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Tokorangi Gets Deserved Stakes Victory in Waikato Guineas

Consistent performer Tokorangi finally got the luck she needed when she stormed to victory in the Gr.2 Legacy Lodge Waikato Guineas (2000m) at Te Rapa. The Mike Moroney and Pam Gerard-trained three-year-old had had to settle for minor placings in several stakes races prior to Saturday’s effort, having placed third in the Gr.3 Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) before running on strongly for fifth in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) during her spring campaign. Another solid effort for fourth in ...

Breeds battle it out off the track

A unique event held at the Cambridge Raceway on Saturday showcased the versatility of former racehorses from both codes. Touted as the ‘Battle of the Breeds’, thoroughbreds were pitted against standardbreds across three classes held between races at the Cambridge Horse Festival race meeting. Richard Otto and Vanessa Everton were tasked with judging the competition where the eight horses, four from each breed, and their riders competed in the three classes of Conformation/Presentation, Paced ...

Obituary NZTBA Life Member Arthur Ormond

A true gentleman with a leadership style that was hard to beat, best describes NZTBA Life Member and former President Arthur Ormond who passed away this week. He was a foundation member of the NZTBA Wellington branch and then of the Hawke's Bay branch. He was elected to the NZTBA Council in 1991 and was its President from 1996 until 2001. Arthur was the NZTBA's nominee to the Board of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing from 1999 until 2001 and chaired the New Zealand Equine Industry Training Organi...

Good Things Take Time

Winton trainer Johnny Phillips always thought Madam de Soir (Raise The Flag[GB]- Grace De Soir) was capable of winning a Cup race. He was right as she recently took out the Listed Nellies Restaurant and Bar Dunedin Gold Cup, however the mare he bred and owns with his brother Barry turned out to be trained by Riccarton trainer Danny Crozier. Phillips trained the nine-year-old mare for the first of her eight wins, but decided in the New Year that if he was going to have a chance in the Dunedin Gol...

Friendly Reminder | Foal and Mare Returns | February 28 2021

Dear Breeders, Just a friendly reminder that the 2020 return/annual registration for your broodmare is due by 28 February 2021. A broodmare needs to be registered annually in the New Zealand Stud Book so that her foals are eligible for racing and breeding. Owners are responsible for registering their mare as a broodmare after she is covered for the first time and for maintaining her registration in the Stud Book until she is retired from breeding or is sold or leased out. Owners must lodge a ret...

Keith and Faith Equine Scholarship | Nathan Trumper | Blog 1

There are 24 students on the course for 2021 which is a special year for the stud being the 50th year of this wonderful course.  The first 2 weeks there were 12 of the international students that had to do a two-week quarantine stint at the stud. It was a great two weeks to really getting to know everyone before the Irish turned up. There was a lot of time spent in the common room watching races from all over the world, the sales on the Gold Coast, as well as watching a lot of movies. ...

Tabata Takes Breeders’ Stakes for Cricket Legend

Progressive mare Tabata collected her first stakes success when she prevailed in a desperate finish to the Listed Property Brokers Wairarapa Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Tauherenikau on Monday. Owned by former Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum ONZM, who these days is sought after in both coaching and commentary roles around the globe, the four-year-old daughter of champion stallion Savabeel looked a forlorn hope halfway down the home straight as she was giving the eventual runner...

Concert Hall Escapes Serious Injury After Nasty Barrier Incident

Trainer Roger James admits he feared the worst as he watched his star mare Concert Hall crash through the outside fence at New Plymouth on Saturday after escaping from the starting gates prior to the start of the Gr.3 Powerworx Taranaki Cup (1800m). The last start Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) winner was a hot favourite for the feature event on the card and was calmly being loaded into her barrier when she suddenly lurched backwards, dislodging rider Danielle Johnson, before careering away from th...

