Back to Blog

Dylan's Blog – May 2015

The Flat is Back! The National Hunt season is finally coming to an end and there was no better way to see it out other than with a massive festival held at Punchestown. What a festival it was with Willie Mullins going out with a bang, breaking his own record claiming 15 winners over the 5-day festival with 10 of those being Grade 1 winners! As Punchestown is not far from us we were lucky enough to have a half day to go experience the festival first hand, and what a festival it was with most of ...

Murray Baker breeds a stakes winner in Sucre

Champion race horse trainer Murray Baker has many accomplishments in the thoroughbred industry and he can now add breeding a stakes winner to that impressive list. Baker is the breeder of the Listed Great Easter Stakes winner Sucre a six-year-old Ishiguru(USA) mare who has now won 12 races and $224,938 in stakes. "She's not a bad horse, not many mares win that many," said Baker when discussing the mare who has also been stakes placed four times. "I still own her, but you can't race them all. ...

John and Margaret Thompson enjoy recent success with Windsor Park Stud

Breeding stakes winners is nothing new for Windsor Park, they have an extensive roll of honour to be proud of, and recently they celebrated the success of two more black type wins when Leebaz (Zabeel-Polish Princess[GB]) won the Group Two Hollindale Stakes and Lady Le Fay (Thorn Park[AUS]-Mia Le Fay) won the listed Manawatu ITM Classic. However while Leebaz was bred by the farm, Lady Le Fay was bred in partnership with a retired Auckland couple John and Margaret Thompson. "We have been dealing...

Proisir available for inspection

Rich Hill Stud's new signing Proisir has arrived at Rich Hill Stud and is available for inspection. Appearances don't lie and the striking son of the internationally-successful Choisir compiled an impressive race record to the highest level. With a pedigree to match, he is an exciting addition to New Zealand's stallion ranks. "He is a beautifully balanced horse with a lovely fluent walk," Rich Hill studmaster John Thompson said. "He has strength and quality and should sire a lovely line of fo...

New Cambridge farm ready for business

Wellington property investor and thoroughbred enthusiast Luigi Muollo has called on his Italian heritage in the establishment of his new breeding operation. Muollo's Novara Park is the home of his globe-trotting Group One performer Jakkalberry, who will stand his second season at stud at the recently-acquired Cambridge property. "Novara on the banks of Lake Maggiore is the province in northern Italy where Federico Tesio established his famous breeding operation," Muollo said. Tesio is one of ...

Major coup for the New Zealand breeding industry

The winner of three successive Gr.1 races at his last three starts including the Ascot Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Charm Spirit, highest earning son of boom sire Invincible Spirit, has been secured to join the stallion roster at Windsor Park Stud. Following only world champion Kingman (Invincible Spirit) in the 3YO mile category (Turf) on the 2014 World Thoroughbred Rankings, Charm Spirit won six races and over €1.4 million from nine starts as a two and three year old. His wins included succes...

Ponderosa Miss beats her rivals and her life-threatening injuries

It's been a rollercoaster season for the Te Awamutu mare Ponderosa Miss (High Chaparral[IRE]- Bak da Princess) and her win in the Group One Manco Easter Handicap was thoroughly deserved. One month into the season the four-year-old mare was involved in a fall in a race at Hastings that almost claimed her life. In six starts as a three-year-old she won two races and was unplaced once. She started her four-year-old season with an impressive win at Te Rapa and was a two dollar shot in her next sta...

Group 3 winner for Allan and Colleen Jackson

When Decorah (Pins[AUS]-Nordic Dancer) won the Group Three Manawatu Breeders' Stakes recently she became the 150th winner for her owner/breeders Alan and Colleen Jackson. Included in that number are two very classy mares they have raced in partnership Faint Perfume and Irlanda, but this is the first stakes winner bred by the couple, who are members of the Auckland Branch of the NZTBA. "It was a fabulous win even though we weren't able to be there, nor were any of the other partners, and neithe...

