Covid-19 Yarn

Kris Lees is happy to take a when however and whenever it comes and Tavi Time (NZ) (Tavistock) timing it well to win a second Gr.3 Summer Cup (2000m) to land a racecard double was just the Boxing Day fare he wanted.  A consistent performer but with a dearth of victories in 2025, the six-year-old gelding notched his first win since taking out the Listed Scone Cup (2000m) in May after winning the 2000-metre Summer Cup last year. “It has been frustrating this preparation,” Lees said. “He is more than capable on his day but he got the right pressure up front and Dylan (Gibbons) bided his time to get the runs when they appeared. Good win. “He’s a backmarker and you’ll have bad luck which happens in big races.” With 56-kilos on his back, Tavi Time ($4.80) denied Estadio Mestalla ($4.80) with a 61-kilo impost by 1¼-lengths with the latter notching his third-straight second placings following the The Gong (1600m) and The Ingham (1600m) over the past five weeks. “He’s got that electric turn-of-foot and I did say to Kris that he can be lethargic early,” Dylan Gibbons said. “He shot through and put a lengths on them but then wanted to reverse park and come back three-lengths. He’s a bit tricky but on his day he can be electric.” By the outstanding late sire Tavistock, Tavi Time is out of Group One winning Johar mare Guiseppina, who won the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) for Steven Ramsay and Julia Ritchie. Bred and sold by Pencarrow Stud, Tavi Time was initially sold as a yearling for $60,000 at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Book 1 Sale to Kiltannon Stables. He was later re-offered at the Sydney Ready To Race Sale where he was purchased by part-owner Adrian Pazman for $130,000. View the full article

Stakes targets are in the offing for consistent gelding Maldini after he scored the biggest win of his career when taking out the Dunstan Horsefeeds Stayers’ Championship Final (2400m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. From his ace barrier, Maldini settled three-back on the rail for apprentice jockey Sam McNab and the pair enjoyed an economical trip throughout. Turning for home, much of the field elected to search for better footing towards the middle of the track, but McNab continued to hug the rail, which proved a decisive move, with Maldini quickly finding the lead, and he was able to build on his momentum, eventually running out a 2-1/2 length victor over He’s Classic. Trainer Tony Pike has been in search of a win in the race for many years and he was delighted to tick it off the list on Friday. “It is a race I have been trying to win for a while, we have got a few placings but never actually won it, so it was great to get that result today,” he said. “He deserves this, he is not a big horse, and he has been really consistent right through this preparation. He just needs things to go his way with his size. “He was given an absolute peach (of a ride) by Sam today, he never left the fence, and he has won really well. “He is not an easy horse to ride, he can go quite keen. All the gaps opened up on the fence and he didn’t go too early either. It was a very patient ride and he is riding extremely well. “I am rapt for the owners, they have been really patient with the horse, he has been frustrating and he hasn’t won out of turn. It was a great race for him to win today.” Pike is now eyeing potential stakes targets with Maldini, with a likely return to Ellerslie next week to tackle black-type company for the first time in the Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth Cup (2400m) on New Year’s Day. “He is in career best form,” Pike said. “He has been up a very long time but just whether we keep him going this preparation we will wait and see. Probably off a win like that we will have to look at a City of Auckland Cup (Queen Elizabeth).” Bred by Westbury Stud principal Gerry Harvey, Maldini is by their resident stallion Tarzino and out of Testa Rossa mare Cristallo Rosso, a daughter of Group One winner Crystal Palace and a half-sister to Group One performer Palacio De Crista. Offered through Westbury Stud’s 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft, he was purchased by bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo for $55,000, and he has gone on to win four of his 30 starts, and more than $167,000 in prizemoney. View the full article

An imperious performance by Rise Companions to waltz away with the prestigious Stella Artois 1500m Championship Final (1500m) has pundits questioning just where his ceiling could be. The statuesque five-year-old son of Capitalist was gunning for his third win in succession with victory in the final event on an action-packed Boxing Day card at Ellerslie and didn’t disappoint as he romped clear to win by nearly three lengths in the hands of Masa Hashizume. Those who supported the Simon and Katrina Alexander-prepared runner had some cause for concern when Rise Companions settled with only a handful of runners behind him early in the piece. Hashizume didn’t share those concerns as he knew what he had underneath him and when he made his move on the former Hong Kong galloper he simply cruised past runners at the 200m to hit the front and ease to the line well clear of Sista Sugar and the late-finishing Sinhaman. Hashizume admitted he never had a moment of concern despite being more than a dozen lengths from the leaders with 600m to run. “He is just improving every time and he is just unreal,” Hashizume said. “While he got back I didn’t want him to get too keen and I knew there was good pace in the race, so we decided to see what he has got and he showed he has got plenty. I think he could be anything. “I didn’t push him in the last 50m and he didn’t even blow after he pulled up.” Katrina Alexander was also struggling to describe the performance. “You don’t want to give a field like that a head start, but I just don’t know what this horse is capable of,” she said. “We do know the further he goes the better he will go, but it is interesting to see what he is going to develop into. “We thought we would get this one out of the way and go home and plan where we go from here. He might get a bit of a break as he is still learning and it would be nice to reward him with a break and then look at something later on. “I don’t think the Hong Kong life suited him, so it is nice to see him develop his personality more than anything. Masa comes and gallops him so it is nice to see how they are developing together.” A A$110,000 yearling purchase in Australia, the now four-year-old entered the care of Hong Kong trainer Danny Shum, but didn’t race in the competitive racing jurisdiction, having been withdrawn from his debut race after sustaining a tendon injury, and subsequently headed to New Zealand where he joined the Alexander barn. He has now won three of his five starts and more than $110,000 in prizemoney. View the full article

