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Trelawney Stud-bred Pride Of Jenni lands Empire Rose

Bold front-running mare Pride Of Jenni broke her rivals hearts under a daring Declan Bates ride to score a thrilling victory in the Gr.1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday for trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace.Bates admitted to some nerves and indeed some loneliness as he kept the mare rolling along in front by as many as eight lengths before the home turn, comfortably staving off the late challenge of Kiwi bred mares Atishu and Life Lessons, who filled the minor placings...

IFHA and ITBF to work together on breeding matters

The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) and the International Thoroughbred Breeders’ Federation (ITBF) have announced a new collaboration with an eye toward improving the Thoroughbred industry.Under a recently signed Memorandum of Agreement between the IFHA and the ITBF, the global leaders for Thoroughbred racing and breeding will work together on matters of mutual interest which impact the breeding industry. Through a dedicated working party of senior officials tha...

Meet The Breeder - Rick Williams

Off the back of Burn To Shine's win in the Gr.3 War Decree Stakes at Riccarton Park on Saturday, we catch up with General Manager of The Oaks Stud, Rick Williams in this week's edition of Dunstan Horse Feeds Meet The Breeder.Tell us the history of The Oaks StudIt was West Australian businessman Roy Connell, who purchased the highest performing dairy farm in the Waikato and developed it in the mid-eighties. He might have only just finished building it when the share market crashed, but anyway he ...

Stud celebrates jackpot result with star mare’s family

Recent events at Hallmark Stud have ensured the inclusion of a highly valuable daughter of Proisir in the farm’s draft to New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale in January.The Te Kauwhata operation bred and sold multiple Group One winner Prowess and in the lead-up to her latest victory in the Gr.2 Crystal Mile (1600m) at The Valley last Saturday, they welcomed a sister to the Roger James and Robert Wellwood-trained star.“She will be going to Book One at Karaka next year and she’...

New direction reaps rewards

Around four years ago, the Smithies brothers, Joe and Max, made the decision to alter the business plan for Monovale Holdings in order to be successful in the current thoroughbred market.Part of the plan was downsizing their broodmare band and improving its quality. Enter into the band Applegate(AUS) a stakes winning Exceed and Excel(AUS) mare the dam of the Gr.2 Jamieson Park Soliloquy Stakes winner Impendabelle.Trained by Tony Pike and ridden by Kozzi Asano, Impendabelle was recording her thir...

Alice is off on the trip of a lifetime

Twenty-one-year-old Alice Wilkinson will be winging her way to Ireland in January to attend the internationally acclaimed Irish National Stud Diploma Course.She is the lucky recipient of the 2024 Keith and Faith Taylor Equine Scholarship to the Irish National Stud promoted by the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association (NZTBA).“I am so excited and grateful for this opportunity. I can’t wait to get involved and have a life-changing experience,” Wilkinson enthused.“It’s an amazi...

Burn To Shine displays Guineas credentials with feature victory

Cambridge visitor Burn To Shine (So You Think x Smoulder) threw his name into the mix of serious contenders for the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) next month with a determined effort to take out the Gr.3 War Decree Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton.The Stephen Marsh-trained three-year-old had finished third behind Saturday’s race-rival Lantern Way in the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) at his last start and turned the tables after enjoying a perfect run in tra...

War Decree lands three winning blows

War Decree ensured Inglewood Stud received plenty of bang for their buck as backers at Riccarton of one of the key lead-ups to the Classics on the track next month.The War Front stallion is resident at Gus and Bianca Wigley’s farm, sponsors of Saturday’s Gr.3 War Decree Stakes (1400m), and made his presence felt with a trio of winners on the undercard.“It was a really good day and the stallion had been threatening to do something like that for a while, so to put it all together on his day ...

Prowess makes her mark in Melbourne

High-class New Zealand mare Prowess (Proisir x Donna Marie) put a frustrating early spring behind her in style with a bold Melbourne debut in Saturday’s Gr.2 McCafe Crystal Mile (1600m) at Moonee Valley.The daughter of Proisir was a Group One winner on both sides of the Tasman last season, culminating in a three-length demolition of her rivals in the Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) in Sydney in late March.That performance prompted her connections to set their spring sights on Saturday’s...

