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The Classic Mile is less than two weeks away and it shapes as one of the most competitive editions in recent years, with at least half a dozen four-year-olds staking their claims as leading candidates. All eyes will be on the Jockey Club’s release of the priority to run list on Wednesday to see what rating is needed to gain a coveted berth in the field of 14. The Post has ranked the top 10 prospects for the Classic Mile on February 1. 1. Invincible Ibis While it is difficult to split many of the...View the full article

while i' while i'm at it ,i may as well point out another example of "do not believe what you read in hrnz press releases" this  week they not only have the nelson/addington race failing to get any support,it was only a few weeks ago they were promoting the $100,000 young guns races at auckland and saying how all the reports they had received indicated there would be good numbers lining up in upcoming 2 year old races in january ,because  of the stake money they were prioritisning for the 2 year olds. so what happened with the 2 year old races they referred to. young guns heat for  2yo colts and geldings at auckland-7 starters. young guns heat for 2yo fillies_cancelled due to lack of numbers addington 2 year old race-cancelled due to lack of numbers. so why would hrnz put out  all the people they had been talking to had told them they had good numbers for those races. well,i think we can safely assume,that hrnz people,do what i always say they obviously do,they speak to a couple of stables,the ones with the money,and then they hrnz base everything they say and do around that. as i say,its like shooting fish in a barrel. Hrnz are just so out of touch with what works. I would say 80% of what they promote as being good ideas,are not. Have there ever been more out of touch wagering/marketing/programming people in the history of hrnz. i've no personal axe to grind against whoever they are.I just struggle with understanding how dumb they come across.

that should read 6 starters for that race.  

It seems strange to me that the Auckland Cup for Harness is December 31st. The greyhound cup is at the end of January and the Galloping cup is in March.    I am assuming they were all at a similar time of year at some point? What was the logic in splitting them up?    I realise after this year the Greyhound Cup will be gone but it just seems odd as I’m sure they use to have a cup week of sorts a few year back. 

so hrnz came up with yet another bright idea that in reality was just dumb.. Hrnz thought they would get  extra numbers racing at nelson to qualify for a $35,000 race  at addington. A race in which the extras they were hoping for,would have to race against much higher graded horses. Only hrnz could possibly think that would work.. so they end up with  just starters in the $35,000 final on friday at addington. pointing out how out of touch wuith reality hrnz and their clever people are is like shooting fish in a barrel.

A strong performance against Ka Ying Rising in Sunday’s Group One Centenary Sprint Cup (1,200m) is all Dennis Yip Chor-hong needs to see from Fast Network to confirm a trip to Dubai for the Group One Al Quoz Sprint (1,200m). Third behind Ka Ying Rising in last month’s Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m), Fast Network is on track for his first overseas mission after another clash with the world’s best sprinter at Sha Tin. The five-year-old warmed up for the Centenary Sprint Cup with a...View the full article

A Tuesday morning trial at Deagon sees an unusually strong line-up of Queensland’s best talent heading there and highlighted by Antino’s (NZ) (Redwood) first public outing towards the Sydney’s autumn carnival. Tony Gollan left no stone unturned in finding answers to why the seven-year-old finished last, beaten by nearly eight lengths, in the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley last October, but he is confident the gelding is back as good as he was this time last year. “I’m very happy with him,” Gollan said. “I did bone scans and had all sorts of tests done, x-rayed all his joints everywhere and there was nothing that we didn’t know. “He’s got a bit of wear and tear but there are no significant injuries. “He seems as good or better than where he was last year.” Gollan is eyeing a traditional path towards the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on April 11 with the likely campaign to kick off in Sydney on February 14. Antino is slotted in trial three over 1050-metres along with Zarastro who took out the Magic Millions Snippets (1200m) in January 2025.        “It will be a soft trial,” Gollan said. “He’ll be at the back and probably won’t trouble the scorer just following them around. “Then he’ll have another one a couple of weeks later and then hopefully head to Sydney for his first-up run.” Antino is rated an $11 chance for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes with the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Sir Delius the $3 favourite. “Taking out the Cox Plate run, his elite level form was up there in the spring,” Gollan added. “If I want to drop the bar or space him out, I can look at saving him for the Doomben Cup as well. Antino took out the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) in emphatic style in May last year. View the full article

