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War Princess will contest Saturday’s Gr.1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m). Photo: Jack McKenzie (Race Images Palmerston North) Peter Didham and his owners can take a good deal of satisfaction from their dual representation in Saturday’s feature event at Trentham, regardless of the outcome. The Awapuni trainer and connections have the unbeaten War Princess and the promising Shameless Star to do battle in the Group 1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m). The stablemates were purchased as early prospects, and for both to be competing at the elite level this weekend is a sound reflection on the selection process. “I’ve got a great bunch of owners, and we got together and identified that Entain had put some decent stake money up,” Didham said. “We went and bought a couple of horses that we hoped would make two- and three-year-olds, and now we’ve got two runners in the Sires’ Produce, so we’re really excited.” The fillies are raced by Ian Middleton’s Exempt Bloodstock and Chelsea Connections Ltd, also Auckland-based, with Palmerston North couple Brendon and Debbie Hart. A daughter of U S Navy Flag, War Princess was secured for $77,500 out of Haunui Farm’s draft at New Zealand Bloodstocks National Yearling Sale while Shameless Star was offered by Woburn Farm and bought for $55,000. War Princess goes into the Sires’ Produce with the form on the board following two comfortable front-running victories. “I’m really happy with her and she galloped 1000m here (on Tuesday) on the new grass track and I thought she was excellent,” Didham said. “It’s a huge jump from winning at Tauherenikau and Wanganui to taking on a big 1400m at Wellington. “It’s only her third run and there’s a question whether she’s seasoned enough, but she deserves a go. War Princess is a half-sister to juvenile winner and Karaka Millions placegetter Appellant. “She’s a funny horse, she’s not brilliant on the track but she won a jump-out, a trial and a race and then a trial and another race,” Didham said. “She has just kept finding each time, so we haven’t really tested her too much to know what we’ve got. She is an easy-going filly and good to train, she’s lovely.” Shamexpress youngster Shameless Star, from the family of Group 1 Otaki Maori WFA Stakes (1400m) winner Star Satire, has finished fourth in both of her outings. “She’s my favourite horse in the stable, but she’s probably a year away, and I think you will see her running around in some nice three-year-old fillies’ races,” Didham said. “She is just a bit lighter, and the experience will do her good. “I don’t think she will be far away, but I think her time will come next season.” Didham will also be represented in the Group 2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2100m) by the enigmatic Savabeel mare Manifique. “She is a frustrating horse and seems to go a ripper of a race and then a very average one and then another ripper,” Didham said. “I’ve just been battling this year to get on top of why she’s not performing like she can, she’s not far off it and her work has been great. “The vet has been over her two or three times and we can’t find anything, she’s had everything x-rayed and her teeth done, so hopefully we will have the real Manifique on Saturday.” Horse racing news View the full article

La Dorada will contest Saturday’s Gr.1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Trentham. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson will present nearly a third of the field in Saturday’s Group 1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m), vying for a seventh title in the last eight years with their all-conquering juveniles. Te Akau’s glamour girl Melody Belle commenced their string of dominance in the $550,000 feature back in 2017, with the likes of Avantage and On The Bubbles taking the crown in the following years. Each of that trio also was victorious in the $1 million Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m), a feat completed this year by Sires’ Produce favourite La Dorada. The Super Seth filly backed up her Millions performance swiftly when taking out the Group 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m), and as a leading hope in the Group 1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) earlier this month, she was ruled out on race morning with a spiked temperature. On the back foot, Walker and Bergerson have taken an alternative route with La Dorada but are confident she is ready to take on the elite-level feature at Trentham. “We’re playing a bit of catch up now, she’s had two exhibition gallops at Tauranga and again at Matamata last Sunday to keep her up to the mark,” Bergerson said. “She’s had a bit of time between runs and up to 1400m is the query, but she’s very bright