Sweet dream comes true for owner-breeders
"Absolutely thrilled. It's been a dream, an absolute amazing dream." That's how southern Hawke's Bay breeders Julie & Kevin Taylor felt after their four-year-old mare Viennetta (Pins-Bali Sugar by Christmas Tree) romped home in the $75,000 Counties RC NRM Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders' S. 1400m G2 at Ellerslie on Saturday. The race is a major event on the NZTBA Auckland calendar and has been supported by the branch for 35 years. The Taylors, who own and operate Kia Ora Station, a 1400-acr...
November 27, 2005NZ first season sires quick off the mark
Of the 23 stallions that began stud duties in New Zealand in 2002, ten have had raceday runners in Australasia to date, and four, Bertolini, Postponed, Black Minnaloushe and Spectatorial have already posted their first winners. This is a faster start than the 25-strong "Class of 2001", which took a month longer to match that performance. Rich Hill Stud's Bertolini (Danzig-Aquilegia) has made a tremendous impact with his first crop of European two-year-olds. Twenty-seven have won, and three ar...
November 25, 2005Exuberant spring for NZ-breds in Australia
New Zealand-bred horses have won twenty-one Australian Group and Listed Races this season (to 20 November), compared with 12 at the same stage in 2004-05. The overall quality of those performances is also better this year, with five Group One wins (Underwood, George Main, Caulfield, MacKinnon & Victoria Racing Club Stakes) compared with only one last spring (Econsul's Caulfield Guineas); six Group Two victories (four last season); six at Group Three level (two last year); and four Listed R...
November 23, 2005Makybe Diva joins the company of legends
Yes, we are dedicated to the New Zealand thoroughbred and to New Zealand breeders, but we're also dedicated to celebrating the thoroughbred horse. So we happily joined the millions around the world who applauded the ascent of Makybe Diva from champion to legend on Tuesday. The seven-year-old mare's historic third Melbourne Cup victory may have been aided by a track prepared for her, but the ease of her win was such that it's hard to make excuses for her rivals. The outstanding performance of N...
November 3, 2005Update on NZ-breds’ performance in Australia
Several aspects about the performance of New Zealand-breds in Australia this season are striking – at least to those who track such things from year to year, as the NZTBA does. Firstly, up to the end of Cox Plate day, New Zealand-bred horses have won fifteen Australian Group and Listed Races this season, compared with eleven at the same stage in 2004-05. Secondly, the overall quality of those performances is somewhat better this year, with three Group One wins (Underwood, George Main and C...
October 23, 2005New online database offers listings to all NZTBA members
The NZTBA has recently completed Stage 1 of its plan to upgrade its website, with the launch of its new online NZ Studs & Stallions database. Last week the NZTBA Council decided to offer free listings in the database to all NZTBA members, not only the studs who advertise in the annual Stallion Register. Members wishing to take up this offer are invited to contact NZTBA website editor Susan Archer for details of the information required for a listing. Susan says "The Studs & Stallions ...
October 20, 2005NZTBA welcomes new Minister's commitment
Statements made by Winston Peters, the new Minister for Racing, in today's New Zealand Herald have been warmly welcomed by the NZTBA. In an interview with Mike Dillon, Mr Peters says that New Zealand First's demands for the racing industry had been agreed to during his party's negotiations with the Labour Party in the past two weeks. The five points in New Zealand First's racing policy which will be implemented next year are: *Remedy the anomaly in gaming legislation by putting gaming on the ...
October 20, 2005Railings chains himself to Caulfield Cup history
In January 2003 I was working on the Ford Report, Trackside television's weekly window on the thoroughbred breeding industry. One of my assignments that month was to film yearlings at Haunui Farm, and one of the horses studmaster Mark Chitty chose to parade for our cameras that day was an Australian-born colt by champion sire Zabeel from the Palace Music mare La Suffragett. Bred by Haunui Farm and Noel Robinson, the colt was good-looking and strong, with an aura of something special about him. ...
October 16, 2005Makybe Diva rules Cox Plate stage
New Zealand didn't have a great day at Moonee Valley on Saturday, but it hardly mattered at the end of a marvellous Cox Plate won by the reigning queen of Australian racing, British-bred Makybe Diva (Desert King-Tugela by Riverman). Even the petty carping in some quarters of the New Zealand racing media about the condition and design of the track, and the quality of the field, cannot diminish an extraordinary performance, and a contest as testing and thrilling as anyone could hope for. New Z...
