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Caspar Fownes expects to figure prominently in Wednesday night’s trio of Class Three races at Happy Valley as he bids to strike back in his battle with Mark Newnham for the trainers’ championship lead. After overtaking Newnham at the top of the standings with a treble at the Valley’s last meeting on December 23, Fownes has come up empty from three straight meetings at Sha Tin. Newnham’s two victories in that period were enough to give him a 28-27 advantage over Fownes, but the four-time...View the full article

Heck that's a big difference, would've loved that 235, cheers for your info on the odds an betting, much appreciated.

Captain Upham paid $235 to win on Betfair and $83 best tote yesterday. Gotta luv monopolies

Yes a horse called Sinai Sermon, Westport trots last March meeting 32 v 54 took tote odds at reefton 2 days he won again and paid 40s tote odds 34 from memory fixed, been exported to China now, also happen to me with miss onaki, 27s v 42, in fairness did put my bet on a couple hrs earlier due to work commitments, on the other side captain upham I got 67s tote v 40 fixed. All abit suspect to me.

The Gr.1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) looms as a possible autumn option for ever-improving stayer Torranzino (NZ) (Tarzino), who on Monday returned to work with Paul Preusker. The Tarzino gelding’s return to stable life comes around two months since his fifth placing in the A$10 million Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m). Preusker was determined to reward his new stable star with a good spell after his career-best campaign and considered giving him a tick-over preparation without a run before resetting for spring, but was now favouring a brief autumn campaign. “He’ll start work Monday and then we’ll just sort of plot away,” Preusker said at the weekend. “I was happy to just put a prep together and go nowhere and spell again, but he hasn’t lost much. “He’s in a good paddock with a couple of mates, so I think he’ll come up alright, and I suppose it’s now just a matter of whether we poke away in Sydney for a little bit.” Torranzino’s autumn preparation will be grounding for another tilt at the Melbourne Cup and Preusker said it was unlikely he would get out to the 3200m of the Gr.1 Sydney Cup. “I’ll probably leave that alone and maybe a Tancred or something like that, just a light staying race, and we’ll see what we can do.” The A$1.5 million Tancred Stakes, a weight-for-age Group One race over 2400m, will be run at Rosehill on March 28. Although six years of age, Torranzino stamped himself a quality stayer last spring with his Melbourne Cup effort coming after a win in the Gr.3 Geelong Cup (2400m) and a second placing in the Gr.3 The Bart Cummings (2500m). He has six wins and nine placings from 34 starts with merely participating in a Melbourne Cup a dream come true for many of them. “They’re all up and about, they’re a great mob of owners – most local people, although there’s a few scattered around – but they were just appreciative to get there and whatever happens is a bonus now.” View the full article

In the third instalment of The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Road to the Derby series, we zero in on a pair of Frankie Lor-trained up and comers with the potential to make an impact in the 2025/26 Four-Year-Old Classic Series. With less than four weeks until the first leg of the prestigious series – the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 1 February – and with the 149th HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 22 March on the horizon, Numbers and Regal Gem have both built ratings that will ensure them a start should their esteemed handler choose to head that way. Numbers looks certain to play a part in the Four-Year-Old Classic Series after an impressive last-start victory, with the gelding flashing his stamina with an all-the-way victory in the Class 2 Long Ke Handicap (2000m) on 27 December. Smartly away under Derek Leung, Numbers enjoyed a sedate first 400m in front before injecting some serious pace into the race during the second sectional – clocking 1.22 seconds inside standard between the 1600m and the 1200m – before continuing to apply the pressure and eventually finding enough to hold off Winning Wing by a length. By Tivaci out of Zabeel mare Sheezababe, Numbers came to Hong Kong with his stamina credentials already proven after finishing second in the G1 Queensland Derby (2400m) in June. “It was a nice win. The 2000m was good and I think 2400m will still be okay,” said Lor, agreeing Numbers possesses similar traits to his former charge Dark Dream, who won the Queensland Derby before running fourth behind stablemate Furore in the 2019 BMW Hong Kong Derby. “At this moment I can’t see too many four-year-olds that can handle 2,000m – (Sagacious Life) could be one of them but (Invincible Ibis) only won over 1600m last time. But I think there are still some four-year-old PPs to come out so we don’t know exactly at this moment what the Derby will look like.” After securing his owners, the 23/24 Frankie Lor Fu Chuen Trainer Syndicate – who raced Unbelievable in the 2024 BMW Hong Kong Derby – a HK$3 million Private Purchase Bonus for his victory on 27 December, Numbers will have one more run before likely entering the Four-Year-Old Classic Series in the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 1 March. “Maybe we will skip the (Classic Mile) because the 1600m will probably be a bit short for him. The Classic Cup could be better,” said Lor. “I will talk to the owners about his next move – we will give him one more race before the Classic Cup. It’s just whether it’s 2000m or 1800m.” Numbers jumped to a rating of 90 after his first Hong Kong win – he finished third on debut in the city at Happy Valley earlier in December – and he’s joined by stablemate Regal Gem as horses impressing during their Classic season. Sitting on a mark of 83 after three Happy Valley 1200m wins from nine Hong Kong starts, Northern Hemisphere three-year-old Regal Gem is the joint leader of the DBS x Manulife Million Challenge and may target the riches in that competition – which concludes on 4 February – rather than the Hong Kong Classic Mile. Regal Gem is a three-time winner at Happy Valley. Photo: Hong Kong Jockey Club “Maybe he will go to the Classic Series, but maybe not because we will be looking at Happy Valley first and trying to win the Million Challenge. Maybe we will aim for that. I’ll run him on (14 January) and then we’ll decide,” said Lor of Regal Gem, who was a recent sixth over the extended Happy Valley mile in his first run over further than 1400m. “For me 1600m should be no problem because last time with Zac (Purton) on at his first time at 1650m he jumped and then he couldn’t get cover. He sat second all the way with no cover and he still finished sixth, only two and a half lengths behind the winner, so it wasn’t too bad.” View the full article

