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Buena Vista Stakes Sets up for Late Runners
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Feb. 23 Insights
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XBTV Unveils Triple Crown Trail Portal
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Retired Jockey Rudy Turcotte Dies
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Book Review: The Rough Magic Of The Mongol Derby
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Maximum Security on Path to Florida Derby
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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Former Kiwi galloper Nikau Spur continues to provide Toowoomba trainers Corey and Kylie Geran with huge thrills and the momentum continued when scoring a last-stride victory in the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Beauford (2300m) at Newcastle on Saturday. The eight-year-old son of Proisir was the winner of the Listed Queensland Cup (2400m) two starts back and relished the solid tempo on Saturday as he landed the thick end of the A$300,000 purse. Ridden by Tim Clark, Nikau Spur narrowly got the better of Herman Hesse, with Naval College a luckless third. Corey Geran, who prepares the third-hand galloper with his mother Kylie at Toowoomba, was on hand to savour the victory. “I love this horse. He is nothing short of a superstar. We travelled to Coffs Harbour on Thursday night, we worked him around Coffs Harbour track Friday morning and came down here this morning, and he can do that. He is just incredible,” Geran said. “He won the Queensland Cup over 2400m and there is a lack of staying races in Queensland, particularly genuinely-run staying races in Queensland. You come to these places and you get that genuine pace on. “This horse should have won last start but there was just not much pace in the race and it got him beat but he ran his last furlong in 11 seconds. I said to Tim Clark today that if he does that I genuinely think he can win.” Stayers trained out of Queensland have now hit the headlines over the past couple of weeks, with Knight’s Choice surprise Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) win coming for John Symons and Sheila Laxon, the training partnership Geran previously worked for for five years. “I think if you go back and look at the form from the mile race at Doomben in Winter this year, Gringotts was the winner, Knight’s Choice ran second and he ran third,” Geran said. Nikau Spur was initially trained in New Zealand by Rosie Buchanan for whom he placed in his only raceday start at Awapuni before he caught the eye of Ciaron Maher’s bloodstock manager Will Bourne, and a deal was negotiated to secure the talented galloper. The winner of three races for Maher, Nikau Spur has won a further six races for the Gerans and has now amassed A$ $686,932 in career earnings. By Proisir out of the stakes winning Ustinov mare Sarsarun, Nikau Spur was bred by Hallmark Stud and the Springvale Family Trust. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The Paul Preusker-trained Torranzino has come from near last to score a narrow victory in the A$500,000 Hyland Victorian Country Cups Final (2000m) at Caulfield on Saturday. The five-year-old son of Tarzino was the first emergency and gained a start care of the scratching of You Betcha Woo. Going back from the widest barrier of 15, Torranzino carried 52kgs with Celine Gaudray’s claim, and worked into the race at the right time, coming widest to defeat Charterhouse and the game Arran Bay. Torranzino has been in work since May and the quirky yet talented galloper has now won A$512,540 in prizemoney. “He’s been a handful,” the Preusker said. “He’s brutal tough. Emily who rides him all the time at home – I chime in every now and then – she does well persevering. Quite a difficult horse but in saying that a good galloper. “He’ll go home tonight, he’ll eat, and he’ll be bucking tomorrow. That’s just him. Whether he’s mentally quite right, I don’t know, but anyway we’ll keep plodding along and I thought if he won today we might go to the Ballarat Cup.” The A$500,000 Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m) is on December 7. “They’ve done a terrific job with this horse,” Gaudray said. “He still does a bit wrong. He wants to over-race and wobble around. I had to do my best to keep him straight. He does want to lay in. “We drew a sticky gate and we always planned to come out neutral but he had a bit of toe about him today so I had to get him to relax and the track is starting to deteriorate on the inside and I was probably on the better part of the surface.” By Westbury Stud stallion Tarzino, Torranzino was bred by Payne Family Racing Pty Ltd. He is the first foal to race out of the Helmet mare Goldilicious, who is a half-sister to the Group Three winner Showbeel, who in turn is out of Champion Stayer Showella. Torranzino was offered by Janine Dunlop’s Phoenix Park as a yearling in Book 1 of Karaka 2021, where Preusker bought him for $75,000. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
After going into the New Zealand Cup Carnival without any black-type victories to her name, Mehzebeen leaves Riccarton with two of them including Saturday’s time-honoured Gr.3 Martin Collins 161st New Zealand Cup (3200m). This has been a career-changing week for Mehzebeen, who showed bright promise with a Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) placing as a three-year-old but has alternated between disappointing and unlucky through the 18 months since. The first sign that Mehzebeen might be turning a corner came on the first day of the carnival last Saturday, where she scored an all-the-way win in the Listed Metropolitan Trophy (2600m) and announced herself as a genuine New Zealand Cup contender. The circumstances were different when the Almanzor mare backed up for the $400,000 feature on Saturday, with a Soft7 track, a different jockey and a change of tactics, but the result was the same as Mehzebeen romped to victory by three lengths. Mehzebeen was ridden by Craig Grylls, who missed the ride in the Metropolitan last Saturday when he was unable to make the weight and was a late replacement by Sam Spratt. Grylls played his role to perfection on Saturday, settling in fourth and one off the rail as a very keen Just Charlie set the pace. Mehzebeen travelled with ease all the way around the expansive Riccarton circuit, and she began to build momentum coming up to the home turn. Grylls asked her to quicken and the five-year-old sailed away, opening up a big margin over placegetters Beavertown Boy and Canheroc. “That was a big performance,” Grylls said. “The plan was to get a bit of