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Western Canadian Triple Crown Unveiled
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Foal Birthweights: Does Size Matter?
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Inaugural Royal Palm Stakes Attracts Full Fields
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Top to Bottom: Derby Rundown
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Restrepo Works Ahead of the Curve
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Letter to the Editor: Racing Owner Conversations
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Inaugural Royal Palm Stakes Attract Full Fields
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All Three Japanese Derby Contenders Headed Home
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It is the Point. The racing at Cambridge is Important . Many many north Island tracks have been closed in past years and there's barely any left 😧. This has BEEN HAppening for Years . It's not a recent developement at All. Ruakaka, New Plymouth , Hutt Park , scenes of some great action for many. Now Out the Gate. and some say Cambridge is a Burden on the system ? it's in the Waikato , great horse country ?. SURELY surely you should see the need to run it ? , whether it's 45 horses or even less ? Once you stop running =It's over. I HATE the idea of selling Franklin as the ATC already in crippling debt will be out of business if DON"T HAVE ASSETS (and somewhere for the good Pukekohe folk to train as well) or reduced assets is just asking for trouble. Victoria still trades and run's races the same as NZ (same population) even while 80 mill odd in debt , because it has the ASSET of MELTON Park track. most of the country tracks still function because people CARE , and still race them when 45 or 86 horses turn up on the day. It's a Sport. Let them race. If you're worried about half sized fields then Cut the prizemoney in half then. it probably will come to that at some stage. Stopping them altogether is silly though. I remember being Matamata on-course only meeting once racing for $1000. Lightning Blue won his Very first start that night. Shipped off to Aus then. And came back to Addington 2 years later to win the Interdominion and NZ CUp double. was easier for the horse at Cambridge 🤣😉👍 Auckland has many Millionaire owners who pour thousands into the game in yearling purchases , training and driving to WORLD class levels by the participants , and Metro Class fast horses . Of COURSE they should race for the BIGGER dollars. more the merrier. Don't let the gallopers owners/trainers have it all 😅🏇. ENTAIN have PLENTY💰 The HRNZ is doing the best they can for those still going. I get the point that it's not a great betting product , but as you pointed out with your thoughts on Menangle driving, and QLD race driving, it's not a great betting product in Aus either. I don't even watch most of the races. Just if someone I know is in it. In FACT No-one in Brisbane barely knew the Interdominion was on .No ads. no nothing. I could of asked a thousand people, anywhere in Brisbane, who won the Queensland Derby at Albion Park and would be likely to get ZERO correct answers. the game is gone. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Jamie Richards’ stable stocks continued to rise at Happy Valley on Wednesday night after the New Zealand trainer slotted his second double in two meetings as Storming Dragon (Star Turn) claimed joint leadership of the HK$1.5 million DBS x Manulife Million Challenge. Fresh from a brace at the season-opening fixture at Sha Tin on Sunday, Richards struck with Storming Dragon and To Infinity (NZ) (Darci Brahma) to erase the memories of a challenging 2024/25 campaign when he saddled 21 winners. “It’s incredible. We had 21 winners for the whole of last season and now we’ve had four winners in two meetings,” Richards said after Brenton Avdulla drove Storming Dragon to an emphatic victory in the Class 3 Wan Chai Handicap (1200m). “I’m very, very happy. It’s quite hard to explain, really. To Infinity was a bit of a surprise but Storming Dragon had run consistently well all last season, and he trialled well behind Ka Ying Rising and My Wish and Brenton gave him a lovely ride. “It’s a wonderful start to the season for the whole team and I must thank them for all the work they’ve done in the off-season.” To Infinity won the second section of the Class 4 Kwun Tong Handicap (1650m) under Alexis Badel for Richards, securing his seventh course and distance success. Bred by The Oaks Stud, To Infinity was purchased after a trial placing in New Zealand, while Storming Dragon is another graduate of the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale, purchased for $330,000 by Richards and Andrew Williams from the draft of Kilgravin Lodge. Earning a maximum 15 points for the win in the DBS x Manulife Million Challenge, Storming Dragon shares early leadership with Danny Shum’s Wrote A New Page (NZ) (Wrote), who slotted his third win in a row with a typically gritty performance in the Class 3 Central Handicap (1650m) under Harry Bentley. Having lost touch