Gallops

It's not the Entain money that will 'Stop' the industry . They are the one's propping it up with spare back pocket cash at the moment. NZ and Australia. blatant mismanagement is JUST Not Correct. they're helping out in hour of need. And as The Galah correctly says , SPortsBetting is the go these days for them , and horse racing is just like a side dessert if you like , that they don't really need.  It's a TWILIGHT industry . NZ especially has TWILIGHT participants. I can't believe Ricky May coming back again , nor Barry Purdon the other day. Dr Chin . really ? who's gunna lose money betting on them ? not you or I. didn't get enough youngsters involved is the HUUUGEE knife in the back for NZ harness.  I agree Fully with you Brodster that the mile racing and smaller field's are quite boring.  commonly run in Aus every day of the week. and you have advocating keeping them to a minimum in NZ as a spectacle or a Betting prospect. NZ has a GREAT VAriety of RACES put on by HRNZ 9cmpared to Aus) and Caters for All their participants.  THE PARTICIPANTS are just as Important as the Punters to keep it going. No Participants = No Racing = You're washed Up. ENTAIN and HRNZ are handling it to keep it going. And you know this. you're just being mean really not appreciating the efforts .  we'll lose heaps on the Interdominion but you still need these Pinnalcle events to keep people like Seymour interested ( as well as all the 5 day to day meetings we run each and every week.  HRNZ does it better than all our OZ states , except NSW HR which look after their participants magnificently across the board and hopefully at a profit. For your tiny HRNZ industry the results achieved are Just amazing really.   fancy people grizzling they put in 200-300 thousand ( a pittance to Entain) to run the feature Slot TROT of Australasia? , of the world nearly? . with some of the world's best trotters EVER SEEN , yet this thread says Call it off ?????????????????.  I give up mate.  It's like calling off the Olympics 100m because BOLT was too fast for them . 🤣😆.  forget the spectacle 😉   

After Disco Time suffered his first career defeat in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park, his connections are hoping for a fresh start to his 4-year-old season March 7 in the Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.View the full article

Thanks. That's enlightening. Just I didn't recall that term being in the ToR objectives for the project.

It’s been a successful New Zealand raid for the Gavin Bedggood-trained Kingswood, and the grey entire will be looking to end it on a high when he heads to Ellerslie on Saturday. The son of Roaring Lion won first-up in New Zealand on Boxing Day at Ellerslie in the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) before finishing runner-up to Legarto in last month’s Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa. The ledger is now one apiece between the pair, with Legarto running third in the Zabeel Classic, and Bedggood is hoping Kingswood can once again have the Ken and Bev Kelso-trained mare’s measure when they return to Ellerslie on Champions Day to contest the Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m). “I have got full respect for her and she beat us fair and square last start,” Bedggood said. “We are racing back right-handed, which I know is my horse’s advantage, and hopefully back on a track with a little bit more of a forgiving surface can help us.” Bedggood has been rapt with what has turned into a lucrative campaign and he said he would love to return to New Zealand in the future if the opportunity presented itself. “It’s been a well worthwhile trip, and we have been very well looked after,” he said. “Mike Rogers, who has accommodated us for the last 11 weeks at Pukekohe, has bent over backwards to help us. It has been good. “I was over there a week leading up to Christmas and I did 10 days after the sales and all my riders have done a two-week block each. It has been a little bit testing in that regard, but it has been a fruitful trip, and I would have no hesitation doing it again.” Kingswood is set to return to Australia following Saturday’s race and Bedggood is looking forward to tackling some elite-level targets on home soil with the six-year-old, but he has yet to lock down what they will be. “He will fly out on Sunday and head back to Victoria,” he said. “He will be nominated for the Australian Cup (Gr.1, 2000m) and a few different races in Sydney, but we might put him aside and prep him up for Brisbane.” While he will be chasing Group One glory and the lion’s share of the $1 million purse on offer in the Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes, Bedggood will also have a couple of runners at Flemington on Saturday. Jennilala will be seeking to defend her crown in the Gr.3 Matron Stakes (1600m), while in form gelding Castellar will contest the Herald Sun Plate (1100m). “Jennilala won that race 12 months ago,” Bedggood said. “She is deep into her campaign whereas when she went into it last year she was first-up. I am hopeful more than confident of her winning, but she ran well a fortnight ago. “Castellar is in great form. He was gallant in defeat last start, he probably went a bit too quick. Although it is a step up in grade, he drops in weight, and he will be very competitive in that race.” View the full article

