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Steve Davis Named NZTBA Personality of the Year
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Winter Weigh In, July 28
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Time brings out best in Savabeel’s son
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NZ Racing and Breeding News – 28 July 2025
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Take After Me first to be Harness 5000 eligible
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Family success rolling into new season for Bell
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Doosie of a win for Butt and White
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Grand National on radar for mighty jumper
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Further stakes success for Beaufort graduate
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Billy Boy near-flawless in steeple debut
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Leitrim Lad all class in feature chase
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Our Daymo too tough in Te Aroha test
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Mugford eyes winners circle with Ruthless Emma
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NZ Racing and Breeding News – 27 July 2025
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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Jimmysstar (NZ) (Per Incanto) would most likely still have launched his campaign in the Gr.1 William Reid Stakes (2000m) had it been at its home track, Moonee Valley, but the Ciaron Maher stable are not complaining about its home for this year. The A$1 million sprint will be run at Caulfield this Saturday with The Valley out of action while under renovation. Jimmysstar has had six starts at Caulfield for five wins, including the Gr.1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) and Gr.1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m). The six-year-old has won two trials in preparation for his return and Maher’s assistant trainer Jack Turnbull is excited about unleashing him this weekend. “The William Reid is here at Caulfield, which is his favourite track,” Turnbull said. “He’s had a faultless prep and his trials are obviously there to be seen. “It would be nice to think he’s come back better – he doesn’t need to – but he tries, he’s very competitive and he’s clearly a very good horse.” The William Reid Stakes will be Jimmysstar’s first start since banking a third career Group One win in the Gr.1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) and while he has claims on recognition as Australia’s premier 1400m horse, Turnbull said 1200m at weight-for-age was the perfect fresh set-up. “He won the Oakleigh Plate here, but that was as a younger horse and he had no weight,” he said. “Now as a mature horse, effectively he is a ‘seven furlong’ (1400m) horse, but he’s so brilliant and fresh over six (furlongs) he can really rip.” Jimmysstar is one of 15 entries for the William Reid Stakes and two for Maher, who will also be represented by Benedetta (Hellbent). The Maher pair are among 10 Group One winners entered for the William Reid Stakes. -RAS NewsWire View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Brad Widdup has two riders on standby to partner Jedibeel (NZ) (Savabeel) in this Saturday’s Gr.1 The Galaxy (1100m) depending on what weight the sprinter is allotted. Handicaps for the 1100 metre feature at Rosehill will be released on Tuesday and once Widdup knows what impost Jedibeel will carry, he will lock in a jockey. “Depending on the weight, we’ve got Tommy (Berry) booked, or Alysha (Collett), so we’ve got two bites at the cherry there with jockeys,” Widdup said. “Hopefully he can draw a gate, and we’ll go from there.” Jedibeel is among 25 entries for the A$1 million The Galaxy with star grey Briasa (Smart Missile), Gr.2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) winner Generosity (Divine Prophet), Beadman (Snitzel) and Grafterburners (Graff) among his potential rivals. Jedibeel tackles The Galaxy second-up after finishing fourth from a wide draw in the Gr.1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield on February 21. He was also among nominations for Saturday’s Gr.3 Maurice McCarten Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill, but Widdup opted to keep his powder dry and steer towards the major. “I ‘ummed and ahhed’ about running (in the Maurice McCarten), but I thought, we’re going to get into the Galaxy with an OK weight,” he said. “I had a good think about it, and we don’t have to run him all the time. We just have to pick the right races.” Jedibeel finished ninth to Private Harry (Harry Angel) in The Galaxy 12 months ago when he drew an outside gate and got back in a leader dominated race. His best result since then has been a photo finish second behind Libertad (Russian Revolution) in the Gr.2 Victory Stakes (1200m) at Eagle Farm in May, but he is an eight-time winner and is proven over the Rosehill 1100-metre circuit. Jedibeel was bred by Waikato Stud and is out of their unraced O’Reilly mare Starry, they offered Jedibeel during the National Weanling Sale on Gavelhouse Plus in 2020, where he was bought for $35,000 by Dengaroka Lodge in New South Wales. Jedibeel was later purchased by Widdup as a yearling for $190,000 at the Sydney Classic Sale after fielding a phone call from Sydney businessman Mike Gregg. Gregg races Jedibeel in the bumble bee colours of his Sydney University of NSW cricket club, along with his grandson Locky Sheridan. -RAS Newswire View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
