Chief Stipe

Sacred Croix. After a closing second in Singapore’s Silver Bowl three weeks ago, Sacred Croix will be bidding to go one better in the S$400,000 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) on Sunday. The inaugural Silver Bowl (1400m) is the new first Leg of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge, replacing the Stewards’ Cup, which has been lengthened up to a mile and is now slated as the second Leg towards the grand final the Singapore Derby (1800m) on July 21. A son of Savabeel, Sacred Croix came with a searching run under regular partner Benny Woodworth in the Silver Bowl, but Cliff Brown’s mare What’s New had the first run and prevailed till the end. With the weights left at the same level pegging given the similar set weights conditions of the 4YO series, champion trainer Mark Walker will be banking on the extra furlong for Sacred Croix to turn the tables instead, not to mention What’s New has drawn off the track in 14 as opposed to marble one at the Silver Bowl triumph. Walker maintained that the opposition was still tough, even if he is well aware that his ward would probably figure among the market leaders. “Sacred Croix will be better suited by the mile. He can go even further, up to 2000m, he’s a Gold Cup horse,” said the Kiwi mentor. “He’s a nice progressive horse who has pulled up well after his last race and has been working in good order since. “He galloped this morning and went very well under Zawari (Razali). He’s a clean-winded horse who doesn’t take a lot of work.” Walker has also thrown in Elite Remarkable and Richebourg in the Stewards’ Cup mix even if they didn’t take a major part in the Silver Bowl. “All three horses are well, but obviously, Sacred Croix is my best chance,” said Walker who won last year’s Stewards’ Cup with Elite Invincible, but has yet to annex a Singapore Derby to his resume – not even a New Zealand Derby, one of the rare New Zealand Group One races still missing to his glittering resume. “He has drawn moderately (in 10). It’s a full field, and the barrier is always important in such a race. “Hopefully, Benny can get him into a nice position in the race.” -STC View the full article

Flying Quest. Flying Quest arrowed wide down the home straight at Happy Valley on Wednesday to land the night’s trophy contest, the Class 3 Manawatu Racing Club Challenge Trophy Handicap (1650m). The David Hall-trained galloper flopped out of gate nine and was soon four lengths detached at the tail with Matthew Poon scrubbing along. But, up ahead, race favourite Win Win had pushed through a sharp first section of 27.58s to secure the lead and followed with a second sectional of 23.10s. That was all to the victor’s advantage when it mattered. “It would have to be all about the tempo, of course,” Hall said after the son of Alamosa had charged from last at the top of the straight to seal a three quarter-length score with a closing 400m clocked at 22.71s. “I thought he genuinely had a chance in the race, his last run was solid and he had a light weight,” Hall continued. “With the draw, he was always going to be back but I didn’t expect him to be that far back, then when you see how the time of the race was, obviously he couldn’t keep up early and that’s why he was able to win the race. “He’s had a great season and now he’s topped it off with a nice cup race, so happy days.” -HKJC View the full article

Bedford. Five-year-old Bedford has snapped a lengthy absence from the winner’s circle with a dominant display on a heavy track at Sandown. The Anthony Freedman-trained Tavistock gelding showed his promise with back-to-back 2000m-wins at Caulfield during the early part of 2018 and was considered a Doomben Cup prospect when he finished a close fourth in a Listed race in Brisbane on heavy ground in April that year. After a winless 2018 spring and two unplaced runs so far this campaign, Bedford dropped back in class and bounced back to winning ways in Wednesday’s Long Fine Plate (1800m) under Jamie Mott. Bedford ($13) drew away over the final 300m to beat Our Peaky Blinders by 3-3/4 lengths with Travimyfriend another three quarters of a length away third. “It’s good to see him back doing that,” assistant trainer Sam Freedman said. “We were fairly confident today. He was back to 78 grade and these soft conditions, he has run well before in the Tails Stakes up in Queensland. “He lost his way a bit for a while but we really think we’ve got him back on track. “He’s shown promise. It’s just you’ve got to have him in the right mental frame of mind. “And today he was perfect.” -AAP View the full article

