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Join the NZTBA Canterbury Stud Tour, Sunday 6 August

Canterbury is the traditional venue for the start of the new season, and the tradition continues in 2006 with three days' racing at Riccarton Park on Saturday 5, Wednesday 9 and Saturday 12 August and New Zealand Bloodstock's South Island Sale on Friday 11 August. The Canterbury/Marlborough/Westland branch of the NZTBA has organised its stud tour on Sunday 6 August to complement these events. The branch warmly invites all local and visiting NZTBA members and guests to join the Tour, and acknow...

NZTBA executive re-elected for 2006-07

Peter Francis, re-elected President of the NZTBA, 2006-07 At its meeting the day after the NZTBA's Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, the Association's Council re-elected Peter Francis, Auckland, for his second year as President. Mark Chitty, studmaster at Haunui Farm, Auckland, was re-elected as Vice-President; John Thompson, of Rich Hill Stud, Waikato, remains the Treasurer and Peter Hutt, Christchurch, is the fourth member of the Executive. Mr Hutt, a lawyer based in...

Fillies win TBS bonuses at Matamata & Awapuni

Two Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme "B" bonuses have been won in the past six days by qualified three-year-old fillies, One Above Par at Matamata last Wednesday and Platinum Elle at Awapuni on Saturday. TBS-qualified placegetters also collected part of the total available bonus prizemoney. Details are: Wednesday 5 July Matamata Race 7 - B Bonus 1st One Above Par (3f Mellifont – Plus One) $5475 Owners: A N Dickson, Mrs L M Donovan, Mrs K & K F Fursdon, T R Jones, Mrs M McFarlane, M Norman, R...

NZTBA Scholar wins Gold Medal in Ireland

NZTBA Scholarship winner Tracy Mourits has been awarded the Gold Medal for the 2006 Irish National Stud Diploma course at a graduation ceremony held at the Stud on Saturday. Gold Medal-Winning NZTBA Scholar Tracy Mourits working in Blandford Yard at the Irish National Stud earlier this year. Tracy reported the news in an email to Sally Cassels-Brown, who manages the Association's Scholarship Programme. Sally says, "We are absolutely delighted with Tracy's success and...

Otago-bred beats his own drum at Flemington

With a record of three wins and eighteen placings from 94 starts, Personal Drum (Personal Escort-Tympanum by Tawfiq; bred by NZTBA members Brian & Lorraine Anderton, White Robe Lodge) didn't seem a prime prospect in Saturday's $A250,000 VRC Grand National Steeplechase. Personal Drum returns to scale at Flemington last weekend PHOTO: NZ Thoroughbred Marketing Politely described as a "well-travelled fencer" by AAPRacing&Sports, the eight-year-old gelding neverth...

TBS pays out more than $600,000 in 2005-06

Group One winners Wahid, Seachange & Jokers Wild were among the 131 individual winners of $656,825 in Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme (TBS) prizemoney this season. So was three-year-old filly Irish Sting, who added $6825 TBS prizemoney to the standard stakes of $7275 she earned from a win, a second and a fifth placing in her five starts between November and February. And so was two-year-old gelding Keep The Message, winner of $12,650, plus $4050 TBS bonus prizemoney from his win and two seco...

Bill Colgan to speak at AGM

NEW ZEALAND THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS' ASSOCIATION 2006 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Kentucky Lounge Te Rapa Racecourse HAMILTON Wednesday 19 July 2006 4.30 pm All NZTBA members are warmly invited attend. GUEST SPEAKER Mr Bill Colgan General Manager, Industry Revitalisation New Zealand Racing Board Mr Colgan has been with the New Zealand Racing Board in Wellin...

Large crowd enjoys Hawke's Bay weanling walk

Well, we did suggest a couple of weeks ago that Hawke's Bay is the perfect location for a winter sojourn. It seems quite a few people took our advice and joined a most enjoyable NZTBA Hawke's Bay-Poverty Bay branch Weanling Walk, held in superb weather last Sunday. Hawke's Bay weanlings enjoy the attention of a large crowd, Sunday 2 July 2006 PHOTO: NZTBA Hawke's Bay-Poverty Bay branch Branch secretary Graham Roddick estimates an attendance of around 120 people...

