The Vent

Winter marvel Belardo Boy (NZ) (Belardo) overcame a clear topweight to collect the 11th victory of his career in the New World Otaki Handicap (1400m) at Otaki on Tuesday. A winner of the Gr.3 Winter Cup (1600m) and Gr.3 Metric Mile (1600m) in 2023, and the Listed Opunake Cup (1400m) and Listed AGC Training Stakes (1600m) last term, Belardo Boy has become accustomed to carrying hefty imposts, and Tuesday’s assignment was no exception, with six kilograms to his closest rivals. Jumping inside the short-priced favourite in Belles Beau, Belardo Boy travelled strongly for apprentice jockey Amber Riddell in the trail of Turnmeon, who led the compact field into the home straight. Belardo Boy cruised up on the inside as his stablemate, Make Time, came into contention on the outer, and the pair entered a dogfight from the 100m.  Belles Beau couldn’t make up ground on the Lisa Latta-trained pair, who went to the line almost in unison, with Belardo Boy sticking his head out to grab the victory by a nose. Latta was proud of her charge, who hadn’t been sighted since finishing a game second in this year’s AGC Training Stakes in May, where he was ridden by Riddell’s father Jonathan. “I thought he might have needed the run today, he hasn’t run in a while, but he just thrives on the wet tracks,” she said. “We’d left him in work because it’s just too wet to put him out in the paddock, so we ticked him over quietly and he’s had a good blow today. “We’ll put a nom in for the Opunake Cup, then just see how many points they give him and the weight he’ll get there before deciding whether we go or not.” While an Opunake Cup defence is still on the table, Latta has ruled out returning to Riccarton for a third attempt at the Winter Cup, instead putting her focus to some elite-level targets in the early spring. “He’s definitely not going south,” she said. “We’ll be looking at the weight-for-age races, hopefully we’ll get a wet spring and it should be a help that they’re not in Hastings. We might strike a wet track somewhere.” A six-year-old by Belardo, Belardo Boy was purchased by Latta for $28,000 when presented by co-breeder Haunui Farm at the National Yearling Sales in 2020, and five years later, he has earned more than $436,000. Latta was equally pleased to see Make Time (NZ) (Makfi) return to form, having battled in the holding conditions at Wanganui last start. “It was a much-improved effort from him, he’s just struggled in the really puggy tracks on some occasions,” she said. “He jumped and put himself right there and tried hard to the line. “We might look at the Opunake Cup with him or possibly heading to Riccarton for an open race.” View the full article

Cambridge horseman Clinton Isdale has had plenty of success in the South Island as an owner, and he is hoping that continues on Wednesday when Funfetti (NZ) (Embellish) will shoot for her third successive win on Riccarton’s polytrack.  Isdale tasted success in the south just last week when Storms Ahead (NZ) (Astern) was victorious at Ashburton, keeping his 100 percent South Island strike rate intact after winning first-up for Timaru trainer Stephanie Faulkner at his new home track last month.  Isdale purchased the son of Astern off Gavelhouse.com for $1,000 and said he opted to send him south in the hope of finding some form.  “I bought Storms Ahead off Gavelhouse, he had a couple of placings up here and I leased him out and then took him back,” he said. “I race him in conjunction with Eddie Brooks, Tina’s (Comignaghi, jockey) manager, and we are having a lot of fun.”  Isdale is also having plenty of fun with the John and Karen Parsons-trained Funfetti, who will head to Riccarton on Wednesday to contest the Cup Week Hospitality On Sale Now Rating 75 (2200m).  “She is another horse I purchased off Gavelhouse (for $2,000), so it has been quite good to me,” Isdale said.  “She is going well and loves the poly, so hopefully she can give a good account of herself.”  While he currently has two horses in the South Island, Isdale said that number could increase following next month’s Grand National Festival of Racing at Riccarton.  “I will be taking a few down for the Carnival and if they go alright I will probably leave them down there,” he said. “You can’t send average horses down there because it is competitive down there as well.”  Meanwhile, Isdale is looking forward to lining up a handful of his own team members this week, headlined by Gallant Hero (Fast Company) who will target the Rating 75 2100m contest at Hawera on Saturday.  The seven-year-old son of Fast Company was the subject of plenty attention last start when his saddle slipped and jockey Bruno Queiroz lost his irons near the 1900m but showed great horsemanship in regathering his irons and riding out his charge to a runner-up performance.  Isdale said his charge took no ill effects from the race and he is hoping for another bold showing this weekend before he heads for a well-deserved break.  “Everyone saw what happened with him last start when Bruno lost his irons,” Isdale said. “He has come through the race well. I didn’t race him last week because 2400m would have been a bit testing on him, so he will race on Saturday and Jonathan Riddell will be back on him and then he will go for a break.”  Stablemate Lady Moana (NZ) (Ocean Park) may have her last raceday start in the rating 65 1400m contest at Hawera, while two days prior, Isdale will head to Cambridge’s synthetic meeting with a trio of runners – Mirabella (NZ) (Sweynesse) in the Saddlery Warehouse 970 and Mahoe (NZ) (Alamosa) and Novak (NZ) (El Roca) in the TCL Earthworks 2000.  “Lady Moana was very disappointing last start, she has to measure up otherwise she will be in the broodmare paddock,” Isdale said.  “Mirabella was disappointing last start, but she copped a check out of the gates. In all of her runs prior to that she was quite competitive. She has got four kilos off her back, so she will be competitive, and I reckon Novak will be hard to beat as well.” View the full article