Matthew Gillies co-trained and rode Borninasandpit to victory at Te Aroha on Sunday. Cambridge jumps jockey Mathew Gillies has been enjoying a great run of form in recent weeks. On Sunday the 33-year-old notched his first winner as both trainer and jockey when Borninasandpit, who he trains in partnership with Graham Thomas, was successful at Te Aroha. “It was my first ride on a horse I train too so it was really good,” Gillies said. “I’ve been telling other jumps jockeys what to do for the last couple of years but to actually go out and ride it and do it myself was a good way to do it. “There’s probably less pressure because you do whatever you want to do but if it didn’t go right it was all my fault.” Gillies said Borninasandpit is likely to return to Te Aroha in two weeks for another hurdle run before the Corson Maize Pakuranga Hunt Hurdle (3350m) in August and a possible Schweppes Great Northern Hurdle (4190m) tilt should it be a wet track. “I should retain the ride so long as I do everything right,” he quipped. Sunday’s win came just nine days after Gillies, who is originally from Palmerston North, won both the Awapuni Hurdles and Steeples which he describes as being close to a career highlight. “It was right up there because it’s my hometown and my family were there and it’s a course that I haven’t had a good run with previously,” he said. Gillies confirmed he would be leaving his training partnership at the end of the current season to take up a position with Lance Noble at Lindsay Racing, Brendan and Jo Lindsay’s Karaka-based training centre. “I’ll train with Graham until the end of the season and then I’ll go down to National week and then I’ll be starting at Lindsay Racing in mid-August,” he said. “The position is to be somewhat of a travelling foreman, we haven’t quite worked out everything yet but it’s an exciting opportunity. “The stable complex is just mind blowing when I went up there, I hadn’t seen any of the TV shows covering the set up and I didn’t quite understand how big it is.” Gillies has no plans to retire from the saddle and he is well placed to continue his run of success at the Hawke’s Bay Hunt Raceday on Saturday. The 2013-14 premiership winning jumps jockey has rides in each of the jumps races on the card headlined by last start Awapuni Hurdles (2900m) winner Gallante in the Te Whangai Romneys Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3100m). “It’s going to be a lot better track than what he had the other day when he won in the mud, but hopefully he’s improved enough that he can go a lot better on a firmer track,” Gillies said of the Team Rogerson-trained gelding. “If the distance was further, I think it would be right up his alley, but I’m just unsure about how he will cope with the distance and track.” Gillies’ other feature race contender at Hastings is Zardetto for Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal in the AHD Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase (4800m). “He’s been around for a long time and he’s done a lot of jumping,” he said. “He’s had three wins over fences and is usually in the place money, so if everything goes right he should be a good chance.” Gillies will also partner Ali Baba in the Bay Ford NZ Punter of the Year October 5 Maiden Hurdle (2500m) and Medini in the Hawke’s Bay Hunt Maiden Hurdle (2500m). “Ali Baba went really well at the jumps trials and he’s been a really good open class wet tracker so I think he’s got a pretty good chance. Reece Cole has done a lot of schooling on him so he should be spot on,” he said. “I rode Medini at the jumps trials recently, she got held up at her first start with the different fences at Wanganui but since then she’s been jumping a lot better, so with all that fitness and a lot more jumping she should run an honest race. “Ali Baba is probably my best chance but then obviously Gallante, the way he won the other day, he’s a good chance and if it was a similar track to last time then I’d be really confident.” View the full article

Rosanne and Chris Luoni Chris Luoni, the driving force behind the establishment of the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame, is stepping down as Chairman after serving seven years in the post but will continue as a director. “Chris was the catalyst behind establishing the Racing Hall of Fame,” past Chairman and director Gerald Fell said. “I was the first Chairman of the Hall of Fame and between us we drove the development of it. “I retired and Chris took over, and it has just got stronger and stronger.” The biannual event, which was first held in 2006, will next take place in May 2020. Stepping into the Chairperson role is Cherry Taylor, co-owner of Trelawney Stud and manager of her insurance company C N Taylor Consulting. Taylor brings a wealth of knowledge of the thoroughbred industry and has extensive experience as a member of several other boards and committees. “We are very happy that Cherry is coming on board,” Fell said. “We are very pleased to have someone as enthusiastic as she is.” Marie Leicester has recently been named as patron. Leicester, a successful owner-breeder, stepped down as a director of the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame earlier this year and was invited to become the patron to recognise her massive contribution over the last 12 years. View the full article

