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Balmuse scores decisively in the Kelt Capital Stakes

Balmuse's victory, rather than Starcraft's defeat, was the biggest story out of yesterday's $1 million HBRI Kelt Capital S. 2040m G1 (or, its registered race name, the Ormond Memorial). That may not have been the impression conveyed by some media reports, but it was definitely what the crowd's reaction indicated when Balmuse swept past Starcraft in the straight. There was no stunned silence, only sustained cheering and yelling for the five-year-old gelding bred by Jim Wallace Senior at Ardsley ...

Breeders vie for prestigious national title

The 2004 Mercedes New Zealand Breeder of the Year will be announced at this evening's NZ Thoroughbred Racing Awards dinner in Auckland. The winner is decided by a secret ballot of NZTBA councillors who consider the relative merits of four finalists: Garry Chittick, Waikato Stud, Matamata Garry, who owns and operates Waikato Stud with his wife Mary, son Mark & daughter-in-law Lisa, is this season's leading New Zealand breeder of Australian Group & Listed Stakeswinners with five individua...

Board unveils plan for New Zealand racing

Feedback from its members has made the NZTBA acutely aware of how domestic thoroughbred racing's poor performance has reduced investment by breeders. That's supported by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing's latest Annual Report which records falling or stagnant trends in key breeding statistics: registered broodmares, mares covered and foals born. The positive changes at NZTR under Guy Sargent's progressive, energetic chairmanship are signs of a turning tide. Perhaps New Zealand racing as a whole...

Land granted for Thoroughbred Racing Museum

Plans for a new purpose-built museum to house New Zealand thoroughbred racing's past and present treasures took an important step towards fruition yesterday. Agreement was given by the Auckland Racing Club Board to grant land at Ellerslie Racecourse for the proposed building which will include the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame. The Chairperson of the Museum Committee, Wendy Pye, is delighted that the ARC Board shares her vision for the museum which will be built on land valued at $710,000. ...

Three-way Group One glory for Pompeii Court

The value of Pompeii Court as both sire and broodmare sire was underlined in bold black ink yesterday when his five-year-old son Pomp And Glory won the ARC Easter Handicap G1 at Ellerslie. That was about 85 minutes before Starcraft, from Pompeii Court's daughter Flying Floozie, took out the AJC Australian Derby G1 at Randwick, from the very game Braeloch a son of Prized from Valley Court by - you guessed it - Pompeii Court. Although Pomp And Glory's margin over the fast-finishing Rodrigo Ros...

Tribute to Robert Sangster

Few modern racehorse owners and breeders have had as much success as Robert Sangster who died in London on Wednesday afternoon, 7 April, at the age of 67. Even fewer have appeared to enjoy it as much as he did. I met him very briefly only once at an Australian thoroughbred breeding conference in Melbourne six years ago and found him every bit as charming as I'd been led to expect. He joined John Messara and Patrick Hogan to speak about the three champion sires with which they were each associat...

Dance Hero's New Zealand connections

It was pleasing to see three New Zealand-breds, all of them previous stakeswinners, in this year's Golden Slipper, although neither Burning Sands (8th), Econsul (10th) nor Flying Firebird (last) was considered a strong chance of finishing in the money. The Slipper is a race that has rarely figured on the impressive list of Australian races in which Kiwi-breds have shone over the years. Only two horses bred here, Marauding (1987) and Courtza (1989), have won it, although there have been a coupl...

Lucky Owners caps big month for NZ-breds

Lucky Owners (Danehill-Miss Priority by Kaapstad) capped a tremendous few weeks for New Zealand-breds overseas when he won yesterday's $NZ2.74 million Hong Kong Derby 2000m HK-G1. The four-year-old colt has now won eight of his 13 starts in Hong Kong, most notably December's international Hong Kong Mile G1, and has extended the already fine record of his female family in Australasia. March has been a very good month for Kiwi-breds offshore. Lucky Owners' Hong Kong victory comes after Group &...

