Chief Stipe

Rule Number(s): Rule 638(3)(b)(ii)Following the running of Race 7, the Windsor Park Stud Japan NZ International Trophy (Group 2) an Information was presented by Mr Williamson in which he alleged that Mr Mansour ' used his whip excessively when riding ENDLESS DRAMA prior to the 100 metres'. Mr Mansour was present at the hearing and acknowledged ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): Rule 638(1)(d)Following the running of Race 7, the Windsor Park Stud Japan NZ International Trophy (a Group 2 race) an Information was presented by Mr Williamson in which he alleged that Mr McNab 'allowed his mount VOLPE VELOCE' to shift in when not sufficiently clear of TRUE ENOUGH which was checked near the 250 ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): 638(1)(d)Following the running of race 1, the “Farmlands Gallagher Fencing Maiden 1400”, Information A9243 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr D Balcombe under Rule 638(1)(d). The Information stated “in that R Hannam “Lincoln Hanover”, allowed his mount to shift inwards near the 1100m when not clear of “Greystone”. ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Topic done to death. We get your point Thomaas. Move on and keep us posted on next years Derby.

What soft options? All the other trainers haven't taken the hard options. But then you aren't a student of time and individual race performance so it is pointless discussing it. There hasn't been a horse in the last couple of decades that can run the sectionals she does on a wide range of tracks over a relatively wide range of distances.

She did run the last 600m in 34.44 on a heavy track.

After more than six weeks on the sideline, Michael Coleman is keen to resume race riding duties at Ellerslie on Saturday. The jockey known as “The King” has been marking time after being admitted to hospital in the first week of February with a blood clot in a leg. Specialists initially thought Coleman would need surgery to clear the clot, but they were able to resort to medication and he was released from hospital after several days. While well enough to indulge in his favourite pass-time, a round of golf, Coleman has had to put his career on hold due to the medications required to deal with the condition, but he was able to resume trackwork duties last week and will ride in several heats at today’s Cambridge trial meeting. Coleman rode his 2,000th New Zealand winner in May 2017 and has added another 94 since. Among his likely mounts at Ellerslie this weekend is the Peter and Dawn Williams-trained filly Media Sensation, who provided his most recent Group One victory in the New Zealand 1000 Guineas at Riccarton in November. Among the winning rides he missed while sidelined were Sponge Bob in the Gr. 2 Waikato Guineas the day after he was hospitalised and that horse’s stablemate Volpe Veloce in Saturday’s Gr. 2 Japan NZ International Trophy. “I’ve got six or seven rides at Ellerslie and hopefully Media Sensation will be one of them in the open sprint,” Coleman told www.theinformant.co.nz between trackwork rides at Matamata this morning. “I’m feeling good and I’m looking forward to getting back to work.” View the full article

A little bit of communication, please Two contentious rulings by the JCA caught my eye over the weekend. And it seems I am not alone. Before discussing them, I will point out that I will be doing so without the advantage of all of the evidence the JCA had in the hearings. However, I think it is important to note that no punter out there has any of that evidence either. I will also note that I am not raising these two incidents as talking points because I thought the JCA got the decisions wrong. The first incident came in the two-year-old Sires Stakes heat at Addington on Friday night. Copperfield galloped in the score up and checked Flying Even Bettor, who checked Virgil. Virgil was clearly the worst affected by the chain-reaction, as he was left the furthest from the mobile arm as it approached the starting point. By dispatch time, Virgil was a good length off the gate, before he ran last. Driver Samantha Ottley did not urge the horse to catch up to the gate, was that a factor? Nobody knows. I can not categorically say that disadvantage extinguished Virgil’s winning chances. However, I know two things. Firstly it would not have helped the horse’s winning chances and secondly, it would not have done much for punter confidence. View the full article