and well at home now. Thankfully, she bounced through that spiked temperature after a couple of days and we think we’ve got her on track.” La Dorada is the current market leader at $2.50, with her less-experienced stablemate Hostility next at $10. Hostility, a $1.65 million son of I Am Invincible, narrowly missed winning his debut, going down to Tajana at Matamata. “I was proud of his effort… the winner is a pretty nice horse and it’s a good form line heading into Saturday,” said Bergerson. He’s improved from the raceday experience and worked well at Matamata with Born To Be Royal. “He’s obviously got the least experience of the field, but we think he’s talented enough to be a strong each-way chance.” Born To Be Royal, third behind La Dorada at Matamata, is considered a promising filly. “She doesn’t carry a lot of condition… but she’s a real horse for the future and we think the big, roomy track at Trentham will really suit her, as well as the step up to 1400m.” To Bravery Born, who placed third in the Matamata Slipper, completes the Te Akau quartet. “He was very fresh without a lead-up before the Karaka Million… we’ve kept him fresh for Saturday. He’s done very well at home… He probably needs to improve off the Slipper effort, but he’s very bright at home.” Walker and Bergerson tailor each horse’s prep individually. “They’re all coming from different form-lines… we think they are going there in tip-top order.” Horse racing news View the full article

Leading into the 2025 breeding season we reflect on the volume of mares covered by a stallion with 10+ mares in 2024. View the full article

Atishu (NZ) (Savabeel) may not be mentioned in the same breath as some of Chris Waller’s champions past and present, but the mare is far from a spent force on the racetrack.  The seven-year-old will be chasing a third Group 1 win at Flemington and her fourth in total when she lines up in the Australian Cup at Flemington on Saturday.  The same age as Pride Of Jenni and Deny Knowledge who have both improved as they have aged, Atishu also fits into that category.  Atishu registered her third Group 1 win last spring when successful in the Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington before chasing home her stablemate Via Sistina in the Champions Stakes (2000m) a week later.  A year prior, Atishu has finished second in the Empire Rose before winning the Champions Stakes.  With two runs under the belt this campaign, her latest being a closing fifth in the Group 1 All-Star Mile (1600m) on March 8, Waller’s assistant trainer Charlie Duckworth said Atishu would relish the extra trip on Saturday.  “Her runs have been good and it’s well documented that she gets better the deeper she gets into a preparation,” Duckworth said.  “She always carries plenty of condition and her best runs are usually on the quick back-up.  “She’s coming here off the back of a three-week gap, so we’ve made a conscious effort that she’s trimmed up a little bit fitter and a little bit lighter and not carrying as much condition as she does so well between runs.”  The All-Star Mile was run at a slow tempo with the pace increasing from the home turn, which did not suit Atishu who was outsprinted.  However, the mare did work to the line solidly to finish fifth, just under three-and-a-half lengths from the winner Tom Kitten.  Duckworth expects Saturday’s contest, with Pride Of Jenni and Deny Knowledge engaged, to be run more truly which may assist the Waller-trained mare.  “In terms of race shape, she’s instantly in the back-half, regardless of Pride Of Jenni and Deny Knowledge being in there,” Duckworth said.  “But the hot tempo should allow her to cruise into it and she loves Flemington, so there’s a lot to like about it, but it’s a seriously good Group 1 contest.”  Duckworth said the stable was keeping an open mind as to where Atishu may head following Saturday’s outing.  The Group 1 Queen Of The Turf (1600m) at Randwick on April 12, a race Atishu won in 2023, is a possibility, as is the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) on the same day.  “If she was to beat them all on Saturday, there’s no reason why she can’t go into the Queen Elizabeth,” Duckworth said.  “But we’ll get through Saturday and then work out where we head.”  View the full article