NZ trainers frustrated with low-profile Racing Board

Trainers throughout the country are becoming increasingly frustrated with the state of the industry, according to the National President of the NZ Trainers' Association Chris Wood. "We were led to believe that the passing of the Racing Bill and the formation of the NZ Racing Board would be a positive thing for the industry and allow us greater control of our own destiny," said Wood. "Eight months down the track we have heard little from the new Board with regard to the industry's future." The ...

NZTBA moves to temporary offices

The NZTBA's three full-time staff last week moved to interim office accommodation in Greenlane. The Association's own office building was badly damaged when a tree fell on it during the storm that hit Auckland on Sunday 15 February. New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing's Joe Walls and Andrew Birch, also made the move, along with the staff of the Halberg Trust. Chief executive Michael Martin says that the decision to move out of the 15-year-old office was made to minimise the disruption to the N...

Update on the NZTBA office

The tree which collapsed on the NZTBA office last Sunday 15 February was removed last week and the staff of the Association, New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing and the Halberg Trust are now back in the building. They can all be contacted on their usual telephone and fax numbers and email addresses. However, all three organisations will soon re-locate to interim offices while repairs are made to the building. NZTBA chief executive Michael Martin says "With only one entrance to the building th...

NZTBA office badly damaged in Auckland storm

The NZTBA's office at Ellerslie Racecourse was extensively damaged during the unusually fierce storm which swept through Auckland and many other parts of the North Island on Sunday evening. A one-hundred-year-old oak tree owned by the Auckland City Council was blown over onto the NZTBA building which is occupied by the Association's three full-time staff members, New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing's Joe Walls and Andrew Birch, and the staff of the Halberg Trust. NZTBA chief executive Michael...

Velasco's verve delights Victorian owner-breeders

A fifteen-year investment in Australasian racing and breeding yesterday produced its best-ever return for Velasco's Melbourne owner-breeders Julian Sullivan and his wife Julie Andrews. The two-year-old filly by Flying Spur from Vital Curves came with a powerful run from well off the pace to snatch the $70,000 Matamata Breeders' Stakes G2 from Acupuncture (by Pins) and Can't Hackit (by Fasliyev) in the last stride. It was Velasco's first win from four starts and followed her very good debut fou...

Positive pre-sale mood at Karaka

Vendors at Karaka for next week's 78th National Yearling Sales series reported a very busy day on Thursday, with several holding 15 or 16 parades for New Zealand and some Australian buyers. Friday was quieter but steady, with agents and trainers still working through drafts late in the afternoon. Vendors expressed moderate optimism about their prospects for the Premier Sale which begins tomorrow afternoon at 1.00 pm and concludes on Wednesday afternoon. The very strong markets at the Gold Coas...

Second Group One for King's Chapel

King's Chapel (AUS) (King Of Kings-Lower Chapel by Sharpo) yesterday extended the good recent record of three-year-olds in the WRC Telegraph H. 1200m G1 when he held off Sunlaw (Desert Sun) and topweight Sedecrem (Faltaat) by a short head and three-quarters of a length in the frankly unbelievable time of 1:06.80. He is the third three-year-old to win the race in the past decade after Vinaka (2002) and O'Reilly (1997). Before that the Telegraph had not been won by a three-year-old since the filly...

Lambourn Stud's New Zealand Oaks triumph

The New Zealand Oaks 2400m G1, run at Trentham today, is a particularly important race for breeders, not that television viewers would know it from Trackside's jockey-and-trainer-oriented coverage. This year's winner Wharite Princess (His Royal Highness-Regal Visit by Vice Regal) certainly gave a well-deserved victory to jockey Bruce Herd and trainer Lisa Latta, who are personal as well as professional partners. The filly also represents a significant achievement for the Lambert family's Lambo...

Lashed makes Group One cut in Zabeel Classic

Australian-bred Lashed (Encosta de Lago-Traffic Watch by Salieri) under-lined last season's Australian three-year-old form with a stylish victory in the ARC Zabeel Classic 2000m G1 on the final day of a most enjoyable Ellerslie Summer Carnival. She defeated New Zealand Group One winner Penny Gem (by Pentire) and the ultra-consistent eight-year-old Group Two winner El Duce (by Lord Ballina) in a time of 2:02.62. Lashed, who returned the race sponsorship and then some to her owner Lady Hogan of...

