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No rules are most clubs are giving it a go , what you fail to understand though is the importance of race dates for clubs , most everything flows from there , you'd understand better with a bit of experience on a committee. You cannot ascertain a proper analysis in club land without understanding how it all works. If yuoure in the NZTR club you have every opportunity to suceed , if youre not then your part of the agenda driven plan to ensure its made as difficult as possible for your club to suceed. You cannot get a good understanding of the system just by reading Financial Statements , its a far deeper situation than that. TBH I don't think you will ever understand it unless youre actually involved in it, you need to open your mind more @Chief Stipe . They most certainly should have access to some race dates like alot of other clubs do ... absolutely ... why not? I agree, but I do not hold this against you. You just do not know , so of course youre going to jump on the misinformation band wagon when thats all you know about. -
By Chief Stipe · Posted
The weather forecast says it will and it is raining as predicted in most places. Rotorua was going to be a Twilight meeting and the weather forecast has 40mm plus thunderstorms right in the middle of when the weather was hitting. At least they made a decision early. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
By Emma Berry and Brian Sheerin NEWMARKET, UK — As the sun went down, the ring filled up and, after the odd false start, the sale-watchers got what they came for: Porta Fortuna, followed by Tamfana, Barnavara, Saqqara Sands and then some as an array of equine jewels combined to bring the highest gross ever recorded in a single day in European auction history. If many had predicted that Porta Fortuna (Caravaggio) would top the sale then they were almost right, and for about an hour she held the record as the most expensive filly in training sold in the world this year at 4.5 million gns. Ultimately, though, her thunder was stolen by another Irish-trained filly, Barnavara (Calyx), who pushed the record to 4.8 million gns. The G1 Prix de l'Opera winner was bought online by Sugar Whiskey Trading, believed to be an associate of Ace Stud. “Some buzz! I promise you, that was more than my wildest dreams,” said Barnavara's trainer Jessica Harrington standing among a delighted throng of Alpha Racing members. They included Valerie, Juliet and Diana Cooper, the mother, wife and sister respectively of Patrick Cooper, who had bought Barnavara as a yearling at the Goffs Orby Sale for €70,000. Some buzz indeed. Harrington continued, “We all got excited and said, 'Oh, she might make three [million]. But what did she even make? 4.8 million? It was stuck at 1.5 million and then it went on and on and on and on. I promise you, it's amazing. Best of luck to her new owners. Yulong usually bid online – I better try to keep her! There's a lot in the tank still. We thought that she was only just growing into herself because she went on improving all year. She's a very big filly – she's an amazing filly, she really is. “The Alpha Racing Syndicate was set up by my son-in-law Richie Galway, Patrick Cooper and Legs [Elaine] Lawlor. We set it up to buy yearlings, race them and have fun and hopefully wash our faces every year. But it has been incredibly lucky. We've had Kinesiology, Cadillac and a lot of good horses. Everyone has had fun doing it and a lot of the syndicate members are here today. Even three people came from America. It's amazing.” Last year there were 10 seven-figure lots sold during the Tattersalls December Mares Sale, and this time around a record-equalling 11 fillies or mares made a million gns or more. The record turnover of 57,695,415gns for 201 horses sold was an improvement of 5%, while the average rose by 4% to 287,042gns. The clearance rate dropped from 82% to 78%, while the median was down by 8% on last year at 110,000gns. Porta Fortuna's 'Unbelievable Journey' Porta Fortuna's appearance in the ring prompted auctioneer John O'Kelly to draw on a surprising source of inspiration to describe her, but he had a point. “To borrow a line from Mary Poppins, 'She's practically perfect in every way',” he said. The potential buyers agreed. Round and round the four-time Group 1 winner went until the hammer fell at 4.5 million gns in the direction of Coolmore's MV Magnier. No little amount of emotion accompanied her passing from an amalgamated syndicate of American owners who have been on the