Motor Sport

So is that not true then?

A well-related son of Harry Angel provided a late highlight in the final hour of the 2024 NZB Ready to Run Sale at Karaka on Thursday when he was knocked down to a $520,000 bid from bloodstock agent Morgan Carter. The colt was catalogued as Lot 372 and was in the draft of Ohukia Lodge, who bought him for A$300,000 as a yearling in Sydney. He is out of the Exceed and Excel mare Florabella, which makes him a full-brother to the well-performed Australian sprinter Arkansaw Kid. Previously the winner of the Inglis Banner (1000m) and placed in the Gr.1 Blue Diamond (1200m), Arkansaw Kid has added victories in the Gr.2 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) and Listed Regal Roller Stakes (1200m) since the catalogue went to print. The Ben, Will and JD Hayes-trained Arkansaw Kid has had 18 starts for four wins, six placings and A$1.4 million in stakes. Bidding began at $100,000 on Lot 372 but was fiercely contested from that point on, breaking the half-million barrier and finishing up at $520,000. “We knew we’d have to go strong on this colt,” Carter said. “Our original assessment was somewhere around the $400,000 range, but after seeing how strong the sale has been, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. “We’re very happy to have bought him. He looks like the type of horse who’s not going to take long. He’ll have a couple of weeks in the paddock now, and then we’ll assess him and make a plan for him from there. He’ll eventually end up in Hong Kong.” The colt was one of just two progeny of Darley Stud stallion Harry Angel to go through the Karaka sale ring during the Ready to Run Sale this week. The other was Lot 306, a son of the Epaulette mare Cambric from the draft of Kilgravin Lodge, who fetched $400,000. Lot 372 headlined a series of strong results late on Thursday. Just a few minutes earlier, Lot 369 was bought by Waikato Bloodstock for $400,000. The Castelvecchio gelding was offered by Kilgravin Lodge and had been bought for A$10,000 from the 2023 Inglis Sydney Weanling Sale. Not long afterwards, a Hellbent colt catalogued as Lot 385 was also knocked down for $400,000. View the full article

Foxton mare Marotiri Molly(NZ) (Per Incanto) will make her long-awaited stakes-level debut on Saturday at Pukekohe Park, taking her place in the Gr.2 Dunstan Horsefeeds Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m). The daughter of Per Incanto caught plenty of early attention when winning her first trial in dashing style as a four-year-old last April, and since then she has produced that form on the track, winning five of her 10 raceday appearances. Her trainer, Matt Dixon, was given a vote of confidence to take the step into black-type company when she went three on the bounce this preparation, most impressively last-start on an unfavourable Heavy10 surface at Trentham. “It was quite a courageous run there, she definitely prefers better footing, so I was concerned about the track, but her class got her through,” Dixon said. “She’s just kept improving this whole prep, it’s been very pleasing. “She’s always shown plenty of ability but we’ve just had some niggles along the way. That’s why it’s taken until she is a six-year-old before she fully matured and furnished, but she’s always shown that speed.” Marotiri Molly has been partnered in all but one of her career starts by Central Districts hoop Kate Hercock, and in her absence, Dixon has called upon the services of Sam Weatherley for Saturday’s fillies and mares’ feature. “Sam Weatherley will be riding her, Kate would’ve been there but under very sad circumstances (passing of partner Daniel Champion), she is unable to ride her this time,” he said. “She (Marotiri Molly) galloped right-handed on Tuesday morning at Foxton against the rail and went very well, so I couldn’t be happier with her really. She’s going there pretty much 100 percent.”  View the full article