Newly crowned Group One winner Avilius has been nominated for another top-level race at Rosehill, heading the entries for this Saturday’s Tancred Stakes. The Godolphin stayer won Saturday’s Ranvet Stakes and heads 19 entries for this weekend’s 2400-metre Tancred at Rosehill. Dual Group One winner Ace High, who finished nine lengths from Avilius in the Ranvet on an unsuitable heavy surface, is also nominated to back up along with several others. Nettoyer (fifth), The Taj Mahal (sixth) and Auvray (seventh) have been entered, along with three runners from Saturday’s Manion Cup (2400m) – Shraaoh (third), Doukhan (fifth) and Etymology (ninth). Trainer James Cummings said the next few days would be crucial in the decision whether Avilius backs up before heading to the spelling paddock next week. “History is against him backing as a winner of the Ranvet into the Tancred,” Cummings told RSN927. “Since they did change the programming of those two races it has proven to be extremely difficult for a horse to win on the seven-day back-up. “He has had four runs this campaign. The next few days will be crucial for the horse, and if he is giving us any sign that it is going to be too much, we will be patient like we have been patient with other horses in the past.” The spring is when Cummings expects Avilius to shine at weight-for-age. The Ranvet was the five-year-old’s first race on a heavy track and he overhauled He’s Eminent to win by two and a quarter lengths. The Tancred could feature New Zealand interest through promising mare Rondinella, with Sam Clipperton booked for the ride. The Vinery Stud Stakes for three-year-old fillies is the other Group One race on Saturday’s Rosehill programme, with the formerly New Zealand-trained Verry Elleegant the $3.20 favourite. Saturday’s meeting also features the Gr. 2 Tulloch Stakes and Emancipation Stakes. There are also four Group Three races on the nine-race programme, which concludes the Golden Slipper carnival. View the full article

Winx ran her last 600m on a heavy track in 34.44. Any sort of track doesn't worry her.

Masies Pride completed her journey from cart-wrecker to race winner at Wingatui on Monday. The tough slog up the rising Wingatui straight was not enough to stop the eight-year-old old scoring her first victory at her 28th start. Earlier in her career, just getting to the races was considered a major achievement for the Amber Hoffman-trained mare. In her early education, Masies Pride lacked one key fundamental skill required for harness racing. She hated having a cart on. “She was in the retirement paddock for four years, she had a few problems with carts,” Hoffman said. “She just hated having one on and she wrecked a few. “She wouldn’t just break them she absolutely smashed quite a few of them, apparently.” Few would have known of Masie’s Pride cart-wrecking habits and quirky character when she trotted faultlessly up the Wingatui straight. Hoffman said a key part of that was the work Dean Stapleton did in ironing out the trotter’s problems after her four-year stint in the retirement paddock. “Dean did a lot of work with her before she came to me. “It would not have been an easy job.” Masies Pride eventually made it to the races for her owner and then trainer, Warren Stapleton, as a seven-year-old, last year. Hoffman then looked after the horse for a handful of starts and they got on so well, the trotter has stayed at her stable since. During her time at Waikouaiti, Masies Pride had built consistent form without ever looking like a certain next-up winner. That all changed when she hit the rain affected Wingatui track on Monday. “She had been really consistent, so she deserved a win. “She tries hard and is always thereabouts, but has just lack a bit of speed to finish things off.” Her Wingatui victory would be Masies Pride’s last race start now that she has finally notched her elusive first victory. The Brylin Boyz mare will head to the broodmare paddock and be mated in the spring. “I think she will be going to Majestic Son, if they put her to something with a bit of speed, she should leave a nice foal.” View the full article