Many vendors have been involved in New Zealand’s National Yearling Sale through a large part of its existence, boasting proud histories that span multiple generations and famed Southern nursery Inglewood Stud certainly fits that bill. The North Canterbury operation is the oldest thoroughbred stud still standing a stallion in New Zealand. Still located in its original Ohoka property, it was founded in 1938 by New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame inductee Ken Austin, who offered his first draft at the National Yearling Sale a couple of years later. But Austin’s connection with the Sale dates back even further than that. He moved to New Zealand from Australia in 1932, having previously made annual trips across the Tasman to serve as auctioneer during the National Yearling Sale at Trentham, including the very first Sale in 1927. Fast-forward to 2012, when Austin’s great-grandson Gus Wigley took over the running of Inglewood Stud from his father Nick – some 75 years after Austin first set foot on the property. Gus and Bianca Wigley’s latest generation of Inglewood Stud started selling yearlings at Karaka in 2014. Their drafts have produced $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) and Group One Sistema Stakes (1200m) winner Velocious, Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) winner Ugo Foscolo and other black-type performers such as Secret Allure and last season’s Karaka Millions 2YO third placegetter Miss Ziggy. During that time, Inglewood’s yearlings have sold for up to $375,000. “We’ve been through the history and I believe 1940 was the first time Inglewood Stud had a draft at the National Yearling Sale,” Gus Wigley said. “Ken took about 20 drafts up to Trentham over the years, and Dad did his fair share after that as well, going right through to the early 2000s. “Now Bianca and I have been going there since 2014. We’ve worked out that since we took over, our drafts have produced 110 runners and 26 of them have performed at black-type level. That’s a pretty good strike rate and something we’re quite proud of. “We’re back at Karaka with a dozen yearlings this time around, so hopefully the pattern continues.” That outstanding record has given the Inglewood team plenty of enormously satisfying moments over the last decade and a bit. “Velocious was a really big highlight,” Wigley said. “There was a lot of hype and she was going into the Karaka Millions as the favourite. We’d been parading her half-sister all week and we were desperately hoping we’d get the result. That’s how it turned out, and then the guys that raced Velocious – Go Racing – stumped up and bought the half-sister as well. That’s probably been the highlight during my time taking yearlings to Karaka. “But sometimes there’s ones that come out of the blue as well. We got good money for an Ancient Spirit filly now called Aspiritta in Book 2 of Karaka 2024 ($160,000), which far exceeded what we were expecting, and there was also a horse called Mystery Shot (Shooting To Win) back in 2018. He was from the first crop of Shooting To Win and was out of our stakes-performed mare Mystique. “A couple of buyers really wanted him and went hammer and tong, and we got good money for him ($260,000). He went to Victoria and won seven races, including his first five in a row.” Inglewood Stud’s Karaka 2026 draft is made up of 10 yearlings in Book 1 and two in Book 2. “It’s a bit of a cliché, but I think this is the best draft of yearlings we’ve taken up to Karaka,” Wigley said. “It represents some decent investment in terms of service fees and the quality of mares that we’ve bought. “We’re big fans of Harry Angel and have sent mares to him every season, so it’s been fantastic to see the success that his progeny have had. He’s gone from a A$16,500 service fee to A$66,000 and he’s likely to go even higher than that. “We have two Harry Angel colts in our draft that we really like. One of them is a half-brother to Miss Ziggy, who ran third in the Karaka Millions 2YO last season, and the other is a full-brother to a colt that we sold a couple of seasons ago for $150,000. Eion Kemp bought him and later sold him for $800,000 at the Ready to Run Sale, and he’s been named Packing Glory and was a very impressive winner of his first start in Hong Kong on November 30. “We also have a couple of Sword of State fillies who both look quite precocious. “One that’s quite close to my heart is the filly by Street Boss out of Shuffled. She’s the only Street Boss yearling in the Karaka 2026 sale, and I’ve always been a massive fan of that stallion. He’s just about the best sire in Australia when you break down his numbers. He’s been a bit patchy with fertility so hasn’t had a huge number of runners, but he’s sired the likes of Anamoe along with this season’s top-class three-year-old colt Tentyris and three-year-old filly Tempted. This filly’s out of a full-sister to Ace High. “Overall, I think it’s just a good, consistent draft. They all looked great in their parade today (Thursday), and I think it was the best turnout we’ve had for a yearling parade. There were lots of South Island trainers there and plenty of interest, so it all bodes well. We’re looking forward to getting back up to Karaka.” Lots to Watch Lot 124 – Street Boss x Shuffled filly Lot 245 – Harry Angel x  Zigwig colt Lot 565 – Profondo x Myakka Park colt View the full article

A stirring exhibition gallop at Te Rapa on Friday has training partners Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall in positive frame of mind as they put the final polish on Lollapalooza and Fleeting Star ahead of Saturday’s Listed TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m). The stablemates looked sharp as they reeled off 1000m on the upgraded soft 6 track in 1:01.56 and completed their hitout well-held with a final 600m in 34.98. “It was very good work and confirmed that they’re on target for Ellerslie,” Richardson said. “They’re both really fit, but I guess they need to be for what’s coming up.” In her first start since finishing second to Well Written in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m), Lollapalooza filled the same place behind Tellum in the Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. “She has put together a very good record in all the big races but she’s still learning, so she’ll be wearing vizor blinkers on Saturday,” Richardson said. Fleeting Star followed her maiden win at Ellerslie in the second week of December with a strong third in the Eight Carat Classic, confirming that she also deserves her chance in Saturday’s $1.5 million feature. “We’ve always rated Fleeting Star and just lately she has really come to it. Blinkers have worked well for her and she’ll have them on again.” With her Eight Carat jockey Opie Bosson committed to He Who Dares, Fleeting Star will be ridden on Saturday by star Queensland jockey Angela Jones, who made such an impression in her first experience of Ellerslie on New Year’s Day. “We’re lucky to be able to engage Angela for such a big race, and Vinnie (Colgan) will stay with Lollapalooza.” On a TAB fixed odds market dominated by unbeaten filly Well Written at $1.50, Lollapalooza is on the fourth line of betting at $11 and Fleeting Star is longer at $31. The Richardson/Norvall stable is also pinning its hopes on a Listed TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) start for last-start winner State The Obvious. With earnings of $11,285, the Sword Of State filly is tentatively in 17th place in the starting order, three outside the 14-horse limit. “She’s a smart filly, so we’ve kept her up to the mark in the hope that she makes the cut,” Richardson said. “It won’t be the end of the world if she doesn’t, but if things were to work out in her favour we would be keen to see her run.” Last-start Ellerslie winner Romilly is scheduled to line up on Saturday’s undercard in the Jo Giles Stakes, a $100,000 1400m for fillies and mares. “She’s in the right form with that win over the same distance on New Year’s Day and the set weight and penalty conditions should suit her at this stage.” Romilly’s ownership group includes Brendon McCullum, and the near neighbours combined to make one purchase at last week’s Gold Coast Yearling Sale. “We paid $340,000 for a filly by So You Think, which we felt was good buying, especially as they don’t make any more of them by that stallion,” Richardson said. “Like others that Baz and I put our names to, we’re putting together a partnership and there’s only 25 percent left in her.” View the full article