cover, and we managed to do that quite quickly. She just travelled so well throughout. Coming up to the turn, I thought that all she would have to do to get them all off the bridle would be to just quicken up a little bit, and she did that. She won easily in the end.” Trained by Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, Mehzebeen has now had 19 starts for five wins, three placings and $474,010 in stakes. That total is a sharp increase on the $186,510 she had to her name coming into the carnival. “This is a massive thrill,” Bergerson said. “It’s one of the iconic races in New Zealand racing, so it means a lot to have our names on the trophy. “Thanks to all of our team, both at Matamata and down here. The start of her prep didn’t quite go to plan, but she’s just improved, improved and improved. “That win last week gave us the confidence to press on into today. She’s absolutely thrived and bounced through the run on the first day, and then she came out and was really strong through the line. “There are plenty of nice Cup races coming up, both here and in Australia. The further, the better is what we’ve always believed with her. She’s just taken a bit of time and hasn’t always had the rub of the green.” Mehzebeen was bred by Pencarrow Thoroughbreds and offered in their draft at Karaka 2021, where she was bought for $50,000 by Danny Rolston, who was previously Director of Sales for New Zealand Bloodstock and is these days Executive Manager, International Sale / Owners Advisory Services for the Hong Kong Jockey Club. “She was sourced by Danny Rolston, who’s obviously a fantastic judge,” Bergerson said. “He bought her for some keen owners and small-time breeders. They’ll all be over the moon with this result. “It’s been quite a ride with her, a lot of ups and downs, but days like today make it all worthwhile.” View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Riccarton’s Listed Lindauer Stewards’ Stakes (1200m) is a special race on the calendar for local trainers Michael and Matthew Pitman, who won the $140,000 sprint showpiece again on Saturday with a remarkable performance from a rising star. Mystic Park became the Pitman stable’s sixth Stewards’ Stakes winner in the last 17 years, joining Coup Bloomsbury (2007), Coup Align (2009 and 2010) and El Chico, who won it as a seven-year-old in 2011 and again as an 11-year-old in 2015. With those previous winners along with Group One speedsters like Enzo’s Lad and Sensei, the Pitmans have had plenty of sprinting talent on their hands throughout the last couple of decades. But the father-son pair believe Mystic Park could be the best of the lot. The Pitmans paid $40,000 to buy the son of Ocean Park as a yearling at Karaka in 2021. He went into Saturday’s race as the winner of six of his 11 starts, placing in another three. The Stewards’ Stakes was Mystic Park’s first shot at black-type level, and he had to carry a 59kg topweight against a 16-horse field that was mostly on 53kg. Mystic Park and jockey Sam Weatherley settled well back in a tightly bunched field, then began to warm into their work in the straight. The favourite had his momentum halted on two occasions as Weatherley had to duck and weave to find clear running. Last week’s Listed Pegasus Stakes (1000m) winner Illicit Dreams swept to the lead out wide on the track in what looked like a winning move, but Mystic Park hit top gear in the final 50m and clawed his way past her to win by a head. Mystic Park was the first topweight in more than a decade to win the Stewards’ Stakes. The last was Durham Town, who won under 59.5kg in 2013. “He’s a proper horse,” Weatherley said. “He had no real right to win that. He’s not really at home on that ground, he was stopped in his tracks a couple of times in the straight, and he was carrying 59kg and giving six kilos to most of the field. It was a huge effort. “It’s a great training performance from the Pitmans as well. It was pretty bold to give him just the one run back in August and then wait for today. They have bigger ambitions up north later in the season, and I’m sure he’ll do them proud. “These Pitman colours mean a lot to me. They’ve been big supporters of mine all the way through. I’m thrilled to get a big winner for them during Cup Week.” Mystic Park has now had 12 starts for seven wins, three placings and $237,170 in stakes. The TAB now rates him a $10 chance for the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) at Trentham on January 4, with a quote of $26 available for the Gr.1 Sistema Railway (1200m) at Ellerslie three weeks later. “We were offered huge money by the Ciaron Maher stable when he won his first start, but we didn’t sell him,” Michael Pitman said. “The times he’s run, he’s as good as any horse around. We’ve still got to prove that, of course, but that’s what we believe. “He almost got knocked over twice in the straight today and still got up to win. He’s a good horse. “I love this race. We’ve won it six or seven times now, including with an 11-year-old. This race and the Telegraph are probably my two favourite races.” View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
A perfect ride by Nash Rawiller has aided Harlow Mist to record her fourth career victory for trainer John Sargent when successful in the Bella Group Midway Handicap (1600m) at Newcastle on Saturday. The four-year-old mare by Contributer was back in the winner’s circle for the first time in just over 12 months, having campaigned in elite company as a three-year-old. Group Two placed in the Wakeful Stakes (2000m) last spring, Harlow Mist had been building towards a win with a good fifth in the A$500,000 Four Pillars (1500m) at her previous outing. Under a ground-saving Nash Rawiller ride, Harlow Mist travelled midfield on the fence throughout and only went around the leader and eventual third Magnatear before withstanding the late challenge of runner-up Piraeus. “She is very honest and very tough,” Rawiller said. “I felt very vulnerable over the last 80m but her will to win got her there. It was a good effort. “I thought the second horse had me and my horse wanted it more. “She has always shown good ability and it is great to see her back in form. Bred by the Hawkins family’s Llanhennock Trust, Harlow Mist was sold as a yearling at Karaka through their Wentwood Grange draft, fetching $85,000 to the bid of James Moss’ Tricolours Racing & Syndications. Out of the stakes-placed mare Sila Jasak, Harlow Mist’s granddam is the champion galloper Grand Archway, who won both the Gr.1 VRC Oaks (2500m) and the Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) among her four elite-level victories. View the full article
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