Brilliant Return From Probabeel

Probabeel is on target to fly the Kiwi flag in the Gr.1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) and the A$5 million All-Star Mile (1600m) after proving a class above her rivals in Saturday’s Gr.3 Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield. The multiple Group One winner carried 60kgs in the mares race and travelled wide throughout from the outside barrier before forging clear in the straight under jockey Damian Lane. The Jamie Richards-trained daughter of Savabeel is now likely to head to the Futurity Stak...

Marsh Savours Group Three Double

Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh struck Group Three gold in both islands within the space of one special hour on Saturday afternoon. Belle Fascino capped a series of black-type placings with a big finish to capture the White Robe Lodge WFA (1600m) at Wingatui, then Vernanme swooped to victory in the Powerworx Taranaki Cup (1800m) at New Plymouth. Marsh took special satisfaction from Vernanme’s win, which came just a couple of days after co-owner-breeder Kevin Hickman sadly lost his multiple Gro...

Ruakaka Filly Strengthens Oaks Bid with Thrilling Victory

Lightly raced filly Spine Tingle sent shivers down the backs of plenty of her potential Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand Oaks (2400m) rivals with a stunning victory at New Plymouth on Saturday. Bred and raced by the Hawkins family under their Llanhennock Trust banner, the Super Easy three-year-old went into Saturday’s Listed Fasttrack Insurance Oaks Prelude (1800m) at New Plymouth with just two runs under her belt, including a last start victory over 1400m on her home track at Ruakaka...

Collaboration Pays Off with Cup Upset

A joint venture between owner-breeder John Phillips and Riccarton trainer Danny Crozier produced a dream result in Saturday’s Listed Nellies Restaurant and Bar Dunedin Gold Cup (2400m). Defying odds of $31.60, nine-year-old mare Madam De Soir outfinished her opposition in the Wingatui staying feature and secured a valuable first black-type victory. Throughout most of her 66-start career, the daughter of Raise the Flag has been trained by Phillips at his Winton base. She found a purple patch of...

Back-to-Back Guineas for Showemhowitsdone

A rematch of last month’s Listed Gore Guineas (1335m) produced the exact same result on Saturday as Showemhowitsdone edged out The Gift in a tight finish to the Listed Mediaworks Dunedin Guineas (1500m) at Wingatui. The same two fillies hit the line locked together two weeks ago at Gore, where the strong-finishing Showemhowitsdone snatched victory by a head. But a rough-house finish and Slow8 track conditions may have raised some doubts over that form when a similar field stepped out on to a D...

Magneto takes Taranaki Two-Year-Old Feature

Promising colt Magneto turned the tables on race rivals Quattro Quinta and Wolfgang when he stormed home along the fence to take out the Gr.3 Woburn Farm 2YO Classic (1200m) at New Plymouth. The Showcasing colt had finished third behind Saturday’s race rivals in the Listed Wellesley Stakes (1000m) at his last start but reversed that result with a professional display. Rider Ryan Elliot had the Steven Cole-trained runner humming along nicely in the trail throughout as first starter Ima Roca Bee...

Cunningham Honoured with International Award

Travellers often come to New Zealand for the landscape and lifestyle but it was opportunity that brought Curraghmore’s Gordon Cunningham down under. Irish-born Cunningham has spent more than two decades in his adopted homeland and was recently honoured for his achievements in the thoroughbred industry with the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association (ITBA) Wild Geese Trophy, sponsored by The Aga Khan. The annual award recognises an Irish horseperson who has represented their home country on...

Marie revels in Melody Belle’s double achievement

By Denis Ryan, RaceFormWhile the entire racing industry was applauding Melody Belle’s history-sharing win in the Gr. 1 Thorndon Mile at Trentham, the mighty mare’s breeder Marie Leicester doubled down on her celebrations. The widely publicised accolade was drawing equal with Sunline as the most prolific Group One winner in New Zealand racing history. Not only was this Melody Belle’s 13th Group One success, but just as significant for Leicester was that it was her 18th in total, taking her ...

