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Inaugural Waikato Equine Training Scheme Announced

NZTBA Equine Industry Training Education Courses - programme announcement: The Waikato Branch of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association invites students, studmasters, parents, and other interested parties to the inaugural Launch of the 2012 Waikato Breeders Course When: Tuesday 27th March 4-6pm Equine Academy Hannon Road Cambridge Click here to download the flyer: The NZTBA (Waikato Branch) have been delivering an equine breeding education course for a number of years. This year...

Jamie's Blog - March (wk4) 2012

The Biggest Jumping Festival in the World Cheltenham Festival To say I was a little excited about attending the second day of the Cheltenham Festival was a long shot; an underestimation with only one word that could describe what is truly an exceptional days racing, AMAZING. Mark Marris and I headed away on the two and a half hour trip to Cheltenham on Tuesday night and had booked accommodation at The Bull at Fairford, roughly thirty miles away from Cheltenham where we met Andre Klein, the CEO ...

Fay Fay - Another Chapter in an Eighty Year Old Tale

The NZ suffix has become synonymous with the honour roll of the HK-1 Hong Kong Derby in recent years, with Fay Fay (NZ) (Falkirk) continuing the tradition in 2012 with a determined victory in the Sha Tin showpiece. The race has been dominated by New Zealand-bred horses over the past decade, with Aoteroa providing no less than six of the past nine winners including subsequent Hong Kong Champions Ambitious Dragon (NZ) (Pins) and Vengeance of Rain (NZ) (Zabeel). For Wanganui breeders Peter and B...

Jonathan Hope celebrates his first Group One winner

Well known Cambridge veterinarian Jonathon Hope admits to experiencing a few anxious moments awaiting the outcome of the ARC Haunui Farm Diamond Stakes (Gr 1). The race was eventually won on protest by Warhorse (General Nediym [AUS]-Rathlin Island[AUS]) after Rollout The Carpet, who was first past the post, ran an erratic last 400 metres veering across the track and interfering with and taking the line of Warhorse. In a valiant effort, Warhorse came from a length behind Rollout The Carpet at th...

Sensational Win Very Satisfying for Pedigree Aficionado

The triple group one Auckland Cup winner Shez Sinsational(Ekraar[USA]-Original Sin) is everything pedigree aficionado Peter Jenkins hoped she would be. Jenkins who is currently on the staff at Arrowfield in Sydney was working in New Zealand for Stoneybridge at the time and when they imported the Red Ransom (USA) stallion Ekraar he set about deciding which mares would best suit him. Original Sin was amongst the racing team of the Karaka Group a part of Stoneybridge at that time and was selected...

Jamie's Blog - March 2012

Cheverly Park Bound… Firstly I think I should briefly introduce myself, my name is Jamie Richards and I'm twenty-two years old from Dunedin in the South Island. Prior to being awarded this scholarship I had worked mainly in racing stables, with my dad Paul having his own stables on the family farm (where I would much rather be than at school), as well spending the summer holiday periods with Mark Walker, Mark Kavanagh, Steven Ramsay and Julia Ritchie, all of which were great learning opportun...

Long Standing Friendship produces Matamata Breeders' Stakes Winner

A passion for thoroughbreds forged a friendship many years ago between the Hong Kong based English born New Zealander Mathew Oram, and New Zealand Bloodstock's International Bloodstock agent John Cameron, and now they are enjoying the thrill of racing a good horse. Along with their wives Elizabeth Oram and Jackie Cameron, William Fan and Moon Lai Tung they bred and race Rollout The Carpet (AUS) (Holy Roman Emperor [IRE] – Out of Egypt[USA]) the winner of the Group Two J Swap Contractors Matama...

