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Good Magic Millions results for NZ studs & sires

Only six New Zealand-based sires and four studs (as catalogued vendors) were represented at the record-breaking first session of the 2007 Magic Millions Sale in Queensland yesterday, but it was pleasing to see them achieve several high prices. Top price for the New Zealand studs acting as vendors was $A450,000 paid by Wan Keung Lee, Hong Kong for Cambridge Stud's Lonhro-Mrs Squillionaire colt. Cambridge also sold the only Zabeel yearling offered yesterday, a colt from Lady Dehere, bought by So...

Karaka yearling videos now online

New Zealand Bloodstock, in conjunction with Sirecam and Equivision, has announced that the first set of videos of selected yearlings in the 2007 National Yearling Sales Series at Karaka, are now online.The second batch will be available for viewing tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, 12 January. Click on the links to each sale to access the relevant online catalogues at New Zealand Bloodstock; then click the camera icon next to each Lot Number: LOT VENDOR COLOUR SEX SIR...

Yearling drafts feature on The Ford Report, 13-19 January

Adrian Clark & The Ford Report team has been back in the field this week and brings you extended coverage on Trackside of yearlings from three prominent consignments at Karaka 2007. Programme content for this edition... * Karaka yearlings: WAIKATO STUD, Matamata * Karaka yearlings: RICH HILL STUD, Matamata * Karaka yearlings: WINDSOR PARK STUD, Cambridge * Pedigree subject: MIKKI STREET, by Cape Cross FIRST PLAY - Saturday, 13 January @ 7.30am (Digital) SECOND PLAY - Sunday, 14 January @...

NZTBA Central Districts yearling parade this Sunday

NZTBA members, owners, trainers, agents and guests are warmly invited to attend the NZTBA Central Districts Yearling Parade, this Sunday afternoon, 14 January (after the Marton Cup meeting at Awapuni on Saturday), beginning at Kim Rennie's new property, Manley Lodge, at 522 Napier Road, Whakaronga, on SH 3, Palmerston North. The Central Districts region of New Zealand, encompassing the Manawatu and PHOTO: Trish Dunell/NZTM Wairarapa regions, has long been a source of to...

Holiday Group Winners Review: Donna Rosita & Dezigna

The conspicuous Group success of owner-breeders this season continued at Ellerslie on New Year's Day, when Donna Rosita won the $200,000 ARC Railway Handicap 1200m G1, and Dezigna took out the $120,000 George Adams Handicap 1600m G2. A relaxed DONNA ROSITA enjoys the attention of the winner's circle at Ellerslie after winning the Railway Handicap G1 on 1 January. PHOTO: Susan Archer Owner-breeders have won 18 of the 41 Group races held in New Zeala...

Holiday Group Winners Review: Mikki Street

Five-year-old Mikki Street gave his owner John Street, and breeders Alastair and Carolyn Ring their biggest successes in 30 years when he won the $200,000 ARC Galaxy S. 2000m G1 at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. Group One winner MIKKI STREET, bred by Alastair & Carolyn Ring, Auckland. PHOTO: NZTM/Trish Dunell Mikki Street ( Cape Cross-Ocean Pearl by Crested Wave) was purchased as a yearling at the 2003 New Zealand Bloodstock Select Sale for $61,000 from the draft of ...

Fast & beautiful Veloce Bella thrills her owner-breeder

Almost a week after Veloce Bella's win in the AvJC Avondale Guineas 1600m G2 last Saturday, the excitement is still evident in the voice of her Hamilton breeder and co-owner Margaret Hardy. "It's almost surreal, Veloce Bella's results have exceeded our expectations. It's indescribable really, a huge thrill!" 2006 Avondale Guineas G2 winner, and Volksraad's 40th SW, VELOCE BELLA PHOTO: NZ Thoroughbred Marketing The three-year-old filly by Volksraad from Wave To Lot...

Jungle Pocket opens account for Class of 2003

The honour of being the first New Zealand-based freshman sire from the “Class of 2003” to leave a southern hemisphere winner has gone to Rich Hill Stud’s Jungle Pocket (Tony Bin-Dance Charmer by Nureyev).     His daughter Lady Sakura (ex Lady Bay by Kingdom Bay; bred by Alan Galbraith) started favourite and won on debut over 1100 metres at the Opunake RC meeting in New Plymouth on Wednesday.  She is trained by Mark Walker for the Te Akau Syndicate No. 9, ...

