNDRED NOT OUT FOR SUPERSTAR SAVABEEL

Waikato Stud’s star resident Savabeel has cracked another significant milestone in his remarkable career with daughter Savacool providing the multiple champion sire’s 100th individual stakes winner.Savabeel has achieved extraordinary dominance since his retirement to the premier Matamata nursery and Savacool’s victory in the Listed Rowley Mile at Hawkesbury adds to his list of extraordinary achievements.He has won the Grosvenor Award (champion New Zealand sire) for five consecutive se...

Stallion Parade cancelled

The gavelhouse.com Waikato Branch New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Association stallion parade planned for this weekend (August 22/23) has been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.After consultation with several stud masters the decision was made not to go ahead with the planned tour.“It’s unfortunate for the Waikato Branch who have put so much effort into this tour, but we cannot risk up to 100 people going around the Waikato from farm to farm under the current COVID-19 restrictions,”...

NZB to Unveil New Bidding Technology

New Zealand Bloodstock have announced the development of a new, robust online bidding platform specifically developed for the future of their thoroughbred and standardbred auction sales.After introducing market-leading technology into the digital auction-sphere four years ago via popular online subsidiary gavelhouse.com, NZB has now been able to adapt the technology to be used extensively during their upcoming physical sales.The development of the advanced bidding module is underway and wil...