Happy Clapper will not defend the Doncaster Mile and will instead be saved for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and another clash with Winx. The eight-year-old finished eighth in the All-Star Mile at Flemington on March 16 and was later found to have suffered EIPH, a slight internal bleed. The problem came to light after an endoscopy which stewards said detected a “degree of internal exercise induced pulmonary haemorrhage that may have affected the horse’s racing performance”. His trainer Pat Webster said Happy Clapper was back to his old self at Randwick and would run in a 1200-metre barrier trial on Friday before the 2000-metre Queen Elizabeth Stakes on April 13. The gelding was given top weight of 59 kilograms in the Doncaster, two kilograms more than he carried to win last year. Happy Clapper’s defection from the Doncaster leaves Goolphin stalwart Hartnell as topweight with 58 kilograms. “If you could guarantee me Happy Clapper would draw inside five, then he’d be running in the Doncaster,” Webster said. “But if he draws 20, with that weight, he can’t win. “I’d rather give him a nice easy trial on Friday and then we’ve got another two weeks to the Queen Elizabeth and hopefully he can run second to Winx again.” The triple Group One winner has been placed six times in races Winx has won, including a second in the 2016 Doncaster. Happy Clapper suffered a bleed from the nostrils in the Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington in September and after the All-Star Mile, Webster was worried it had happened again. “As trainers the first thing we look at when a horse doesn’t run well is their noses, but on the day I was happy to see he hadn’t bled,” Webster said. “It wasn’t until later I found out about the internal bleed. It wasn’t something I’ve experienced before. He seems fine. He’s really bright and happy and has worked well back at Randwick.” View the full article

Southern jockey Samantha Wynne has quickly returned to the winners’ circle, guiding Diorissimo to victory at Riccarton on Saturday and following it up with Showpin in today’s $25,000 Publican’s Cup at Wingatui. The Irish-born rider had spent months on the sidelines after injuring her knee at Wingatui last May and undergoing surgery on her anterior cruciate ligament. Wynne, who resumed riding earlier this month, was ecstatic to get off the mark and said she had missed riding on race day. “You don’t know how much it means to you until it’s half taken away,” she said. “It was brilliant being back in the winners’ enclosure and hopefully there are many more to come.” Wynne has enjoyed being back in the saddle and was delighted with all the support she has received. “I have had some great support and I won’t forget the people who have been there for me throughout,” she said. “I have had some very loyal people and I am very grateful for the support I have been getting. Hopefully I can repay them by riding lots of winners.” View the full article

Voyage Warrior’s win in the 1000-metre Class 4 Pine Tree Hill Handicap at Sha Tin yesterday has been lauded as one of the most impressive debut performances in Hong Kong in recent memory. Bred by Bob Emery, Voyage Warrior is a half-brother to New Zealand stakes winner Speech Craft. A graduate of both the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales and the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale, Voyage Warrior was sold for $280,000 as a two-year-old to Hong Kong trainer Ricky Yiu and a big debut performance had been expected. Jockey Karis Teetan found the lead easily from the rail-side gate 14 and the inexperienced Declaration Of War gelding relished the trail-blazing role, winning by four lengths while being eased down. “The horse showed a great turn of foot and he’s done nothing wrong so far. He’s a very exciting horse to progress,” Yiu said after his chestnut had stopped the clock at 56.65 seconds, with a final 400-metre split of 22.67 seconds. “They’ll give him a double-digit rise in rating so he’ll go into Class 3 now, but if I keep running him over the thousand (metres) he will win a couple more, at least. He just needs to learn to settle – that will make him a better horse,” Yiu said. “He’s still green, he’s still learning. He was running around a little bit towards the last furlong and the jockey got a little bit excited and dropped his stick – but he didn’t need it anyway.” View the full article