Tom Burn ends 20 years as NZTBA Wellington President

The word "stalwart" is a 14th century Scottish variant of an Old English compound of two words meaning "foundation, support" and "good, excellent, worthy". That etymology perfectly describes the contribution of Tom Burn to the NZTBA at branch and national level over the past two decades. Tom Burn, NZTBA Wellington president, 1986-2006, & national councillor, 1997-2003 PHOTO: Susan Archer Tom stepped down as NZTBA Wellington president at the branch AGM la...

Well-bred winners collect TBS bonuses

Several particularly well-bred horses are among the 12 qualified winners and placegetters that have collected the healthy total of $28,650 in Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme (TBS) prizemoney during the past fortnight.   At Tauranga on 29 November bonus winners included a daughter of Snap, NZ Filly of the Year, and relatives of G1 Perlin and G2 Growl. Brianna, a half-sister to SW Centennial, won a B bonus race at Avondale last Wednesday, and Tristavel, a half-sister to G1 Russian Pear...

Armada's breeder eyes Hong Kong Mile

Otaki-cum-Cambridge breeder Tom Jamison is hoping that Armada (Towkay-Dance In Time by Red Tempo) will maintain his brilliant form in Sunday’s $NZ3 million HKJC Hong Kong Mile G1. He won the HKJC International Mile Trial HK-2 on 19 November, the day after Pentathon (Pentire-Star Royal by Grosvenor) claimed the CJC New Zealand Cup G2. Both horses were bred by Tom, who shares the honours for Armada with Miss J. Fleming and Mr G.G. James. New Zealand-bred ARMA...

Great Sires book published

A very select group of eight New Zealand stallions (Alcimedes, Beau Pere, Foxbridge, Limond, Martian, Sir Tristram, Sovereign Edition & Summertime) are included in the recently released book Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World, by Andrew Reichard, Jennifer Churchill & Byron Rogers. Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World, newly published in Australia It's a milestone publication of 1000 pages, more than 10 years in the making, and covers the major thoroughbred b...

Seven horses claim TBS prizemoney

Once again, Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme (TBS) prizemoney has been claimed in all three regions of New Zealand since 15 November. Two horses, four-year-old Take No Prisoners and Saturday's two-year-old stakeswinner Crossyourheart have collected winner's bonuses totalling $16,425 between them. In all, seven horses have won $21,825 from the TBS prizemoney pool during the past two weeks. The next opportunities for TBS-qualified horses come up at Tauranga tomorrow, Levin on Thursday and Cromwell on ...

Crossyourheart extends Centaine's premiership lead

Waikato Stud's late champion sire Centaine extended his lead on the 2006-07 New Zealand broodmare sires' table at the Counties RC meeting at Ellerslie on Saturday. Two-year-old filly Crossyourheart (Show A Heart-Red Century; bred by Gary Carvell) joined Legs (HBRI Ormond Memorial S. G1) and Alamosa (WRC Wellesley S. LR) on this season's list of domestic stakeswinners from Centaine mares. She made it two wins from two starts in the $50,000 Counties Challenge S. 1100m LR and went some way toward...

Resolution from Council & Branch Reps meeting

The Council and Branch Representatives of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association met in Auckland yesterday. The following resolution was passed unanimously by the meeting: "The Council and Branch Representatives of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association fully support the Board of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing in their full review of the 2006 Mercedes Awards and their efforts to speedily resolve the outstanding issues of the Wilson Report, as we believe the ongoing int...

Magic Cape: a tale of two NZ studs

Two New Zealand studs can take pleasure in Magic Cape (Magic Albert-Cape City by Kaapstad), winner of Saturday's CJC NZ 2000 Guineas 1600m G1. Windsor Park's Nelson Schick (left) & Steve Till (below), and Haunui Farm's Mark Chitty (lower left) Although he's by an exciting young Australian sire, who stands at Yarraman Park Stud, Magic Cape is from a female family closely associated with Haunui Farm, Auckland, and was bred by the Mapperley Stud Partn...

Melbourne Cup Week success for (NZ)

If there is one week in which a breeder, studmaster, owner, trainer or jockey wants the favourable attention of the cosmos, it's Melbourne Cup Week. Any race on the four fabulous days at Flemington is worth winning, but especially the 24 Group & Listed Stakes races, among them eight of the 13 Group One events staged by the Victoria Racing Club during the season. New Zealand-bred horses have been part of Cup Week for more than 130 years, and particularly since World War II. It's been an in...

