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Wellington branch celebrates breeding success

The Wellington Branch of the NZTBA held their annual awards evening last Thursday recognising the achievements of local breeders. The event, run in conjunction with the annual general meeting, was held at the QT Museum Hotel and saw breeders of six stakes winners honoured with Breeding Excellence Awards. Bagalollies, dam of Gr.1 Australasian Oaks (2000m) winner Toffee Tongue, was named as Broodmare of the Year while the coveted Horse of the Year Award was won by Two Illicit and presented to her ...

The grandfathers who controlled the relatives of Phar Lap

by Brian de LoreFirst published 31st July 2020 The grandfathers of both Nick Wigley and Victoria Woodley between them made two purchases between 80 and 90 years ago that determined the destiny of the family of Phar Lap and set the scene for the future success of Inglewood Stud in North Canterbury. Nick Wigley and Victoria Woodley are both long-time members of the Canterbury Jockey Club and, for many years, knew one another by sight only, but had never had a formal introduction. Both were oblivio...

Group One placing for Hello Youmzain

Dual Group One winner Hello Youmzain just came up short of adding a third elite-level victory to his burgeoning CV when finishing runner-up to Space Blues in Gr.1 Prix Maurice de Gheest (1300m) at Deauville over the weekend. Owned by Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay in partnership with Haras d’Etreham, the son of Kodiac is destined join the Waikato farm’s stallion roster. Trainer Kevin Ryan has been impressed by the horse from day dot and he said he is hoping to secure more G...

NZTR regional roadshows

NZ Thoroughbred Racing will be conducting regional roadshows around the country as the industry adapts to the changes brought about by the Racing Industry Act 2020. The first of the roadshows will be held in the South Island this week, commencing at the Ascot Park Hotel in Invercargill at 10am on Thursday, 13 August.  Later that evening, between 4 and 6pm it will be the turn of Otago industry participants and stakeholders to engage with NZTR Board chairman Dr Alan Jackson, chief executive ...

New sponsor for new National Breeding Awards

The inaugural National Breeding Awards to be held in Cambridge later this month will be sponsored by Hamilton based Ebbett Volkswagen as part of a new partnership agreement with the NZTBA.To be known as the Ebbett VW NZTBA National Breeding Awards, the event will honour the Sir Patrick and Justine, Lady Hogan Breeder of the Year, the Eight Carat Broodmare of the Year sponsored by Arion Pedigrees and the three Champion stallion trophies being the Dewar (Australasian earnings), Centaine (Worldwide...

Ladd was such a driving force for breeders

Next Monday will mark the farewell to one of the unsung promoters of the New Zealand racing and breeding industry with the funeral of Ronald Walter Ladd, QSM. Ladd, who died peacefully at the Cascades Rest Home in Hamilton last Monday at the age of 93, made a huge impression through his services to racing and breeding, an input which resulted in him becoming a Life Member of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association and the Te Aroha Jockey Club. Ladd also served on the NZTBA council a...

Wyndspelle on parade

Group One winner Wyndspelle will be on parade at the Hawera racecourse on Saturday ahead of his debut season at stud. The son of Iffraaj will be on show to the public between races two and three, with breeders encouraged to speak with Grangewilliam Stud Principal Marc Corcoran on the day about the discounted fee on offer and the limited number of lifetime breeding rights available. A winner of the Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m), Wyndspelle competed in top-flight races across five seasons, perf...

Vale Emma Evans

The thoroughbred industry lost one of its most passionate supporters with the passing of Emma Evans recently. An enthusiastic and popular breeder and owner, Emma was literally born into the industry having made her arrival amidst the excitement of her mother and Aunt May winning a race at Avondale with their horse Pine Park at odds of 172 pounds. Her grandmother raced horses as far back as the 1920’s, an interest she passed to her daughters May Wilson and Phyllis Hamilton (Emma’s mother), a...

Valachi Downs offer transport incentive

Valachi Downs will be offering breeders a free transport option between Wellfield Lodge near Palmerston North and their Matamata farm for the upcoming breeding season. The incentive is for mares booked to any one of Valachi Downs’ five stallions – Ten Sovereigns, US Navy Flag, Zacinto, Vespa, and Savile Row. The first shuttle transport between the two farms is scheduled to take place on August 10. For more information, or to book a stallion service, please email: gareth.downey@valachidowns.c...