ride of their life to one of the world's leading breeding operations. Before the tributes were paid to horse and trainer Donnacha O'Brien by those connections, however, there was a lengthy standing ovation for John O'Kelly as he completed his last stint on the rostrum during the Sceptre Sessions. After Wednesday's final session of the December Sale, O'Kelly and Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony, two of the most respected and admired auctioneers in the thoroughbred world, will depart the Tattersalls rostrum for good. Truly the end of an era. For owners Medallion Racing, Steve Weston, Reeves Thoroughbreds and Barry Fowler, the four-year-old Porta Fortuna has been the horse of a lifetime. “This is why everybody tries to be in the game, for horses like this,” said Medallion Racing's Philip Shelton. “I can remember Mark Taylor kind of had soured on us owning European racehorses, and then she won. And now we've just had a recent Breeders' Cup winner Balantina, but for our partnership and for me personally, [Porta Fortuna] has taken us to a stratosphere we never could have dreamed about. And it's a huge honour and a privilege to me to have been part of the journey.” He continued, “It's not often you have this unbelievable race record and then you pull the filly out of the stall and they're as nice as her. She's just got an unbelievable presence and an unbelievable mind. And I think that's part of the reason she was so successful on the track. “This was the end of our chapter of our story. It's been the most unbelievable journey, and we just wanted this to go well, really more for her. We are so far ahead financially that we just wanted her to have this moment.” Having won her Curragh maiden on debut in the colours of Annemarie O'Brien, Porta Fortuna was next seen winning the G3 Coolmore Stud Sprint Stakes for her present owners, and thereafter made the first of two successful appearances at Royal Ascot when winning the G3 Albany Stakes. Her four top-level wins came in the Cheveley Park Stakes, Coronation Stakes, Falmouth Stakes and Matron Stakes. Shelton added, “These horses can bring you to places and experiences that you could never even dream about. And when you look back, you just realise how fortunate you are. She was owned [and bred] by Aidan and Annemarie O'Brien. We got lucky enough that we bought in and it's been a great start of a journey with Donnacha. We have a bunch more horses with him now. “We're just along for the ride. All we do is pay the bills. You know, I bust out my top hat and I put it on just to reminisce before I came here. We're so appreciative to all of our partners Dean, Steve and Barry.” Porta Fortuna is the most high-profile horse that O'Brien has trained and he took a huge amount of pleasure that she would be returning to familiar surroundings after the sale. He said, “It was a great result all round. She's happy and healthy and we got a great price. I am happy that MV and Coolmore have bought her. She will go back, presumably somewhere close to where she has been trained, which is nice. To be honest, once she got off the box here looking well, that was my job over. Obviously the Taylor Made guys had their job here and they produced her looking amazing. It went great, thankfully.” Tamfana To Visit Justify After Coolmore Spends 2.6m Tamfana has been pencilled in to visit Justify in the new year after Coolmore spent 2.6 million gns on David Menuisier's Group 1 heroine. Bought for just €20,000 by Jeremy Brummitt, the daughter of Soldier Hollow has provided her owners Quantum Leap Racing with a journey that they will never forget, with the highlight coming in last year's Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket. Of course, Coolmore is already heavily-invested in the family given the powerful owners spent €1.4 million on Tamfana's dam, Tres Magnifique (Zoffany), at Arqana last year. Magnier said, “Listen, she's a very good filly and we bought her mother in Deauville last year. David Menuisier did a very good job with her and I'd say we will send her to Justify. We won't race on with her – we will get a few babies out of her and I'd say a visit to Justify is most likely what we'll do.” Menuisier sent Tamfana out to win four of her 14 starts as well as to finish a luckless fourth in the 1,000 Guineas last year. Speaking about the curtain coming down on his stable star's career, he said, “She's a fantastic filly. I think this year she couldn't really do herself justice for one thing or another. She was bought for €20,000 by Jeremy Brummitt, if