Pride Of Aspen (Pride Of Dubai) looked right at home when she scored a decisive victory in the Cavallo Farms and Chris Rutten Bloodstock Handicap (2200m) at Otaki’s rescheduled meeting on Tuesday. The daughter of Pride Of Dubai was previously trained at the Central Districts venue by Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard before relocating with the latter to Cambridge this season. She often brings out her best on her old home turf, winning on three prior occasions, and continued that strong form when runner-up to Benefactor a fortnight ago. Wynyard elected to leave the mare in the care of Benner leading into Tuesday’s event where she started favourite narrowly over Boomtown Boy, who was coming off a second placing in the Raukawa Cup (2100m). In a small field of five there was no speed early, so Amber Riddell took matters into her own hands aboard Pride Of Aspen, striding to the lead and dictating terms throughout. After shaking off a challenge from Carpe Diem at the 600m, Pride Of Aspen was clear in the lead turning for home and safely held the threat of Boomtown Boy to score by 1-¾ lengths. Wynyard was rapt with the result, having hoped to press on to The Callinan Family Taumarunui Gold Cup (2200m), run for $100,000 at Te Rapa later this month. “I thought Carpe Diem would go forward and we’d probably end up outside him, but when he decided to take a sit, Amber used her initiative, took the lead and rated her very well,” Wynyard said. “She stayed down there with Johno after her last run, he knows this horse just as well, if not better than I do, so he’s done all of the work with her leading up to today. “If she did win impressively today, the next target for her would probably be the Taumarunui Cup at Te Rapa. She definitely does off-tracks and appreciates the moisture, so as long as she pulls up well, we’ll bring her back up here and have a go at that. “She’s a big girl with a strong mind, she’s always known what she wants to do and you can’t really tell her otherwise. But she’s beautiful to look at and is very tough, so she ticks a lot of boxes as a good racehorse.” Pride Of Aspen was purchased out of the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale by Graham Causer’s Aspen Bloodstock, a strong supporter of the stable. “Graham Causer buys really lovely horses, a lot from Australia, and he’s really into pedigrees,” Wynyard said. “He’s hoping to have a nice broodmare band around him, which it looks like he’s going to have. “We’ve had a great association with him with the likes of Colorado Silver, Hold The Press, and obviously this mare, so I’m very thankful for the opportunity. “His daughter, Makenzie Causer, is a very good show jumping rider, so they love their horses and that’s what they do.” Wynyard had watched Tuesday’s race from afar, having had Pride Of Aspen’s juvenile half-sister, Sweet Talkin Gal (Anders), trialling this morning in the Waikato. “I had her half-sister trialling at Waipa today and she went very well, so it’s been a good day for the sisters,” she said. “She’s owned by a different person, it was just a fluke that we ended up with them both in the stable. “She’s by Anders and is similar to Pride Of Aspen, a big, scopey filly with plenty of ability. I think she’s really one to watch going into her three-year-old year.” View the full article

Te Akau Racing looks set to be a major player on the all-weather track at Riccarton with a particularly strong hand to play in the age group event on Wednesday’s card. Trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson will be represented by the in-form duo of Queen Of Naples and Porcia Catonis in the Red Rose Raceday – 24 July Three-Year-Old (1400m). Stablemate Vivacious also looks a strong chance in the Join TAB Racing Club Rating 74 off the back of two wins on the bounce. Queen Of Naples (NZ) (Darci Brahma) has made an encouraging start to her career and followed up a debut fourth at Wanganui before heading south. The daughter of Darci Brahma was then runner-up on the synthetic before going one better on the course to romp to her maiden victory in the hands of Bruno Queiroz, who retains the ride. “We’d probably lean more toward Queen Of Naples if it was a mile, but we’ve kept her nice and fresh to come back to the 1400m,” Bergerson said. “Porcia Catonis (Super Seth) has a bit more experience and she has run in the Rating 75 grade, which is always really tough for a three-year-old. “She certainly didn’t disgrace herself and they are very hard to split so it will