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Book Review: “Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America’s Legendary Racehorse”
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George Hill New Clerk of the Course at Newbury
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Racing Staff Week Returns Saturday
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By Murray Fish · Posted
hence! making her a valuable Mare in the current Market! -
Nice horse but kiwi win was a fluke when Blake got a lucky run. Not gunna get that much luck too often but no harm in trying as good enough to win a group 2 or 3 when such luck comes again. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Three Chimneys Farm and John Ennis' Great White took the winning bite out of the $174,835 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park Feb. 21, joining the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail with 20 points.View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Ellerslie’s Saturday meeting proved to be a momentous occasion for Chris Wood, with That’s Gold’s dominant win in the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) bringing up his 500th training victory in New Zealand. “It was a big thrill. That is 500 wins in New Zealand and to bring it up with a Group Two race was very good,” Wood said. “It was really exciting and the horse did the whole team proud.” While he has notched up 500 wins in his homeland, Wood also experienced plenty of success across the Tasman. “I have had quite a few (wins) in Australia,” he said. “I trained a winner on Melbourne Cup Day three times, Cox Plate Day three times and Caulfield Cup Day twice, so I have had a good run over there as well. “I had a stable at Mornington for a couple of years but decided to close that and concentrate on New Zealand.” Wood has enjoyed more than four decades in the industry, which all began thanks to his sister’s pony. “My sister had a pony and Royce Dowling used to come and shoe it,” Wood said. “Royce Downing was a good trainer and he looked at me one day and said, ‘you are pretty small, have you ridden a horse?’, I said I had ridden my sister’s pony a few times, so he said I better come and have a ride on a racehorse, and it went from there.” A career as a jockey ensued, which included flat and jumps racing, and Wood said he enjoyed his time in the saddle. “I did an apprenticeship with Laurie Laxon for two-and-a-half years and then went to Dave Clow, the jumping trainer, and I started riding over jumps,” Wood said. “I learned all facets of the game and Laurie was a very good teacher back in the day for us young fellas.” Wood had 86 wins in the saddle and he was particularly successful over jumps. “I enjoyed my riding,” he said. “I won two Wellington Steeplechases on Long Acre and Mr Hickey, and got beaten a head in a Northern with no stirrup irons in 1984 with a mare called Aurlada.” That’s Gold winning the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) at Ellerslie on Saturday. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Wood transitioned to a career as a trainer and he has enjoyed four decades in that role, with plenty of success on both sides of the Tasman. “It’s a natural progression to try and be a trainer after being a jockey,” he said. “I was in partnership with a guy in Hamilton called Graeme Marshall for about a year and then I came over to Cambridge on my own, leased a place and ended up buying the place, and that is where we are now.” While he is enjoying a great ride with That’s Gold, looking back, Wood said a few of his former equine athlete’s standout. “I had a couple of good three-year-olds, one year after the other, in Allegro and Al Akbar,” he said. “I had a good staying horse in Kaapstad Way who ran second in the Caulfield Cup (Gr.1, 2400m) and fourth in the Melbourne Cup (Gr.1, 3200m) in 2000. “I have had a lot of fun in the game and I wouldn’t change it for anything.” Wood is experiencing his best season in recent years, with the Cambridge horseman currently on 10 wins, including two at stakes level, both of which were recorded by That’s Gold in the Avondale Guineas and Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m), while his $175,000 winner’s purse in the $350,000 Sir Patrick Hogan Karapiro Classic (1600m) significantly added to his season’s earnings. “It’s nice to have a really good team of horses around me at the moment, which is a big help,” he said. Wood said That’s Gold has come through his Avondale Guineas run in great order and he is now looking forward to pressing onto the Gr.1 Trackside New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie in a fortnight. “He is super, he didn’t leave an oat, he ate everything,” Wood said. “He is as bright as a button this morning. We will look at the Derby at this stage and see how we progress from now until then.” View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Trainers Ken and Bev Kelso have been scratching their heads with their Group One-performed mare Alabama Lass (Alabama Express) over the last few months, but they received a confidence boost following her win in a Group and Listed 1100m trial at Taupo on Sunday. After finishing runner-up when first-up in the Gr.1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at The Valley in spring, she disappointed when tailing the field home in the Gr.1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) three weeks later and following a series of post-race examinations, nothing untoward was found. The daughter of Alabama Express returned to New Zealand and resumed in the Gr.1 Railway (1200m) at Ellerslie last month, but once again disappointed when finishing seventh, and once again an extensive post-race examination came back clear. The Kelsos elected to press on with her preparation, taking her to Taupo on Sunday for a trial and she pleased with an all the way win in a smart field that included Te Akau Racing’s $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) bound pair of He Who Dares and La Dorada. “We don’t know what went wrong in the Manikato, she disappointed, and was disappointing again in the Railway,” Ken Kelso said. “After the Manikato we did all the tests, dynamic scopes, an ECG, x-rays, and we couldn’t find anything wrong with her. It’s a mystery really. “Today was a day to see where we are at and she looked more like her old self. “If we can’t find anything wrong and her work is good leading up to next week then we will press onto the King’s Plate.” Alabama Lass was victorious in the Gr.3 Haunui Farm King’s Plate (1200m) last year, following consecutive Group One runner-up performances in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) and Gr.1 Railway (1200m), before going on to win the Listed Moomba Plate (1100m) in her final three-year-old outing at Flemington. The King’s Plate will take place at Ellerslie on Champions Day, March 7, where stablemate Legarto (NZ) (Proisir) could have her final start in the Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m). The multiple Group One winner was a popular winner of the Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa earlier this month where she brought up jockey Opie Bosson’s 100th elite-level victory in the saddle. The Kelsos have been pleased with her progression since that run and they received positive reports from Bosson following her exhibition gallop at Ellerslie on Saturday. “She has come through it (Herbie Dyke victory) well and she had an exhibition gallop yesterday at Ellerslie after the first,” Kelso said. “Opie had a feel of her around Ellerslie, which was the idea of it. He gave us a good report and said she changed legs and balanced up nicely, because she hasn’t been the greatest around Ellerslie, but he said she felt great and worked nice, so it’s all systems go to the Bonecrusher.” Legarto is currently a $3 favourite in the TAB’s futures market for the Bonecrusher, with Gr.1 Otaki-Maori WFA Classic (1600m) runner-up Pier at $4.20. View the full article
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