she had made 20,000gns today we would have been in profit! I think her racing career does not really reflect how good she was. Why should we be disappointed with 2,600,000gns – we shouldn't be, it's an incredible amount of money. “I'm delighted she's gone to Coolmore because she will have a perfect life. They bought the mare so they have the full-brother as well. I'm sure I will have a few boxes available if they were wanting a nice new venture!” He added, “I was a bit worried at the start when she stalled at 950,000gns. I think you have to be delighted. You buy horses to have a bit of fun, you don't expect a return, you don't expect to win the Guineas that she could have, or the Diane. She's taken us on a magical journey. You can only be proud of what she's done.” Meanwhile, Eamonn O'Connor of Quantum Leap Racing toasted the syndicate's poster girl by simply saying, “She's been a star. There are no two ways about that. It has been a tremendous journey over the last three years. She has taken us to all the top races and two Classics. We were travelling in hope in the first Classic [1,000 Guineas] and she almost pulled it off.” He concluded, “We love the BBAG Sale. It's the first one in the season and there's tremendous value. We have to give credit to Jeremy Brummitt. He works the sales very hard for us. She was quite a find. She was €20,000 and everybody who saw her up here this week, without fail, loved her. She's an extremely good-looking horse.” Hillen Secures US-Bound Saqqara Sands For Coolmore Group 2-placed Saqqara Sands (Oasis Dream) will continue her career in America after Stephen Hillen, bidding on behalf of Coolmore, secured the three-year-old filly for 2.1 million gns. The three-time winner, who scored at Group 3 level, was a no-brainer, according to Hillen, who explained he only put one horse to Magnier at that upper level. Hillen explained, “[I] really liked her run at Goodwood. I think she will go to America and she could be good on a turning track. There are plenty of races out there for her. She's run to a Timeform rating of 110 and that's usually good enough to win Group 1s in America. There is a lot of money on offer over there and she's young.” He added, “She was bought on behalf of MV Magnier and Michael Tabor – she's a bit out of my league! Very lucky to have been entrusted to buy her. She was the only one for me at that level. I thought she was pretty obvious. It was plenty of money for her but she's got a good shot, I think.” Stroud Closes The Deal On Choisya At 2m Gns The GI Jenny Wiley Stakes winner Choisya (Night Of Thunder) went the way of Anthony Stroud for 2,000,000gns, bought on behalf of an undisclosed breeder. “She is a lovely racemare and her owner, Mr Nabouda, has been delighted with the progress she has shown throughout her career,” said co-trainer Ed Crisford. “As a five-year-old, now is the time to sell and we are delighted with the result. She sold very well and we are very happy. “She started out at a low level and worked her way up. It wasn't until she was four and even earlier this year during her five-year-old campaign when she started to really turn on the taps and look like a proper filly. It took a while for her to come to hand, really. It wasn't until we took her out to Dubai and America that she took off. The quick ground and the turns and the bends, that was the key to her.” Bred by Rabbah Bloodstock, Choisya is a half-sister to three black-type earners in Pelerin, Base Note and Masarah, and she won eight of her races for Simon and Ed Crisford, adding two Meydan Group 2 victories to her top-level win at Keeneland. Survie Helps Push Coolmore's Spend Beyond 11m Gns MV Magnier may as well have been walking around the back ring as, along with his Coolmore partners, he mopped up some of the best fillies and mares that were on offer at this year's Sceptre Sessions. The Nicolas Clement and Frauke Hermans-trained Survie, who is by Coolmore's own stallion Churchill and finished third in this year's Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh, was just another high-rated runner that went Magnier's way, this time at 1.9 million gns. “She's a very good filly and Nicolas Clement has done a great job with her,” said Magnier. “We're going to talk to Michael and Doreen [Tabor] and see what they want to do, but she might stay in training. We'll make a plan in the next couple of days. Churchill has had another great year. He's a good stallion and is probably the most value horse we have at home now.” It was David Redvers who filled the role as