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Vale Chris Luoni

A gentleman with a strong sense of fairness is how New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association President John Thompson described the late Chris Luoni. “Chris was an active member of the Waikato Branch and served on the Council and it’s executive for many years,” Thompson said. “He was very big on governance and ensuring that things were done correctly. With his knowledge of Bloodstock taxation and GST he was a great asset to the NZTBA and the wider industry framing many of the curre...

Sixth horse ambulance ready for racing’s re-start

Otago equine veterinarian, Dr Peter Gillespie, is proud to personally deliver the latest horse ambulance manufactured at TL MacLean’s Dunedin workshop to its new home base in Auckland. Dr Gillespie and his colleague, Dr Bill Bishop, came up with the idea of a national horse ambulance service eight years ago and Dr Gillespie acknowledges the hard work and determination of NZHAT Trust Chair Martin Burns to help make it happen. The Trust has worked closely with New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, H...

Strong LA Draft for National Sale

Little Avondale Stud are confident the New Zealand Bloodstock National Weanling Sale will continue the successful trend of previous auctions having had to move to an online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wairarapa nursery will offer a select line-up of youngsters in the auction to run on plus.gavelhouse.com, including two by their exciting young shuttle stallion Time Test. Weanlings from the first southern hemisphere crop of Dubawi’s dual Group Two winning son Time Test have generate...

Ocean Emperor stud fee announced

Three-time Group Two winning son of Zabeel, Ocean Emperor, will stand for a fee of $6,000+GST for the forthcoming breeding season, a reduction from $7,000+GST at his initial season at stud last year. Retired to Gary and Jenny Hennessy’s Weowna Park, Ocean Emperor covered 20 mares in his inaugural season at stud. A $450,000 yearling purchase at Karaka from the draft of Waikato Stud, Ocean Emperor had 28 starts for Gary Hennessy and recorded nine wins and five placings, headed by the Gr.2 Japan...

Golden Melody gives Belardo first winner at Haydock

Multiple Group One winner and Haunui Farm shuttle sire, Belardo recorded his first winner on Sunday when Golden Melody scored at the first time of asking at Haydock. The juvenile filly, trained by William Haggas, started 4-1 co-third favourite in the seven-runner novice event over 1200m and ran out an eye-catching two and a quarter-length winner over Star Of Emaraaty. James Doyle, the winning jockey, was impressed with the filly’s professional attitude and ability. "They said Golden Melody was...

Windsor Park bids farewell to Falkirk

Emotions stirred at Windsor Park Stud recently when their team said their final goodbyes and paid tributes to their old mate and resident sire Falkirk. Succumbing to the infirmities of aging, 20-year-old Falkirk was laid to rest at Windsor Park, the farm where he was born and raised and where he had enjoyed a successful stallion career following equally successful exploits on the racetrack. Falkirk was an unbeaten Group winner in four New Zealand starts before embarking overseas to win further G...

Industry loses great contributor

Chris Luoni, one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame and a past chairman has passed away in Hamilton overnight after a battle with illness. Luoni, an accountant by profession, had been an avid racing fan since his teenage years following the fortunes of his father George’s high-class racehorse of the 1970s, Happy Union. He experienced success as a breeder and owner with horses such as stakes winners Ma Danseuse and Oliverdance, and he also rac...

Equine exports resume

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has completed testing all adult horses considered at risk of contracting Theileria equi infection through association with an infected imported thoroughbred mare at Cambridge Stud. All 263 tests have returned negative results. The horse concerned was imported to New Zealand for breeding purposes in February 2019 and was found to be infected with Theileria equi as part of standard export certification prior to onward shipment to Australia. The horse has n...

Yesberg hoping for strong sale

Lady Zafira caught Paul Yesberg’s eye when she won the Listed Pegasus Stakes Handicap (1000m) in 2016, so much so that he bought her and is now offering her Reliable Man yearling through New Zealand Bloodstock’s South Island Sale on plus.gavelhouse.com. “The reason I bought the mare was that she won the race that I sponsor at Cup week – The Yesberg Insurance Pegasus Stakes,” Yesberg said. “She’s a beautiful yearling and was going to go to Karaka but she cut her leg in October last ...

Tapper has clear view on future

Timaru-based Clearview Park Stud will offer four lots at the New Zealand Bloodstock South Island Sale, which is being conducted online for the first time in its history due to COVID-19 disruptions. The sale, which concludes on Sunday, is hosted on gavelhouse.com’s new online platform, Gavelhouse Plus and Clearview Park’s Aaron Tapper said he was pleased with his all colt draft, while he also has an eye to the spring, where the first foals of resident sire Jon Snow are eagerly awaited. “I�...

Brighthill Fee initiative

In response to these testing times Brighthill Farm in conjunction with their stallion partners have created an initiative designed to assist breeders for the upcoming season to continue their breeding operations.We have great confidence in our stallion roaster for the season approaching. All three stallions are highly credentialed and have strong appeal both domestically and internationally. We hope this initiative will assist breeders to make positive decisions now that will have them well posi...

First Crop Sire Focus: Satono Aladdin

Satono Aladdin is the only Group 1 winning son of breed shaping Japanese stallion Deep Impact to stand in New Zealand. He has a world class female pedigree and is an exciting sire prospect being a Group 1 winning Japanese miler who possessed a devastating turn of foot. Satono Aladdin was a NZ$1.7 million dollar foal purchase himself and he has consistently stamped his foals with his own quality and athleticism.      “His first crop Japanese foals sold up to NZ$847,000 and a...

