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Racing Industry initiates COVID-19 measures

The racing industry is taking steps to reduce the potential for the spread of the COVID-19 virus among participants and public by closing its meetings to all but essential personnel. Race meetings will be conducted as “closed door” events commencing on Wednesday, March 18. The only people permitted to attend meetings will be those jockeys competing at the meeting, trainers with runners engaged at the meeting, stable staff of those trainers as advised to the club, and essential race day perso...

Scholarship Blog Post- Hannah Airey March 2020

Keith and Faith Taylor Equine Scholarship Recipient Hannah Airey gives us an update on her time at the Irish National Stud. Eight weeks in and things are chipping away nicely on the Irish National Stud apart from someone’s lasting decision to not wash their hands in China. Luckily nothing on the stud has come to a grinding halt, and work continues as usual, with some precautions in place. Mind you, the closing of the local watering hole hit us all where it hurt. Picking up from where I left o...

Broodmare buys a success

The next time Sue Westend asks her husband for some money to buy a mare the reply from Peter should be “How much do you want?” The couple own and manage the Cambridge-based Norwegian Park and Sue has proven she can spot a good mare and a good buy. In 2016 Sue purchased Platinum Elle (Elanidim [USA]-Lady Tee), the dam of the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) and New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year winner Jennifer Eccles (by Rip Van Winkle [IRE]). A year later she purchased Eleesha (AUS) (E...

BLOG POST: Kyla Robb

Sunline Trust International Management Scholarship recipient Kyla Robb updates us on her travels: Hello from England! The plane trip over here is a bit of a mission but I was lucky enough to get a whole row to myself and sleep for the first plane ride! Leaving a particularly hot dry summer to come to an English winter wasn’t something I was looking forward to but it has been relatively mild (or so they say). To be fair (yes I’ve adopted this constantly used phrase) the first few days here we...

LA service fees on hold

Little Avondale Stud will hold the services fees of its three stallions for the next breeding season. Per Incanto will stand at NZ$17,500 + GST, Time Test will remain at NZ$10,000 + GST and Nadeem at NZ$5000 + GST. “Per Incanto has produced 22 stakes winners in the last 19 months highlighted by Thorndon Mile (Gr.1, 1600m) winner Shadow’s Cast and the Railway Stakes (Gr.1, 1200m) winner Santa Monica,” Little Avondale’s Sam Williams said. “We received really positive feedback on the firs...

Hard-working Richards reaping rewards

Jamie Richards was persuaded to take some very rare time out to celebrate his Ellerslie Group One double last Saturday night, but it wasn’t long until his constant lengthy routine kicked in the following day. After Cool Aza Beel won the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) and Avantage took the Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m), as well as two other stable winners on Saturday, Richards joined his Te Akau Racing Stables boss David Ellis and wife Karyn, along with owners and friends, to celebra...

Staying family to the fore in Auckland Cup

One of New Zealand’s richest horse races, the $500,000 Gr.1 Barfoot and Thompson Auckland Cup (3200m), was won by a horse that cost its owners $4,000. Roger That, a seven-year-old gelding by Shinko King (IRE) out of the Yamanin Vital mare Heather Lyn, took out the event for a small group of owners who describe themselves as battlers. He is trained on a farm outside Tauranga by Antony Fuller, a 59-year-old who gave up shearing to train racehorses and now has around 12 in work.  His big ran...

NZB’s 2020 South Island Sale Catalogue Now Online

New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sales Series is heading South, showcasing 76 lots of the best Southern-bred product available, with the catalogue online now and arriving in letterboxes from mid-March.  Held at Canterbury Agricultural Park in Christchurch, the one-day session features a selection of yearlings offered on Friday 17 April from the later selling time of 12pm.  All yearlings purchased at this year’s South Island Sale are eligible to be...

Mates over the moon with Melbourne result

Two young breeders pulled off a dream result when their yearling went under the hammer in Australia earlier this month. David Morris and Jason Thomasen headed to the Inglis Melbourne Yearling Sale knowing they had a nice filly on their hands but were not expecting her to be so hotly pursued in the sales ring. The 24-year-olds bred Lot 208, a filly from the first crop of Windsor Park Stud’s Turn Me Loose out of Elusive City mare Herculaneum. After a fierce bidding duel she was knocked down to V...

Stallion Service Sweepstake prize announced

On April 4 Racing Te Aroha will host the 49th running of the Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m).The Fiber Fresh-sponsored feature attracts a strong field of quality sprinter/miler female racehorses each year and 2020 promises to be no different. The meeting also provides an opportunity for members of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Association to get together at the annual event hosted by the Waikato Branch. A major drawcard for those financial members ...

Breeders Bulletin Late Summer Edition

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The negatives on nitrogen

Environmental consultant Sally Linton takes a deeper look at the issue of nitrogen run-off and seepage into our waterways, and what horse owners need to know about it - “But I don’t have any waterways on my property…” That’s a comment I get frequently when talking to owners of horse properties about reducing environmental impacts that affect water quality. It’s a common misconception that to have a negative effect on water quality you need to be close to a body of water. There ...

Danny Rolston- February 2020 Update

Firstly, I think it’s only appropriate to acknowledge the success of the Karaka Million concept. We can all be proud of the show that our industry puts on at Ellerslie to such a wide local and international audience. The impact it has on sales results can’t be understated. An amazing achievement by Jamie Richards and when the thick end of the spoils goes the way of people like the Lindsay’s and Te Akau’s owners, you can be fairly confident of an immediate return in the sales ring. From a...