Aalaalune, a multiple stakes placegetter including in this month’s Gr. 1 Sistema Stakes, will appreciate the extra distance of Saturday’s Gr. 1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes. Lotto winner Lou Te Keeti could be poised to strike it lucky again this weekend with a first Group One prize on the racing stage. A Tauranga local, Te Keeti scooped $10.3 million in the Powerball jackpot in July 2017 and has invested part of his winnings in thoroughbreds. Young Matamata trainer Jacob McKay has been entrusted with three of his horses, and all are competing at Saturday’s Awapuni meeting. Chasing the ultimate result will be Aalaalune in the Gr. 1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes, while Mr Universe and Vittachi will contest a three-year-old 1200-metre race and a 2200-metre Rating 72 respectively. McKay will also have a fourth runner at the meeting, Mighty Connor in the Gr. 3 Higgins Concrete Manawatu Classic, with Lisa Allpress booked for the mount. Aalaalune was beaten by a short head by Yourdeel in the Gr. 1 Sistema Stakes at Ellerslie last start and on that performance, as well as her big finishes for sixth in the Karaka Million and third in the Gr. 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes, she should appreciate the step up to 1400 metres on Saturday. ‘’She has been racing so well and deserves to win a good one,’’ McKay said. ‘’She went so close in the Sistema. She tried so hard and the 1400 metres will be much better for her at Awapuni. Reese Jones will ride her again.’’ Aalaalune was given a brief let-up after the Sistema Stakes and McKay is pleased with her condition going into Saturday’s Group One assignment. ‘’She did a bit of quiet half-pace on Saturday and I was really happy with her,’’ he said. ‘’It won’t take much to have her spot on for the Sires’. She’s already race fit.’’ A win in the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes will be a milestone for McKay. He experienced Group One success with Puccini when training in partnership with his father Peter, but a Group One win on his account will be a major boost to the 26-year-old’s profile. Aalaalune will be the main focus for McKay this weekend, but he also rates the prospects of his other three Awapuni starters. Mighty Connor, a three-year-old gelding by Sebring, quit maiden class at Taupo over 1800 metres last December and followed up with a couple of placings before finishing eighth in the Gr. 2 Waikato Guineas at Te Rapa last month. “He beat home Crown Prosecutor and Langkawi that day and the form out of that race is all around him,’’ McKay said. ‘’He raced upside down in the Guineas and he’ll be ridden handier on Saturday. I’m expecting a bold run.” Vittachi won three races for Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman before changing hands and joining McKay’s team. While he hasn’t won for McKay, he has been placed in half of his eight outings for the young Matamata trainer, including a second two starts ago over 2000 metres at Matamata. “He’s a promising stayer and I’d like to have a crack at the Rotorua Cup (Group Three, 2200m, May 11) with him, but he needs to win or go close on Saturday,’’ McKay said. Mr Universe has been placed in his two starts since his maiden win, the most recent a third over 1200 metres at Ellerslie earlier this month. ‘’I’ve been really happy with his runs lately,’’ McKay said. “He’s a chance on Saturday.’’ View the full article