Chris Rutten has a knack for selecting Karaka Millions 2YO contenders, and he looks to have struck again, this time with the Roydon Bergerson-trained Sweetest Thing. The daughter of Hello Youmzain impressed when runner-up to Lassified in the Listed Wellesley Stakes (1100m) at Trentham on Saturday, with her runner-up cheque of $18,500 putting her on the cusp of qualifying for the $1 million TAB Karaka Millions (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 24. It’s a race Rutten has a strong association with, having won it with Vespa in 2014, and he has collected minor placings with Touche (2013), Kingsman (2016), Yourdeel (2019), Avonallo (2021) and Wolverine (2022), while he also won the Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) with Scott Base in 2018. Bergerson trained Wolverine, and the pair also teamed up last year to contest the race with Too Sweet, who was third favourite for the rich feature after her victory in the Gr.2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m) at her previous start, but she was given no favours from her outside barrier in the 14-horse field and finished 11th. The pair could be seeking redemption with Sweetest Thing later this month, however, Bergerson is questioning the timing of the race and said a decision will be made on her immediate future later this week. “I am really happy with her,” Bergerson said. “Wiremu (Pinn, jockey) said she just got a bit lost coming across the crossing, but she hit the line strong and has pulled up well. “She has always shown a lot of ability. She is a beautiful filly and will make a lovely three-year-old. I don’t know what the future plans hold but we will see how she does this week. “It is up to the horse (whether they target the Karaka Millions), I don’t want to push her too hard at the moment, it is pretty hard going into that race second-up. Chris is really keen on the race, he has always tried to win it. “We will likely just give her one or two more (starts) and then put her out and bring her back as a three-year-old. What races we go for I’ll just have to talk with Chris and Ian (Farrelly, part-owner) about it and make up our mind at the end of the week.” Sweetest Thing was purchased by Rutten and Bergerson out of Wentwood Grange’s 2025 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $80,000, and the pair race her in partnership with Farrelly. Hailing from a European pedigree, Sweetest Thing is out of two-time European winner Ocean Drive, a half-sister to dual Group Two winner Indian Days, Group One performer Reply and Group Three performer Binou. Bergerson was impressed when inspecting Sweetest Thing at Karaka on the behest of Rutten, but glancing at her pedigree he questioned her precocious qualities. “She was a really scopey filly, a really nice horse,” he said. “She is a well-balanced filly with a bit of strength behind her. “It was quite surprising when Chris picked her out, I said ‘the mare won over 2600m Chris and you are trying to buy her for the Karaka Million?’,” Bergerson said. “He is a great judge.” Meanwhile, Bergerson said Too Sweet is currently having a freshen-up before returning to the stable to prepare for autumn targets. “She had a bit of a viral infection after her last start, so we put her in the paddock for three weeks,” he said. “She will come back into the stables next Monday and we will just see how she comes back up.” View the full article

