Back to Blog

Rich Hill Stud poised for life after Pentire

John Thompson believes Rich Hill Stud is well-placed to build on all the success the Walton nursery enjoyed with the late stallion Pentire. With wife Colleen, he went out on a limb to secure the English-bred son of Be My Guest, who subsequently made his mark at the elite level from his base near Matamata. "He was 25, but I thought he was going to live forever - he was still serving and so healthy and well," Thompson said when their foundation stallion passed away last November. Pentire left 16 i...

Busy times for NZTBA member Marie Leicester

Each year the National Yearling Sales holds plenty of interest for Marie Leicester, but this time there’s more happening for her both before and after she attends Karaka. The successful Auckland owner-breeder is a regular vendor at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales and her four-strong draft at Karaka will include a cracking Not A Single Doubt – Meleka Belle filly (Lot 371), whose profile could be boosted on New Year’s Day. The filly is a half-sister to last season’s NZ C...

Auckland/Waikato Yearling Inspection Tour

Stuart Hale's annual Auckland/Waikato Yearling Inspection Tour will take place from Sunday 7th January to Friday 12th January. The tour enables prospective purchasers to inspect yearlings catalogued for the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales Series, which commences on Sunday 28th January. All are welcome for this free tour, with a bus departing from the Cambridge BP (98 Victoria Street, Cambridge) on a daily basis. To confirm your attendance and for further enquiries contact Stuart H...

Highly Recommended to stand at Cambridge Stud

Following the recent sale of Cambridge Stud to Brendan and Jo Lindsay, and the appointment of Henry Plumptre as chief executive from April 2018, a new resident stallion has been confirmed for 2018. Highly Recommended will join the Cambridge Stud roster next season, standing alongside Tavistock, Power and Burgundy, having stood at Berkley Stud near Christchurch since his retirement in 2013.  "We were approached to stand Highly Recommended at Cambridge Stud and we believe that this decision i...

Further boost for Bradbury Park

Matamata couple Casey and Michelle Dando are living the dream and results like Crack Me Up’s Gr.2 Villiers Stakes (1600m) win at Randwick last Saturday are all part of it.It provided a timely boost for the Dando’s Bradbury Park going into Karaka’s National Yearling Sales at which its 28-strong draft includes Crack Me Up’s half-brother by Reliable Man being offered in Book 1 (Lot 111) on January 28. “The win should attract some more interest in the colt,” Dando said. “He’s ty...

Pearl Series Win for NZTBA Councillor

South Island NZTBA Councillor Gus Wigley has always been a supporter of the NZB Insurance Pearl Series and each year has always nominated a number of fillies. Last Friday at Wingatui, he was rewarded for his perseverance when Raven Darkholme (Iffraj[IRE]-Mystique), won a 1400 metre maiden race which happened to be a NZB Insurance Pearl Series race. “This is the first bonus we have won and we have nominated a few fillies over the years,” the Inglewood Stud General Manager said, “and we did...

Derby Hopefuls for Rich Hill

As summer racing steps up a notch and we are starting to see some lovely two and three-year-olds emerge it looks like Rich Hill Stud may have bred two good chances going towards the Group One Vodafone Derby following the running of the Auckland Racing Club’s Listed 3YO Salver. The 2100 metre race was won by Formidable (Shocking[AUS]- Princess Biscotte[AUS]) with The Boy Wonder (Cape Blanco[IRE]- Keep The Passion) a long neck away in second followed by Secret Ambition (Jimmy Choux-Lionstar) in ...

Xpression wins for school mates

If you had asked Mark Chitty at the start of August if he thought that Xpression (Showcasing[GB]-Xpress) could win the Group Two Wakefield Challenge Stakes, he would have had his doubts, but he did have a sneaky little plan at the back of his mind. Chitty who last week was elected President of the Auckland Branch of the NZTBA bred Xpression with his old school friend Iain Renton and for that reason decided to send the horse south to Hawkes Bay where Renton resides to be trained. “I had always...