Vale Philip Vela, a bloodstock pioneer

New Zealand racing lost a hugely influential figure on Saturday with the passing of Philip Vela. He was a respected and popular identity whose contributions to both the business and bloodstock worlds were both successful and far reaching. With his brother Sir Peter, he became a powerhouse thoroughbred identity with the 1997 purchase of the then struggling Wrightson Bloodstock. Renamed New Zealand Bloodstock, they oversaw the growth of the Karaka-based operation into one of the most highly-reg...

Dream addition to the Waikato Stud line-up

The latest addition to the Waikato Stud stallion roster is a wish come true for the Matamata farm. "We've always wanted to stand O'Reilly's best son and this season we will be doing so with the brilliant four time Group One winner Sacred Falls," principal Mark Chittick said. "We identified Sacred Falls early in his career and it has been hugely exciting to have subsequently been a part of his two Doncasters and George Main successes with co-owner Dato Yap and the Raffles Racing team." Sacr...

Dylan's Blog – April 2015

Spring Has Come The temperature has finally crept up to the double digits and even touched over the 20's in the past couple of day's bring smiles and even more enthusiasm into the yards as we finally strip of the five or so layers of winter clothing and change into t-shirts. The sun is definitely a mood booster for everyone as we are now in full swing with paddocks overflowing with sprightly newborn foals and the amount of covers rising by the day. The combination of foals in the sun tends to ...

New Zealand's Point of Difference

The phenomenon that is Danehill [USA] seems to be endless. His sons and grandsons crowd the current and recent Australian sires lists. Nine Australian premierships (six in succession) in an 11 year stretch (the last in 2004-05) has laid the foundation for Danehill's subsequent champion sire sons Redoute's Choice [AUS], Fastnet Rock [AUS], and Flying Spur [AUS], with Redoute's Choice topping the list four times. A seventh Australian premiership for a Danehill son is virtually certain this seaso...

Lloyd Jackson looks at the influence of the mighty Pakistan II (GB)

Editorial commentary on recent stakes winners, their sires and families, is one of the many cogs of the bloodstock breeding industry's evolution. A sales catalogue page tells a limited story too, its focus being on the highlights (black type). It is, after all, a sales tool. Deeper analysis (not the purpose of a sales catalogue page) can reveal some very interesting points - mostly historical, occasionally predictive and certainly quite interesting. Take the result of the New Zealand Oaks, G1,...

History made by New Zealand bred sprinter Aerovelocity

An equine family connection stretching back 23 years created history in Japan on Sunday evening, when Windsor Park-bred Aerovelocity (Pins) beat a field of Japan's best sprinters in the Gr.1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo racecourse. Trained by Paul O'Sullivan, Aerovelocity became the first foreign racehorse to win the Japanese Gr.1 race, which is one of a series of races that comprise the Global Sprint Challenge. A former champion New Zealand trainer, now training in Hong Kong, O'Sullivan p...

Win a nomination to exciting new sire Proisir

Rich Hill Stud is once again demonstrating their support of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association. On behalf of the Proisir Syndicate, Rich Hill Stud has generously donated a 2015 nomination to their exciting new sire Proisir. This will be the major prize for the NZTBA members draw on the Gr 1 NZ Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes at Te Aroha on Saturday 4th April. The picturesque Te Aroha racecourse boasts a great day of racing highlighted by the Gr 1 NZ Breeders Stakes and the annual N...

Wayne and Karen would like to "Include" a Group One

White Robe Lodge stud manager Wayne Stewart has been temporarily relieved of duties at Wingatui and is heading north with his classy race mare Include (Gallant Guru[AUS]-She's Snubbed) to have a tilt at the Group One Fiber Fresh New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes. "Its 30 years since I travelled with race horses to the North Island, but at White Robe we take turns at all the jobs. The last horse I took north was Joyarty and she ran second in the Group One New Zealand Stakes, this mare I'...