Warrnambool hoop Harry Grace has quickly become a trans-Tasman jockey and is set to continue that role when he rides at New Plymouth and Wanganui later this week.  Grace first arrived in New Zealand in September to partner Australian raider Rolls in what was meant to be a Group One mission, and while that campaign hit a few snags, Grace has enjoyed forming relationships with local trainers and has accepted a number of invitations to continue to ride in New Zealand.  “I have been getting good support and I have been riding some nice winners and making some good contacts over here in the Central Districts,” Grace said.   “I have been everywhere between Otaki and New Plymouth riding work. I have had some good trainers here supporting me between Lisa Latta, Chrissy Bambry, Allan Sharrock, Janelle Millar, Bill Thurlow, Kelvin Tyler and a number of others.   “I met Kelvin down at Otaki and he has supported me the whole way through. We didn’t have any joy down at the Riccarton carnival, but he has continued on with me and hopefully we will have Lightning Jack again soon.”  While intent on making the most of his opportunities in New Zealand, Grace has continued to commute across the Tasman where he has maintained his riding engagements back home.  “I still get the rides back home, they are quite happy with what I am doing over here. They are pushing me to get more winners while I can,” he said.  “Spring is over back home and there are still some really good races over here to pick-up. I have got a few really nice up-and-coming horses I have been putting work into over here as well.”  Grace has already travelled extensively throughout New Zealand and is particularly looking forward to riding at Trentham and Ellerslie over the summer months.  “I have ridden everywhere from Christchurch to Auckland. I quite liked Wellington and Ellerslie,” he said.  “I have got a lot lined up over here from December to about February, so I have got to decide how long I am going to stay here.”  Grace is looking forward to his book of rides in New Zealand this week, kicking off with New Plymouth on Friday where he has four rides.   “I have got a nice book of rides,” he said. “I have had a bit to do with Janelle Millar’s (Tiny Diamond) horse at the jumpouts and that is a nice ride, and Allan (Sharrock) has given me two nice chances (Swingit Our Way and Belle Tribute), and I also have one for Bryce Newman (Blue Jeanie).” View the full article

Chad Ormsby has enjoyed plenty of racetrack success this year with pinhooks that he has been unable to sell at the Ready to Run Sale, but the multi-talented horseman had a very different outcome with the standout member of his 2024 Riverrock Farm draft at Karaka on Thursday. Ormsby trained passed-in 2022 Ready to Run lots Pulchritudinous and Outovstock to win this year’s Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) and Gr.3 Manawatu Classic (2000m) respectively, with Pulchritudinous subsequently sold to Australian-based powerhouse Yulong Investments. Rivverock Farm’s Chad Ormsby Photo: Trish Dunell On Thursday, Ormsby struck gold in another role. He secured the highest price of the Ready to Run Sale’s second day with the $775,000 sale of Lot 288, a colt by Churchill out of the unraced Pierro mare Bagitol. Ormsby had paid only A$25,000 to buy the colt from the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale in March. “We honestly couldn’t believe we were getting such a high-quality colt for that price in Melbourne earlier in the year,” Ormsby said. “We rated him so highly from the moment we first saw him, and he’s turned out exactly how we hoped he would. There’s so many stages where things can go wrong in this business, but all the way through his preparation, he’s just kept on developing. He’s really become the horse we always thought he’d be.” The colt won a trial at Waipa on October 1, after which Ormsby took a big risk and turned down a significant offer to purchase him privately. Lot 288 subsequently impressed in his breeze-up at Te Rapa later that month, in which he clocked 10.42 seconds. “He trialled really well before the breeze-ups, and we knew after that performance that we had a pretty special individual,” Ormsby said. “We turned down good money after that trial. It was a lot of money and not easy to say no to, especially for a small operation like ours with only about 10 horses every year. “But we wanted to promote ourselves and our brand, and we thought the best way to do that was to take the risk, turn down that offer and carry on into the sale. This Ready to Run Sale is our home ground too, it’s our local sale and we believe it’s the best sale of its kind, so we wanted to support the sale as well.” While Ormsby went into Thursday with high hopes of a price above $500,000, he admits to being blown away by the final price of $775,000. The colt was sold to Patella Bloodstock and is destined for Hong Kong. “It’s an amazing result and it’s just a credit to the horse, he’s an absolute weapon of an animal,” Ormsby said. View the full article