Royal international result for Little Avondale’s Per Incanto

Exposure on the international stage has provided Little Avondale Stud with another timely boost. The good times continue to roll for the Wairarapa farm’s resident stallion Per Incanto, who will enjoy unprecedented representation at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Yearling Sale series at Karaka next month. And the recent success of Per Incanto’s Hong Kong-based son Time To Celebrate was a massive fillip, studmaster Sam Williams said. “To do it at Sunday’s international meeting in front of pret...

Pat Lowry wins Pearl Bonus

The NZB Insurance Pearl Series has now been running for five years, and thousands of dollars have been paid out in bonuses in that time. We are about to post out application forms to all filly owners for the next intake, being all fillies who were born in 2016 who are current yearling fillies. The scheme is proving to be very popular with filly owners and our members and last week at Rotorua in the 1215 metre Maiden, which carried a B Level Bonus of $11,500, seven of the 12 fillies running were ...

NZTBA Councillor Libby Bleakley tells her story

Recently the NZTBA announced the latest winners of their Sunline Education Trust Scholarships, the Sunline International Management Scholarship and the Thoroughbred Breeding Diploma at the Irish National Stud. The lucky winners are David Morris and Danielle Southey, and they will join a long list of young people who have gone on to make their way in the thoroughbred world, including Libby Bleakley of Highden Park in the Manawatu. Bleakley is the caretaker of the former Broodmare of the Year Baga...

Valuable maiden victory

Deb’s breakthrough win at Rotorua this week came with a healthy bonus. The lightly-raced Darci Brahma four-year-old struck in her fifth race day appearance in Wednesday’s New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Pearl Series Race (1215m) for trainers Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen. Bred and raced by Lowry’s father Pat, Deb claimed the thick end of the $12,000 stake as well as an $11,500 bonus. “She’s always showed us a bit – she’s taken time, but she’s matured now and hopefully she can pic...

Another double strike for Shocking

The progeny of Rich Hill Stud stallion Shocking are on a roll. He was represented by Avondale winners Formidable and Mental Telepathy on Thursday and at Otaki on Friday he produced another winning double that emphasised the son of Street Cry’s versatility. Promising staying mare Solesefei started the ball rolling with a strong staying performance in the Summerset On The Coast Premier (2300m) before Scandalo proved too slick for the Rating 75 speedsters in the Red Diamond Services Premier (120...

Iconic Cambridge Stud sold

Cambridge Stud, New Zealand’s most iconic stud, is about to change hands and, very importantly for the New Zealand thoroughbred industry, it will re-main proudly Kiwi-owned. Sir Patrick Hogan has today confirmed that his and Justine, Lady Hogan’s historic thoroughbred nursery has been sold to Auckland couple Brendan and Jo Lindsay, ensuring that New Zealand’s internationally renowned stud farm stays in local hands. “It is no secret that there has been huge international interest in Cambr...

Another Haunui Farm toast

The Haunui Farm clan had good reason to be toasting its broodmare Valpolicella after last Saturday’s Ascot meeting in Perth.Successful on the day was Celebrity Dream, a daughter of Thorn Park and Valpolicella, who took her record to six wins and four placings from 13 starts. She was ridden by William Pike for local trainer Adam Durrant and high profile owner Bob PetersCo-bred by Haunui Farm, Celebrity Dream was sold through its 2014 National Yearling Sale draft at Karaka for $260,000 and she h...

2018 Scholarship Winners

When David Morris moved to the Waikato in 2015, it was with a rugby career in mind, but then he discovered horses. Now with a Bachelor of Business Management under his belt, he is the proud winner of the NZTBA Sunline Education Trust International Management Scholarship and 2018 will see him working at three world acclaimed international stud operations for three months at a time. According to Morris it’s like a dream job, “I have always wanted to travel and it gives me the opportunity to tr...

