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Horse road transport set to resume

Horse transport by road is set to resume when the country moves into Covid-19 Alert Level 3 at 11:59pm next Monday. Leading horse transport business Majestic Horse Floats said they are now taking bookings for next week. “We will have strict protocols in place to keep both clients and our staff safe,” Majestic Horse Floats said in a statement. “We will endeavour to keep to the 2m separation rule.” Demand is expected to be high and Majestic Horse Floats is calling for patience. “Due to a...

Super Seth retires to Waikato Stud

Group One winner Super Seth will retire to Waikato Stud this season, giving breeders access to the first Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) winner to stand in New Zealand in three decades. Super Seth won five of his 12 career starts, highlighted by his victory in last year’s Caulfield Guineas. He will stand at Waikato Stud at an introductory fee of $35,000 + GST. Waikato Stud principal Mark Chittick said consideration had been given to furthering Super Seth’s racing career, but with uncertainty ...

Curraghmore a proven source of Group winners

The Championships in Sydney have been compulsory viewing for many during the COVID-19 lockdown with the success of New Zealand exports, both equine and human a welcome diversion. One viewer celebrating over the weekend was Curraghmore's Gordon Cunningham. Two of his farm’s graduates Tofane (Ocean Park – Baggy Green[AUS]) and Kinane (Reliable Man[GB]-Tres Rapide) raced away with group race spoils winning the Gr.1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) and Gr.3 Frank Packer Plate (2000m) respectively. “It ...

Novara Park announce 2020 service fees

Novara Park, near Cambridge, have announced that service fees will remain unchanged for the forthcoming 2020 breeding season for their exciting young stallion duo of Sweynesse and Staphanos. Sweynesse is the Leading New Zealand First Season Sire on earnings, winners and stakes-winners and while in previous years this would normally lead to an increase in service fee, Novara Park have decided to keep his service fee unchanged at $6,000+GST. From limited two-year-old runners Sweynesse already has...

Draft racing calendar released

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) has released a proposed calendar for August through to early November to give owners, trainers and racing participants some certainty for the next six months.  This follows the RITA announcement for consultation of the revised racing calendar for the balance of the 2019/20 racing year earlier on Tuesday, which included the month of July for Thoroughbred Racing. “We acknowledge that the situation in the national fight against Covid-19 is changing ra...

Westbury Stud stallion proving to be reliable

Westbury Stud stallion Reliable Man bolstered his CV on the weekend when his son Kinane took out the Gr.3 Frank Packer Plate (2000m) at Randwick on Saturday. The Chris Waller-trained gelding has now recorded two wins from just four starts and with Saturday’s victory he became his sire’s seventh Group winner and 11th stakes winner. Westbury Stud General Manager Russell Warwick was delighted with the result and is excited about the gelding’s prospects. “He looks pretty smart,” Warwick sa...

NZTR update: 20.4.2020

NZTR provide an update on Monday, April 20The announcement this afternoon by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, that New Zealand would move to Alert Level 3 from 11.59pm on Monday, 27 April, was greeted with cautious optimism by NZTR. The Prime Minister said that following two weeks at Alert level 3, a further review and alert level decision will be made on May 11. Over the past few weeks NZTR has developed protocols to enable training, trialling and racing to be safely conducted under COVID-19 leve...

Waikato Stud celebrate further success for resident stallion Ocean Park

There was plenty of cause for celebration amongst the Waikato region’s thoroughbred breeding fraternity on Saturday afternoon following the running of the Gr.1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick. The nail-biting last stride victory by Tofane provided a triumph for both her breeder, Curraghmore Principal Gordon Cunningham, along with Waikato Stud and their resident stallion Ocean Park who is the sire of the Mike Moroney-trained four-year-old mare. Also celebrating were Kevin and Joanne H...

White legacy continues

In 2006, a filly by Zabeel out of Carmina Burana came into the world in the usual way, but her appearance was anything but normal. The three-quarter sister to champion galloper Might And Power was pure white in colour.  "It is a pure-bred thoroughbred and I don't think there would be too many foals born pure white, as white as driven snow,” legendary studmaster Sir Patrick Hogan said at the time. “You just don't get that colour. In the 65 years I've seen foals being born, it's the fir...

gavelhouse.com set to launch enhanced site

In conjunction with parent company New Zealand Bloodstock, industry leader in online thoroughbred and standardbred sales, gavelhouse.com, will launch an enhanced platform in May named Gavelhouse Plus. With a focus on innovation and servicing clients in the best possible way, General Manager Haylie Martin has been keen to take the platform to another level. “Gavelhouse Plus is an idea that has been bubbling away for a while and the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic gave us the impet...

Breeder reaches Group One goal

Matamata horseman Mark Lupton has been associated with a few good horses in his time, some of them even Group One performers, but nothing compares to winning the Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) with Etah James (Raise The Flag [GB]-Etah). “I am trying to come to grips with it all, it’s amazing really,” Lupton said a couple of days after the win. “Now that I have watched the replay so many times it is beginning to feel real. You wish for all these things and now I am really starting to believe tha...

Champion galloper Might And Power passes away

Champion galloper Might And Power has died aged 26 after a bout with colic. The New Zealand born and bred thoroughbred superstar, who took out the Gr.1 Caufield Cup (2400m) and Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) double in in 1997, was a resident of the Living Legends retirement home near Melbourne and was rushed to Werribee Equine Centre on Saturday night but could not be saved. Bred by Windsor Park Stud in Cambridge the son of champion sire Zabeel was owned by Sydney businessman Nick Moraitis, trained ...