with leader Highland Rahy on the home turn after sitting second in the run, Wrote A New Page responded with trademark application to wear down the race favourite. “It was a tough effort. I really liked him last season but was always conscious of the fact he grinds out his races and he’s got stamina in bags,” Bentley said. “At the top of the straight, Highland Rahy put a good bit of distance between the two of us and I thought it was a lot to claw back. “But his stamina kicked in and saw him through and there should be more with this horse. He’s a bit unearthed. I feel he’s one of those horses where you are always scratching away at the surface and finding a little more each time. “I’m not sure where his top is at the moment but, for me, he’s just going to be a better horse over long distance.” Wrote A New Page was purchased by Sammy Ma for $75,000 from the Karaka yearling draft of Highview Stud. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
An Australian winter spell has agreed with Group One winner Pier (NZ) (Proisir), who is set to kick-off his spring preparation in the Gr.2 Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill on Saturday. The six-year-old son of Proisir performed with distinction in Brisbane earlier this year, placing in the Gr.3 BRC Sprint (1350m) before winning the Listed The Wayne Wilson (1600m), and enjoyed some downtime in the warmer climes of Queensland. Trainers Darryn and Briar Weatherley have been pleased with the way he has returned, with the gelding undertaking his early preparation in Queensland before joining Darryn Weatherley in Sydney where he finished runner-up in his 790m trial at Warwick Farm last week. “He spelled and pre-trained up in Brisbane, so he has been over here the whole time,” Darryn Weatherley said. “He has settled in at Warwick Farm really well, is eating well and working well. He trialled up really well, I am very pleased with him.” While pleased with his charge ahead of his first-up run, Weatherley said the wet weather in Sydney may hamper his chances this weekend. “He is looking good and whatever he does on Saturday he will improve on. He will be in need of the run,” he said. “They have had quite a bit of rain over here so that track is going to be a little bit testing. He handles all types of footing, but it just may be a bit too testing for his fitness.” Weatherley has some lofty ambitions with Pier this spring, with the Gr.1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) his next target, and his performance in that race will dictate whether they press on towards the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley next month. “I am really happy with the was he is,” Weatherley said. “I would just like to see him run a nice race and give us confidence going into the next run, which is the Epsom, which he will be spot on for. “His form will dictate where he goes. If he runs a battling 12th in the Epsom, you wouldn’t want to be putting him on a float to take on Via Sistina in the Cox Plate. He would have to be pretty competitive in a race like the Epsom to warrant going to Melbourne.” Meanwhile, back in New Zealand, stablemate Mali Ston (NZ) (El Roca) will be on trial for an elite-level assignment when he heads to Te Rapa on Sunday to contest the Power Farming – We Keep You Growing 1200. The Group One performer disappointed when finishing 11th in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at the Hamilton track last month, and Weatherley is hoping for an improved showing from the eight-year-old gelding this weekend. “He was a little bit disappointing in the Foxbridge Plate at first glance but being that little bit older he probably needed it,” he said. “We are going back to 1200m, he is probably ready for a 1400m, but if they are getting the rain, a 1200m will be like a 1400m. He has got a lot of weight to carry (62kg) and we have elected to go with a claim with Ashlee Strawbridge (apprentice jockey). “It would be nice to see him hit the line and tell us that he still wants to be there because I know he certainly has got the ability, but as they get older and whether he is as genuine as he used to be, that is also a bit of a question mark, so I am looking forward to watching him on Sunday.” Mali Ston holds a nomination for the Gr.1 Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) later this month, but Weatherley said those plans are reliant on Sunday’s performance. “It is still in the mix, but for him to go there he will need to win and win impressively,” he said. On Friday at Matamata, his half-sister Nasha Mala (NZ) (Proisir) will be out to break through for her maiden win in the Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series (1400m). “She just needs a bit of luck in the running,” Weatherley said. “She has had a couple of hard runs in her last campaign and she probably isn’t blessed with the same ability as Mali Ston, but I think she has got a win in her somewhere.” View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Jamie Richards is off to a flyer in Hong Kong, training 4 winners from 7 runners. Richards says “The success couldn’t have