Multiple stakes-winning sprinter Ardrossan will line up in this Saturday’s Gr. 3 Star Kingdom Stakes at Rosehill. Stephen Marsh’s focus on the rich Sydney autumn carnival will switch to a feature sprint after having no joy last weekend with his staying three-year-olds. The Cambridge trainer is hoping for better luck with Ardrossan in the Gr. 3 Star Kingdom Stakes at Rosehill this Saturday after Crown Prosecutor and Vernanme both failed to threaten in the Gr. 1 Rosehill Guineas. Crown Prosecutor, a son of Medaglia D’Oro, was unable to reproduce the form that saw him score an upset win in the Gr. 1 New Zealand Derby and finished ninth, while Vernanme finished second-last of the 12 runners. Marsh has pulled the pin on a tilt at the Gr. 1 Australian Derby at Randwick on April 6 with both talented three-year-olds. “They’re both coming home for a spell,’’ Marsh said. “They’ll have a good break and we’ll look at spring racing for them. “In Crown Prosecutor’s case, you’ll not see a lot of him in New Zealand next season as he’ll go over to Australia early in his next campaign. He’s done a good job and we had a crack in Sydney, but he’s ready for a spell now, while Vernanme is a horse with a future too. He’s growing a bit and he’ll end up a good horse.’’ While in Sydney, Marsh was able to cast his eye over Ardrossan, who missed a planned first-up run in the Gr. 1 Canterbury Stakes at Randwick after recording an elevated temperature upon arrival from New Zealand. The son of Redoute’s Choice showed he was back on track when second in an open 801-metre trial at Warwick Farm last Friday. ‘’He got crook on the way over and he missed a bit of work after that,’’ Marsh said. ‘’He’s a good-doing bugger and he needed a hitout, so we ran him in the trial last Friday. James McDonald rode him and he was happy with the way he felt and ran. ‘’This race on Saturday will tighten him up again and there’s the Queensland carnival just around the corner, so we could look at that. But we’ll get through Saturday first before making any plans. ‘’He wants a good track to show his best and that’s a bit of a worry the way the weather has been in Sydney lately.’’ Ardrossan left New Zealand as a winner of the Gr. 3 Concorde Handicap at Ellerslie and a last-start third behind Melody Belle in the Gr. 1 BCD Group Sprint at Te Rapa. Meanwhile, Glinda Goodwitch is likely to represent Marsh in the Gr. 1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes at Awapuni on Saturday. The Per Incanto filly has been placed in two of her three starts. In between times she finished seventh in her first black-type assignment, the Gr. 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes. “She’s made it into the Sires’ field, so we’re probably going to have a go,’’ Marsh said. ‘’She ran second to Equinox first-up (who won again last start) and was a good second last time. The only time she missed was when she struck a wet track in the Breeders Stakes. She desperately needs a good track.’’ Marsh plans to also have Decadence and Deels Done in another of the Awapuni features, the Gr. 3 Higgins Concrete Manawatu Classic. Decadence capped some useful form with a last-start win over 1600 metres at Te Aroha, while Deels Done won two starts ago at Pukekohe over 1600 metres. View the full article

Kiwi racemare Consensus is headed for Sydney with a Group One race on the second day of The Championships on her agenda. The Stephen McKee-trained seven-year-old, already the winner of 10 races up to Group One level, broke through for her first Australian win in the Gr. 2 Sunline Stakes at Moonee Valley on Friday night. She had originally been entered for the Gr. 1 Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday but the wet Sydney weather forced a change of plans. “We had been keen to go to Sydney but it would have been a waste of time with the way the weather was,” co-owner Leo Molloy told www.theiinformant.co.nz. “The Sunline Stakes was a good option and it was a big thrill for everyone involved when it came off. “Now she’s on the float to Sydney, so she’ll have a quiet trial next week and provided the weather improves she’ll run in the Coolmore Legacy Stakes on April 13. That’s the old Queen of the Turf for fillies and mares with a million-dollar stake. She’s not entered but we can make a late entry.” The change of plans last week meant dropping back from the Ranvet’s 2000 metres to 1600 metres, but connections are content to keep Consensus to the shorter distance. “Hooded up she’s very effective at a mile,” added Molloy. “Hopefully the weather comes right, but if not there are options for her in Queensland.” View the full article

Quality Awapuni stayer Sampson will attempt to add to his proud record in a home-track feature this weekend. The Dubai Destination gelding has contested the Gr. 2 City Of Palmerston North Awapuni Gold Cup in each of the last two years. He won it in 2017 (beating Five To Midnight by half a length) and finished a close third last year behind Our Abbadean and Five To Midnight. Sampson is heading into this year’s edition of the $100,000 feature in high-flying form, having scored a breathtakingly dominant eight-length victory in the Listed New Zealand St Leger at Trentham two weeks ago. “He was amazing in the St Leger,” said Howie Mathews, who trains the nine-year-old for his wife Lorraine and co-owner Janice Street. “He was up against some emerging young stayers – they may have won only one or two races, but they looked like up-and-comers for the big staying races next season. So we didn’t really know what to expect. “In the end he was dominant. He was very, very impressive. We were blown away. “He’s come through the run fantastically well. You wouldn’t even know he’d had a race. It was like an exercise gallop for him. He’s looking great. “We’ll have another go at the Awapuni Gold Cup on Saturday. He’s won it before and he also ran a really good race in it last year. It’s been a really nice late-season race for him over the years. “Johnathan Parkes is keen to ride him again and we’re looking forward to it. We’re hoping he can produce another big performance.” Bought for just $20,000 as a yearling, Sampson has won 11 of his 64 starts and more than $437,000 in prize-money. View the full article

