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Sniff of Group One glory for Bradbury Park

Bradbury Park came close to experiencing Group One success last Saturday, but has still had plenty to celebrate recently in the countdown to the National Yearling Sales. The Matamata-based establishment prepared Belle du Nord for the 2016 National Yearling Sales at Karaka and last weekend the daughter of Reliable Man finished a close second to Age Of Fire in the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m). It is the second time the Cambridge-trained filly has been Group One runner-up. Last season she chased home...

Valachi Downs add international flavour to Karaka

Kevin Hickman’s international search for quality bloodstock will add considerable interest to the upcoming New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales, which starts on January 28. The owner of Valachi Downs, a boutique thoroughbred stud located near Matamata, has a broodmare band that features pedigrees from around the world. Hickman passionately sources mares in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Each season the mares visit some of the best stallions New Zealand and Australi...

Charm Spirit off to a flyer

Windsor Park Stud shuttle stallion Charm Spirit will be represented by his first crop of yearlings at Karaka later this month and confidence levels are high in the stud’s camp. This comes off the back of a strong Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale where the farm sold four Charm Spirit yearlings for an average of A$216,000. “It’s a great start,” Windsor Park Stud principal Rodney Schick said. “To be the second leading first season sire in one of the biggest Australian sales is huge...

Strong line-up of fillies to boost Blandford’s proud record

Blandford Lodge has a proud roll of honour with Group One winning graduates including the likes of Lucia Valentina, Criterion, Pasadena Girl and Singapore star Better Than Ever. The Matamata farm heads to this month’s New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales, which starts on January 28, with a string of yearlings likely to add to the list. Blandford Lodge is owned by Graham and Helen-Gaye Bax with Wellington businessman Lib Petagna, all parties having a long and successful involvement w...

Avantage takes her second NZB Insurance Pearl Bonus home

Unbeaten filly Avantage (Fastnet Rock[AUS]) gave her rivals a start and a beating in an impressive performance at Ellerslie on Sunday and in doing so picked up her second NZB Insurance Pearl Series Bonus.Having her first start since winning a NZB Insurance Pearl Series 2YO race at Riccarton in November, the royally bred Fastnet Rock filly was slow away in the race, with rider Opie Bosson having no option but to ride for luck as the combination settled last in the seven-horse field. Bosson h...

New blood secured by iconic NZ farm

Cambridge Stud’s new owners have already made a significant move into the stallion market. Brendan and Jo Lindsay, who take over the iconic nursery in April, have purchased a 50 per cent interest in the Group One winner Embellish. The Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards-trained Savabeel colt’s stallion profile was given a major boost in November when he triumphed in the New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton. Te Akau principal David Ellis confirmed Embellish will be raced by current o...

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...