Breeders' Bulletin - Autumn 2012

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Making a Tough Job Look 'Super Easy' For Mike Ryan

Singaporean sensation Super Easy (Darci Brahma – Parfore) carries an "NZ" after his name as he was born here, but the story behind this horse is quite international. He is raced in Singapore by the Joy N Happiness stable, and is trained by an Australian, Michael Freedman. He was bred in New Zealand, where his mother Parfore is a resident at Wentwood Grange. His breeder, another Australian, is Mike Ryan who currently lives in Abu Dhabi. A three-year-old son of Darci Brahma, Super Easy is the ...

Henley Park up and running at Karaka Premier

In January 1996, when Sarah Devcich answered the call to help out her childhood mate Robyn Cunningham at the Karaka Premier Yearling sales, little did she know that 16 years later she would be back presenting her own yearling draft at that sale? Under the banner of Henley Park, Sarah presented three yearlings in the Premier Sale and seven in the Select Sale selling one lot, Carol and Chris Chamberlain's Thorn Park (AUS)-Nightmare colt for $190,000, three times his actual reserve. Her O'Reilly â...

Silent Achiever wins the Waikato Guineas for the Hickmans

The impressive win by Silent Achiever (O'Reilly – Winning Spree) in the Group Three H S Dyke Waikato Guineas recently brought both satisfaction and pride to her owner and breeder Kevin Hickman. "We were very thrilled and it was quite nice to win after being told all week that we couldn't beat the colt," said Hickman the owner also of the boutique farm Valachi Downs that sponsored a race earlier in the day at Waikato. The colt in question was Ocean Park (Thorn Park- Sayyida) the favourite for ...

Say No More - what more can you say!

Ex-pat Kiwi Brian Hutchinson, the part-owner and breeder of the group one Thorndon Mile winner Say No More (Pentire[GB]-Our Lucy[AUS]), may be Sydney-based but his thoroughbred interests are firmly established here in New Zealand. "It's a great place to raise horses and an inexpensive way to try them out and get them going," said Hutchinson as he admired Say No More's half brother in the paddock at Club Med Lodge in the Waikato. Hutchinson and two of his partners in Say No More, Terry Boys (al...

Pussy Willow has the Heart of a Lion

Auckland branch NZTBA member Peter Walker is no stranger to winning group races, but the exciting two-year-old filly Pussy Willow (O'Reilly- Octapussy [AUS]) is the first group winner he has bred. Pussy Willow achieved group two status when she won the Little Avondale Stud Wakefield Challenge Stakes at Trentham at only her second start. "The way she won that race she is certainly causing a stir, it was incredible, she just jumped out of the ground and buried them, two-year-olds just don't do t...

Irish Rebel warms up for Karaka Million

With less than six weeks to the restricted listed $1million Karaka Million (29th of January), the debut win of Irish Rebel (Danehill Dancer [Ire]-Ballycairn) at Awapuni recently puts that exciting young colt right in contention for the race. According to Te Akau Stables principal David Ellis who manages Irish Rebel, the Danehill Dancer colt will have a lead up race at Ellerslie on New Year's Day before heading for the Karaka Million. He is currently sixth in order of entry to make the field for...

Wellington Branch's WellBred Newsletter

Click here to read the latest edition of the Wellington Branch's newsletter WELLBRED - Wellington Branch...

Mydiamond Bracelet a Christmas present for Mark Corcoran

Last Saturday Mark Corcoran had tuned into watch the listed Ag and Turf Sprint race from Te Rapa as a mare he bred, Mydiamond Bracelet (Al Akbar – Plain Jill), was a contender. When she hit the front with 300 metres to go he started to get really excited, then his digital reception dropped out and he missed the end of the race. Meanwhile as a part-owner of the said horse I was at Te Rapa with three other syndicate members yelling encouragement and hoping the fast finishing Kaptain Kirkup woul...

Durham Town wins the Concorde for his Whakatane breeders

The breeder of Durham Town (Falkirk-Durham Walk), Debbie Seebeck, wasn't going to miss seeing that horse have his first race in stakes company and insisted that she and husband Peter made the three hour-plus trip from Whakatane to Auckland to see him race in the group two Aussie Butcher Concorde Handicap. After seeing him win that race with ease, they are pleased they were there. Having only his seventh career start, the lightly raced son of Falkirk became that stallion's first stakes winner, ...