probably come down to luck in the running. “It looks quite an even field on paper, but we are really happy with our two.” To be ridden by Courtney Barnes, Porcia Catonis has a pair of track and distance wins to her credit form her last four appearances before the Super Seth filly stepped up in grade to finish a last-start fourth. Querioz partnered Vivacious (NZ) (Dundeel) to her most recent victory, her fourth from 15 appearances, and a gear addition has helped the Dundeel mare’s starting manners. “She has really taken to racing on the synthetic down there,” Bergerson said. “She was being a bit slowly away at times and ratting home, but as soon as we put the visor blinkers on it seemed to do the trick.” Another bold performance from Vivacious would likely earn her a crack at a bigger prize. “Hopefully, she runs well again and then head on to one of the finals, whether it’s at Awapuni over 1400m or Riccarton and the 1200m,” Bergerson said. “She’s always been a mare we have had a lot of time for and she has finally strengthened up, Hunter (Durrant, assistant trainer) and the team have done a fantastic job with her.” The stable will also have back-up in the Rating 75 sprint in Sorcha (NZ) (Burgundy) while Rule Of Law (NZ) (Justify) is in the Racecourse Hotel & Motel Lodge (1600m) and Purple Prose (NZ) (Embellish) lines up in the Speights Summit Ultra On Tap Maiden (1600m). “Sorcha tries really hard, Rule Of Law is always there or thereabouts and Purple Prose has drawn a bit niggly, but is knocking on the door,” Bergerson said. The other team member in action is Beau Brummell (NZ) (Embellish) in the Cup Week Hospitality On Sale Now Rating 75 (2200m). He was a resuming winner over a mile on the course but was never a factor from a wide gate last time and an inside barrier will be in his favour this time. View the full article

Ann Browne, widely known as Mrs Browne, is a trailblazer and heroine in New Zealand racing, and would be the first to share her passion for jumpers.   As Ann Fraser, Browne spent her early years living on a farm off the East Coast of the North Island where her horse-oriented family felt anything but isolated. “All of my relations are from Gisborne and I grew up on a farm inland from Tikitiki, off the East Coast,” Browne said. “I lived there until I was 14, until my father bought a farm in Tirau, and we shifted to the Waikato in 1953. “Living on a farm, we didn’t have tractors or anything like that, so you had to have horses. We had pack horses to cart fencing gear, and we’d go to shows and sports meetings, all of the little towns on the East Coast had them. “I did correspondence school for most of my life, right up until high school, and I did one year in Gisborne and two years in Hamilton. Because we had the sports meetings, and we’d go socialise and play tennis at our friend’s houses, it was an easy transition from correspondence. “My mother was always interested in racing and my step-grandfather was A.B Williams, he owned a lot of racehorses. Some of those were Star Stranger, Gasbag, and Bandmaster, who won the Grand National Steeplechase. “My Dad’s father was Tom Fraser, he owned a horse called Hunting Crime, he was a very good horse in the 1930’s that won the Railway and the Great Northern Derby.” That family involvement would spark Browne’s interest in the industry, but it wasn’t until she met her soon-to-be husband, Ken Browne, that a life in racing would become a reality. “Kenny knew who I was because my aunty lived near the boundary of his farm and we just got to talking at a hunt one day,” Browne said. “We got married when I was 20, had two kids by the time I was 22, and I was back riding in a couple of weeks after having Roger, our youngest. “We didn’t have many racehorses to start with and we went overseas with polo a few times, but as we got a bit older, we got a few more and it grew from there.” Browne recalled that a number of the earlier horses were gifted, or purchased cheaply, including Choc Wallace, a horse she fondly remembers. “Kenny started with one or two horses that were given to him to try for various reasons,” she said. “I had a half Clydesdale horse that I sold to Japan for $800, and the owner of Choc Wallace was hoping to sell him to the Japanese as well. We offered to buy him and ended up paying $230, and he won a lot more than that. “He won the Waikato Hunt Cup, while it was run in October, and a couple of weeks later, he won the big round the ring jump at the Waikato Show. He would do the shows in the summer, and racing in the winter, and he won 11 races.” While they enjoyed success with a number of the ‘second-hand’ horses, the Brownes decided to invest in their future with young stock purchased from the sales. “After a while, we decided to go to the sales and buy yearlings instead,” she said. “We wouldn’t pay a lot for them, but Kenny and I worked in unison, I’d be outside looking at the horses and letting him know which were possibly suitable, and he would do the bidding. “We didn’t care how little they cost, the horses didn’t know how much we bought them for and we had a good success rate. A number of them won good flat races, and we taught the whole lot how to jump right from the beginning.” The Brownes were able to educate their horses from their