Waikato Stud-bred filly La Dorada continues to add further honours to her richly decorated family. The daughter of resident sire Super Seth enjoyed an outstanding juvenile season with success in the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m), Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) and Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m). At Trentham on Saturday, she returned to top form with success in the Gr.2 Levin Classic (1400m), with the $1.5 million TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) now in the sights of trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson. La Dorada was a $190,000 purchase for Te Akau’s David Ellis out of Waikato Stud’s Karaka draft and is a daughter of the Savabeel mare Gold Fever, whose dam Gold Rocks initiated the Matamata farm’s involvement in the family. “Gold Rocks was a two-year-old Group winner, and she came to Waikato Stud under the ownership of some lovely people from Australia, Geoff and Heather Nicholls,” Mark Chittick said. “She was in foal to So You Think and unbeknown to me had been to Lonhro first off and they were unable to pay that service fee. “That foal was taken over by Godolphin and raced as Calverite and was a stakes winner as a two-year-old and subsequently left Golden Mile (Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas, 1600m).” Chittick was subsequently contacted by another breeding and racing powerhouse about Gold Rocks. “I got a call from Coolmore and the service fee to So You Think hadn’t been paid so I had a yarn to the owners,” he said. “They knew they had a mare worth breeding from but were a bit out of their depth, they said all we would love to do is to go to Savabeel but couldn’t really afford to carry on. “We came to an arrangement whereby I paid the fee to So You Think, I didn’t have any ownership in that foal and then the mare went to Savabeel. “They had a 10 percent ownership in the foal, which was sold, and then I took over the ownership of the mare. It’s a phenomenal family.” The So You Think foal was Gold Rush and later sold by Phoenix Park to Wexford Stables for $60,000 and won the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes and placed in the Gr.1 Diamond Stakes (1200m) and Gr.3 Eclipse Stakes (1200m). The aforementioned Savabeel filly was Gold Fever, who was offered on behalf of Waikato Stud by Sledmere at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and purchased by Ellis for A$110,000. “She won the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes as well and at that stage, Gold Rocks had three foals and all were stakes-winning fillies as two-year-olds,” Chittick said. “At the end of her career, (father) Garry and I purchased Gold Fever back off Te Akau in a private deal.” Following La Dorada, she produced a son of Tivaci who was sold for A$160,000 to Yulong at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and as Golden Pulse has been a winner. The stud has retained a yearling filly by Ardrossan, and the mare is now back in foal to Super Seth. It is also the family of Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) winner Major Beel, a son of Savabeel who was sold at the Gold Coast to Gai Waterhouse, Adrian Bott and Kestrel Thoroughbreds for A$260,000 with Waikato Stud remaining in the ownership. His sister Solid Gold has been retained by the Matamata nursery and has placed in both starts for Roger James and Robert Wellwood. “She was one we wanted to target for our slot in The NZB Kiwi, but unfortunately we had to take a chip out of a joint and she’ll be back in work in the next two or three weeks,” Chittick said. View the full article

