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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

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It could be the Main Stage for Auckland breeder Tim Harrison

Auckland based breeder Tim Harrison has made an art form out of buying non-performing older mares only to have them go on and produce Stakes winners. Harrison’s most recent acquisition was Kiri at this year’s NZB National Weanling, Broodmare and Mixed Bloodstock sale for $22,500, and she is now the dam of the VRC Derby favourite and recent Listed UCI Stakes winner Main Stage. “I always buy at that sale.  I do a little bit of home work. With this mare I thought if I got her at the rig...

Two wins in two days for Super Easy

Former Ruakaka filly Lisdoonvarna capped a successful couple of days in Australia for Hallmark Stud sire Super Easy when winning decisively on Tuesday. Lisdoonvarna had been a trials winner for the Donna Logan and Chris Gibbs stable and was sold to Australia after an eye-catching debut third at Ruakaka last May. Raced by Warwick Farm trainers Mandy Turner and Mauro Poletti, she was a trials winner on her home track before clearing maiden ranks decisively over 1100 metres in her Australian debut ...

NZTBA Waikato member Ray Johnson is excited about the season ahead

Like most breeders at this time of the year, NZTBA Waikato based branch member Ray Johnson is eagerly awaiting the arrival of a foal. Johnson’s eagerly awaited foal is by Swiss Ace (AUS) out of the Stravinsky (USA) mare The Nightingale, and will thus be a half-sibling to the Singapore Derby and recent Kranji Mile winner Infantry, and his stakes performed sister Night Nurse. Both those stakes performers are by Tavistock and that is where The Nightingale is bound for this season. Johnson is pret...

Infantry leads home Kiwi trifecta

Tavistock gelding Infantry led home a New Zealand trifecta in the S$700,000 Kranji Mile in Singapore on Sunday night, beating a game Countofmontecristo (NZ) (Echoes of Heaven) and 2016 Singapore Horse of the Year Debt Collector (NZ) (Thorn Park). The Alwin Tan-trained runner was fresh-up when winning the first leg of the Singapore Triple Crown, which was his first start since his victory in the S$1.15 million Singapore Derby in July. “This horse has such a big heart,” Tan said. “Back to t...

Exciting times for Syliva and Paddy Kay

Septuagenarians Sylvia and Paddy Kay, race and breed horses for the fun of it, but over the years two families they have nurtured have kept popping up with some fabulous winners for the couple. The latest star is Dolcetto (Per Incanto[USA]- Our Shiraz) the recent winner of the Group Three Marton JC Metric Mile at Manawatu. A five-year-old gelding he is trained by Sylvia Kay at Levin and was bred and is raced by her and her husband Paddy, and retired Christchurch veterinarians Chris and Helen Bis...

Burgundy's second Stakes winner

Matamata based breeder Mac Robinson has been laid low with a lingering dose of the flu recently, but this week received a bit of a boost when Dijon Bleu won the Listed O’Leary’s Fillies Stakes at Whanganui. Robinson a member of the Waikato Branch of the NZTBA bred Dijon Bleu with Auckland Branch member Craig Grammer with whom he owns the dam Pristino, a More Than Ready(AUS) mare who was purchased by his late wife Joy. Joy Robinson worked for Roger James as his personal assistant for nearly 2...