William Duncan's win is an inspiration to new breeders

If you need inspiration to get involved in the breeding game then talk to William Duncan. Duncan is the breeder and owner of Heni (Towkay[AUS]-Bahhzaar) the recent winner of the Group Three Valachi Downs Breeders’ Stakes at Riccarton. A race that she was placed in last season. He oozes enthusiasm and passion when he talks about Heni, her success and how she came to be bred and what he was hoping to achieve. Her victory in the Group Three event gave Duncan his first ever Stakes winner and in hi...

Owner/Breeder Paul Gollan and Alphastar win Pearl Series Bonus

It would seem that the stars were aligned for Alphastar (Battle Paint[USA]-Sanstar) to win an NZ Bloodstock Insurance Pearl Series race. At Avondale recently on debut, the three-year-old filly trained by Wayne Hillis at Matamata got up in the last few strides to win the 1200 metre maiden series race, much to the delight of her owner Paul Gollan who picked up an extra $10,000 in Stake money, plus the nominators bonus of $500. Hillis also picked up a $1,000 bonus as her trainer. “It was very sat...

Lance Forbes' final blog from the USA

After a fantastic 9 months I am sad to say that my journey on the 2017 Sunline Management Scholarship has come to an end.  My last leg in America was at Taylor Made Farm. I was focused on prepping yearlings for the 2017 Keeneland September yearling sales.  With over 100 horses in preparation for the sale it was fair to say that it was all hands on deck at the farm.  It really goes to show why Taylor Made Farm is rated one of the best farms in America at yearlings preps. The manage...

The almighty swing of the NZD

NZD/USD: The formation of a Coalition between NZ’s Labour Party and the nationalist New Zealand First party surprised investors and forced a rapid and steep NZD sell off. The Labour government, as expected, has announced they will introduce changes to the RBNZ’s mandate and the Reserve Bank Act. The changes are expected to include an employment objective which could mean a prolonged period of lower interest rates, subsequently dampening the attractiveness of the NZD as a carry trade and...

Things just keep getting better for Mount Maunganui based breeder Jim Barlow

Last Saturday afternoon just kept getting better for Mount Maunganui based breeder Jim Barlow. Barlow under the banner of Fusion Bloodstock – co owned by Tony Joyce - and Barlow’s cousin Max Brown of Brown Bloodstock, are the breeders of the listed Wellesley Stakes winner Sir Nate (Nadeem[AUS]-Just Diamonds). A few hours later his older sister Kalavarci recorded her third winner when she won easily at Randwick. Both Joyce and Brown were in the partnership that raced Dundeel. In between the t...

The King gets his chance at stud

In the winter of 2016, a five-year-old stallion with black type oozing out of every line of his pedigree was doing nothing else but eating grass on a farm near the small Southland settlement of Woodlands. So The King's owners, Ray, Tony, Martin and Joe Dennis – known colloquially in the south as the D-Boys – agreed he should be given the opportunity to serve a few mares. “There would hardly be any stallion in the register with as many Group One winners on the page,” said Martin Dennis. �...

Wait A Sec - Group One success for the Henderson family

The running of the Group One Livamol Classic at Hastings recently turned into an all Hawkes Bay affair. The winner Wait A Sec (Postponed[USA]-Security) was born just down the road from the Hastings racecourse in Poukawa, foaled by Iain Henderson who races him in partnership with his son Paul. He descends from a family that produced one of Hawkes Bay’s best fillies in the 70’s and races in the colours made famous by another great Hawkes Bay legend in Game. Wait A Sec is trained by Guy Lowry a...

2017 Singapore Report - NZTM

Singapore is a large export market for New Zealand thoroughbreds. Last season Singapore continued to be New Zealand’s second largest export market for thoroughbreds. New Zealand continues to thrive in this market, making up more than 40 per cent of the horse population. New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing’s 2017 Singapore Report provides an in-depth view on the success of the New Zealand Thoroughbred in the Southeast Asian racing jurisdiction, along with an overview of the upcoming changes an...

It could be the Main Stage for Auckland breeder Tim Harrison

...