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An update from Dean McKenzie

Good afternoon,  This Saturday, 1 August 2020, the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) will become TAB New Zealand (TAB NZ). The change marks a significant milestone in the history of the TAB and the racing industry. It also brings to an end a 13-month period of transitioning, as RITA, from the New Zealand Racing Board. The creation of TAB NZ is part of the final steps in a transformation that started back in April 2018 when John Messara was appointed by the Minister for Racing Rt H...

2020 gavelhouse.com stallion parade schedule

Saturday 22nd August 9am Valachi Downs (165 Buckland Road, Matamata)Savile Row (NZ)Ten Sovereigns (IRE)US Navy Flag (USA)Vespa (NZ)Zacinto (GB) 10.15am Mapperley StudComplacent (AUS)Contributer (IRE)Puccini 10.50am Seaton Park The Heights, 5 Henry Watson RoadOcean Emperor (Standing at Weona Park)Wyndspelle (Standing at Grangewilliam Stud) 11.30am Waikato Stud + lunchArdrossan (AUS)Ocean ParkSavabeel (AUS)Super Seth (AUS)Tivaci 1pm Rich Hill StudAce High (AUS)Proisir (AUS)Satono Aladdin (JPN...

Complacent sires first winner

Mapperley Stud stallion Complacent made the perfect start to his stallion career at Ipswich on Thursday when his first starter Calm Seeker was victorious over 1350m. Despite enduring a tough three-wide trip, Calm Seeker powered away from his rivals to win by a length and a quarter with a bit in reserve under Michael Cahill for trainer Matt Kropp. “We were really happy with his effort,” Kropp said. “Not a lot went right. Mick Cahill was hoping to get in and just said it was a pretty ugly ol...

New editor at the helm of RaceForm

Next week marks the return of New Zealand’s stand-alone racing publication RaceForm, and with that a change at the helm following the appointment of Liz Whelan as editor. For more than five years from mid-2012 Whelan was a familiar face to Trackside viewers, most closely associated with the greyhound code. In early 2018 she moved to Australia, where she was employed as the media and communications manager at Country Racing Victoria. Covid-19 precipitated Whelan’s decision to return to New Ze...

NZB Update- Karaka 2021

Karaka 2021 Sales Update on behalf of NZB Managing Director Andrew Seabrook in regard to the Covid-19 situation  Dear Breeders,  On behalf of New Zealand Bloodstock, I would like to give you a further update on the 2021 National Yearling Sales at Karaka.   We believe that a trans-Tasman bubble is very important to the success of the Sale, and given the current outbreaks of COVID-19 in Victoria, a January Sale is looking more and more unlikely.  After consulting a number ...

Ocean Park shares spoils with Savabeel

A breakthrough season has ended on the perfect note for rising star Waikato Stud stallion Ocean Park, siring another impressive city winner on the final Saturday of the 2019-20 season. Three-year-old filly High Emocean scored a stylish two-length victory at Caulfield on Saturday, the fourth win of her nine-start career. She is one of 43 individual winners in Australia this term for Ocean Park, whose runners have amassed an impressive total of A$$10,095,873 throughout the season. He sits in 12th ...

Egan generously supports National Awards

Waikato breeder Joan Egan, owner of Legacy Lodge, is getting behind the inaugural NZTBA National Breeding Awards being held at Cambridge next month, sponsoring the Sir Patrick and Justine Lady Hogan Breeder of the Year Award. “I am delighted to sponsor this award,” Egan said earlier this week. “Sir Patrick and Justine Lady Hogan have an outstanding record from their years establishing and developing Cambridge Stud. “We don’t hear anything about excellence these days. This is the word t...

Last Opportunity to Secure Pearl Series Bonuses for the Season

There are limited opportunities remaining this season for NZB Insurance Pearl Series registered fillies and mares to secure Pearl bonuses, as well as the one-off incentive for second-placegetters running until the end of July. The first of three NZB Insurance Pearl Series races taking place this weekend is the Maiden 1200m event at Wanganui, where six Pearl registered fillies and mares have been accepted among a mixed sex field of 11 runners. Pukekohe Park’s meeting on Saturday will see the r...

Becca Perry joins family bloodstock business

Bruce Perry Bloodstock is becoming a family affair with Perry’s daughter Becca joining the Wairarapa-based bloodstock agency. Since leaving school Becca has completed a Bachelor’s degree and spent time living and travelling around the United States. Upon her return to New Zealand she joined the travel industry in Wellington. Perry said it was always her plan to become more involved in her family’s business and with the impact COVID-19 is having on the travel sector she thought it was an i...

Outgoing McKenzie hails Racing Industry Act

Dean McKenzie believes his time at the helm of New Zealand racing reform is ending on a high with the passing of the Racing Industry Act. An accomplished administrator both within and outside of racing, McKenzie was appointed chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee when it was established by Racing Minister Winston Peters in 2018 following the release of the Messara Report. McKenzie was then made chair of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) in July 2019, and he became executive chai...

Stakes levels for 2020-21 announced

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) have announced that stakes levels for the 2020/21 racing season will return to those in the 2019/20 season pre-COVID-19. “The NZTR Board met yesterday and I am pleased to advise the wider industry that our stake levels were determined for the coming season,” NZTR chief executive Bernard Saundry said.  “It is our intention that stakes levels will remain consistent with the pre-COVID levels, however we need to be aware that we continue to operate ...

Inaugural national breeding awards highlight bumper weekend

New Zealand thoroughbred breeders will congregate in the Waikato next month to celebrate their achievements at the inaugural NZTBA National Breeding Awards. The function will take place at the Don Rowlands Centre, Lake Karapio, near Cambridge on August 22 and will coincide with the annual gavelhouse.com Waikato Stallion Parade weekend. The inaugural awards will include the Breeder of the Year Award and Eight Carat Broodmare of the Year Award, previously presented at the New Zealand Thoroughbred ...