October 14, 2005El Segundo thrills Ancroft Stud
El Segundo (Pins-Palos Verdes by Oak Ridge) did more than make himself favourite for next weekend's $A2.5 million Caulfield Cup when he won last Saturday's MRC Caulfield S. 2000m G1. He also extended the impressive honour roll at the Brown family's Ancroft Stud, Matamata. Other Ancroft-bred stars include 2001 New Zealand Filly of the year Singalong, Battle Eve (25 wins), multiple Group 2 winner Commissionaire, G2 Crest Star, G2 King Delamere, G3 Reputed, G3 Na Botto, and a host of Listed Stake...
October 10, 2005Miss displays her full Potential
Miss Potential (Dolphin Street-Richfield Rose by Crested Wave) may not have had enough fans among the Mercedes Awards voters to win the 2005 Sprinter-Miler title, but she wasn't short of them last Saturday after she won the HBRI Horlicks Challenge S. 1600m G1. The seven-year-old mare and jockey Reese Jones capitalised on a quick start to take their favoured position in front, setting a leisurely pace before quickening up stylishly at the top of the straight to win by two-and-a-half lengths from ...
September 21, 2005NZTBA Auckland honours McLarens & Jane Bunbury
Breeders Don and Rochelle McLaren and well-known industry professional Jane Bunbury received the major awards at a most enjoyable NZTBA Auckland Annual Awards Dinner last evening in the refurbished Ellerslie Convention Centre. The event was sponsored for the first time by New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance. The Auckland Racing Club's Andrew Castles ensured the proceedings, spiced with good humour, went smoothly. Political realities were not forgotten with branch president Wayne Larsen and studmas...
September 12, 2005Three NZTBA Branches present annual awards this month
The NZTBA awards season continues with three branches presenting their annual award dinners in the next week. The Hawke's Bay-Poverty Bay branch holds its function tomorrow evening, Friday 9 September, and the Auckland branch follows with its awards dinner at Ellerslie on Sunday evening, 11 September. Both branches have plenty of 2004-05 stakeswinners to celebrate. The Hawke's Bay honour roll includes New Zealand Horse of the Year Xcellent (bred by the Graeme Gimblett Family Trust) and WRC Cap...
September 8, 2005Starcraft makes history for New Zealand at Longchamp
Starcraft (Soviet Star-Flying Floozie by Pompeii Court) became the first New Zealand-bred horse to win a European Group One race when he triumphed yesterday in the Prix du Moulin, 1600m, at Longchamp in Paris - a race also won by his sire, 17 years ago. Bred by Garry Chittick at Waikato Stud, Matamata the handsome five-year-old stallion has now won ten of his 20 starts, including four Group One events. He was the star of last year's Hawke's Bay Spring Carnival, winning the Hawke's Bay Challeng...
September 5, 2005Xcellent’s motor delights breeder
"He's not a big horse, average-sized, not ugly, but he doesn't stand out physically. However, he's obviously got a very good motor." That's how breeder Graeme Gimblett described Xcellent (Pentire-Excelo by Centro) after his brilliant defeat of Miss Potential and Shinzig in last Saturday's HBRI Mudgway Fair Tax Stakes 1400m G1. Graeme was at Hastings to see the horse for the first time since selling him on behalf of the G.F. Gimblett Family Trust for $45,000 to Paul Moroney at the 2002 New Zeal...
September 2, 2005Major studs share breeding awards
The "Big Three" Waikato studs dominated the four breeding industry honours presented at the Mercedes Thoroughbred Racing Awards in Christchurch last Friday evening. Garry Chittick and Waikato Stud won the Mercedes Breeder and Broodmare titles [see accompanying story], Windsor Park Stud accepted the Grosvenor Stallion Award for Volksraad and Cambridge Stud collected Zabeel's ninth Dewar Stallion Trophy. Volksraad (Green Desert-Celtic Assembly by Secretariat) won his fourth consecutive New Zeal...
August 15, 2005Statement from National Spokesman on Racing
Recent comments by Racing Minister Damien O'Connor that he "expects" the Government's report on the Racing Board's call for a lower tax takeout to be viewed favourably by the industry, and that he is "trying" to have on-course betting duty abolished to enhance the on-course racing experience shows how out of touch Labour is with the real issues facing Racing. The decline in horse numbers is a key factor in the fall in wagering on local races. The number of thoroughbred races programmed has fall...