property out of Cambridge, with a hill-based training style that would continue to produce champion jumpers and plenty of talented flat gallopers as well. “I learned a lot from reading and Kenny was a great do-it-yourselfer,” Browne said. “Between the two of us, we would be able to bring together ideas and establish our way of doing things. “We used to go into the track at Cambridge to gallop the horses, but by the time we would get the truck ready, take the horses in, work two or three and then take them home, it was lunch time. “We bought a bit more land around the neighbouring properties, and decided we were able to work the horses entirely at home. We gradually changed things and figured out how to use the farm to our advantage, and we won a lot of races using that system. “The horses absolutely loved working up the hill, they never got sour. They got up there and they could see for miles, it was a natural way of training. “We had a set up with logs and jumps, and we taught horses to jump right from the start. Some of them never ended up jumping, but they all did it. Horses could be good jumpers, but they might never win a jumping race, because they just couldn’t see that distance out. “We had horses with over 100 starts, and they were just happy horses living that lifestyle. A lot of the horses would relax here as well, if they came and were a bit go-ey, they tended to settle down. “A lot of the horses would retire here, we were lucky with the acres we had, we would look after them for the rest of their lives. On our schooling days, some of the retired horses would come in, so that the budding jumping riders could have a turn on an experienced horse.” The Brownes dominated the New Zealand jumping scene for over 40 years, with Ken initially training the horses under his own name before Ann joined the official partnership in 1983. Often with Kenny in the saddle, they won every feature race on offer, and it was the Great Northern Steeplechase at Ellerslie where they were a formidable force. Ken’s first triumphs as a trainer, owner and jockey came in 1977 and 1979 with Ascona, and Ann got her name on the trophy for the first time in 1990 with Ardri. Over the next 10 years, they won the Northern another five times, with the most memorable coming in 2001 with a dead-heat between their horse, Smart Hunter, and Kevin O’Connor’s Sir Avion. Not long before the iconic meeting, Ken had sustained a serious injury when falling off a horse at home, leaving him a quadriplegic, and he was still in hospital when Smart Hunter won the Great Northern Hurdles two days prior. “It wasn’t long after Kenny was hurt, so he was still in the hospital, but he’d planned to start Smart Hunter in both races,” Browne said. “Knowing that, I went through with the plan, and to end up in a dead heat in the steeplechase, it was just amazing. “I still enjoy watching that race to this day, and Smart Hunter was a beautiful horse to do anything with, I used to take him on treks as well. “We seemed to keep finding horses that could really do it, and we were fortunate to have very good riders on them.” In 2004, Wanderlust would deliver the Brownes’ final Northern victory prior to Ken’s passing in 2006, but Ann would continue their legacy, adding another three crowns to the mantelpiece, with Fair King (2009), Ima Heroine (2011) and Tom’s Myth (2012), with the latter becoming the first horse to win a Wellington Steeplechase, Pakuranga Hunt Cup and Northern in the same season. Fair King and Ima Heroine were two of a select number of horses bred by the Brownes, with Kenny’s background in polo influencing them to pursue breeding on a small scale. That journey began after a picnic meeting in Taihape, where Kenny rode a mare called Miss Luca, who had the size for polo and the bloodlines for producing jumpers, as proven through her progeny. “Kenny rode Miss Luca in a picnic meeting and he was able to get her as a polo pony, but she was a full-sister to a horse that won the Pakuranga Hunt Cup,” Browne said. “She had a foal with our polo pony stallion, Mokowai, and then had a couple of foals by North Pole. “North Pole came from England, he was a nice horse with good breeding, and he’d won flat and hurdle races over there. He didn’t have many foals, but he was a useful stallion because we weren’t doing it in a big way. “One of those, out of Miss Luca, was Pulka, who won three steeplechases before we sent her to Paul Nelson and he bred some horses from her. One of Pulka’s foals was Ima Hunter, who Paul gave to us because she kept getting ryegrass staggers. “She would become the dam of Ima Heroine, who won the Great Northern Steeplechase, and the next generation is Ima Wonder, who won the Pakuranga Hunt Cup last year. “After North Pole, we didn’t want to do the stallions ourselves, but we’ve bred a few with other stallions, and nearer the end, we got Heroicity, and he ended up in America.” While Ken guided their horses to many victories over the years, Ann made her own mark in the saddle, becoming the first female amateur to ride in a race, and later, she became the first to ride a winner. Some four decades have passed since that first outing, but she remembers an encounter prior to the start vividly. “I was the first female amateur to ride in a tote flat