Dylan's Blog – March 2015

The Beginning: The Irish National Stud Scholarship My journey began saying my goodbyes to my parents at Auckland International airport. Sitting down as the plane goes through its final checks the emotions and overwhelming excitement finally set in of the realization that not only I will be going to travel across the world but I will be setting of to broaden my knowledge and experience in a industry that I am so very passionate about. Understanding that my knowledge of the northern hemisphere r...

Benji’s Blog – March 2015

Background My name is Benji King, I am the very grateful receiver of the Sunline Trust Scholarship. I have been working with horses since I can remember having grown up on my parent's successful thoroughbred stud, Brighthill Farm. My true drive and passion for horses came when I was fortunate to have been given a holiday job at Vinery Stud, Australia preparing yearlings for the 2010 Sydney Easter sale. I then stayed on to work for two stud seasons followed by subsequent yearling preparation...

Thee Auld Floozie wins the Sunline Vase

For 24 hours Te Awamutu dairy farmer John Young didn't worry about the drought in the Waikato, he was too busy enjoying a day at the races in Auckland and watching his smart filly Thee Auld Floozie (Mastercraftsman [IRE]-Thee Auld Hussie) take out the Group Three Sunline Vase. "There are some great people racing this horse with me like Ali and Helen Cunningham and we sure celebrated her win, in this game you have to cherish every win," said Young a member of the Waikato branch of the NZTBA. "M...

Breeders' Bulletin -Autumn 2015

...

Iamishwara wins Group One Weight For Age Classic.

The win by outsider Iamishwara (Keeninsky – She's Heroic) in the Group One Haunui Farm Weight-For-Age Classic may have been disappointing for punters but it certainly made the day for retired Papakura farmer Bob Killick. "That's a good win eh, it was pretty exciting, fancy a Group One winner," enthused 70 year-old Killick who bred the Keeninsky five-year-old. "I always thought he would be a good horse he was a lovely animal, but unfortunately I had to sell my half-share when he was a yearlin...

Primary ITO Equine Training Courses Starting Soon

Click here to download .PDF Thoroughbred Breeding Courses These Equine breeding courses have been instigated and designed by Thoroughbred Studs of the Waikato. The content of the courses is what industry leaders have recognised to be the most important skills and knowledge required to succeed in a career in the Thoroughbred Breeding Industry. The courses run once a fortnight from late March through to early September. Classes last for 3 hrs from 4.00 -7.00 and have speakers from studs, equine...

Farm Boy steps up to win the Avondale Gold Cup for farmer Allan Hayward

Allan Hayward is a farmer from Rotorangi just south of Cambridge, and is a quiet unassuming bloke who in the past few days has been pitched into the limelight, way out of his comfort zone, due to the deeds of a horse called Farm Boy (El Hermano- Lady of Oakview). Farm Boy whom he races and bred, is this year's winner of the Group Two Avondale Cup held at Ellerslie, and was an unassuming type like his owner, until he won this event. Now thanks to a a very gutsy win under a superb ride by Vinny C...

Tie Me Down on track for the Group One NZTBA Stakes in April

The success of Tie Me Down (Pins[AUS]- Ashley Downs) the winner of the listed Wairarapa Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes is serendipity according to Pip McCarroll who part owns the mare with Little Avondale Trust. "She is one special mare, and it's so exciting to be involved with her, and having so much fun," she enthused. "When she came home from Sydney, Sam offered to buy me out, but I said no way if you are going to race her I'm in. Let's have some fun and race her, and that is exactly how it h...

NZ Breeders need assistance

Te Akau Racing's David Ellis said Government help is critical to arrest the falling numbers of New Zealand broodmares being bred from. There was evidence at last week's Karaka sales series that some lower-end broodmares probably would not be bred from again this year. "That cannot be allowed to continue and we urgently need government's help," said New Zealand's biggest and most successful thoroughbred buyer. Ellis was the biggest Karaka buyer for the 10th consecutive year, but that level of ...