Two times the celebrations for White Robe Lodge

By Lloyd JacksonWhite Robe Lodge and the Anderton family had much to celebrate on Easter Saturday when their resident stallion, Raise the Flag (Sadler’s Wells), sired his first Group One winner after Etah James took out the Sydney Cup (3200m). Etah James’ stamina was two fold at Randwick. The 3200m is a test in itself but combined with the gluey track she had to be extra tough. The way she stuck to her task was typical of what New Zealand-bred stayers are renowned for. Raise The Flag, a beau...

Toffee Tongue adds to family legacy

Regally bred filly Toffee Tongue added to her family’s rich legacy when finishing runner-up behind Colette in the Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick on Saturday. The Chris Waller-trained daughter of Tavistock is a full-sister to former Hong Kong Horse of the Year Werther, Group One performer Milseain, and Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) winner Gobstopper. She earnt black-type when second behind Colette in the Gr.2 Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m) a week prior and is now on the way towards paying ...

Kiwi mare lands Sydney Cup

Jockey Glen Boss considered her his best long-shot ride in a Group One race and Kiwi mare Etah James (NZ) (Raise The Flag) has proven him right, upsetting her more fancied rivals to win the Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick. Making her debut for co-trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, the well-travelled mare has spent most of her career in Victoria with Matt Cumani before a brief stint with part-owner and New Zealand trainer Mark Lupton. Transferred for a Sydney Cup campaign, Etah James ha...

Return to Racing - further clarity

A Tuesday morning conference call involving NZ Thoroughbred Racing personnel and some 50 club representatives provided further clarity of the path towards the resumption of racing. NZTR CEO Bernard Saundry (pictured) chaired the conference call, repeating earlier indications of the intense work taking place between the codes, RITA and Government in finding a way for racing through the current Covid-19 lockdown. “We need to ascertain what will get us through to the end of the year and what 202...

Shout The Bar and the Foxbridge Connection

by Lloyd JacksonAt just her fourth raceday appearance Shout The Bar (Not A Single Doubt) certainly had her work cut out against rival star fillies Probabeel (Savabeel) and Funstar (Adelaide) when taking out the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr.1, 2000m) at Rosehill on Saturday, March 28th. Her performance was aided by a clever ride from Adam Hyeronimus, leading somewhat comfortably from the jump then applying the pressure from the 600m. Having saved some of her energy earlier in the race she therefore had...

Zebrowski brightens Windsor Park bubble

A stirring performance from promising three-year-old Zebrowksi in Saturday’s Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m), at just his sixth career start, has lifted the spirits of the team currently in lockdown at Windsor Park Stud in Cambridge. Bred and co-owned by the Stud, the Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes-trained Savabeel gelding fought for all he was worth before going under by just a neck to the Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Quick Thinker in a thrilling finish to one of the feature events o...

Dunstan Feeds- Tips for feeding during Lockdown

The past week has turned many of our lives upside down in one way or another.  The same thing has occurred for many horses around the Country that were in full work, preparing to race, or racing and now find themselves out for a spell. For horses that have had an abrupt end to training it is important to reduce their feed intake in response to their reduction in calorie expenditure.  In most racehorse diets this will involve moving them to a lower energy feed. However, if there is plen...

Update from the New Zealand Farriers Association

The New Zealand Farriers Association have posted the below letter to to their members via their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/NzfaNzFarriersAssociation/ They will only attend cases that are extreme or critical and deemed a welfare issue, under the New Zealand Government Alert level four . If you need to contact a farrier you will in the first instance contact your veterinarian  who will advise your farrier. It is imperative that you remember to follow all the advised self dist...

End of the Road for Wellfield sire

Road To Rock, the sire of dual Hong Kong Horse Of The Year Beauty Generation, passed away last week. The Wellfield Lodge stallion had been battling laminitis issues in recent years and the tough decision was made to euthanise the dual Group One winner. “He has had laminitis issues, which we have been managing for some time,” Wellfield Lodge director Bill Gleeson said. “It got to the stage last week where we had to make a welfare decision on him, which was unfortunate.” Road To Rock recor...

Vale Fiona Bassett

Michelle Saba pays tribute to Fiona Bassett who died last month Loyal, dedicated, capable and a very good horsewoman are just some of the words used to describe and remember Fiona Bassett by her friends. Fiona Rachel Bassett died last month in Hawkes Bay, the area she grew up in.  Raised on a sheep and beef farm with two brothers Andrew and Greg, she always loved animals and rode from a very early age. At 17 she ventured down the road – Valley Road to be precise, to Byerley Thoroughbreds ...

UPDATE FROM NZTR

1 April 2020Dear Racing Participants and Owners,On behalf of NZTR, we want to provide you an update on the work we are doing in these unprecedented times.The New Zealand racing industry, like many businesses, faces critical challenges as a consequence of COVID-19.The NZTR Board has met regularly over the past two weeks discussing the lockdown, the economic and social impacts, what cuts we can make, and how do we return to racing. There has been significant work undertaken by an industry working ...

Verry Elleegant continues to fly the flag for sire

Verry Elleegant has been the flagbearer for her sire Zed in recent times and she further enhanced his profile on Saturday when winning the Gr.1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) at Rosehill. A son of legenday sire Zabeel, Zed has sired two individual Group One winners, with 2013 Gr.1 Makfi Challenge Stakes (1400m) winner Survived and now the triple Group One winning mare. Verry Elleegant had been in good form heading into Saturday, finishing fourth in the Gr.2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) before runner-up perfor...

Elleegant victory in unusual circumstances for Goodwin

Thoroughbred breeder Don Goodwin admits he is doing it tough at the moment but not in a way that most would think. Goodwin and his wife Christina are currently in lockdown along with the rest of the country, which means that they can’t travel to support their pride and joy Verry Elleegant when she competes. The Goodwins were on hand to witness the first two runs of this campaign for the Zed mare they bred and still own a share in, which yielded a fourth in the Gr.2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) and th...