race, on a horse called Stipulation,” she said. “I became a grandmother three days before that race, because David (Browne), my grandson who now lives in Australia, was born. “I remember we were in the starting stalls, and the man next to me said, ‘now that girls are allowed to ride in this race, it’s time for me to give up’. I asked him if it was really so bad, but off we went, and now most of the riders are females, both professionally and in the amateurs. “I kept riding in them for a while, I won four races and I rode in the point to points and ladies steeplechases as well. When I was going out with Kenny, he let me have a horse called Funds, who I kept up at my Dad’s place and I won most of the time riding him. “He did a bit of everything, I’d also take him to the shows and even went chasing wild Kaimanawas. We did a lot of different things, and eventually I sold him to Ken Kelso, he was about 16 or 17 and a very good showjumping rider. “Kenny wasn’t much into going to the shows, because there was a lot of hanging around and you didn’t know when you’d have your class, but at the races, everything would run to time. But girls weren’t allowed to ride in the races, and they didn’t care about that at the shows, so I did a lot of show jumping.” Despite not being able to ply her trade on the track to a larger degree, Browne got enough satisfaction from working the horses at home, going to the races, and balancing the administration for both their farm and racing ventures. “I liked riding certain horses a lot, I got pleasure out of working them,” she said. “Crown Star is the one everyone remembers, he was a fairly cheap buy and he cut his hoof really badly before he was broken in, but we got that healed up, and he ended up being such a good horse. “Some of my favourite horses are those that people would’ve hardly heard of, one was called Bencathra, he was just a lovely horse, as was Norfolk Boy, he was quite a good racehorse too. I just loved riding them, they didn’t have to be the best or fastest horses. “I kept all the records, right from about 1963, of each horse, each race, and who rode them. I was the accountant as well, paid the bills and organised the stud sheep and cattle. “I led the horses around at the races, Kenny would ride them, and if we had more than one, we’d have other people riding them, all friends of ours. That’s just the way that jumping worked, you’re rivals and friends, and if you can’t win, you hope they can. “I was always proud of the way our horses looked at the races, but they were never stabled, they lived out in the paddock with two or three other horses. They’d often be covered in mud on the morning of the races, so we’d clean them all up and they were always presented well.” Browne maintained the same standard of presentation and performance with her horses right up to her retirement from training in 2018, with 626 domestic winners to her name, and 43 of those at stakes level. “It was an easy decision because my knee was getting a bit sore, so I wasn’t able to ride anymore,” she said. “I’d gone through life without getting any concussions, or major broken bones, so I wanted to keep it that way. “I just had one or two horses, which meant I’d have to get someone out to just ride those couple of horses, or go into the track. I didn’t want to get up at five o’clock in the morning, so I decided to let someone else train them. “I’ve only got Ima Wonder and Brother Max, and 10 percent of two other horses at the Brosnans. It’s good fun, I enjoy having the horses. “I can talk to Peter (Brosnan) about all sorts of things and I’m friends with Jess (Brosnan) and Tarissa McDonald as well, the horses are in good hands.” Aside from her horses, the Brownes influence on New Zealand jumps racing lives on in a unique form, with the line of picturesque live hedges through the centre of the course at Te Rapa introduced by the couple. “We went to England and Kenny rode in a race at Sandown, where they had a lot of jumps down the back straight,” Browne said. “He thought they would look really good in the straight at Te Rapa, so we planted these bamboo jumps, and they’re still there today. “Myself, Kenny and Brian Timms were the first people to jump those jumps, we schooled a couple of ours over them. “They’re there and they don’t take a lot of effort to get ready, the course caretaker can just trim them up and they’re ready to go. The horses seem to jump them well too. “The same was then done at Ellerslie, Paeroa, Te Aroha, Rotorua, Te Awamutu and Matamata, but unfortunately now there is just Te Aroha and Te Rapa.” Browne will scarcely miss a meeting at the Waikato venues, with a passion for horses and jumping that has kept her full of life, right from the start. “If there are races around here, I’ll be there, particularly at Te Rapa,” she said. “I’m not big on travelling during the winter-time because I like to know I’m going to a nice warm motel, I feel the cold a bit now. “I enjoy watching the races on the TV, I watch races in France and England, and I watch the good overseas show jumping on YouTube and a bit of eventing too. “I tell people I’ve never been bored in my life, even when I lived in the back blocks of Tikitiki, I never got bored. “I’ve always had the horses.” View the full article