First Crop Sire Focus: War Decree

The winner of the esteemed Gr.2 Goodwood Vintage Stakes (7f) in the second fastest time in history, War Decree is a direct descendant of the globally influential matriarch Terlingua.He is from the family of breed shaping sires Royal Academy and Storm Cat, and as a son of globally influential sire War Front, War Decree has plenty of appeal as a stallion.He covered 93 mares in his first season and the resulting foals are furnishing into lovely weanlings that are complemented by all ...

First online sale for Mansfield Farm

This year’s New Zealand Bloodstock South Island Sale has taken plenty of getting used to by Mansfield Farm’s Kaye Sanders. The sale has been moved online to plus.gavelhouse.com and it is the first time the Canterbury horsewoman has had first-hand experience with an online auction. Sanders has three yearlings on offer in the sale including lot 33, the Zacinto colt out of a half-sister to Group One performer Vittoria; lot 53, the Highly Recommended colt out of a half-sister to Group One winner...

Pinhooking Gold Available in National Weanling Sale

Astute pinhookers will again have the chance to secure future Yearling Sale or Ready To Run prospects in the 2020 edition of the New Zealand Bloodstock Weanling Sale to be run from June 11 to 21. Over the last few editions of the Karaka May Sale and its predecessor the National Weanling, Broodmare & Mixed Bloodstock Sale, there is a long list of pinhook purchases who fetched significantly higher prices when returning to the auction ring the following year. Multiple Group One winners Gingernuts a...

Thoroughbred Racing resumption brought forward

Thoroughbred racing will resume earlier than anticipated with the Counties Racing Club hosting a meeting on Saturday 20 June. New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) announced the move on Thursday based on feedback from trainers who have indicated they had horses ready to return to the track sooner than the planned resumption in early July. “We are delighted we can resume earlier than originally expected,” NZTR chief executive Bernard Saundry said. “Our first race meetings since lockdown wi...

Walker excited about digital move

Canterbury breeder Susan Walker has been selling yearlings at New Zealand Bloodstock’s South Island Sale for several decades and she is enjoying the sale’s unique take this year. The sale has moved online to the gavelhouse.com plus platform as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and Walker hailed New Zealand Bloodstock for the move. “I just thought thank God New Zealand Bloodstock has come up with an idea where we can part with our horses,” Walker said. “I have been selling them at the S...

Extended terms for RITA directors

Minister for Racing Winston Peters has announced that the terms for the directors of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) have been extended to 30 June 2021. Due to the COVID-19 crisis the transition period has been extended to ensure that the Racing Industry Bill can complete its progress through the House at a time when the current focus on the Covid-19 response is reduced. “We knew from the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis that the racing industry was facing an unparalleled crisis i...

Breeder riding the wave

Milan Park principal Tony Rider has had a busy time of late. Rider and his team at Pak ‘N’ Save Clarence St, Hamilton, have been run off their feet supplying customers over the COVID-19 lockdown period. “It’s been full on, but it’s been good,” he said. “There have been some challenges that we have never come across before. “We had to change our business style to what we had to do. “But hopefully by this time next week we should be back to just about normal.” While Rider didn...

Ellis humbled by Queen’s Birthday Honour

Te Akau principal David Ellis, who received the Outstanding Contribution to Racing Award in 2017, has added further distinction to his lifetime of work within New Zealand’s thoroughbred racing industry with his appointment as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Ellis received letters of notification from the Prime Minister and Governor General that he had this honour confirmed by Her Majesty the Queen in recognition of his services to th...

Coveted stallion service on offer to support spinal cord research

A service to one of Australia’s most sought-after stallions will be on offer in the 2020 edition of the New Zealand Bloodstock Weanling Sale. The annual auction, this year operated online due to restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, will include a service to Darley stallion Microphone to be sold on behalf of the CatWalk Trust. A son of Exceed and Excel, Microphone was Champion two-year-old of his year and delivered an exceptional performance to win the Gr.1 Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) aft...

Equine exports near return

Ongoing Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) testing is providing optimism that the discovery of Theileria equi infection is a single, isolated case. The horse concerned was imported to New Zealand by Cambridge Stud for breeding purposes in February 2019 and returned a suspected positive test for Theileria equi as part of standard export certification prior to onward shipment to Australia. Further MPI blood tests confirmed the horse was positive, although it had displayed no signs of illness in...

Son of Snitzel takes up Hawke’s Bay stud duties

The Hawke’s Bay breeding industry has been bolstered by the announcement that Sneaking To Win, a well-bred son of Snitzel, will commence stud duties for local breeders Steve Brougham and Jenni Tomlins this season. The imposing chestnut raced on three occasions and showed good ability for Peter and Paul Snowden, including a second placing behind subsequent Gr.3 Up & Coming Stakes (1300m) winner Master Ash. A $450,000 yearling, Sneaking To Win’s career was curtailed by a cyst and subsequent co...

South Island Sale underway online

New Zealand thoroughbred auctions have moved into uncharted territory this week with the launch of New Zealand Bloodstock’s South Island Sale on Gavelhouse Plus. The southern yearling session was originally scheduled to be held in Christchurch in April, but was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead it is taking place online on the enhanced Gavelhouse Plus platform, running for 11 days from May 28 to June 7 with a 65-lot catalogue. All unbroken yearlings offered through the 2020 So...

NZB Airfreight on track to resume flights

Following the temporary suspension of equine exports last week due to a positive case of equine piroplasmosis, NZB Airfreight is confident that travel will resume shortly with increased testing and pre-export protocols. The single case of the tick-borne protozoal disease was detected by the Ministry of Primary Industries and grounded flights just two weeks following the resumption of exports post COVID-19. NZB Airfreight has since worked closely with MPI, the Department of Agriculture Australia ...