August 12, 20052005 Mercedes Breeder Award finalists announced
The finalists for the 2005 Mercedes Breeder of the Year award were announced by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing on Tuesday. They are: BARLOW THOROUGHBRED LTD Businessman Jim Barlow's private thoroughbred breeding company has enjoyed a particularly successful season thanks to two mares: Vedodara, dam of Group winners Bhandara and Shastri; and Amanpour, dam of Tickle, a Group 3 winner in Australia and New Zealand this season. Shastri and Bhandara, who won three New Zealand Group 3 races betwee...
July 28, 2005New Zealand student excels at National Stud in England
New Zealander Angela Lane has been awarded the National Stud Scholarship Award at the National Stud in Newmarket, England. The award includes a travel bursary worth £1000, and is given to the student gaining the highest overall marks in both the practical and academic elements of the course. Angela, a veterinary nurse, was previously employed at Seaton Park in Morrinsville and was a trainee enrolled on the Waikato Equine Training Scheme. With a strong recommendation from the course tutor Sally...
July 21, 2005New faces around NZTBA Council table
Peter Francis (Auckland Branch) has been elected as the new President of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association. Mark Chitty (Auckland Branch) remains Vice President. In accepting the presidency, Peter Francis said "I'm both honoured and excited to take over as president of the NZTBA at this time. Thoroughbred breeding and racing issues are making the news and we have a real chance of making the vital changes needed to position our industry, and the thousands of people it employs, f...
July 6, 2005NZTBA Waikato seminar crystallises racing policies
Just as the NZTBA Waikato's Election 2005 Seminar began at Te Rapa Racecourse, Hamilton on Thursday 16 June, the planet Jupiter emerged from behind the Moon where it had been hidden for an hour. Astronomers were excited just to observe this rare event, but for racing people aware of Jupiter's astrological association with horses the symbolism was apt and powerful. Is New Zealand thoroughbred racing and breeding about to emerge from relative darkness into light? It's still too soon to say, but t...
June 23, 2005National Party announces racing policy
Dr Don Brash and his Racing Spokesman Lindsay Tisch today announced the National Party's policy on racing at a media conference in Wellington. The announcement is reprinted in full below. Peter Hutt, president of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (NZTBA), welcomed the National Party announcement. "This is exciting news for everyone involved in thoroughbred breeding and racing. It's especially significant for owners, breeders and trainers whose investment underpins the industry'...
June 15, 2005Ken Shirley to speak at NZTBA Waikato seminar
Senior List MP Ken Shirley has replaced Deborah Coddington as the ACT speaker at next week's Election 2005 Seminar organised by the Waikato branch of the NZTBA. Mr Shirley is the Party Whip, spokesperson on Foreign Affairs & Trade and Associate spokesperson on Commerce. He will join the present Minister for Racing Hon. Damien O'Connor (Labour), Rt. Hon. Winston Peters (NZ First), Sue Bradford (Green) and Lindsay Tisch (National). NZTBA Waikato president Vicki Pascoe reports enormous intere...
June 10, 2005Winter Debates, Seminars & Tours keep NZTBA busy
The winter gives many thoroughbred industry people the chance to take a well-earned holiday after the long months of hard work during the spring, summer and autumn. Paradoxically, it's often the busiest time of the year for the NZTBA and its regional branches. The annual Stallion Register is compiled each April and May (Volume 32 will be published in mid-June), and the Annual Report must be issued before the Association's AGM, to be held this year on Friday 1 July. Breeders always enjoy the ...
May 26, 2005Zabeel's triumph in Hong Kong
Champion New Zealand sire Zabeel added a new highlight to his already wonderful season when his sons Vengeance of Rain (NZ) and Greys Inn (USA) quinella-ed the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup 2000m G1 in Hong Kong this evening. Russian Pearl (NZ)(Soviet Star) completed a great result for the New Zealand breeding industry by running home resolutely for third. Vengeance of Rain (ex Danelagh by Danehill) was bred by K Biggs Enterprises Pty Ltd, Porter St Investments Pty Ltd, R N Russell &a...
April 25, 2005 Posts 3826-3850 of 3990 | Page prev next