Central Districts filly Too Sweet (NZ) (Satono Aladdin) was all the rage ahead of January’s Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m), but now she seems to be the forgotten horse of the juvenile ranks, set to start as an outsider in Saturday’s Gr.1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Trentham.  “I think she is the forgotten horse, she has drifted from $6 to about $21, so it’s incredible really,” trainer Roydon Bergerson said. “She is the only horse in the race that has beaten La Dorada (NZ) (Super Seth), and she beat her fair and square in the Eclipse (Gr.2, 1200m).”  Purchased by part-owner Chris Rutten out of Phoenix Park’s 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 2 Yearling Sale draft for $50,000, Too Sweet began her career with a bang, winning on debut over 900m at Trentham, and doubled her win tally two races later when taking out the Eclipse Stakes at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day.  She started a $5 third favourite for the Karaka Millions 2YO but had a luckless run from her outside barrier and finished 11th.  The taxing run told on the daughter of Satono Aladdin, who has enjoyed a freshen-up ahead of her first elite-level target this weekend.  “It is a big ask, she hasn’t raced for a couple of months,” Bergerson said.  “She had a tough run in the Karaka Millions, which wasn’t ideal. She got stuck back and stuck wide. She challenged on the turn, but she just had too much work to do.  “She was a bit tired after the race. We were going to go to the Sistema (Gr.1, 1200m) but it had just taken too much out of her and we got her home and freshened her up.   “She went out to Chris Rutten’s for a little bit of a break and then she came back, and I gave her one gallop and we took her to the Waipuk trials were she just got beaten by Peter Didham’s filly (War Princess).   “We gave her another couple of gallops and she trialled against the older horses and went super the other day at Foxton and ended up on the fence in behind the leaders, and didn’t let her head go at all. She galloped in-between races at Waverley with Bradman (NZ) (Pins) (last week) and on a Heavy track she still ran home in 47, so it was good work.   “She had her final hit-out and galloped really well on the course proper here (Awapuni) on Tuesday morning.   “We did the same programme with Wolverine and it nearly came off.”  Too Sweet has been plagued by bad draws, and this weekend is no exception, with jockey Masa Hashizume having to overcome the outside barrier in the field of 13.  “She has just been plagued by bad draws. She drew eight of eight in the Eclipse, she drew 14 of 14 in the Karaka Millions, and now she has drawn 13 of 13 in the Sires’,” Bergerson said.  “We are just going to have to come up with some plan with Masa and see how the track plays. The track might be tired on the inside so it might work to her advantage, we don’t know. We will probably know halfway through the day and where the speed is coming from.  “It is going to be a really interesting race and a tidy field, there are a lot of chances.”  Bergerson hasn’t ruled out an Australian campaign with his filly, however, he said Saturday will more than likely be her last run for the season.  “This will probably be her grand final, but you never know,” he said. “If she comes out and bolts in you would have to look at something else, whether it be Sydney or Brisbane. You just have to leave that until after the race.”  Earlier on the card, stablemate Bradman will be out to defend his crown in the Listed Bramco Granite & Marble Flying Handicap (1400m).  The seven-year-old gelding will be first-up and Bergerson is rapt with his condition.  “He is coming up really well, I couldn’t be happier with him,” he said. “He has finally matured, it has taken him seven years, but he looks like a little weapon now.  “He had a quiet trial the other day, just to get a bit more condition off him. He had an exhibition gallop as well last week at Waverley with Too Sweet just to get more fitness into his legs.”  While pleased with his charge, Bergerson said he is hoping to see a bit of moisture about ahead of the weekend.  “I was hoping for a bit of rain around for the race. I will just wait to see how firm the track comes up, if it’s too firm he probably won’t run,” he said.  “He has got a really good jockey (Ryan Elliot) and a good draw (4), and if the fire is out of the track, he will run a cheeky race.  “I think he is in for a really successful winter.”  Stablemate Town Cryer will also be shooting for stakes success in the Gr.2 City Of Palmerston North Awapuni Gold Cup (2100m  The seven-year-old daughter of Tavistock (NZ) (Tavistock) placed in the Gr.1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) in her last outing at Trentham in January before posting two unplaced results at Ellerslie, and Bergerson is hoping a return to Trentham will be favourable for his mare.   “I am very happy with her,” he said. “She hasn’t had much luck this season. She went very well the other day (seventh in Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes, 1600m), she kept coming to the line. In her last two starts at Auckland have both been really strong to the line.   “We can’t wait to get her up over ground. We intended to go to the Bonecrusher (Gr.1, 2000m) but she had a foot issue, and we missed the run in the Otaki-Maori race (Gr.1, 1600m), hence why we stayed at the mile for the fillies and mares.  “I think she is a really good, genuine chance.”  Rounding out Bergerson’s Trentham representation will be Charlotte’s Way (NZ) (Pentire) in the Herrick Perry Memorial 1400.  “She is a drop back horse from 75 rating back to 65, so I thought I would give the owners a shot at $65,000, which is probably better than going around for $18,500,” Bergerson said.  “She is a quirky mare, she has probably jumped 100 pony fences this week. Her work on Tuesday morning was tip-top on the course proper.   “She has got a good jockey (Elliot) and a good draw (3), so hopefully she can put her hand up.” View the full article