Changes to Essential Skills work Visas and Skilled Migrant Residence Visas from 27 July 2020

Essential Skills work visas - Remuneration and median wage The combination of ANZSCO and salary to assess skill level is being replaced with a simple remuneration threshold, (aligned to the national median wage calculated by Statistics NZ). Remuneration will be used to determine the following for an Essential Skills work visa application: Whether an employer needs to engage with The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) in order to meet the labour market testThe maximum duration of the visaWheth...

Posthumous purple patch for Tavistock

The strong recent form of Tavistock’s progeny has given Cambridge Stud chief executive Henry Plumptre a feeling of déjà vu. A multiple Group One winner as a racehorse and a sire, Tavistock was put down in December due to complications from a paddock injury. He was 14-years-old. Since then he has sired 76 individual winners, 40 of them in the last two months alone. Toffee Tongue became his fifth individual Group One winner with an impressive performance in the Schweppes Oaks (2000m) in Adelai...

Rock ‘N’ Pop enjoying new surroundings

Standing his first season at Okawa Stud in Hastings, Rock ‘N’ Pop was represented by Super Oasis winning over 1400m on Sunday in Hong Kong. Super Oasis had raced previously as Surely Sacred in New Zealand, winning three of his eight starts including the Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1600m) and Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) before finishing third in the GR.1 ATC Derby (2400m) at Randwick. Group One winner Rock ‘N’ Pop was purchased out of Esker Lodge’s 2010 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearl...

Johnson launches bloodstock agency

Recognised industry participant Dylan Johnson is establishing his own bloodstock consultancy, Dylan Johnson Bloodstock, in a move which will see him retained as the sales agent for Westbury Stud.Johnson has established himself as a popular and respected figure in the industry since joining the Gerry Harvey owned breeding operation in 2016. In his position as the farm’s Business Development Manager he has played a key role in the development of the farm’s stallion ranks, with the success...

Deutsches Derby victory a coup for New Zealand breeders

Leading international bloodstock agent Paul Moroney has struck gold once again. Moroney pioneered sourcing German bloodlines for New Zealand clients back in the 1980’s and more than 30 years later his judgment of the European stock is still paying off. “I think I was one of the first to buy German bloodlines into New Zealand,” he said. “In 1986, on behalf of the Cambridge Stud partnership, I bought a half-sister to the previous year’s Epsom Derby (Gr.1, 2400m) winner Slip Anchor. “H...

Breeders Bulletin Winter Edition 2020

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New Zealand Racing Calendar confirmed

More than 1,000 race meetings at 51 venues throughout New Zealand were confirmed today by the Dates Committee of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) for the forthcoming racing year. The racing calendar, which covers the period from 1 August 2020 to 31 July 2021, follows consultation with the three racing codes, clubs and other recognised racing organisations of a revised draft racing calendar that reflected the impact of Covid-19 on the industry and the critical need for racing industry...

RACEFORM back for new racing season

The wait for a weekly racing news and form publication will soon be over with confirmation that RaceForm is set to return in time for the new racing season. RaceForm, incorporating the TAB’s Best Bets, quickly established its place in the form guide market when it was introduced late last year. Covid-19 lockdown forced it out of production, however ongoing work with fields and form data has been completed and RaceForm is scheduled to be back on sale Thursday July 30. As well as full fields an...

Satono Aladdin unable to shuttle

Breeders will be denied access to Deep Impact’s Group One winning son Satono Aladdin, who will be unable to shuttle to Rich Hill Stud in New Zealand this season. Strenuous efforts to secure passage for shuttling Japanese stallions to travel together to Australasia have been foiled due to the worldwide disruption to flights since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Rich Hill Stud’s John Thompson was keen to see Satono Aladdin, the winner of the Gr.1 Yasuda Kinen (1600m), return to the Waikato...

Latest NZB Update

We are currently calling for entries for the National Yearling Sales in what is a far from usual season so it is timely that Justine has given me the opportunity to include a piece in your Bulletin. As a company, we have had to adapt quickly to the challenges which the pandemic presented. We have been fortunate to have the technology and experience to move the South Island and National Weanling Sales seamlessly to our online platform Gavelhouse Plus. Online sales may sound automated but I can as...

Fasttrack Breeder Profile - new member Vicki Wilson

There is no denying Vicki Wilson is a world-class horsewoman and now the 32-year-old is turning her hand to developing a successful career with thoroughbreds. Wilson, who has recently joined the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association, is one of New Zealand’s best performed showjump riders and has travelled the world competing, educating and entertaining. Wilson, along with her sisters Kelly and Amanda, first hit mainstream media in 2015 with the popular tv show “Keeping up with the...

NZ Breeder of the Year Award

In 2020 the prestigious Breeder of the Year Award will be renamed honouring New Zealand’s most influential breeders over the last 30 years, Sir Patrick and Justine Lady Hogan. Previously both the Breeder of the Year Award and the Eight Carat Broodmare of the Year Award have been presented at the NZTR Horse of the Year Awards, but this year they will be among the awards presented at the NZTBA’s own National Breeding Awards hosted by the Waikato Branch at the Don Rowlands Centre, Lake Karapiro...

Border Security and introduction of a levy

The recent discovery of a positive Piroplasmosis infected horse in NZ justifies the New Zealand health Association’s (NZEHA) work to have an import/export levy, as required by Government, introduced to provide funding to strengthen our borders and enable nimble and effective responses to any future  incursions. NZEHA Chair Dr Ivan Bridge said they would like more data collected on animal health history, and stronger importing protocols imposed to match those of Australia. Towards the end ...