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Santa Anita Again the Winter Base for Rosario
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Blackbeard’s First Foal Is A Filly
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Soumillon Gets Behind Fegentri Junior Series
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Betfred Extends Derby Sponsorship
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Jimmy Corrigan Vows to Fight HIWU Suspension
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Valiant Force Makes Dirt Debut in Limestone
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By Chief Stipe · Posted
95% of the electorate don't want the Maori Party either lets ban it. If Winston can play with democracy under MMP to get a few thousand extra votes why can't the same apply to horse racing? BTW any Jockeys left you haven't bagged in your Anti-Racing crusade? -
By Chief Stipe · Posted
So we ban everything that doesn't get 51%? -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Emily Farr was a tired but happy rider at Woodville on Sunday after she recorded her 100th win in the saddle in New Zealand. The 34-year-old hoop had been back in the country for just over 24 hours when hopping aboard the Lydia Pickford-trained Keepz Occurring for the NZ Farmers (3000m), and she showed no signs of jet lag when guiding her charge to a 2-3/4 length victory. “I was super stoked,” Farr said. “It is something that I have wanted to do for a while, and to get it yesterday after being at home (Wales) with my Mum for the last couple of days was really good.” Farr didn’t have to wait long before she was back in the winner’s circle, riding The Bambino to victory in the following race – the Foleys Transport Waipukurau (3000m). Farr was rapt to bring up her 100-win milestone, but said it was a whirlwind weekend to try and make it to the meeting after arriving in Auckland from Europe the day before. “I arrived in Auckland at 4:30am on Saturday morning. I came home to Matamata for an hour and then flew down to Wellington,” she said. “I hadn’t ridden a horse for two-and-a-half weeks, so I was a bit like a sassy filly who had just had a freshen-up for 10 days.” Farr said she enjoyed her time in Europe, where she attended a wedding and visited her mother back in the United Kingdon, and Farr said her mum was the first person on the phone to congratulate her following her success on Sunday. “I couldn’t go all the way for a wedding in Cyprus and not go and visit Mum,” Farr said. “Even though I was only there for six days, it was good for her to know how passionate I still am about my job and New Zealand. “She rang me up before the races and she rang me up after. She was very happy and very proud. She knew Dad would have been, so it was great.” Reflecting on her milestone, Farr is appreciative of the support she has received throughout her career, and the relationships she has been able to build during her time in New Zealand. “Ralph Manning always supported me when I was an apprentice, as well as Mr (Graeme) Rogerson,” she said. “I have had a lot of success with John Wheeler and I picked up a few for Paul Nelson. To keep those kinds of connections right through my career is something that I am proud of.” Of Farr’s 100 wins in New Zealand, she said one meeting stands out in particular, while she has taken great satisfaction in convincing owners and trainers to try their horses over fences and rewarding them with early success. “I rode four winners in a day at Te Aroha, which is one of my biggest highlights,” she said. “Most of my hurdle winners have been first starters. I get a lot of satisfaction out of teaching them and convincing the owners and trainers that they can be jumpers, be successful, and go on with their career. “It (jumping) gives another string to their bow. I quite like it that it gives those horses another career.” While Farr has had success on the flat and over fences, jumping is where her passion lies and she is looking forward to enhancing her record in that discipline in years to come. “Mum and Dad were both amateur champion jumps jockeys in the UK, so it (jumping) is something that I have been brought up with,” she said. “Jumps racing has always been a passion for me and I find the time and effort that is put into those horses just makes a great community. “I just love it, it is a thrill you can’t get anywhere else.” View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Group One performer Meritable quenched his thirst after a four year winning drought when victorious in the VS Equine Dannevirke (1200m) at Woodville on Sunday. The seven-year-old son of Snitzel performed with distinction as a three-year-old for former trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, winning one and finishing runner-up in three of his five starts in New Zealand, including second placings in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) and Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes (1400m). He subsequently continued his racing career in Australia where he ran fourth in the Gr.3 Gold Coast Guineas (1200m) before transferring to the care of Sydney trainer Annabel Neasham. He was then offered for sale in Inglis Digital’s 2023 September Online Sale where he attracted the attention of New Zealand owner Colin Wightman, who bought the entire for A$80,000. Joining the stable of Mark Minervini, Meritable finished runner-up in the Listed Starlight Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill before being retired to stud in New Zealand last year, however, Wightman elected to try his charge on the track once more and earlier this year entrusted him to the care of Hastings trainers Mick Brown and Sue Thompson-Brown. He pleased his new handlers with