James McDonald once again takes Australian racing’s centre stage at Rosehill on Saturday with the world’s No. 1 rider seemingly destined to establishing a new record for career Group One winners. If McDonald can claim two Group One wins from the five on the Rosehill program this Saturday, he will not only overtake Damien Oliver as the most successful Group One rider in Australian racing history, he will also register his 100th Group One win in Australia. Currently, McDonald has 98 Australian Group One wins, 16 in Hong Kong, 11 in New Zealand and one each in Japan, the UK and the UAE. Group One wins are hard to come by (certainly for most jockeys) but McDonald looks set for at least one such victory this Saturday as he rides the unbeaten Gr.1 George Ryder Stakes’ (1500m) $1.24 favourite Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun). Also destined to start at a short quote is his Gr.1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) mount Aeliana (NZ) (Castelvecchio), who is currently rated a $1.80 chance of scoring her first G1 weight-for-age win. J-MAC’S GROUP ONE RIDES AT ROSEHILL THIS SATURDAY Gr.1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) – AUTUMN GLOW ($1.24 fav) Gr.1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) – AELIANA ($1.80 fav) Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) – AUTUMN BOY (The Autumn Sun) ($3) Gr.1 Galaxy (1100m) – GENEROSITY (Divine Prophet) ($7) Gr.1 Golden Slipper Stakes (1200m) – No firm booking. Likely to be one of Chris Waller’s trio of Campione D’Italia (Snitzel), Fireball (Snitzel) or Hidrix (Extreme Choice). McDonald moved to 126 wins earlier this month with a Group One double of Autumn Glow in the Gr.1 Verry Elleegant Stakes (1600m) before 24 hours later claiming another Hong Kong feature aboard Romantic Warrior (Gr.1 Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m)). He then won the Gr.1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) aboard Joliestar (Zoustar) before claiming yet another Group One aboard Lazzura (Snitzel) in last Saturday’s Gr.1 Coolmore Classic (1500m). Over the past two Saturdays, he has ridden an extraordinary 10 winners in Sydney. Following his win on Lazurra, McDonald told Channel 7 that the prospect of the record was not weighing on his mind. “It hasn’t really come into my calculations,” he said. “If I get there, I get there. “It’s a funny feeling as Ollie (Oliver) is so great and I don’t feel like I should be in that echelon just yet.” Oliver, however, told Racing.com’s The Verdict program on Sunday that the speed at which McDonald has chased down his record underlines his greatness. “To get that record at 34 – I was 51 I think when I did it – so it just shows you how quickly he’s done it,” Oliver said. “I am sure it’s in the back of his mind but if you start thinking about that you are not actually thinking about what is in front of you and that is winning these big races. “When I was doing it, it was not something I was setting out after either. You just want to be competing in those big races and winning those big races and that’s more what you are concentrating on what’s right ahead of you rather than what’s going to be the end result.” View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Racehorses competing into their double-digit years are common in jumping ranks, but those in the mould of weekend winner Butterfield (NZ) (Niagara) are by far the exception. At Tauranga on Saturday, 10-year-old Butterfield belied his age when he outsprinted his rivals in the Rating 75 1400m, working to the lead from a wide gate for regular rider Tayla Mitchell to establish a clear lead and clinging to victory by a short half-head from Oppenheimer (NZ) (Belardo). That took the Niagara gelding’s record from 52 starts to six wins, six seconds and five thirds for stakes a touch short of $230,000. “He’s been such a genuine horse for me, he always tries so hard and he showed that again on Saturday when he fought them off like that,” said trainer and part-owner Pat McCarten, who races Butterfield with Hong Kong resident Edmund Yue. “The thing is even though he’s 10, this season he’s felt the best and looked the best he ever has. When you look at his record, he’s never raced so well with the most stakes ($73,300) he’s ever earned in a season.” McCarten is perfectly positioned to assess his solitary racehorse’s well-being, as not only does he train him but despite his own advancing years, he also rides him in all his work. “It just got harder and harder to depend on work riders, so that gets back to me, otherwise I’d have to give up. I mix his training between my own property at Oropi, which is quite hilly, and at the (Tauranga) track, so I guess you could say it works. “I’m a bit of a one-man band, I do everything myself, even shoeing him.” Going only so far as describing his own age in terms of “old enough to