http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz en-us Sun, 24 May 2026 09:57:07 +1200 Rocketspark http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/post/165149/new-zealand-buyers-to-the-fore-in-may-premium-broodmare-sale-on-gavelhouse-plus/ The buying power of major Australian-based players has been an almost unstoppable force in securing well-bred and stakes-performed New Zealand mares in recent seasons, but this week’s May Premium Broodmare Sale on Gavelhouse Plus bucked that trend.Five mares were offered on the online platform on Wednesday night and all five have been sold for a total of $1.73 million and an average price of $346,000. Four of the five mares were snapped up by New Zealand buyers.The two top lots were black-type... Fri, 22 May 2026 10:29:06 +1200 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/#post165149 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/post/165060/novara-park-release-service-fees/ Novara Park has announced its 2026 service fees, with owner Luigi Muollo reinforcing the stud’s commitment to offering breeders quality bloodlines and genuine value across its stallion roster.Sweynesse continues to build momentum following another strong season headlined by Wigmore’s Gr.1 South Australian Derby (2500m) victory.The stallion has also been represented by consistent filly Miss Starlight, now crowned NZB Southern Filly of the Year, while Group-performed sprinter Sweynesday will s... Wed, 20 May 2026 19:50:14 +1200 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/#post165060 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/post/164892/advantage-jenni-in-saturdays-doomben-cup/ Saturday’s Gr.1 Doomben Cup (2000m) was reduced to just seven runners at final acceptances on Tuesday in a scenario that might best suit the thrilling front-running mare Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai).The first four home in Pride Of Jenni’s Gr.2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) win all accepted, including the Cups champion Half Yours, but there were only a handful of new players on the scene for Saturday’s $1 million race at final acceptance after 39 horses were originally nominated fo... Wed, 20 May 2026 11:07:33 +1200 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/#post164892 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/post/164677/per-incanto-youngsters-continue-to-shine/ Little Avondale Stud’s resident stallion Per Incanto (Street Cry) has turned back the clock this season with the farm stalwart’s younger offspring doing him proud.The Masterton nursery enjoyed further juvenile success on Saturday when homebred youngster Incandescent triumphed in the Listed Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Ellerslie.“Per Incanto has had four black-type two-year-olds this year, as we know he’s never really been known as a sire of two-year-olds except for his first crop,”... Mon, 18 May 2026 14:57:37 +1200 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/#post164677 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/post/164650/riverplate-too-tough-in-rangitikei-gold-cup/ Consistent performer Riverplate (Flying Artie) showed his rivals no mercy as he ran them into the dust when taking out the Listed James Bull Rangitikei Gold Cup (1600m) at Otaki on Saturday.The Andrew Campbell-prepared galloper has been in a purple patch of form of late and that continued in the hands of red-hot apprentice Toni Davies who claimed a winning treble with a heady frontrunning ride.After jumping well from barrier two, Riverplate held out Cambridge galloper Khafre for the early p... Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/#post164650 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/post/164651/bernborough-breakthrough-for-war-eternal/ Previously a triple black-type placegetter and fourth at Group One level, War Eternal (Pierro) broke through for a deserved feature-race success in Saturday’s A$200,000 Listed Sky Racing Bernborough Handicap (1600m) at Doomben.The New Zealand-bred gelding is a seven-year-old now and has been competing at a high level since his three-year-old days, when he finished second in the Gr.3 Spring Stakes (1600m), third in the Gr.2 Alister Clark Stakes (2040m) and fourth in Converge’s Gr.1 Randw... Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/#post164651 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/post/164653/western-empire-wins-second-belmont-sprint/ Remarkable Kiwi-bred veteran Western Empire (NZ) (Iffraaj) took his career earnings past A$3.5 million with a first-up victory in the A$200,000 Gr.3 Drummond Golf Belmont Sprint (1400m) in Perth on Saturday.It was the eight-year-old Iffraaj gelding’s second win in the Belmont feature and his 11th black-type success overall – a list that also features the Gr.1 Railway Stakes (1600m) and Gr.2 Western Australian Derby (2400m) in 2021 along with four other Group Three races and th... Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/#post164653 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/post/164652/kiwi-bred-kilman-adds-to-wallers-rough-habit-run/ Champion trainer Chris Waller claimed a fourth straight win in A$250,000 Gr.3 HKJC World Pool Rough Habit Plate (2000m) at Doomben on Saturday, with three of those winners being New Zealand-breds.Kilman (Super Seth) led all the way for a $25 upset in the 2026 edition of the key Gr.1 Queensland Derby (2400m) trial, following on from the 2025 winner Imperialist, 2024 winner Tannhauser and 2023 winner Special Swey. Kilman, Imperialist and Special Swey all carry the (NZ) suffix.Saturday’s Rough Ha... Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/#post164652 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/post/164649/incandescent-claims-stakes-honours-at-ellerslie/ Incandescent (Per Incanto) bookended his two-year-old season with winning results for his army of owners after claiming top honours in the Listed Cloudsoft Accounting Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.Raced by MyRacehorse and Ridgeport Holdings, the son of Per Incanto started his career in winning fashion when victorious over 1100m at Ellerslie in November, and he followed that with a series of minor placings, including a runner-up performance behind stablemate Excite in the... Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/#post164649 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/post/164550/zania-slabber-blog-2/ This week, we caught up again with Zania Slabber, one of our 2026 Irish National Stud Scholarship recipients, to hear more about her experience abroad and what she’s been up to since beginning her journey at the world-renowned Irish National Stud.'Since the last blog, time has absolutely flown by. It’s been all go on the yards with peak season in full swing, foals hitting the ground, mares coming and going for covers, and young foals running around everywhere.At the beginning of March, we ha... Thu, 14 May 2026 12:37:11 +1200 http://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/blog/#post164550