Classifieds

Page 2 of 2 A Club must submit fully completed Race Meeting Track Information Sheets to NZTR ahead of each meeting as per the times outlined at the bottom of that document. A Club must ensure that the Racecourse Manager or their delegate has inspected the track in person both 48 hours and 24 hours before the start of the race meetings and again by 6.45am on race morning. A Club is encouraged to arrange track gallops on the course 48 hours prior to the race meeting. A Club must arrange for a track gallop on the course on the morning of the race meeting to reconfirm the declared track rating, unless this is not practical

They don't gallop in front of the stipes. It's before track conditions are confirmed. Can't say I've ever seen it not done or that someone cant tell me who rode them so I can get an opinion. but it might be difficult at the likes of Trentham.

Does the protocol mention the Stipes must be in attendance?  They delegate other tasks such as issuing barrier certificates.  A jockey riding a gallop can relay his/her thoughts to anyone.  If that jockey thinks there's a problem the Stipe is on the end of a phone.  Not sticking up for either side as I'm not sure of the exact wording of that protocol. I don't think excuses should be made for not galloping prior to the races.  Even tracks that don't have horses trained on site should source some for the exercise, like Tauherenikau does.

Why are you sure they must have galloped?  In the last 18 months I've been on two courses raceday from sparrow fart time and haven't seen any gallops.  The Stipes didn't pitch up until an hour before race 1.

Father-and-son training duo Kevin and Stephen Gray finished the Wellington Cup meeting with a bang on Saturday when their gelding Anderson Bridge (NZ) (Savabeel) surged to victory in the Douro Cup (1600m). Race favourite Afternoon Siesta jumped well and was sent straight to the front by jockey Kelly Myers, while Bruno Queiroz was content to settle three-back in the running line aboard Anderson Bridge. They loomed three-wide at the turn and quickly ranged up alongside the leader, with the pair going head-to-head in the concluding stages, but it was Anderon Bridge who came out on top to win by a long neck. “He is a really promising horse, he beat a good mare,” Stephen Gray said. “We had the (1kg) weight advantage and I said to Bruno that he had to be forward and just attack her because she is a good mare. “He is a really promising horse, so I am excited to have him back.” Gray purchased Anderson Bridge as a yearling in Australia in 2022 for $200,000 while he was still training in Singapore, and entrusted him to the care of leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller. The son of Savabeel won one start for the expat Kiwi horseman before returning to Gray’s care in New Zealand last year, and the Manawatu trainer has been rapt with his progression. The five-year-old gelding won first-up over 1400m at Trentham in December before returning to the Upper Hutt track a fortnight ago to run fifth over the same distance, and bounced back to winning form when stepping up to a mile on Saturday. “He came back from Sydney, and it is only his third run back, so he is only getting better,” Gray said. Gray was also chuffed to record another victory in the Douro Cup alongside his father, while he said the win was a tonic for his Palmerston North-based team. “To win a Douro Cup, which I think I won a long time ago with Dad, and to still win it with Dad is pretty cool,” Gray said. “We run second enough, so when you win one it is exciting. We have had a tough couple of weeks where the horses have been going well, we just quite haven’t got the wins, so it is good for the staff at home and good for my mates who own him. “Paul Hickman, my best mate, owns most of him. We had 98 winners together in Singapore.” The win also extended jockey Bruno Queiroz’s golden run in New Zealand, with the Brazilian hoop currently fifth on the New Zealand Jockeys’ Premiership on 42 wins for the season, and Gray said the 24-year-old has a bright future. “Bruno is a hugely intelligent rider who will be a very good rider wherever he goes,” Gray said. “He is only young and he is riding much better, he is learning as he goes and it was a beautiful ride.” View the full article