know better”, Taranaki-born and raised McCarten has a deep racing background. Most famously, his great uncle is the late Maurice McCarten, a member of both the Australian and New Zealand Racing Halls of Fame recognising an outstanding career as both a jockey and trainer. Born in 1902 and initially a dual premiership-winning jockey in his homeland, McCarten took that success further after relocating to Sydney with another premiership and wins in many of Australia’s major races. When he transitioned to training he prepared the winners of the Melbourne and Caulfield Cups, multiple Cox Plates, Epsom Handicaps and Golden Slippers, including the inaugural edition of Australia’s premier two-year-old race with the champion colt Todman (Star Kingdom). He won the 1939 Sydney trainers’ premiership and finished second no less than 10 times to the trainer who was to dominate Sydney ranks, T J Smith. “I’m not old enough to remember his career, but I do recall him from the times he would come home for visits,” says McCarten’s great nephew. Pat McCarten’s own time in racing has included ownership with his parents of the quality 1980s galloper Passakiss (NZ) (Blarney Kiss). She was prepared by the late Dick Bothwell to win the Listed Wellesley Stakes (1000m) and two editions of the Listed Clifford Plate (2000m), the premier weight-for-age race at the original Christmas-New Year Auckland Cup carnival. McCarten became a pioneer in the video filming of National Sale yearlings before they went to auction, as well as combining that content with his work as a bloodstock agent. “I did my first yearling videos back in 1990 and I’m still involved in that kind of work,” McCarten said. “We have our own website (www.equivision.co.nz) which covers the whole equine range.” As for Butterfield, McCarten has “thrown in a nom” for Pukekohe on Friday, keen to make the most of autumn tracks while they last. “I was quite surprised he coped with that (Heavy8) track on Saturday, I almost scratched him on the morning, but I think it helped that Tayla got him across to the fence and stayed down on the inside. “I’ll keep him going while he’s enjoying it, so I don’t know how long that will mean and whether he comes back next season. “All I know is he hasn’t put his hand up at this stage.” View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Girl Talk’s (NZ) (Zed) hot run of form has earned her an early crack at a black-type feature at the scene of her latest triumph. She was successful on Saturday in Rating 75 company at Wanganui and a return to the River City for the Gr.3 Windsor Park Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes (2000m) on April 6 is now firmly in the sights of the four-year-old. Younger stablemate Iffigive (NZ) (Contributer) will also remain on target for a return to stakes racing if she performs up to expectations at Waverley on Wednesday. Part-owner and trainer Stephen Nickalls has played the waiting game with Girl Talk, and the daughter of Zed is now repaying his patience. “She is a good mare, a very cool little girl so we’re very lucky,” he said. “She will most likely go for the Breeders’ Stakes (Gr.3, 2000m) back at Wanganui, she was still a maiden in October so she’s come a very long way in a reasonably short period of time.” Girl Talk opened her account at Waverley in the spring and subsequently won two on the bounce at Trentham and prior to her latest success had placed in the Douro Cup (1600m) and finished sixth in the Karapiro Classic (1600m). “She was third behind Anderson Bridge (NZ) (Savabeel) and Afternoon Siesta (Shamus Award) and was just over two lengths behind That’s Gold (Lucky Vega), who was second favourite for the Derby (Gr.1, 2400m), at Te Rapa,” Nickalls said. “She’s doing an exceptional job for us, all things being equal she’ll got to Wanganui on Easter Monday.” Girl Talk has been taken along quietly and has now won four of her 14 appearances. “She’s a temperamental little darling and we never rushed her as a young horse,” Nickalls said. “We got her up and going and gave her a jump-out before we turned her out and she came back to win a trial. We spaced her races as a three-year-old and didn’t overtax her. “She paraded well on Saturday and didn’t have to go out early like she normally does, she’s maturing nicely but she still can be a bit difficult at times. Meanwhile, Iffigive has done well since her luckless run for seventh in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m). She had previously finished sixth in the Gr.2 Lowland Stakes (2100m) and fourth in the Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m). “She has been very unlucky and should have won a maiden race by now, she got skittled on the corner in the Oaks and was still hitting the line hard,” Nickalls said. “The Manawatu Classic (Gr.3, 2100m) at Trentham on March 28 is her target if she does everything right (in the Property Brokers, 1650m) at Waverley on Wednesday. “She’s come through the Oaks really well and she’ll be dropping back to a mile, but it was either run there or go back to the trials as it would have been six weeks between races. “It will tidy her up nicely, she’s bouncing around in the paddock and I can’t fault her.” View the full article
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