his four runs before his breakthrough victory at Woodville, his first in nearly four years. “It’s been a long time between drinks,” Brown said. “We were a bit suspect of whether he would go on the ground (Heavy10), but we were happy with his trial, and he went well.” Elite-level targets are once again on the cards for Meritable following the win, with the seven-year-old nominated for the Gr.1 Proisir Plate (1400m) and Gr.1 Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) next month. “We put him in and we said to Colin that he had to win (on Sunday), which he did,” Brown said. “Whether he gets in or not is another matter, but we will aim him for them. If he doesn’t get in, we will find another race for him.” Brown is looking forward to returning north with Meritable and said the addition of blinkers have been a great assist. “We took him up to Ellerslie last season and he was a bit unlucky when he ran (fourth) in that 1400m Open Handicap race,” he said. “We have put the blinkers back on him, which I don’t think he has worn for a few years. He always wore blinkers as a three-year-old.” Brown is enjoying having the Group One performer in his barn, with his placid demeanour making him an instant stable favourite. “He is just a big stable pet, you wouldn’t think he was a seven-year-old entire,” Brown said. Meanwhile, stakes performer Fancy Like Lass is set to return to the stable in the coming weeks, with a stakes target at Riccarton over New Zealand Cup Week in the crosshairs. “Fancy Like Lace is being pre-trained down at the beach and she will come to us at the end of the month,” Brown said. “Hopefully she comes back bigger and stronger. “We wouldn’t mind taking her down south for that 1000m race (Listed Donaldson Brown Pegasus Stakes) at Riccarton in November.” The Hellbent mare had her first tilt at stakes level at Trentham in March, where she ran third in the Listed Lightning Handicap (1200m), and while pleased with her performance in the race, Brown believes she is better suited to shorter trips. “We wanted to get a bit of black-type with her and she deserved it,” Brown said. “She has had plenty of problems, but hopefully she is over them now. “We will keep her to those sprints because I don’t think she gets a true 1200m down that dogleg at Wellington, I think she is better over 1000m and 1100m, or going around the bend over 1200m.” View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
War Decree’s daughter Val Di Zoldo will be given opportunities this preparation to lock in the only missing credit on her CV. The six-year-old is the dual Group Two winner of the Travis Stakes (2000m) and Lowland Stakes (2100m) and also has a victory in the Gr.3 Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes (2050m) on her record. Trainer Tony Pike’s aim now is a strike at the highest level with the closing two legs of the Triple Crown series seen as Val Di Zoldo’s best spring options. “She’s coming up really well, but the first one (Gr.1 Proisir Plate, 1400m) isn’t ideal for her fresh-up,” he said. “She’s more of a mile and 2000m horse so we’ll look at alternatives for her first-up run, but at the same time keep it in the back of our minds.” Val Di Zoldo’s main targets will be the Gr.1 Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) and the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m). “Hopefully, she can improve a length or so off last season and probably needs everything to go 100 percent right in weight-for-age company at Group One level, but she seems to have come back better than ever,” Pike said. Val Di Zoldo furthered her preparation on Saturday when runner-up in an 1100m trial at Taupo while stablemate Churchillian finished fourth in her heat. “Unfortunately, she injured a ligament last season, so she was off the scene for a long time, but she has come back in great order,” Pike said. The Gr.3 Windsor Park Stud Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) during Cup week is a possible target for the mare, whose seven wins include the Gr.3 Anniversary Handicap (1600m). Hello Youmzain fillies Lucy In The Sky, Cream Tart and Slipper Island also have the Riccarton festival on their programs. “Lucy In The Sky will have a quiet trial at Te Awamutu and both her and Cream Tart are likely to head to the Gold Trail Stakes (Gr.3, 1200m) on September 6 at Ellerslie and we’ll definitely be looking at the 1000 Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m) with them,” Pike said. Lucy In The Sky has won two of her three starts, including the Listed Champagne Stakes (1200m) while Cream Tart was a close second on debut before spacing her rivals at her only other start at Te Aroha. “We’ll look to give Slipper Island a couple of runs before the Stewards (Listed, 1200m), the straight six at Riccarton is very similar to Trentham,” Pike said. He ended his last campaign with four consecutive wins at Trentham and the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) a possible longer-term aim. Pike has a promising team of younger horses for the spring, among them the Snitzel three-year-old Storm Front who was an impressive debut winner at two and then suffered cardiac arrhythmia when unplaced in the Listed Star Way Staes (1200m). “He’s a lovely horse and had a jump-out last week and will probably go to the Te Awamutu trials on August 26 and then we’ll decide if he runs in the Sir Colin Meads Trophy (Listed, 1200m) at Ellerslie,” he said. Meanwhile, last season’s Sir Colin Meads winner Poetic Champion will be off the scene for some time. “He’s in the paddock, unfortunately he’s always had very bad knees, so he’s had surgery and unlikely to be seen back until the autumn,” Pike said. View the full article
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