Matscot takes Spring Classic at Riccarton

A barnstorming finish carried progressive galloper Matscot (Haradasun x Bewarned) to his biggest career victory when he took out the Listed Sothys Spring Classic (2000m) at Riccarton on Saturday.The six-year-old son of Haradasun has a real penchant for performing on his home track with Saturday’s victory being his fourth at the venue and the most important for trainer Sharon Robertson, who co-bred him and also shares in his ownership.Rider Courtney Barnes gave her charge the perfect trip ...

Impendabelle wins dramatic Soliloquy

Classy filly Impendabelle (Impending x Applegate) is now a Group Two winner at the ages of both two and three, surviving a protest to take out a chaotic running of the Jamieson Park Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) at Pukekohe on Saturday.The $175,000 fillies’ feature brought together the majority of the leading contenders for next month’s Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton and was expected to clear up the classic picture. Instead, the race created more questions than it answere...

Wrote To Arataki achieves breeder’s dream result

After raising a family of six boys, Noelene Bishop decided to buy a weanling filly to rear and race as a kind of substitute daughter.That was 15 years ago, and now Bishop is as proud as any grandmother, with the granddaughter of that filly being Wrote To Arataki.Last Saturday the talented five-year-old mare scored her fifth win in the Gr. 2 Tristarc Stakes at Caulfield, off the back of a third placing in the Gr. 2 Rose of Kingston Stakes at Flemington fortnight earlier. In her first appearance f...

Meet The Breeder - Christopher Grace

In this week's Dunstan Horsefeeds Meet The Breeder, we catch up with Christopher Grace who bred Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes winner Johny Johny and has had a tremendous amount of success over the years.How did you get into thoroughbred breeding?Well, I was a young person at the ripe old age of 16, my father financed me into a mare called Beginner from the Alton Lodge clearing sale by the Fletcher family. I had her for a while and sold one or two horses.Then, at the age of 21 (1962) I bought the top-pri...

Japanese St Leger winner for NZ Oaks heroine

Antipodean mares have again proved their worth in Japan, and the latest high-level success came at Kyoto on Sunday when Durezza, a son of Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) heroine More Than Sacred, powered to a three and a half-length triumph in Sunday’s Gr.1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger).Ridden by Christophe Lemaire for Tomohito Ozeki, the son of Duramente, was in a race of his own over the final 100m.The Satono Crown colt Tastiera, winner of the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), was second, with ...

Johny Johny weathers the storm in Sweynesse

A wide draw and an energy-sapping fast pace were not enough to stop Johny Johny (Charm Spirit x Galway) in Saturday’s Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes (1200m) at Te Rapa.The speedy son of Charm Spirit had some factors in his favour leading into the $100,000 weight-for-age feature – including the race’s postponement and relocation from last Sunday at Rotorua, where he had never previously raced in his career. Te Rapa has been a happy hunting ground for Johny Johny in recent weeks, and he has now ...

Undefeated Crocetti a class above in Sarten

Saturday’s Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) at Te Rapa was an eagerly anticipated clash between a number of up-and-coming talents, but it turned into a tour de force by New Zealand’s most exciting three-year-old.Crocetti (Zacinto x Gracehill) extended his unblemished record to five out of five with another dominant display, leading every step of the way in the hands of premiership-leading jockey Warren Kennedy.The Zacinto gelding was already the favourite for the Gr.1 New Ze...

Tristarc victory for smart Wrote mare

Talented five-year-old mare Wrote To Arataki (Wrote x Galloping Gerte) has added further black-type to her record when leading throughout to land the Gr.2 Tristarc Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.The daughter of Wrote was ridden with good intent by comeback jockey Dean Yendall, and once the mare found the front she was rated to perfection to prevail from Shuffle Dancer and Call Di.There was less than two lengths over the first eight runners home, with trainer Matthew Williams deligh...

