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By Chief Stipe · Posted
The Australian races driving a surge in Kiwi turnover for Entain – The Straight thestraight.com.au New Zealand punters’ thirst for Australia’s feature races continues to grow with The Everest easily surpassing the Cox Plate as the second most bet on race, but still well behind the Melbourne Cup.https://bitofayarn.com Entain, which now has a legislated monopoly in New Zealand, reported record Melbourne Cup turnover of $13.6 million in 2025, with more than 20,000 additional active customers compared to 2024.https://bitofayarn.com That had a knock-on impact for the local Ellerslie meeting that same day, which broke the $5 million mark, a 37 per cent increase on 2024. The data was confirmed by Entain’s New Zealand managing director Sam Moncur in his monthly update and backs up what Australasian chief Andrew Vouris revealed to The Guerin Report this week.https://bitofayarn.com He confirmed that on Melbourne Cup Day, there were over ,000 active customers who had never placed a bet on racing before. That comes off the back of the overall active customers in October increasing from 105,600 in 2024 to 117,400 this year. https://bitofayarn.com The Everest was Entain NZ’s biggest turnover race anywhere in October, generating $1.49 million across the TAB and betcha digital channels. The Cox Plate generated $1.02 million and the Caulfield Cup $937,000. The Windsor Park Stud Soliloquy Stakes was the leading local event for October at $741,000. Overall, thoroughbred racing turnover for Entain fell in October by 4.8 per cent compared to 2024. Sports turnover spiked by 72 per cent in October to reach $120.9 million, while turnover across all three NZ racing codes, including overseas, was $180.3 million. It wasn’t just the Melbourne Cup driving additional engagement. In early November, New Zealand Cup day turnover defied a massive storm which hit the track mid-meeting, reaching $7.7 million, an increase of 9 per cent on 2024. The previous Saturday, which featured the 1000 Guineas, saw turnover up by 30 per cent year on year. https://bitofayarn.com -
By Chief Stipe · Posted
St Jean’s tragic end - Half Yours’ sire dies after paddock accident – The Straight thestraight.com.au St Jean, the sire of Melbourne Cup hero Half Yours, has died in a tragic paddock accident just three weeks after the stallion entered Australian racing folklore via his son’s stunning spring crescendo. https://bitofayarn.com Brackley Park’s Grant Dwyer, who runs the Victorian farm which was home to St Jean since 2017, is mourning the loss of his prized stallion after the horse suffered a fatal leg injury. Despite providing the best possible veterinary care to St Jean, the studmaster revealed that the 16-year-old was euthanised on Tuesday. https://bitofayarn.com “After covering a mare, Memory Lane, on Monday the 24th of November, St Jean was returned to be fed in his paddock where he had lived happily and safely since the autumn of 2017,” Dwyer said in a statement. “On the morning of 25th of November it was discovered that, for reasons unknown, St Jean had run into a fence post overnight, breaking it off at ground level and shattering his near side front leg around the elbow region.” St Jean, a European-bred son of Teofilo, began his racing career in Ireland in 2012 before being purchased in 2013 by Warrnambool-based trainer Aaron Purcell, who won four races with the stallion. https://bitofayarn.com He subsequently ended up in New Zealand with trainer Donna Logan, who won a Group 3 City Of Auckland Cup on New Year’s Day 2017 in what would be his second last start. He retired from racing soon after and returned to Australia. Half Yours was bred by Janice McKenna, the wife of the late Colin McKenna, and was initially trained by co-owner Ciaron Maher. When McKenna died last year, a number of his horses were sold, including Half Yours, who was bought by trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy for $305,000 via Inglis Digital last November. https://bitofayarn.com At the time of the sale, he was the winner of two races, a maiden and a Benchmark 64, but in the 12 months since, the McEvoys won six races with him, progressing from a Seymour Benchmark 64 victory to the coveted Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double in the spring. He was ridden by Jamie Melham in both Cups. “St Jean was the first Victorian stallion to sire a Melbourne Cup winner since 1973 and his achievement created a real buzz around the Victorian breeding industry,” Dwyer said. https://bitofayarn.com “His death was very untimely as breeders were only starting to recognise what an incredible pedigree this stallion had. Bookings had started to pick up and he was due to cover a mare by Desert King that afternoon, which would have given the same cross as Half Yours. “He was due to cover five mares by Desert King this season and had bookings of 35 mares in total. “I lament the fact that more breeders did not take the opportunity to breed to this stallion in the first few seasons at stud at an incredibly low price when the opportunity was afforded to them.” https://bitofayarn.com St Jean, who has two foals and three yearlings as well as five two-year-olds on the ground, had stood for a fee of $3300 (inc GST) in his first eight years at stud until it was increased to $11,000 this year on the back of Half Yours’ rise through the ranks. -
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