Breeders' Bulletin - Summer 2011/12

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Yearling sale pass-in wins the Levin Classic

"What a clever little pony he is!" That's how Windsor Park Stud General Manager Steve Till described Distill (Volksraad [GB] – Fairy Tipsy), the recent winner of the group one Levin Classic for three-year-olds. "It was a great thrill for all of us here at Windsor Park and although he was a relative outsider it didn't surprise us as he had good form as a two-year-old. We knew he needed good ground as he has a big stride for a small horse and in the Levin Classic he got the ground to suit and t...

Postman's Daughter wins the Group 2 Counties Cup for NZTBA member Don Walker

The recent group two DHL Counties Cup winner, Postman's Daughter (Postponed[USA] – Kinjabelle), was back in her paddock in Karaka a couple of hours after winning the event at nearby Pukekohe Park. Inside her breeder/owner/trainer Don "Doc" Walker, was enjoying a couple of quiet drinks with his 'kids', somewhat overwhelmed by the fact that his lightly raced four-year-old mare had actually pulled off the race he had set her for. Walker, a member of the Auckland Branch of the NZTBA, is only tra...

Blood Brotha gives the Anderton family much to celebrate

The winner of the group three Christchurch Casino New Zealand Cup Blood Brotha (Danzighill[AUS] – Laura Dee) stems from a family rich in strength and endurance and it is no surprise to his breeders Brian, Lorraine, Hec and Pat Anderton that he has achieved success in the ultimate staying distance of 3200 metres. "We were thrilled to see him win and it certainly was great to see the old family get another Cup winner and staying success," said Brian Anderton, the proprietor of White Robe Lodge ...

Good Faith brings its share of Grace

Back in 1997 when Good Faith (Straight Strike[USA]- Head of the River [GB]) broke down while winning the group one Sires Produce Stakes the prognosis for her future was not very bright. Thanks to the good faith of her owners and the people they entrusted to care for her, she not only survived that, but she has gone on to produce 11 foals including two stakes winners, Tully Dane (Danehill [USA]) and the recent listed CJC Valachi Downs Breeders Stakes winner Mygoodgrace (Royal Academy[USA]). Accor...

Sangster wins the VRC Derby for NZTBA members Clyde and Pat Buckingham

Once again the Kiwi's have triumphed in the VRC Derby with the New Zealand, bred, owned and trained Sangster (Savabeel-Quinta Special) dishing our a decent galloping lesson to his opposition. Sangster was bred by Emblem Limited the breeding and racing enterprise of Clyde Buckingham and his wife Patricia. He is the first group one winner bred by the couple and understandably they are delighted with the result. "It was marvelous, and what is even more exciting is the fact that we were at the rac...

"The Oaks" and the "All Blacks" had a winning weekend

The team at The Oaks Stud has plenty to look forward to as spring racing gets into full swing especially if recent results are anything to go by. Shuka's (Bachelor Duke [USA]- Alabama Rose) win in the listed Ray Coupland Stakes last Sunday set up a the start of a great afternoon with Tiakinui (Keeper [AUS]-Avelina [GB]) beating Smoulder (Traditionally – Flying Firebird) in the listed Seymour Cup. "It was a great weekend. Shuka's win was pretty impressive - he got passed and flattened right o...

Mufhasa's Australian win great boost for Pentire and Rich Hill

On the day that (King ) Mufhasa (Pentire[GB] – Sheila Cheval) finally showed the Australian racing public that he was capable of winning at group one level in their back yard, his mother back at Rich Hill Stud in Matamata had another date in the breeding barn with Pentire. Even though Mufhasa has been crowned Horse of the Year (2009) and Champion Sprinter (2011) and had won at group one level six times in New Zealand, group one glory had eluded him in Australia. He recently laid that ghost to...