Impressive Diss Is Dramatic gives Latta another Thompson

Awapuni trainer Lisa Latta celebrated her fifth win in the Gr.3 Gee & Hickton Funeral Directors Thompson Handicap (1600m) when Diss Is Dramatic (Dissident x Our Drahma Queen) scored an emphatic victory in Saturday’s $100,000 feature at Trentham.Latta had previously won the race with Resonare (2000), Fercertain (2008), Jonbalena (2009) and last year’s winner He’s A Doozy, who went on to add the Gr.3 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) and Gr.1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) in an impressive ...

Coeur Volante on target for Guineas goal

A supreme ride from jockey Blake Shinn aided smart three-year-old filly Coeur Volante (Proisir x Shanina) to make it back-to-back stakes victories when running out a resounding winner of the Gr.2 Thousand Guineas Prelude (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.The Michael Moroney-trained daughter of Proisir had been a stunning winner of the Gr.3 Scarborough Stakes (1200m) at The Valley at her previous outing, but faced the stiff challenge of drawing the outside barrier of 14 from the tricky 1400m ...

Meet The Breeder - Sir Peter Vela

In this week's Dunstan Horsefeeds Meet the Breeder, we catch up with Leon Casey on behalf of Sir Peter Vela who bred Gr.3 Barneswood Farm Stakes winner, Star Of Justice.How did you get into thoroughbred breeding?Sir Peter became involved with racing early in life. His father had a strong interest and had friends who were actively involved. Sir Peter worked his way through university as a starting stalls attendant in the Waikato area. While teaching in his first job out of university he met his g...

Filly playing starring role for Pencarrow

Emerging filly Star Of Justice (Justify x Fair Isle)provided Pencarrow Stud with a timely result when she bridged the gap to black type company with aplomb at Ashburton.The chestnut broke her maiden at Riccarton at her second race day appearance before the Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-trained daughter of Justify claimed the Gr.3 Barneswood Farm Stakes (1400m) on Monday.Star Of Justice now shares the second line of betting at $8 for next month’s Gr.1 Barneswood Farm New Zealand 1000 Guine...

Red letter day for Grangewilliam Stud

Mark Corcoran savoured a top-flight victory on the racetrack at Hastings and a few hours later the Grangewilliam Stud co-principal had further cause to celebrate.Farm graduate Ladies Man, a son of resident stallion Zed (NZ) (Zabeel), claimed top honours in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) and a half-brother to the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) contender was subsequently welcomed at the Waitotara nursery.“It was a brilliant day and a great result for Zed to get another Group One winner,” said Co...

Stakes-winning Synchronize (NZ) for sale on Gavelhouse Plus

Gavelhouse Plus is offering buyers a special opportunity to enhance their broodmare bands with a speedy and well-bred daughter of super-sire Savabeel.Te Akau Racing’s black-type winner Synchronize (NZ) is now for sale on Gavelhouse Plus, with bidding closing from 7pm (NZT) on Wednesday October 18.One of 135 individual stakes winners by Waikato Stud’s eight-time champion New Zealand sire Savabeel, Synchronize is out of the blue-blooded O’Reilly mare Splits (NZ).Herself unraced, Splits is a ...

Renaissance Woman shines in Angst Stakes

A multiple stakes winner over 1800m and 2000m as a three-year-old last season, Renaissance Woman (Reliable Man x Mrs Kennedy) showed real spark over a shorter trip with a highly impressive second-up performance in Saturday’s A$250,000 Gr.3 James Squire Angst Stakes (1600m) at Randwick.Trained by Bjorn Baker, the daughter of Reliable Man won the Gr.3 Ethereal Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield last spring. She later added the Listed Gold Coast Bracelet (1800m) during the Queensland Winter Carniva...

Group Three reward at last for Our Alley Cat

Previously a five-time placegetter at Group level, classy mare Our Alley Cat (Atlante x Sima) broke through and secured her first stakes win in style in Saturday’s Gr.3 Valley D’Vine Restaurant Spring Sprint (1400m) at Hastings.The seven-year-old daughter of Atlante went into the $120,000 feature as the winner of six of her 29 starts, but she had also been runner-up behind Levante and Imperatriz in two editions of the Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m), second to Showoroses in the Gr.2 Auckl...