It was a case of mission accomplished for Australian trainer Gavin Bedggood at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. The Cranbourne horseman had previously competed at the Auckland track as a jumps jockey a decade ago and he eyed a return across the Tasman this week with his well-bred Group Three winner Kingswood (Roaring Lion). With a view towards securing his future stud career, Bedggood was in search of an all-important elite-level victory, and he felt the Gr.1 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic (2000m) presented as the perfect opportunity. Prior to the race, Bedggood gave jockey Rory Hutchings instructions to be on pace, however, Kingswood was slow away and Bedggood thought the race was over from the start. However, Hutchings was able to work his charge off the fence down the back straight, and off a sedate pace he quickly launched Kingswood three-wide to loop the field and serve it up to his rivals. Hutchings caught his competitors off guard and quickly created a two-length buffer, which he continued to extend. Several of his more favoured rivals rallied late, but Hutchings’ masterful move proved the telling of the race, and Kingswood scored by 1-1/2 lengths over Jaarffi, with a further long neck back to Legarto in third. Hutchings admitted to being in a spot of bother when their race plan was scuppered at the start, but his improvised plan B more than made up for it. “We didn’t begin that well,” he said. “It wasn’t in our plan book to be where we were. They just kept getting slower and slower up the hill and I thought we were not going to be able to peg back horses like El Vencedor and Legarto that were a lot closer to the speed running at three-quarter pace mid-stage. “When I went, I made sure I went really quick. I had a lap full of horse when I did it and I knew I caught them napping. He went from 0 to 100 in one stride and he sustained that all the way to the winning post. That is a trait of a very good horse.” The victory was a sentimental one for Hutchings, who had won his first elite-level victory in the race 11 years ago aboard the Graeme and Debbie Rogerson-trained Soriano, and fate led to his ride in this year’s edition. “A couple of weeks ago I didn’t have a ride in this race,” he said. “Through Johny Allen’s suspension I was able to pick up this horse. It’s funny how this game works.” Bedggood was rapt with Hutchings’ race-winning tactics, with the trainer admitting he had thought it was game over shortly after the start. “100m after the start I thought we were cast,” he said. “We weren’t where we wanted to be, they didn’t go quick. Watching the race unfold I was working out how I was going to explain this, we were going to look like mugs. “Fair play to Rory, what a ride. It was a ballsy ride to take off like he did. I just said the horse needed to be in a spot where he needs to build his revs. He is not a sit and sprint horse, and it was well executed. “He had to do something because where he was, riding for luck wasn’t an option. It wasn’t going to suit the horse the way the race was panning out. Full credit to him, it was the difference between winning and getting beaten.” The victory also vindicated Bedggood’s decision to campaign in New Zealand, and he said he came under plenty of scrutiny in the lead-up to the race. “Listening to the radio and watching the TV, there were plenty of knockers,” he said. “I am a realist, he is not top echelon in Melbourne, but he is a bloody good B-grader and I think on his day in Melbourne he would be competitive in an Australian Cup (Gr.1, 2000m). It is good to be vindicated, and it makes the decision worthwhile coming over.” Kingswood will now remain in New Zealand where Bedggood is keen to tackle further Group One targets, and he is hoping Friday’s performance has grabbed the attention of New Zealand stud masters. “He can have a week in the paddock and can probably hang around for the Herbie Dyke (Gr.1, 2000m) and Bonecrusher (Gr.1, 2000m) now I think,” he said. View the full article

Stakes targets are in the offing for consistent gelding Maldini (NZ) (Tarzino) after he scored the biggest win of his career when taking out the Dunstan Horsefeeds Stayers’ Championship Final (2400m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. From his ace barrier, Maldini settled three-back on the rail for apprentice jockey Sam McNab and the pair enjoyed an economical trip throughout. Turning for home, much of the field elected to search for better footing towards the middle of the track, but McNab continued to hug the rail, which proved a decisive move, with Maldini quickly finding the lead, and he was able to build on his momentum, eventually running out a 2-1/2 length victor over He’s Classic. Trainer Tony Pike has been in search of a win in the race for many years and he was delighted to tick it off the list on Friday. “It is a race I have been trying to win for a while, we have got a few placings but never actually won it, so it was great to get that result today,” he said. “He deserves this, he is not a big horse, and he has been really consistent right through this preparation. He just needs things to go his way with his size. “He was given an absolute peach (of a ride) by Sam today, he never left the fence, and he has won really well. “He is not an easy horse to ride, he can go quite keen. All the gaps opened up on the fence and he didn’t go too early either. It was a very patient ride and he is riding extremely well. “I am rapt for the owners, they have been really patient with the horse, he has been frustrating and he hasn’t won out of turn. It was a great race for him to win today.” Pike is now eyeing potential stakes targets with Maldini, with a likely return to Ellerslie next week to tackle black-type company for the first time in the Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth Cup (2400m) on New Year’s Day. “He is in career best form,” Pike said. “He has been up a very long time but just whether we keep him going this preparation we will wait and see. Probably off a win like that we will have to look at a City of Auckland Cup (Queen Elizabeth).” Bred by Westbury Stud principal Gerry Harvey, Maldini is by their resident stallion Tarzino and out of Testa Rossa mare Cristallo Rosso, a daughter of Group One winner Crystal Palace and a half-sister to Group One performer Palacio De Crista. Offered through Westbury Stud’s 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft, he was purchased by bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo for $55,000, and he has gone on to win four of his 30 starts, and more than $167,000 in prizemoney. View the full article