Group One results at Ellerslie confound commercial reality

Race results have a way of confounding the so-called "commercial realities" of thoroughbred breeding. The outcomes of the first three Group One races at this year's Summer Carnival at Ellerslie certainly support the view that selling yearlings and breeding racehorses are quite often divergent activities. Buyers will look in vain for 2004 New Zealand Premier Sale yearlings by Yamanin Vital, sire of New Zealand Derby 2400m G1 winner Cut The Cake. Actually, he's never had a Premier Sale yearling....

NZTBA Life Member Kel Cameron dies

Mr Kel Cameron, one of the NZTBA's most respected figures, died recently in Tauranga. Mr Cameron became a Councillor of the Association in 1969 and a year later was appointed Treasurer. He held that position for 15 years, retiring from Council in 1985 when he was made a Life Member of the NZTBA. Mr Cameron had a successful accounting practise in Tokoroa during the boom forestry years, and retired to Tauranga in the 80's. He was an outstanding administrator, whose quiet, reasoned but firm ...

Bonus Scheme offers better rewards for owners, breeders, trainers

Thoroughbred owners, breeders and trainers will be the beneficiaries of a nationwide bonus programme that comes into existence next year, the New Zealand Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme (NZTBS). The New Zealand Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme effectively combines two of the major bonus programmes operating across the industry, the NZTBA-managed FAMIS scheme and the NZB-managed Mercedes Super Bonus Series, plus the new concept will be boosted by a significant contribution from the New Zealand Racing Board. ...

Racing Board aims for high-level industry perfomance

Racing Board member Dr Alan Jackson was a low-key participant in yesterday's launch of the Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme, but there is nothing low-key about his description of how the Board sees the industry's future. "We've inherited a new Act and organisation and we have to honour previous commitments. We're then looking to step forward with the rest of the industry and lead it to a higher level." The new Board is drawing inspiration from a wide range of sources. "We're looking at international ...

North vs South results at New Zealand Cup Carnival

No New Zealand race-meeting stirs up such fierce inter-island rivalry as the New Zealand Cup Carnival. This year the South Island-trained team capitalised on the absence of many northern runners and claimed a comprehensive victory with 24 winners from the 31 races held over the three Carnival days last week. However, North Island stallions dominated the winners' pedigrees. North Island-based sires were responsible for nineteen winners; South Island sires claimed eight winners (by The Jogger, T...

A Tribute to Shogun Lodge

SHOGUN LODGE (AUS) Grand Lodge-Pride Of Tahnee (Best Western) b. 25 September 1996 - d. 8 November 2003 Over the years I've gathered, as many racing people do, a large number of the ubiquitous caps favoured by studs, stables, race clubs and sales companies as promotional giveaways. Occasionally I attempt to rationalise my collection, but I always find it hard to throw any caps away, despite having more than I'll ever wear. A few have special value for me: the pale blue, red and yellow Sunline...

Best of the Weekend

Taatletail (Faltaat-Defensive Lady by Defensive Play; bred by Deborah Ho, Macau) gave her sire his third Group One winner when she fought tenaciously down the straight at Riccarton to win the CJC New Zealand One Thousand Guineas G1 on Saturday. Kainui Belle tried hard to give Kashani his first Group One winner, and went down by only half a neck, with Unearthed (Felix The Cat) three lengths away in third place. An excellent Listed Stakes win by Gwen's Rules over 1200 metres at Te Rapa completed...

First New Zealand stakeswinner for Generous

Saturday's Waikato Guineas 1600m G3 win by Philamor (Generous-Plaid by Morcon; bred and raced by the Archer Corporation Ltd) was about much more than the prizemoney. At Glenmorgan Farm Brett Jenkins was "one very happy studmaster" because Philamor is the first New Zealand-bred stakeswinner by champion racehorse Generous, already proven in Europe and North America. Glenmorgan initially shuttled Generous from Japan, then made the decision to purchase him when the JBBA indicated it was willing to...