come at a better time”. Listen Here : Jamie Richards 11.09.2025 View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The curtain has come down on the career of champion jumper The Cossack (NZ) (The Cossack). A winner of 15 jumping races, The Cossack returned this season after sustaining a suspensory ligament injury that he suffered just days out from last year’s Grand National Steeplechase (5500m), but after fourth placed efforts in the Wellington Steeplechase (4900m) and Pakuranga Hunt Cup (4300m), his trainers Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal decided he had nothing left to prove. “We’d been talking about it and he hadn’t been performing quite as well this season as he had done, so we were very cautious of him going out and finishing on a low point, having been such a great performer,” Nelson said. “We were happy to finish with the Pakuranga, he possibly doesn’t handle 6400m on a Heavy track as well, which we would probably get in the Northern.” Bred and initially raced by Ivan Grieve, the son of Mastercraftsman commenced his career in the care of John Bary, who prepared him to two victories on the flat and a fourth placing in the Gr.3 Manawatu Classic (2000m). Late in the 2018/19 season, The Cossack stepped out over fences for the first time, and on the recommendation of top hoop Aaron Kuru, Nelson decided to purchase the promising gelding for $30,000, alongside Ivan’s brother Peter and nephew Chief Stipe Grieve, and John Frizzell. Nelson and McDougal took over The Cossack’s training and he rose rapidly through the ranks in his second season hurdling, culminating in his first prestige success in the Great Northern Hurdle (4190m) at Ellerslie. While he was still a relatively inexperienced jumper, that first Northern crown and what followed came as no surprise to Nelson. “Aaron Kuru schooled him over jumps and he recommended him to us, he thought he felt the goods,” he said. “He ran second in his first hurdle start for us, then won two hurdle races at Te Aroha by 19 and 20 lengths, so we knew from there that he was a pretty fair horse. “After that first Northern, he won another eight jumping races in a row, as well as the Road to the Jericho. “We just looked forward to the next race with a horse like him.” Among his nine-straight jumping victories was the Waikato Hurdle (3200m), Wellington Hurdle (3100m), Grand National Hurdles (4200m), a second Great Northern Hurdle (4200m), KS Browne Hurdle (3100m) and Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3100m), nearly the complete set of New Zealand’s prestige hurdle races. “He always gave 100 percent every time,” Nelson said. “Although he could be hard to settle early in his races, when he did settle, you could ride forward or back, it didn’t matter, and he could sprint at the end of these races if he needed to.” After his Hawke’s Bay win, Nelson and McDougal decided to test The Cossack across the Tasman, and despite carrying six kilos more than the winner, he came agonisingly close to claiming the Australian Grand National Steeplechase (4500m), going down by a short head to St Arnicca (Canford Cliffs). “We wanted to have a try, but unfortunately he was so high in his hurdle rating, so when he ran in the Grand National Hurdles, he was weighted well above any other horse over there,” Nelson said. “He lost a point or two for running fifth, but in Australia, they don’t have separate ratings for hurdles and steeples, so he was only having his second steeplechase start in the Grand National Steeples there and carried topweight. “I don’t think that system is doing the jumping in Australia any good because the good hurdlers are so high in the handicap so they don’t convert to steeplechasing. Whereas in New Zealand, a good hurdler can go out on the minimum in a maiden steeplechase, and move up the ratings accordingly, as he was able to here. “It was pretty tough on him, but he ran a hell of a good race and we were very proud of him, as we were every time he raced.” Upon his return to New Zealand, The Cossack continued steeplechasing and added two successive Waikato Steeplechase (3900m) wins, a Pakuranga Hunt Cup and Wellington Steeplechase to his record. The 12-year-old heads into retirement having shown serious versatility, with four wins on the flat, nine over hurdles and six in the steeplechasing role accumulating over $700,000 in stakes. He was twice crowned Champion Jumper at the Horse of the Year Awards and is right up there in the best Nelson has trained. “I couldn’t really pick between him and No Hero, this horse won nine in a row, and No Hero won eight steeplechases in a row,” he said. “I think of them in the same class. “He’ll go out to a nice paddock now for a spell, and after that, we will look for someone that he will suit. He’s not the easiest to ride as he does like sticking his head in the air when it’s time to go so we’ll be careful, but he can have a good rest first. “It’s been a great ride for myself and the owners, he’s a very special horse and provided them with a lot of exciting times.” View the full article
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