Classy New Zealand filly Alabama Lass has conquered racing right and left-handed, now she must take to straight racing at her Australian debut.  Alabama Lass has arrived in Melbourne to contest the Listed HKJC World Pool Sprint Classic (1200m) at Flemington on Saturday after showing her ability in New Zealand.  Trainers Ken and Bev Kelso are no strangers to travelling horses to Australia having won the Group 1 Australian Guineas in 2023 with Legarto (NZ) (Prosir) while stablemate Levante (NZ) (Proisir) was also productive on an earlier excursion to Flemington.  Alabama Lass has won five of her eight starts to date, finishing second on three occasions, two of which were in Group 1 contests, a cause of frustration for Ken Kelso.  He said wet tracks had played a hand in bringing about Alabama Lass’ downfall, firstly in the Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton and then in the Railway Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie.  “We stretched her out to a mile at Riccarton and she’ll probably never go another mile in her life, but we did that as it’s the only Group 1 three-year-old fillies race in New Zealand,” Kelso said.  “Unfortunately, it rained quite a bit in the morning, and it was slow by the time she raced.  “Then in the Railway, we were a bit unlucky. It stayed fine all through Karaka Day and then the rain came about an hour before our race.  “She was very brave on both of those rain affected tracks. She deserved to fold up in the Guineas over a mile, but she kept on going and if she had not met those, she may have well been unbeaten as a three-year-old.”  Alabama Lass returned to form with an imposing victory in the Group 3 King’s Plate (1200m) at Ellerslie on March 8 where she turned the tables on Crocetti (NZ) (Zacinto) from their meeting in the Railway Stakes.  Crocetti was on Wednesday announced as Entain New Zealand’s representative in the $4 million slot race The Quokka (1200m) at Ascot next month.  “She won impressively that day,” Kelso said.  “Luckily, we got a good track, and she won well, so after that we’ve decided to roll the dice and have a go at Flemington.”  Kelso admits it will be a different test on Saturday, racing down the straight for the first time.  But the Kelso’s are leaving nothing to chance, engaging Craig Williams for the ride.  “She has to adapt to the straight,” Kelso said.  “It’s a different scenario, so that is why we’ve elected to go with an Australian jockey in Craig Williams as he knows how to ride the straight.  “She doesn’t have to lead. Earlier, if something had taken her on, she was able to take a sit. She’s pretty tractable, she’s not a mad tearaway that has to lead from the front.”  View the full article

Leading into the 2025 breeding season we reflect on the volume of mares covered by a stallion with 10+ mares in 2024. View the full article

The decision to back-up Ceolwulf (NZ) (Tavistock) in the Neville Sellwood Stakes is part of a bigger campaign picture as Joe Pride looks to give his star galloper the best possible grounding for his ultimate goal. Having identified the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) as the race they want to win, Pride says Saturday’s Rosehill assignment is the logical next step. “This just looked like the obvious race,” Pride said. “The Doncaster (Mile) was also on the cards but the only trouble with the Doncaster is it would mean him backing up into the Queen Elizabeth. “The decision that I’ve had to make is, what race do we think we’re the best chance of winning? And I’ve come up with the Queen Elziabeth. To do that, giving him two weeks into it is the smart play.” Pride was forced into a campaign pivot when Ceolwulf suffered a leg abrasion that ruled him out of a scheduled clash with Via Sistina in the Verry Elleegant Stakes (1600m). It necessitated bringing him back in distance to 1300m for the Canterbury Stakes where Ceolwulf finished an encouraging fifth, before an outstanding and narrow third behind Gringotts (NZ) (Per Incanto) and Fangirl in last weekend’s George Ryder Stakes (1600m). “Because we missed a run, I was left back tracking a little bit and