NZ-Breds' Success in Australia: updated Season Review

Danehill aside, a cost-benefit analysis of shuttle stallions' contribution to the Australasian thoroughbred industry would probably still be inconclusive. Nevertheless, without striking a Danehill, the New Zealand breeding industry has unquestionably felt the impact of the 250-odd stallions that have shuttled to Australasia since 1990. For example, fifteen of them are responsible for twenty-one of the 40 New Zealand-bred Group & Listed winners in Australia this season, including six of the ...

2006 Bomac Lecture Series begins 30 July

2006 BOMAC LECTURE SERIES The Horse's Foot HAMILTON Te Rapa Racecourse Sunday 30 July PALMERSTON NORTH Awapuni Racecourse Wednesday 2 August CHRISTCHURCH Commodore Airport Hotel Sunday 6 August Trainers, farriers, vets, stud & stable grooms, studmasters, breeders, equestrians: here's an opportunity to hear the latest information and research on the equin...

Ford Report's season review continues

What better way to spend a chilly winter's day than sit by the fire with your NZTBA Stallion Register and the TV tuned to the Ford Report on Trackside, working out broodmare matings for 2006??! The Ford Report's Season Review continues with a look at three of the stallions who began New Zealand stud careers in 2005: Programme content for this edition... Season Review: HIGH CHAPARRAL Season Review: SAVABEEL Season Review: ONE COOL CAT Pedigree Subject: RING OF FIRE FIRST PLAY - Saturday,...

Three TBS bonuses won in four days

A trio of TBS-qualified three-year-olds added $5475 to their standard stakes by winning bonus races at Whangarei and Tauranga. De Palio, Cape Kinaveral, Diamond Maid and four qualified placegetters claimed a total payout of $20,475 from the Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme in the past week. Details are: Wednesday 21 JuneWhangarei Race 4 B Bonus 1st De Palio (3f King of Kings – Rose of Ockie) $5475 3rd Revolver (3g Lake Coniston – Young Jude) $675 Race 7 B Bonus 1st Cape Kinaveral (3g Cape Cro...

Falkirk & Glamour Puss on target at Royal Ascot

There's nothing like the sight of a trio of wild colonials ripping up the straight five at Royal Ascot to make the heart beat a little faster here in the midst of a very cold New Zealand winter! New Zealand-bred five-year-olds FALKIRK (above) and GLAMOUR PUSS both performed with distinction at Royal Ascot this week. PHOTOS: NZ Thoroughbred Marketing It was nothing less than thrilling to see Australia's best sprinter Takeover Target win the five-furlong King's S...

Storming Home on The Ford Report

Storming Home, the new shuttle stallion announced for Stoney Bridge, Karaka, features on the next edition of The Ford Report. Programme content for this edition... * Stoney Bridge: STORMING HOME profile * Season Review: ELVSTROEM profile * Pedigree Subject: SPHENOPHYTA FIRST PLAY - Saturday, June 24 @ 7.30am (Digital) SECOND PLAY - Sunday, June 25 @ 11.00am (UHF & Digital) THIRD PLAY - Monday, June 26 @ 9.30pm (Digital) FOURTH PLAY - Tuesday, June 27 @ 11.30am (Digital) FIFTH PLA...

TRIBUTE: Ken Browne, time-defying NZ jumps legend

Champion New Zealand jumps owner, trainer, jockey, mentor and international horse trader Ken Browne, MBE, died on Tuesday morning, 20 June, at his home near Cambridge, with his wife Ann at his bedside. He was 72. The fifty-year career of Francis Kenneth Stewart Browne is one of the most remarkable in New Zealand turf history. From 1951 to 2001 he rode 156 winners (54 hurdles, 102 steeplechases) over fences from a total of 1482 rides. What lifts this record into the realm of the extraordinary is...

2006 NZTBA Stallion Register published this week

The cover of the NZTBA's 2006 Stallion Register, featuring Champion sires past and present, Sir Tristram (right) and his son Zabeel, at Cambridge Stud. A striking computer-generated image of Zabeel and Sir Tristram at Cambridge Stud features on the cover of the NZTBA's 2006 Stallion Register, now being mailed to members in New Zealand and overseas. New Zealand members should receive their copies this week. As seriously wintry weather continues around the countr...