underbidder on the three-time winner who raced in a partnership between the China Horse Club and Gerard Augustin-Normand. Clement said, “She's been a terrific filly and we have mixed feelings as we are losing our top flagbearer. She's had three seasons at the top level but she is going to a very good home and we are delighted for them. Let's hope she breeds a good one for them. She had the heart of a tiger and she was very consistent at Group 1 level.” All told, Coolmore spent 11.1 million gns on four fillies – Porta Fortuna, Tamfana, Saqqara Sands and Survie. Redvers Resolute in Quest for Pintara David Redvers had played the role of underbidder on Survie but he ended up as the successful bidder for wildcard entry Pintara (lot 1760A) at 1.8 million gns on behalf of John Stewart's Resolute Bloodstock. The two-year-old daughter of Pinatubo, who was bred by Ballylinch Stud and raced by that operation with partners, is unbeaten in her two starts to date, including an easy win in the Listed Montrose Fillies' Stakes at Newmarket. At last year's December Sale, Stewart spent more than 6 million gns on five smart race fillies who have been transferred to America to continue their racing careers, including G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Vertical Blue (Mehmas). Arrowfield Hits The Target On Too Darn Hot's Sister Arrowfield Stud's John Freyer said that he stretched the budget in order to secure Chere Darmoiselle, an unraced daughter of Kingman out of the brilliant Dar Re Mi, making the four-year-old a sister to sire sensation Too Darn Hot. Offered by Watership Down Stud, Chere Darmoiselle was sold for 1.3 million gns in foal to Zarak. Freyer said, “We will leave her here to foal and then we will bring her home in the autumn, which will be our spring. She will go to The Autumn Sun. We are big fans of Too Darn Hot and are sending him half a dozen mares this year in Australia. A filly out of that family was just too hard to resist.” He added, “We really had to stretch but we were delighted to get her. We were hoping to buy her for a fraction less than that but the ones with the good pedigrees like her, you are going to have to stretch. I am pleased that we did because it's such a magnificent family and we're all about getting these mares from big families. We'll probably keep all of the daughters and hopefully develop them in the future.” Juddmonte Draft Gets Figures Rolling The first of the day to reach seven figures came early in the Juddmonte draft when Charlie Budgett and Henry Lascelles went toe to toe for Star Magnolia (Kingman), a four-year-old half-sister to the G1 Phoenix Stakes winner Babouche (Kodiac), who was offered in foal to Frankel. It was Lascelles who had the final say at 1,300,000gns, for the young winning mare (lot 1664) whose immediate relatives also include the G2 Minstrel Stakes winner Zarinsk (Kodiac) and the Listed-placed Derevo (Dansili). Hugo Lascelles, father of Henry, said, “What a great and young family to get into. She has two daughters working for you and I like Kingman very much as a broodmare sire. She is in foal to Frankel, so what more can you say? The chat is that she had ability and she is a very handsome lady, too. That is why she is so exciting. She has been bought for a British owner-breeder.” Loading up on Gewan clan The team at Ace Stud will rightly have Classic dreams for G1 Dewhurst Stakes winner Gewan, who was bought privately after the colt had won the G3 Acomb Stakes, and they have been busily accruing further family members at the December Sale. Last week, Ace Stud's Paul Curran signed for Gewan's weanling half-brother at 500,000gns from Overbury Stud, and on Tuesday he added three-year-old half-sister Darn Hot Mystery (Too Darn Hot) to the list at 180,000gns. With two placings from nine starts, the filly (lot 1605) is rated 55 and was offered by her trainer Henry Candy. Ace Stud now has the full set of the first three foals for their Listed-placed dam Grey Mystere (Lethal Force) and have signed for eight fillies and mares under their own name over the last two days for 2,772,000gns. The post ‘Some Buzz!’ Barnavara Tops Record Tattersalls Session at 4.8m Gns appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
They can't really win though. If they don't postpone and the meeting is cancelled on the morning due to heavy rain, they will get severely criticised. If the forecast heavy rain does not eventuate, they will get criticised -
By Chief Stipe · Posted
Who is on this Committee?
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