Ruakaka trainer Michelle Bradley will line-up a trio of runners at her home track on Tuesday, including No Plan Be, who will attempt to secure the Trigg Construction Northland Cup (2100m) for the local horsewoman. The six-year-old daughter of Tarzino won over the same track and distance last month, giving Bradley the confidence to press on to her home cup, with Courtney Barnes retaining the ride. “She has trained on well since her win, it was good to get that result,” Bradley said. “She is very well and has just been ticking over. “I have put Courtney back on, she knows her and rode her perfectly last start. “The barrier draw (10) is a bit of a concern. I would have preferred to have drawn in but that is just what you have got to deal with on the day. “We just need to get her out of those gates and have her handy enough. “We would like to step her up to 2400m, but we just need to get through tomorrow first and see how we go.” Bradley will also be represented by New Castle in the Lion Red (1600m). “New Castle hasn’t run since Pukekohe on the 6th of December. He was meant to be running at Ruakaka on the 16th but sustained a little injury, which he is over now,” Bradley said. “He is fit and well. I think it is a nice enough field and he has got (apprentice jockey) Sam McNab on, which gets a little bit of weight off him. “I think he should go a nice race tomorrow. Stablemate Shockatillatap has drawn the ace marble in the Moore Equine Transport (1400m), and Bradley isn’t overly enamoured with the gate. “It (draw) is not ideal,” she said. “A lot of people love the inside draw, but it just doesn’t work in his favour. He is a big horse that likes a bit of room. “Courtney (Barnes) has ridden him quite a bit in the past and knows him well, so I am sure she will get him out and get him on his way and find a nice path. He should improve with the run.” Meanwhile, Bradley will head south to Tauranga on Thursday where she will line-up Bosch in the Dane Crockford Ray White Greerton 2100. The six-win gelding is on a path towards the Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m) at Ellerslie on Champions Day in March and Thursday will prove to be an important stepping-stone towards the two-mile feature. “We are looking at an Auckland Cup campaign with him. Obviously, we have got to get through Thursday and see how he pulls up,” Bradley said. “The track down there at the moment is a Soft6 and if it stayed like that we would be more than happy, but no doubt it is going to dry out a bit. “He is very well. He ran over 1600m at Te Rapa on the 20th of December, which was more of a fitness run than anything, and he is fitter for the run under his belt. Hopefully we get a nice barrier draw.” Bradley said Bosch will likely have two more runs before the Auckland Cup and she believes he will be ideally suited by the two-miles. “There will be one more after this one and then we will aim towards the Avondale Cup (Gr.3, 2400m) with him, and then onto the Auckland Cup,” she said. “It is race-by-race with this horse, but he is well and happy, and that’s the main thing. “He is a Pentire out of a High Chaparral mare, so he is bred to stay, and we would love to get him up over the two miles. We think he would love it.” While looking forward to this week’s assignments, Bradley is waiting in anticipation to see if her promising filly She’s Not Saint can make the cut for the $1 million Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 24. Purchased by Bradley out of Highline Thoroughbreds’ 2025 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $55,000, She’s No Saint has placed in both of her starts to date, including over 1100m at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. While hopeful of gaining a berth in the Karaka Millions, Bradley said the Gr.3 Colin Jillings 2YO Classic (1200m) at Ellerslie seven days later looms as a logical Plan B. “She’s No Saint ran on Boxing Day and finished a huge third,” Bradley said. “We are sitting tight with her and are hoping to get into the Karaka Millions. “We have planned a path and we didn’t want to give her another run. If we can get into that we would be pretty happy, but if we don’t there is a Group Three race the following week at Ellerslie. “She is a pretty exciting filly and I think once she gets to three I think she is going to be even better.” View the full article

Over time I have found that if a bit of the old T&B is needed then alcohol is best left out!

Not sure NZ lost it. Real kiwis just don't combine it with threats and bullying.

Just the 5 races at Manawatu, just the 4 horses in the main race at Cambridge, that Manawatu meeting, no surprises, might have been smarter to combine with Wairarapa from last week, 4 races that Otaki use to do,a one off don't happen in the CD, Kapiti Coast, not sure next week, because of the track but would numbers be any different from Manawatu? Hawera following Kapiti should be OK but as with last year, why schedule grass racing same time at Kapiti or Palmy for that matter as Marlborough, that's stupid As for Cambridge only 4 going for 40000, Republican Party didn't stay, they dont have a circuit no more up North to tie in with the , Auckland Cup, Nelson on Sunday might get 10 going for 25, HRNz if they so obsessed with bumping up stakes then bump up Westports, Omakaus and Nelson's main race and have good racing for the better ones through the holiday break, judging by the Omakau main race figures people like the better horses but you do need 8 runners to entice more betting.

At the end of the day he is an Australian they are brought up to have an opinion and have a beer. Not sure when NZ lost it.

Yes bigger takeouts and fixed percentages. But Betfair stuffs that because they just clip the ticket doing sweet stuff all!

They must have figured out that they could make a bigger margin on FO betting as they seem to want to phase our tote betting. Would be surprised though as tote betting had some decent takeouts. Win/place 15%, doubles, quinellas etc 20% and some of the exotics as high as 25%. Or is it a matter of sports is the future and that is all FO, so they are increasingly left with this white elephant that is the racing totalisator

Agreed. C.George calls it how he and others see it. Doesn't matter who is in the room, as we found out. I wonder if he was approached by NZ rugby?

Some top punters can individually as in one person take the equivalen to 1% or more of the net profit. In NZ that is only about $1.2m. That is the beauty of the tote and a betting exchange. The house clips the ticket but it is mano on mano. The house can't lose as it takes a fixed percentage. Whereas on Fixed Odds it is computer and bookie vs the punter.