Enjoy wine, history & horses in Hawke's Bay, 2 July

Hawke's Bay is a very easy part of New Zealand in which to spend a relaxing, interesting weekend, especially if you're keen on thoroughbred racing & breeding. And great wine! For local and visiting NZTBA members and other owners and breeders, the first weekend in July is worth setting aside for a winter sojourn in "the Bay." Catch the Hawke's Bay Hurdles and Steeplechase on Saturday 1 July, and head out at a leisurely time on Sunday for the annual weanling walk organised by the Hawke's Bay/...

Moving into Management course filling fast

Keith Lunn , Bloodstock Manager, Waikato Agribusiness for the Bank of New Zealand, reports a "tremendous response" to the Moving into Management training programme, tailored especially for people in the equine industry. In fact, there are now only four places left in the two-day course, scheduled for 18 & 19 July in Hamilton. Moving into Management is presented by People Solutions Inc: www.peoplesolutions.co.nz in conjunction with the BNZ and the ...

Jazzella collects $10,950 TBS bonus at Whangarei

Fillies have dominated TBS results lately, winning $15,000 in bonus prizemoney since 31 May. Most notable among them was two-year-old filly Jazzella, by leading freshman sire Black Minnaloushe. Trained on the course by Dean & Donna Logan, she won an A Bonus at Whangarei on 31 May for her owners C K R Dawson, T R Powell & P L Woods. Wednesday 31 May Whangarei Race 6 - A Bonus 1st Jazzella (2f Black Minnaloushe – Jazzmatazz) $10,950 2nd Keep The Message (2g Keeper – Miss Morrinsv...

NZTR Northern Forum: dawn of a new age?

"We're not going to invest in 52 venues any longer." That statement by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Chairman Guy Sargent was the most significant of several announcements made at NZTR's Northern Forum, held at Te Rapa on Thursday 2 June. Guy Sargent, Chairman of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing It was a long overdue acceptance of a major recommendation made by the McCarthy Royal Commission on Racing: For too long the industry has consumed its energies, and its bettin...

NZTR Northern Forum: Destination Summer Racing

The opening speaker at New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing's Northern Forum at Te Rapa Racecourse, Hamilton last Thursday was Janice Hill, the Racing Board's On-course Marketing and Events Manager, and a member of the Industry Initiatives Team led by Bill Colgan. She spoke with genuine enthusiasm about the new Destination Summer Racing program, which aimed to attract holidaying families to 23 racing events between 27 December 2005 and 6 February 2006. The program aims to help clubs fulfil their ...

NZTR Northern Forum: governance, management & people

The 2006 series of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Forums was chaired by Guy Sargent, elected as a Central region director to the NZTR Board in 2001, and the Board's chairman since 2003. He emphasised that the forums are a two-way communication process, and will be held twice a year, in May-June, and November-December. The other nine NZTR Directors are: Keith Neylon & Brian Kinley - Southern region John Rattray – Central region Colin Jenkins & Alistair Sutherland – Northern reg...

NZTR Northern Forum: Questions & Answers

Considerable time was allocated for questions and answers at the end of the NZTR Northern Forum at Te Rapa last Thursday. As NZTR chairman Guy Sargent said, echoing a previous chairman's mantra, "We don't have a mortgage on all the answers." The Forum was attended by approximately 100 people, mostly owners and breeders who also dominated the questions. A selection of Forum questions and answers follows: John Clydesdale, owner-breeder & NZTBA Auckland committee member: How do you plan to d...

Viscount on the Ford Report, 10-16 June

Adrian Clark presents another young Australian sire from his recent journey through the Hunter Valley. This week it's champion two- and three-year-old VISCOUNT (Quest For Fame-Antwerp by Sir Tristram), sire of G2 winner TARLETON from his first cropear-olds. Programme content for this edition... * Woodlands Stud, NSW: VISCOUNT * Review Season: PAUL MAKIN interview * Review Season: EQUINE NUTRITION * Pedigree subject: ALLOW FIRST PLAY - Saturday, June 10 @ 7.30am (Digital) SECOND PLAY - ...

TBS quinella at Te Teko

A quinella at Te Teko on Sunday was the best result for TBS-qualified runners at the weekend. Three-year-old gelding Old Belvedere collected a B bonus of $5475 for his owners, the Hales family, and runner-up One Above Par added $1350 to her prizemoney for her large group of owners, including trainer Karen Fursdon. Rising two-year-olds (ie foals of 2004) can be entered in the Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme until 31 July 2006 at a fee of $2,000 incl. GST. Saturday 27 May Auckland Race 4 A Bonus ...