Belardo makes presence felt in both hemispheres

With just two more days until he arrives on farm, Haunui’s exciting young sire Belardo (IRE) (Lope De Vega) is making his presence felt in both hemispheres.The final day of the Goodwood carnival saw Belardo land his sixth first crop winner to date and after five filly winners, he got the monkey of his back with his first colt to salute the judge. Lining up for his second start, TITAN ROCK ran out an impressive winner over 7f and in the process, claimed a Tattersall’s Bonus for his connection...

Book full for Ocean Park

Waikato Stud has confirmed that the 2020 book is full for rising star stallion Ocean Park (NZ). The Cox Plate winner served 153 mares in 2019 and had been available for a service fee of $20,000 for the upcoming breeding season. The 2019-20 season was a breakout year for Ocean Park, who won the Dewar Award for champion New Zealand-based sire by total progeny earnings between New Zealand and Australia. This is the eighth straight year that a Waikato Stud stallion has won this prize – O’Reilly ...

Evans remembered for her massive input as owner-breeder

Emma Evans didn’t get the send-off her long-time trainer Wayne Hillis had hoped to provide for her at Matamata on Saturday, but she will be long remembered for her involvement in the racing industry as a passionate owner and breeder. Evans passed away early on Saturday morning and that afternoon Hillis was hoping Watch This Space could recapture his best form and provide a fitting farewell to his Whitford owner-breeder. But the Group Two winner, with stable apprentice Darren Danis aboard sport...

Windsor Park Stud mourn loss of Rip Van Winkle

It is with a heavy heart that Windsor Park Stud announce the loss of their very successful sire Rip Van Winkle following a short illness. By the world’s best sire Galileo, Rip Van Winkle had just completed his most successful season with a stellar year on the racetrack that included Group One winning stars Te Akau Shark and NZB Filly of The Year Jennifer Eccles. “It’s a devastating blow for us and the industry losing a successful sire, especially one who has just enjoyed a great season on ...

Sweynesse champion first season sire

The champion first season sire for 2019-20 is Novara Park’s Sweynesse, who sired three winners including Bonita Aurelia, who won the Gr.3 Taranaki 2YO Classic (1200m) and placed in the Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m). The highly regarded Walkthisswey was an impressive recent winner at Riccarton. “It’s a really good result, and a great way for the stallion to start his career,” said Novara Park manager Ray Knight. “It’s been a funny old year for everyone with Covid-19, but it...

Charm Spirit goes back-to-back

Twelve months after being crowned New Zealand’s champion first season sire, Windsor Park shuttle stallion Charm Spirit has added a second season title to his CV. The son of Invincible Spirit sired four winners in New Zealand in 2019-20, three of them at black-type level. Aretha, who had been the standout performer in Charm Spirit’s first crop of two-year-olds, added the Gr.3 Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) at Hastings in September, while Lilikoi captured the Gr.3 Eulogy Stakes (1600m) and placed i...

Little Avondale marks major milestone

Wairarapa nursery Little Avondale Stud has added another major milestone to its rich history, celebrating 80 years of operation. Founded as Te Parae Stud and passed down through three generations of the Williams family, New Zealand’s oldest family-owned stud has amassed a proud list of accomplishments. There have been famous names such as Sunbride and Oncidium, and in 1974 they were the very first in Australasia to crack the $100,000 mark for a yearling. “This anniversary is a pretty special...

An update from Dean McKenzie

Good afternoon,  This Saturday, 1 August 2020, the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) will become TAB New Zealand (TAB NZ). The change marks a significant milestone in the history of the TAB and the racing industry. It also brings to an end a 13-month period of transitioning, as RITA, from the New Zealand Racing Board. The creation of TAB NZ is part of the final steps in a transformation that started back in April 2018 when John Messara was appointed by the Minister for Racing Rt H...