Feeding Weanlings to Yearlings

Management after weaning The nutritional management of a weanling will depend a lot on the commercial end point of the horse.  Horses being prepared for sales as yearlings will require more intensive management than those that are to be left in the paddock until breaking-in. Both sets of horses will require a good balanced diet and steady growth but maintaining good growth rates are of key importance for sales horses.  It will be necessary for sales horses to have a well developed top ...

Feeding Fibre in the Summer – making the best plan for health and performance with Fiber Fresh

Now that many areas are experiencing long hot summer days, this means pastures will be drying out and becoming depleted in volume, quality digestible protein and many essential nutrients that the horse needs in its diet on a daily basis.  The dry matter (or in many cases dead matter), increases significantly in summer compared to all other seasons (Hirst RL 2012), resulting in a higher level of indigestible fibre being consumed. The energy value of the pasture also significantly reduces in...

First ITBF Webinar a Resounding Success!

No less than 410 people from 34 countries on 6 continents registered to attend the webinar Thoroughbred Breeding in Today’s World– Challenges, Threats and Opportunities.   Video and Slides now available to view on our Conferences & Webinars page www.international-tbf.com   ...

South Islander Goes Close to Massive Cup Upset

Over the 147-year history of the Wellington Cup, the famous Trentham two-miler has witnessed any number of upset victories, but none would have been as great as the one that South Island stayer Bluey’s Chance nearly pulled off on Saturday. The Kenny Moore-trained seven-year-old went within a few strides of a remarkable win at odds in excess of $150, succumbing to the late charge of race favourite Waisake in the final few strides and denying Moore and apprentice rider Mereana Hudson a fairytale...

Orphan Foal's Super Sized New Mum

It’s a love born out of heartbreak between a fleet-footed young thoroughbred colt and a 10-year-old clompy. Clydesdale horse, Donnybrook Lucinda, is an unexpected sight in the paddock of Waikato thoroughbred horse stud Windsor Park. But she’s there for a much-needed purpose. To be a new mum to throughbred colt Rory, whose own mum died after giving birth to him.The clydesdale, originally from Scotland, and are a breed of draught horse which were used to work on farms, hauling carts of logs, c...

Sharrock Gets Prized Trophy with Waisake

Race favourite Waisake completed a plan that was eight months in the making when he stormed home to take out the Gr.3 NZ Campus of Innovation & Sport Wellington Cup (3200m) at Trentham on Saturday. Trainer Allan Sharrock had told plenty of people over the past two years he felt the son of Zed was a true two miler in the making and was keen to formulate a plan that had the famous Trentham staying contest as the ultimate prize. That plan began to take shape when Waisake was successful over 2000m d...

Melody Belle Equals the Mighty Sunline with Trentham Victory

Dual New Zealand Horse of the Year Melody Belle has equaled the record of the mighty mare Sunline after completing her 13th career Group One win when taking out the Gr.1 Harcourts Thorndon Mile (1600m) at Trentham. The Jamie Richards-trained mare was having her first start since finishing a game third in the Gr.1 McKinnon Stakes (2000m) during the Melbourne spring carnival in November but was confidently expected to dispose of her seven rivals after a sparkling run at the Matamata trials earlier...

Force Of Will Too Strong in Desert Gold Stakes

Matamata visitor Force Of Will carried on her winning way when she proved too strong for her rivals in the Gr.3 New Zealand Bloodstock Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) on Saturday. The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained filly travelled south to Trentham off the back of consecutive wins at Tauranga, including an eye-catching performance against the older horses over 1400m at her last start. Stepped up to the mile against her own age and sex this time, the Power filly travelled sweetly in midfi...

Ardsley Stud Play Key Role in Bumper Day at Karaka

Wairarapa’s Ardsley Stud enjoyed a red-letter day at Karaka on Thursday as they produced two memorable pieces of magic in the auction ring. Principal Jim Wallace had been expecting good things from their thirteen-strong draft over the Book 1 & 2 sessions of the National Yearling sale but was staggered by the results on the second day of Book 2 as they produced the equal best price of $150,000 for the Thursday session as well as the fourth best for good measure. Wallace started day two with a b...