Burgeoning thoroughbred giant Yulong Investments has made a splash in New Zealand this season, buying up the nation’s top three-year-olds, and while they have already been rewarded with instant success, they are favoured to have plenty more on Champions Day at Ellerslie on Saturday. Zhang Yuesheng’s Victoria-based operation has purchased a quartet of Kiwi three-year-olds in the last six months, and they have tasted topline success courtesy of Well Written (Written Tycoon) in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) and Ohope Wins (NZ) (Ocean Park), who led home a Yulong quinella in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) last month. While Ohope Wins has crossed the Tasman in a bid to add to her elite-level tally under leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller, New Zealand Oaks runner-up Autumn Glory (NZ) (Ocean Park) and Well Written have remained in New Zealand to contest the Gr.1 HKJC World Pool New Zealand Derby (2400m) and $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) respectively on Champions Day. Autumn Glory will be joined in the Derby by That’s Gold (Lucky Vega), who will carry Yulong’s silks for the first time after they purchased him following his dominant victory in last month’s Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m). Well Written and That’s Gold have a particularly close connection with Yulong, with the pair being by resident stallions Written Tycoon and Lucky Vega respectively, while That’s Gold was bred by the farm, and Well Written was purchased by Yulong’s sales and nominations manager Harry King as a weanling in Australia on behalf of his brother Benji. She was subsequently on sold through Brighthill Farm’s 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Online Yearling Sale on Gavelhouse Plus to trainer Stephen Marsh and Dylan Johnson Bloodstock, and the King brothers have been enjoying watching her meteoric rise as a three-year-old. Harry King had the pleasure of purchasing a share of her back, on behalf of his employer, ahead of her New Zealand 1000 Guineas success last November, and she continued on her upward trajectory, subsequently winning the Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1400m) and $1.5 million Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m), and capturing the attention of racing enthusiasts on both sides of the Tasman. She now heads into The NZB Kiwi on Saturday, representing TAB’s slot, as a dominant $1.20 favourite, and like many, King is hoping she can continue her winning ways this weekend.  “It is a very exciting weekend for Benji and I and the whole team involved in selecting her,” King said. “Benji gave me a bit of a brief to find some nice foals, he was unable to make it to the sale (in Australia), and we were very fortunate to get her and bring her back to New Zealand. “She is the first Group One winner by Written Tycoon for Mr Zhang (Yulong principal). For me to be involved in purchasing her with Dylan Johnson and Stephen Marsh privately was extra exciting.” King said he took particular satisfaction from her Karaka Millions win where he was trackside to watch her triumph, with the bonus of Benji training a winner on the undercard. “I was speaking to Benji during the week and I think what has hit home is after the Karaka Millions I opened social media and saw Chris Waller, Peter Moody and Gai Waterhouse all commenting on Well Written,” he said. “That gave us a bit of excitement, seeing those people that we look up to all talking about a horse that we purchased.” While the brothers didn’t retain Well Written to race, she has helped raise the profile of Benji’s business, Foxhill Thoroughbreds, and given them the confidence to continue to invest in bloodstock. “The amount of business he has gotten out of it in terms of marketing and promotion is great,” Harry King said. “Even off this sale he has been sent two horses by David Digney, who bred Well Written. “We have purchased three or four horses over the past 12 months, two of those at Karaka that sold out straight away. We got a nice colt that we purchased out of Book 2 that we have put a lot of friends in, and he is a nice, sharp two-year-old looking horse and we will be expecting him to run in the Karaka Millions next year.” While King is particularly close to Well Written’s journey, he has also been watching Yulong’s other recent New Zealand purchases with interest, and he is pleased to see his employer investing heavily in his homeland. “As a proud Kiwi, and someone who works for Mr Zhang, I take great pride in seeing what he is doing over there,” King said. “Being brought up in New Zealand and a former employee of NZB (New Zealand Bloodstock), it makes me proud to see him going full force into New Zealand and supporting an array of trainers. We are not just supporting one trainer. “We have got That’s Gold (trainer Chris Wood) running now, who is a son of Lucky Vega, who looks like he is really in the market for the Derby ($5 second favourite) with Autumn Glory (trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood) looking a strong chance ($4.20 favourite). “We have purchased Ohope Wins (formerly trained by Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott) and brought her back to Australia and she is with Chris Waller.” King has also been buoyed by the strong interest Yulong’s purchases have garnered. “Between those four horses, they have really captured the New Zealand imagination,” he said. “The support that we have had from New Zealanders, and even Australians, they are really getting in behind them, particularly Ohope Wins and Well Written. “As a farm, we haven’t been going for generations, but for us to be involved and a part of that has really given everyone here a lot of satisfaction.” While King said he would love to be at Ellerslie for Champions Day, he has commitments at Flemington, with Yulong the naming sponsor of the Gr.1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m), but he will be keeping one eye on the television taking in the racing action from Ellerslie. “It is a massive day at Flemington and as a farm we like to sponsor and support race clubs,” he said. “We have still got jobs to do back here at Flemington, and that will take pole position, but we will have huge interest in what they are doing at Ellerslie. “I was there that day last year, we had our first ever runner in New Zealand in our silks in Vega For Luck (in the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes, 1200m), and a year later we now have some of the headline acts. “We feel very grateful to be playing our role in that day because it is just a superstar day for New Zealand racing.” View the full article