having to give him a (Canterbury Stakes) run that didn’t really matter, but that he had to have,” Pride said. “After last Saturday, I think the horse is very much back on track.” Pride will also have a strong hand in the Star Kingdom Stakes (1200m) with Coal Crusher, Mazu and Dragonstone. All three are genuine Group-class sprinters on their day but having scratched Mazu from The Galaxy last week, he is warming to the gelding as his top seed. “I would think it is Mazu’s best opportunity this preparation,” Pride said. “Coal Crusher is probably still a run away. “You could say Dragonstone was disappointing last week (in The Galaxy) but he drew a bad barrier on a hard track. He’s got a soft draw this week, probably a wet track and he is a good back-up horse.” View the full article

Group One-winning trainer Andrew Campbell is set to return to the training ranks when he heads to Trentham on Saturday to line-up debutant Croupier (NZ) (Ace High) in The Oaks Stud 1200.  “It has been quite a few years now since I last had a runner, so it’s quite exciting,” Campbell said.  “I love it (training) and doing nothing gets quite boring, there are only so many fish you can catch out this way.”  The respected horseman transitioned into a career as a bloodstock agent three years ago, however, he didn’t find it to his liking, so at the start of the season elected to make a return to training.  “I started doing a bit of bloodstock work and we moved back down the line,” he said. “It wasn’t for me, you have got to be a special person to sell horses and it took me two or three years to work out that I didn’t enjoy it at all.  “I love going to the yearling sales but buying them off the track was too tough for me, I didn’t like it.”  Formerly based in the Wairarapa, and subsequently Cambridge, Campbell moved back to his home region after he ceased training but ultimately moved to the other side of the Tararua Range after falling in love with the Kapiti Coast.  “We moved back to the Wairarapa and it just wasn’t the same as it was when we left,” he said. “We came over to the Kapiti Coast for a holiday and fell in love with it and bought a lovely place in Peka Peka, which is 10 minutes down the road from the Otaki track (where Campbell now trains).  “I have got 10 boxes and 10 yards, that’s the maximum I am going to do. I have got three in work at the moment, which is an even better number, I love it.”  Campbell is enjoying being back training, and while he admits to missing Cambridge, he is pleased to be training out of Otaki.  “I love Otaki, but I love Cambridge as well, it was good fun with great people, I enjoyed it up there,” he said. “This (Otaki) is like having your own private training track, it is very quiet, and they have great facilities.”  Campbell experienced his biggest moments in racing training for prominent owner Tommy Heptinstall, and he has reunited with the real estate mogul and his group of owners.  “I love the horses and I am mucking around now with a couple for Tommy (Heptinstall) and the boys, which is great, they are a good bunch,” Campbell said.  The first runner to step out for the reunited group will be three-year-old gelding Croupier, who will make his debut at Trentham this weekend.  Purchased out of Beaufort Downs’ 2023 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft by Heptinstall and Campbell for $160,000, the son of Ace High has yet to be bested in his jump-outs and trials, but Campbell said he faces a stiff task against some staunch opposition first-up.  “He was down to run at Tauherenikau on Sunday, but they obviously canned it,” Campbell said. “We have got to a point where we have got to get him going. It is a bloody tough field on Saturday, with some really good horses in there.  “We think he goes alright but it will be a big telling point on Saturday. It is hard to see him winning that race with the good horses in it at his first start, but he is not the worst chance.  “He has had a couple of jump-outs, which he has won, and he won that (1000m) trial at Foxton reasonably well. He did a few things wrong, but he is one of those big, dopey horses that will only get better with time.”  Campbell said Saturday’s performance will dictate the remainder of his preparation.  “We haven’t worked out a plan as yet, but if he went super, we would head for the stars,” he said.  Campbell and Heptinstall were active at the Karaka yearling sales earlier this year, and Campbell is excited about the prospects of his young team.  “We bought five at the sales this year and I have got a couple out spelling,” he said. “We will have 10 horses to work with, which is a great number.”  Croupier has been installed a $12 winning chance for Saturday by TAB bookmakers behind Group Three performer I’m All In ($2.50) and stakes winner Super Photon ($2.60). View the full article