2020 gavelhouse.com stallion parade schedule

Saturday 22nd August 9am Valachi Downs (165 Buckland Road, Matamata)Savile Row (NZ)Ten Sovereigns (IRE)US Navy Flag (USA)Vespa (NZ)Zacinto (GB) 10.15am Mapperley StudComplacent (AUS)Contributer (IRE)Puccini 10.50am Seaton Park The Heights, 5 Henry Watson RoadOcean Emperor (Standing at Weona Park)Wyndspelle (Standing at Grangewilliam Stud) 11.30am Waikato Stud + lunchArdrossan (AUS)Ocean ParkSavabeel (AUS)Super Seth (AUS)Tivaci 1pm Rich Hill StudAce High (AUS)Proisir (AUS)Satono Aladdin (JPN...

Complacent sires first winner

Mapperley Stud stallion Complacent made the perfect start to his stallion career at Ipswich on Thursday when his first starter Calm Seeker was victorious over 1350m. Despite enduring a tough three-wide trip, Calm Seeker powered away from his rivals to win by a length and a quarter with a bit in reserve under Michael Cahill for trainer Matt Kropp. “We were really happy with his effort,” Kropp said. “Not a lot went right. Mick Cahill was hoping to get in and just said it was a pretty ugly ol...

New editor at the helm of RaceForm

Next week marks the return of New Zealand’s stand-alone racing publication RaceForm, and with that a change at the helm following the appointment of Liz Whelan as editor. For more than five years from mid-2012 Whelan was a familiar face to Trackside viewers, most closely associated with the greyhound code. In early 2018 she moved to Australia, where she was employed as the media and communications manager at Country Racing Victoria. Covid-19 precipitated Whelan’s decision to return to New Ze...

NZB Update- Karaka 2021

Karaka 2021 Sales Update on behalf of NZB Managing Director Andrew Seabrook in regard to the Covid-19 situation  Dear Breeders,  On behalf of New Zealand Bloodstock, I would like to give you a further update on the 2021 National Yearling Sales at Karaka.   We believe that a trans-Tasman bubble is very important to the success of the Sale, and given the current outbreaks of COVID-19 in Victoria, a January Sale is looking more and more unlikely.  After consulting a number ...

Ocean Park shares spoils with Savabeel

A breakthrough season has ended on the perfect note for rising star Waikato Stud stallion Ocean Park, siring another impressive city winner on the final Saturday of the 2019-20 season. Three-year-old filly High Emocean scored a stylish two-length victory at Caulfield on Saturday, the fourth win of her nine-start career. She is one of 43 individual winners in Australia this term for Ocean Park, whose runners have amassed an impressive total of A$$10,095,873 throughout the season. He sits in 12th ...

Egan generously supports National Awards

Waikato breeder Joan Egan, owner of Legacy Lodge, is getting behind the inaugural NZTBA National Breeding Awards being held at Cambridge next month, sponsoring the Sir Patrick and Justine Lady Hogan Breeder of the Year Award. “I am delighted to sponsor this award,” Egan said earlier this week. “Sir Patrick and Justine Lady Hogan have an outstanding record from their years establishing and developing Cambridge Stud. “We don’t hear anything about excellence these days. This is the word t...

Last Opportunity to Secure Pearl Series Bonuses for the Season

There are limited opportunities remaining this season for NZB Insurance Pearl Series registered fillies and mares to secure Pearl bonuses, as well as the one-off incentive for second-placegetters running until the end of July. The first of three NZB Insurance Pearl Series races taking place this weekend is the Maiden 1200m event at Wanganui, where six Pearl registered fillies and mares have been accepted among a mixed sex field of 11 runners. Pukekohe Park’s meeting on Saturday will see the r...

Becca Perry joins family bloodstock business

Bruce Perry Bloodstock is becoming a family affair with Perry’s daughter Becca joining the Wairarapa-based bloodstock agency. Since leaving school Becca has completed a Bachelor’s degree and spent time living and travelling around the United States. Upon her return to New Zealand she joined the travel industry in Wellington. Perry said it was always her plan to become more involved in her family’s business and with the impact COVID-19 is having on the travel sector she thought it was an i...