After a winning weekend at Rosehill, Opie Bosson returns to the New Zealand feature racing scene for next Saturday’s Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes meeting at Awapuni. Bosson was in good touch on Saturday, getting Avantage home in the Gr. 3 Birthday Card Stakes and finishing third on Danzdanzdance in the Gr. 1 Ranvet Stakes. He will continue his association with that pair at the Sydney autumn carnival, but beforehand has a date with Yourdeel in the hope of completing the domestic Group One two-year-old double. Bosson won the Gr. 1 Sistema Stakes at Ellerslie on Yourdeel, who trainer Jamie Richards reports has thrived in the fortnight since. “I’m very happy with how Yourdeel has come on since Ellerslie,” Richards said. “Equinox has gone on the right way since winning at Trentham last week and provided the ground is satisfactory he’ll be there too.” Richards will throw the dice with maiden three-year-old Golden Age and enter him for Saturday’s Gr. 3 Higgins Manawatu Classic. The lightly raced Savabeel gelding has been placed in his last four starts, the most recent when badly hampered over 1600 metres. “He’s a horse that hasn’t had much luck, narrowly beaten twice and then very unlucky at Te Aroha last week,” Richards said. “We believe he deserves his chance and the 2000 metres should be right up his alley.” In Bosson’s absence from the Sydney carnival, James McDonald will take the ride on New Zealand Derby runner-up In A Twinkling in Saturday’s Tulloch Stakes, with a view to backing up in the following weekend’s Australian Derby. “That was a very satisfying result with Avantage and she seems to have come through the race well, so she can go to the Gr. 2 Arrowfield Stakes,” Richards added. “In A Twinkling has settled in well and Probabeel has come through her first-up run pleasingly. “We’re looking forward to getting her out on the wide open spaces of Randwick (for the Sires’ Produce Stakes) and hopefully on improved ground.” View the full article

BEST BET: RACE 4: ULTIMATE SASSENACH (6) - BEST EACHWAY: RACE 6: VINATGE ROSE (3) - BEST LONGSHOTS: RACE 3: MAGNATE MARA (6) Want to read this content? For free user content sign up here Free Online Content View our subscription options and get behind The Informant paywall Already a member? Login here View the full article

Want to read this content? For free user content sign up here Free Online Content View our subscription options and get behind The Informant paywall Already a member? Login here View the full article

As the clock winds down on the brilliant career of Winx, time may also be against her stablemate The Autumn Sun. Both won Group One races at Rosehill on Saturday, with Winx claiming her fourth successive George Ryder Stakes win and The Autumn Sun his third Guineas. While trainer Chris Waller believes The Autumn Sun can only get better, he has to convince part-owner John Messara, proprietor of Arrowfield Stud where the colt will stand, possibly as soon as this spring. His Rosehill Guineas win came about the hard way at his first test over 2000 metres on a heavy track. “Chris said he pulled up well but he has had two gut-busters now so I’m expecting a call to give him a spell,” Messara told Sky Sports Radio. “He’s had three runs this prep – two Group Ones and a Group Two – and he’s won them all but they have been tough runs. “The other part-owner lives in Hong Kong and have to get together over the next couple of weeks to talk about things. “We’ve got 40 mares we are sending to him. There is a lot of interest in him and he doesn’t have to do anything more.” Waller would like to take The Autumn Sun overseas and has ideas about doing the same with Galaxy winner Nature Strip. “I think he would be perfect for England,” Waller said. It is too late now for Winx to travel and plans are for her to bow out in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on April 13 at Randwick. Waller admits there will be mixed emotions when that day arrives. “I’m actually looking forward to it,” he said. “I will miss her but it will be a different lifestyle for me. “She will be retiring in the best possible form.” Waller said he would have liked to have seen her race against some of the best the world has to offer, but had she done that, she would not have raced for as long as she has. “I said to someone yesterday I would love to see her race a horse like Frankel, or whatever the greatest horse has been, I think she could beat whatever that horse may be,” he said. “And I guess on their terms maybe they could beat her, but she wouldn’t be able to do it for as long as she has done. “Had she taken on a Frankel or something early in her career who knows, she might have beaten him, but she wouldn’t be racing now.” View the full article