Part 2 of the Messara interview now online

The second part of Susan Archer's extended interview with Arrowfield Stud managing director John Messara at the NZTBA Auckland awards dinner is now online here: John Messara interview: Part 2. In this part of the transcript John tells the story of why and how he bought Redoute's Choice; considers the future of shuttle stallions; and shares his thoughts on pedigree theory, horse genetics and the controversial topic of artificial insemination. - ...

Impressive Irlanda collects TBS bonus at Feilding

Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme (TBS) prizemoney has been won right across the country during the past week. Three-year-old filly Irlanda was most impressive winning her second race, and second TBS bonus in two starts, at Feilding on 4 November. In doing so, she added $5475 to the excellent base prizemoney of $18,750. Her sire O'Reilly comfortably leads the list of New Zealand sires by number of winners and wins this season, with twenty-one winners of 28 races, including two new stakeswinners, two-y...

Dorabella delivers delight for Peter & Nancy Izett

"Life couldn't get any better." That's how Peter Izett describes his feelings after Dorabella (Postponed-Caserio by Kaapstad), the filly he bred and races with his wife Nancy, won yesterday's CJC New Zealand 1000 Guineas 1600m G1 from Princess Coup (AUS) (Encosta De Lago) and Velvet And Satin (Carnegie). The victory also gives Dorabella the lead in the New Zealand Bloodstock-sponsored NZ Filly of the Year series with 12 points. Peter & Nancy Izett's NZ 1000 Guineas G1 wi...

Milestone Melbourne Cup quinella for Japan

The magnificent one-two finish by Delta Blues and Pop Rock in yesterday's $A5 million VRC Melbourne Cup 3200m G1 confirmed the international status of the race and the place of Japan among the world's major breeding & racing nations. The thoroughly resolute DELTA BLUES (red cap) holds out the courageous POP ROCK in a finish as thrilling as any seen in a Melbourne Cup. PHOTO: Racing and Sports The rise of Japan's thoroughbred industry is news only to those...

Brilliant Efficient tidies up Victoria Derby

Three-year-old Kiwi-bred gelding Efficient (Zabeel-Refused The Dance by Defensive Play) yesterday's VRC Victoria Derby 2500m G1 in a manner rarely seen in a major race at Flemington. In doing so, he gave the New Zealand breeding industry its 12th Victoria Derby win since 1980, and its first since Amalfi in 2001. He also provided champion sire Zabeel with his 35th Group One winner, and his first Victoria Derby winner. Michael Rodd salutes the judge on EFFICIENT (NZ) after the 20...

Efficient quinella adds to sunny (NZ) spring

Wild weather has made spring 2006 less than pleasant in New Zealand, but across the Tasman the sun has been shining on Kiwi-bred horses. EFFICIENT (NZ) becomes the 104th stakeswinner for champion sire Zabeel in Saturday's MVRC Moonee Valley Vase G2 PHOTO: Gary Wild/NZ Thoroughbred Marketing Three-year-olds Efficient (Zabeel-Refused the Dance by Defensive Play) and The One (O'Reilly-The Grin by Grosvenor) were clearly superior to the rest of the field in Saturday's MVRC ...

TBS offers a feast of summer bonus racing

Owners, nominators and trainers of Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme-qualified runners have plenty of bonus races to aim for over the summer. A total of seventy-three TBS bonus races have been scheduled for them around the country from 1 December to 31 March 2007. Twenty of these carry $15,000 "A" Bonuses, and the remaining 53 races carry $7500 "B" Bonuses. The full schedule for the next five months can be found here: TBS Races. TBS administrator Sally Cassels-Brown says, "Now that the Scheme is in fu...

Fields Of Omagh makes Cox Plate history

Nine-year-old gelding starts in his fifth Cox Plate, after winning it three years ago. His owners announce it will be his final raceday appearance and he's given the honour of leading out the field, but hardly anyone expects him to lead it back. Paying $19 on the tote, he misses the start and sweeps home from the back to win the race by a nose. Yeah, right. Yesterday it all happened at Moonee Valley. FIELDS OF OMAGH (No. 2) defeats El Segundo & Pompeii Ruler in the 2006 Cox P...