Good fortune brings geat sale result

Good fortune, good luck, a good cross, and the right yearling preparation is what Tom Lane puts his success at the Karaka National yearling sales down too. The retired horse breaker, now rural real estate agent in Gisborne, and his mate Campbell Crisp were the proud owners of Lot 28 the Showcasing(GB) colt out of Khales that Haunui Farm sold to Ciaron Maher Bloodstock/Astute Bloodstock for $500,000. “The best thing is the magic of this breeding industry we knew we had a good cross, and a mare ...

Celebrating 21 years in partnership with Dunstan

This year the NZTBA are celebrating a 21-year partnership with our good friends at Dunstan Feeds. Dave Smith and his team have been wonderful partners continuing their support of our Association and working with us along the way. About the same time Dunstan also began sponsoring the Dunstan Stayers Championship for up and coming young stayers. On New Year’s Day this year the final of the highly contested series was won by Paisley Park (Azamour[IRE]- Musical Magic[GB]), raced and bred by Garr...

Breeder spoilt for good horses - the Shark the best yet

Waikato Branch member Darrell Hollinshead is the first to admit that his family have been spoilt with good horses over the years, but even he now agrees that the family’s latest star Te Akau Shark (Rip Van Winkle[IRE]-Bak da Chief) is pretty special. “Over the years we have had some good horses starting with Dad having Judena, then Bak da Chief, and more recently Pondarosa Miss and Ecuador,” Hollinshead said after Te Akau Shark claimed his first group one in Australia in the Chipping Norto...

Living legends return to Manawatu roots

While Libby and Sam Bleakley of Highden Park haven’t set out to replicate Victoria’s famous Living Legends farm, the high-profile horses retiring to their Manawatu property shows they are well on their way. Living Legends, dubbed the international home of rest for champion horses, is home to the likes of Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) winners Efficient, Brew, and Rogan Josh, while Highden Park is starting with a distinct Hong Kong flavour. Last year HK$18million Hong Kong Derby (2000m) hero Ping...

Favourite takes Matamata Breeders’ Stakes

Race favourite Vernazza overcame a wide run and a dogged local challenge to take out the feature event at Matamata on Saturday, the Gr.2 J Swap Contractors Ltd Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m). Carrying the colours of Cambridge Stud couple Brendan and Jo Lindsay, the More Than Ready filly had impressed many with her maiden victory at Ellerslie early last month and had thrived during her six-week break between races. Handled superbly by stand-in rider Michael Coleman, who was deputising for th...

Polzeath upsets in Avondale Cup

Lightweight runner Polzeath (Pentire – Arniston by Volksraad) upset the applecart at Ellerslie on Saturday when he took out the Gr.2 Joe McDonald Avondale Cup (2400m), and in doing so became Rich Hill Stud’s foundation sire the late Pentire’s 49th individual stakes winner. Bred by Rich Hill stud master John Thompson and his former schoolmate Peter Merton, the lightly raced seven-year-old was having his first attempt in stakes company and his first run beyond 2100m in the Group Two staying ...

Scholarship Blog- Laura McNab

Keith & Faith Taylor Equine Scholarship recipient Laura McNab provides an update on her first few weeks in IrelandI’m not very good at sitting still, so 25 hours on a plane was fairly tough!! Stepping off the plane into a chilly 2 degrees was a bit of a shock to the system, especially since it was 25 degrees when I left home. I was warned about the Irish winter and it has definitely lived up to its reputation. The winter woolies have well and truly been dusted off and put to the test so far. W...

Stellar year for Trelawney continues

It may only be February but Brent and Cherry Taylor of Trelawney Stud have already had a year to remember. Trelawney Stud recorded great returns at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale, selling 11 yearlings in the Book 1 session for an aggregate of $3.5 million, cementing their spot as the leading vendor by average at the sale. The Cambridge couple’s success has continued onto the track where three-year-old fillies Two Illicit and Loire posted black-type results at Te Rapa on Satu...

Scholarship Blog- Hannah Airey

Keith & Faith Taylor Equine Scholarship recipient Hannah Airey reports on her first week in Ireland at the Irish National Stud.25 hours on a plane does not get you pumped up for anything except standing on solid ground, no matter where that may be. Nothing permeated my brain on the ride from Dublin to Kildare either and it wasn’t until I’d woken up the next morning (or perhaps two mornings later?) that I could fully appreciate that I wasn’t on home soil anymore. The Irish National Stud wi...

Dream day at Te Rapa for Rip Van Winkle

Windsor Park Stud’s young guns have dominated the limelight in recent times with first-season sire titles for Shamexpress and Charm Spirit, but Saturday was all about Rip Van Winkle. The Te Rapa meeting delivered the biggest day of the Galileo stallion’s career. Te Akau Shark became his first southern hemisphere Group One winner with a supreme performance in the BCD Group Sprint (1400m), while Jennifer Eccles won the Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2000m) with breath-taking ease...

Scholarship winners arrive in Ireland

Keith & Faith Taylor Equine Scholarship winners Hannah Airey and Laura Macnab have arrived in Ireland and settled into their new surroundings at the Irish National Stud.Both have completed all the health and safety modules and are now out in the yard rotations. The are also attending the evening lectures that cover a range of topics. Before departing they were both looking forward to working in the foaling unit and have since had the opportunity to assist with foalings. They also atten...

First stakes winner for White Robe Lodge's sire Ghibellines

For the second time in four years, John and Karen Parsons have turned a Gore failure into an upset triumph in the Listed Mediaworks Dunedin Guineas (1500m). In 2017, the Parsons’ talented filly Residential finished 10th in the Listed Gore Guineas (1335m) before landing the Dunedin Guineas at odds of $15.10. This year they repeated that trick with El Gladiador, who was a late-finishing seventh in last month’s Gore Guineas. On Saturday at Wingatui, the Ghibellines gelding led all the way in th...