David Brideoake has high expectations for Princess Jenni, who is Sydney-bound for the autumn carnival after winning the Alexandra Stakes at Moonee Valley on Friday night. Brideoake said the filly would now travel to Sydney for the Gr. 3 Adrian Knox Stakes at Randwick on April 6. The Mornington-based trainer said Princess Jenni had been beset by a number of niggling problems which had delayed her autumn campaign. The New Zealand-bred daughter of High Chaparral ran a first-up seventh to Spanish Whisper in the Kewney Stakes at Flemington on March 9 ahead of her success on Friday night. Brideoake said he would have liked another run under her belt before heading to Sydney for the Adrian Knox, after which he will make a decision whether to back her up in the Australian Oaks a week later. “I will make a judgment call whether she is still too brilliant to run in the Oaks depending on how we go over the 2000 metres,” Brideoake said. “If she arrives up in Sydney in good shape you would have to think she’d be a force to be reckoned with. “That long sustained run impressed me and Damien has been in touch and will ride her in Sydney.” If Brideoake thinks Princess Jenni may prove too brilliant for the 2400 metres of the Australian Oaks, he could instead switch his attention to Adelaide and the 2000-metre Australasian Oaks at Morphettville on May 4. Brideoake says Princess Jenni has the potential to be one of the best horses he has trained. “As a filly with sustained speed and with that level of stamina, she impresses me,” Brideoake said. View the full article

View the full article

Korbyn Newman notched his first win as a driver at Waimate on Sunday. Photo: Supplied. The three-hour drive home from Waimate to Cust probably only felt like three minutes for 19-year-old Korbyn Newman on Sunday afternoon. Because the North Canterbury junior driver recorded his first career win in the sulky at the annual Waimate meeting, driving Markham Eyre for trainer Mike Brown. He’d been knocking on the door of that maiden driving win, with 11 placings from his first 40 drives, but hadn’t quite been able to get over the line. “All I needed was the right run and thankfully it came today,” he said post-race. “I was getting a bit annoyed with it, to be honest, but I knew I would get there eventually. “Everyone has been really supportive and kept saying to me that it could come soon enough.” It’s that friendly industry spirit that has been part of why Newman fell in love with the game after initially using it as an excuse to bunk school. “Dad trained about 15 starters back in the 1980s but I never had any involvement in the game growing up. “I got in to it through work experience with school. “In fact, I just did it initially to get a day off school; I didn’t think I’d actually like it. “But I got hooked.” That first day of experience was with North Canterbury trainer Benny Hill, who now acts as Newman’s full-time boss. “I ended up doing more work experience with Benny for about three-quarters of a year but when I left school, he didn’t have enough horses in work to give me a job. “So, I went and worked with Paul and Graham Court, and Simon McMullan, before eventually coming back to Benny’s when he could take me on. “The Courts were great to me, and really helped me find my feet in the game. “And Benny is a really good boss; he has given me plenty of driving opportunities. I couldn’t ask for more, really.” Markham Eyre, by Sportswriter and named after harness scribe Matt Markham, has shown rapid improvement in recent grass track racing, and looks progressive. “He’s a nice three-year-old, to be fair and has got a bit of a future, I think. “He’s still a bit immature and will be even better next time in. “I’m grateful to Mike Brown for giving me a chance; he’s one of a number of trainers who have realised that we all have to start somewhere and have taken a chance. “I just hope they keep supporting me and I can repay that faith.” View the full article