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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Zac Purton will ride Sagacious Life in next month’s Classic Mile after narrowing down an enviable shortlist that included the likes of Invincible Ibis, Little Paradise, Beauty Bolt and Top Dragon. By his own admission, this could be one of the most competitive opening legs of the four-year-old series in recent years and it was a decision that has given Purton a big headache over the last few months. But the champion jockey has ultimately picked the Pierre Ng Pang-chi-trained Brazilian import,...View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The connections of last season’s gun three-year-old Savaglee have some pondering to do over the next few days. The Group One-winning stallion pleased in his first public hit-out of the season when placing in his 1100m trial at Ellerslie on Sunday, and now trainer Pam Gerard is contemplating where to kick-off The Oaks Stud-raced four-year-old. “I was really happy with him yesterday,” Gerard said. “He went to the line under a hold, he was never asked for anything, and it was just a nice day out. “He was a little bit on the fresh side, so he wanted to get along and get going a little bit. The time was good and his action was good. “He is never 100 percent happy going the Ellerslie way, but that hasn’t changed since he was a two-year-old. He pulled up well and we are happy with where he is at. “In the next few days we will make a decision where he kicks off.” Next Saturday’s Gr.1 Sistema Railway (1200m) on Karaka Millions night looms as an obvious target, however, Gerard said they may bypass the feature sprint in favour of heading to Te Rapa a fortnight later. “There are not a lot of choices, it is either the Railway or we miss the Railway and go straight to the BCD Sprint (Gr.1, 1400m),” Gerard said. “The trial was only yesterday, we are happy with how he has come through it, we think he has improved quite a bit off it and thought he was right on the mark to have a go at the Railway if we think that is the right place to go.” The son of Savabeel was runner-up in the Gr.1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington last year, and Gerard said an elite-level scalp across the Tasman remains their primary objective as they look to Savaglee’s future stud career. “We could go straight over the Tasman, but realistically we need to be having one run here in New Zealand before we go,” Gerard said. “What he does here is also very important, but his main aim is something in Australia to make him valuable when he goes to stud.” Bred by Waikato Stud, Savaglee is out of unraced O’Reilly mare Glee, a full-sister to the dam of Dual Group One winner Orchestral, and a three-quarter sister to the dam of three-time Group One winner Daffodil. He was purchased by The Oaks Stud out of Waikato Stud’s 2023 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $400,000 and went on to win two races as a juvenile, including the Gr.3 Matamata Slipper (1200m), before returning as a three-year-old where he won five and placed in three of his eight starts, including victories in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), Gr.2 Levin Classic (1400m), Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m), Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m), and was third in his first test at weight-for-age in the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) prior to his Australian Guineas runner-up performance. To date, Savaglee has won seven and placed in four of his 15 starts, and earned more than $1.2 million in prizemoney, and Gerard is hoping to quickly add to that tally. “We did the right thing and gave him a nice long break (after the Australian Guineas), brought him up nice and quietly and now he is back into it,” she said. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
A return to Ellerslie next week is on the cards for promising three-year-old King’s English following his win in the Elsdon Park 1200 at the Auckland track on Sunday. The Snitzel colt has shown plenty of ability on the track, placing in his first two starts before breaking through for his maiden victory over 1150m at Te Aroha in November. He was subsequently freshened by trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson and was backed into $2.50 for his resuming run over the weekend. In the hands of New Zealand’s leading hoop, Craig Grylls, King’s English was beaten for early speed from his inside draw and settled midfield on the fence. Turning for home he had a wall of horses in front of him, but Grylls guided him into a gap out wide and he closed late to score a short neck victory over Confesara, with a further head back to Lubeck in third. While the race wasn’t run to his initial plan, Grylls was pleased with the way his charge finished off the contest. “I hoped to be handy like last time when he jumped with them, but he just didn’t hit the ground running today,” Grylls said. “So I was back there with them and he started looming into it to get a gap at the 200m and it was pretty exciting the way he jumped out of the ground inside the last 100m. “I think the penny is only just starting to drop with him now, but he’s got any amount of ability. He’s going to be exciting for the future.” Bergerson was pleased with the result and he is now looking forward to returning to Ellerslie next week with his colt to contest the Gr.3 Cambridge Stud Almanzor Trophy (1200m) on Karaka Millions night. “He got back in a tricky spot, but fair play to the horse, he quickened when he needed to. It was a really patient ride by Gryllsy and he’s in fantastic form,” he said. “The horse is getting better and better. He has taken a bit of time, with a few maturity issues early on, but is slowly putting it all together. “The Almanzor Trophy seems the logical step as long as he comes through the race well. You would have to think he’d be a really strong chance off that win.” Out of dual Group One winner English, King’s English was purchased by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis out of Newhaven Park’s 2024 Inglis Australasian Easter Yearling Sale draft for A$700,000. He has won two and placed in two of his four starts to date and has earned just shy of $50,000. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Aaron Bidlake has never given Tulsa King’s lack of size a second thought, with experience teaching him good things can come in small packages. The Hastings-based horseman was thrilled with his flyweight charge’s run for second in the Listed Gingernuts Salver (2100m) at Ellerslie on Sunday to keep the Classic dream alive with the son of Staphanos. Tulsa King had collected a win and a runner-up finish in the Gr.3 Wellington Stakes (1400m) from his previous six starts for Bidlake and is firmly on target for a crack at the Gr.1 Trackside New Zealand Derby (2400m) in March. “He had three trials and a couple of runs for Barry Donoghue and he trialled up okay but didn’t set the world on fire and only managed to beat one horse home in his first two starts,” Bidlake said. “They put him on Gavelhouse and we were lucky enough to get him for only $1,500, I guess being so small put a lot of people off. “He really is a tiny horse, but I’m not worried about small horses. I won the Grand National (5600m) with Eric The Viking and he was pretty small.” Eric The Viking claimed the National in 2014 off the back of success in the Koral Steeplechase (4250m) and also won the Wellington Steeplechase (5500m). “We’re having a fair old ride with a very cheap horse now and Barry Donoghue was the first one to come up to me on Sunday and congratulate us for running second, so that was nice,” Bidlake said. “He went super and the ride from Sam Collett was fantastic, they got held up a bit in the straight but for a horse she’d never sat on before she gave him such a good ride along the fence. “He came through it very well and we came home through the night back to Hastings, and he was bouncing in the paddock this (Monday) morning.” Tulsa King is a family horse, with Bidlake and partner Michelle Young sharing in the ownership with his uncle and aunt Barry and Teresa. “Mum and Dad (Karen and Graeme) also have a share in him as part of the Grassroots Syndicate and we travel all our own horses and Michelle does all the driving so it’s very much a team effort,” he said. Tulsa King will make one more appearance before the Derby in an open handicap won by Kevin Myers’ C’est La Guerre on his way to Classic glory in 2008. “We will go a little bit different because of the travel, so he’ll go to the Wairoa Cup (2100m) at Waipukurau,” Bidlake said. “He’s only 400kg, I don’t want to give him another trip north at this time of the year with the heat, we’ll stick close to home and then it’s on to the Derby. “In his previous races, he has got back and gone to sleep and we’ve thought all along he was a staying type of horse and the pedigree suggests that, the further he goes the better he’ll be.” The Chequers Stud-bred gelding is out of the Encosta De Lago mare Lilies who is a half-sister to Soriano, dual Group One winner of the Zabeel Classic (2000m) and Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m), and the family of Wexford Stables’ 2021 Derby winner Rocket Spade. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk Dunsandel trainer Sam Payne will line up two contrasting first starters at Ashburton on Tuesday. After impressing at the trials, Makani ($3.80FF) will start in Race 1, the 4 Blokes Syndicate Mobile Trot while stablemate Major Miss ($6FF) debuts in Race 5, the Betavet / B and T White Racing Stables Mobile Pace. Both will be driven Jonny Cox. Payne bought Makani for $23,000 at the 2024 National Yearling Sales. “I spotted him during the Southland tour looking at yearlings and I liked him even more at sale time so I put up my hand and bought him.” “We had planned to race him as a two-year-old but he got crook and we tipped him out.” “He’s a really nice horse but maiden trotters you never know what’s going to happen do you? But he’s usually safe.” He’s three now and has had four wins from five trials leading into his first race day start. “I’ll leave the driving up to Jonny but if he wants to go forward I’m sure they will, but if he flops out and takes a sit and comes off a helmet I’m not too worried.” While Makani is a “cruisy dude” fellow debutante Major Miss is “a bit of a funny one” and “can be a handful at times.” The Art Major five-year-old has not shown up to the same extent at the trials but did win a three-horse workout at Rangiora in December. “She’s quite a speed horse and she probably needs to tuck away and then get one run at them.” “Her work has been real good,” says Payne, “on her best if she gets a nice cosy trip she’d be a good top three show.” The 10-race card at Ashburton starts at 1.32pm. To see the Ashburton fields click here View the full article
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