Be interested to know what those restricted would be costing them each year. Surely it can't be that much, knowing the small percentage that win. You can almost deduce that it is a small amount based on the huge losses that punters incur. Enough to fund a racing industry. The no deductions policy gained them a lot of kudos. To have a no restrictions policy would be also win them a lot of kudos. As I said I don't know what it would cost them, so that is the proviso. Maybe a case of the pros outweighing the cons. I recall the TAB always used to advertise; you know the odds now beat them

Because that 4% caught bankrupt them if allowed free rein.

So if 4% only win, why is it ok for the TAB to restrict the 4% that win??? The TAB acts with very little integrity! They want to ensure that everyone is a loser, and those that can beat them, they try to eliminate them by big restrictions! The TAB with the monopoly it has has been very bad for the wagering industry.

Presume they mean consistently or over a lifetime. If so then no chance 4%.

See note 4. So, no as I read it. All NZTR funding. NOTES 1. Total turnover is provided by Entain NZ on a per race basis. Turnover through betcha was not available to NZTR for meetings prior to 24 January 2025. Total on-course turnover is all tote and fixed odds racing turnover placed on-course, including geo-located mobile and digital turnover. Total off-course turnover is Total NZ turnover minus Total on-course turnover. 2. Australian Racefields includes Australian TAB turnover and a calculation to estimate other Australian Corporate Bookmaker turnover based on the known current market share of these companies. It does not include turnover placed on NZ Thoroughbred racing through international operators outside of Australasia. 3. Club Noms, Accepts & other charges/payments is the net amount of all nomination and acceptance charges for Group & Listed charged to owners and paid to clubs and for Feature jumps races not charged to owners, minus credits paid to owners for the same races. 4. Total Club, Meeting & Stakes Funding is all NZTR funding paid to clubs, including Minimum Stakes, Group and Listed, Special Interest, Iconic, Heritage, Country Cup, Innovation and Other Race funding, Meeting Type, Venue Category, Racing Compliance, Event Tier funding, Carnival funding, Jumping Support, On-Course commission and payments, including any Digital turnover and any other meeting funding. Club Compliance funding is included but other funding to clubs or venues for infrastructure, Strategic Training Centre funding, HR Support, Business Innovation is not. All efforts have been made to reconcile against total funding paid to clubs but there still may be some small discrepancies between funding recorded and total funding received by clubs. 5. Net Stakes is Stakes Paid minus the net Club Noms & Accepts & other charges/payments received by clubs. 6. Net Stakes to Funding Ratio is Net Stakes Paid as above and divided by Total Club, Meeting & Stakes Funding. Note that club funding and other numbers can be affected by meetings or races not run, abandoned or transferred.

Irad Ortiz Jr. may be just 33 but, as he finished atop the North American wins and earnings leaderboard yet again in 2025, he is already solidifying his legacy as one of the all-time great riders.View the full article

Paladin (Gun Runner), the winner of the GII Remsen Stakes at the Big A Dec. 6, will according to his trainer Chad Brown point to the Feb. 14 running of the GII Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, which is tabbed as a GI Kentucky Derby qualifier offering 50-25-15-10-5 points to the top five finishers. The $1.9-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling purchase, owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith, Peter Brant, Brook T. Smith and Summer Wind Equine, broke his maiden on debut in Ozone Park Oct. 17 after a disqualification. The colt then won the Remsen by two lengths. Since then at Brown's Payson Park base Dec. 28, Paladin has worked a half-mile in :50.80 for his conditioner. “He's settled into South Florida nicely and will likely point to the Risen Star,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He's 2-for-2 and he's a very smart horse; an efficient mover and he's obviously got the pedigree and looks. Given his purchase price, he's got all the right tools. It's just a matter of staying healthy and moving forward in his development.” PALADIN remains unbeaten, winning the G2 Remsen Stakes under Flavien Prat for trainer Chad Brown, and earning 10 @KentuckyDerby qualifying points! pic.twitter.com/1yV66Bz1YV — NYRA () (@TheNYRA) December 6, 2025 The post Remsen Champ Paladin Will Point To Risen Star In New Orleans appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

More than a decade after Robert Marzilli purchased eventual Canadian champion Caren from the Everatts of Shannondoe Farm, the team bred their first stakes winner together when Fire and Wine won the Coronation Futurity at Woodbine Nov. 29. View the full article