Vibrato winning at Rotorua Vibrato shook off his rivals at Rotorua on Wednesday to score a comfortable victory in the At Cook Contraction 2YO (1230m). The son of Sacred Falls led from the jump under a steady ride from Jonathan Riddell and strode away from his only challenger, Elliot Power, to win by two and a half lengths. The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Vibrato was having his second career start, with Forsman saying the conditions at Ellerslie earlier this month did not suit the two-year-old gelding. “He didn’t have any favours that day,” Forsman said. “He drew wide and was caught off the track and probably going right-handed he just got a little bit lost. “Once he found the front today, and the rail, it was a big help.” Forsman indicated they would now consider a start in the Listed Ryder Stakes (1200m) at Otaki on July 27. “It was what we were talking about pre-race (the Ryder Stakes),” Forsman said. “I said if he handles the ground it is probably a race you have to consider. It is certainly a good option to have. “I think the Sacred Falls are really coming along and they will be coming into their own over the next few months.” Vibrato is the second winner for four-time Group One winner Sacred Falls and is raced by David Seldon and his father Bob. Seldon purchased the gelding as a yearling at Karaka for $45,000 from the draft of Waikato Stud. Seldon is one of the principals of the Australian branch of American horse feed company, Performance Horse Nutrition, and he supplies feed to the Baker-Forsman stable. View the full article

Robert Hannam set a personal best of five stakes wins this season. Central Districts jockey Robert Hannam hasn’t let a delay to his New Zealand racing season hinder him from setting a record tally of stakes wins this term. The likeable hoop spent the early part of this season in India, where he was finishing off a four-month contract, which was halted in 2017 after he sustained a broken ankle after a starting gate incident. He returned to New Zealand in October and wasted no time in getting on the board, recording five stakes wins to date this season, an all-time best for Hannam, and nearly $1 million in prizemoney. While he enjoyed his time in India, Hannam is pleased to be back in New Zealand. “I went back to India to finish off my contract because I had broken my ankle (the previous year),” he said. “Everything went to plan, I exceeded what I thought I could do over there. I was very happy with the time that I spent there, but it was time to come home and concentrate on back here.” It was Hannam’s third stint in India and he said the introduction of taxes made his riding career there less viable. “Just before the second time I went there GST got introduced in India and that dropped the stake money by 40 percent,” he said. “As a foreigner, I could only ride in half the card. It just wasn’t viable to stay over there away from my family and ride for probably the same amount of money as what I could get in New Zealand.” Hannam was overwhelmed with the support he received from trainers across the country upon his return and he was quick to repay the favour for many of his backers. “I know there is probably a lack of jockeys around, but people had open arms ready to put me on and I was more than happy to oblige,” he said. He travelled the length and breadth of the country in subsequent months and recorded a quintet of stakes victories. Two of those came on his home track of Awapuni aboard Rock On in the Gr.3 Manawatu Cup (2200m) and Hinerangi in the Listed Rangitikei Gold Cup (1600m). Hannam also spent plenty of time in the South Island and was rewarded with victories aboard Residential in the Gr.3 South Island Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton and Emily Margaret in the Listed NZB Insurance stakes (1400m) at Wingatui. Hannam’s other stakes victory of the season was again on Emily Margaret in the Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m), and he said it had an uncanny similarity to his triumph in the race a decade ago. “Winning the Wellington Guineas again is a pretty big thing. I won it for Adrian Bull 11 years ago on a grey filly called Skirmish. “To win it twice, and for them both to be grey fillies, that was pretty special.” Hannam said it was funny how things worked out this season with Emily Margaret, having only picked up the ride on the daughter of Pins after he was replaced on Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) placegetter Platinum Invador. “I have got to take the good with the bad. I had been riding Platinum Invador and had won a couple of races on him,” he said. “They booked someone else for the Derby, which was my loss, but it turned out to be my gain because he ran the same day as Emily Margaret did at Wingatui (when she won the NZB Insurance Stakes). “I got on Emily Margaret and I went on to win two stakes races on her. Had I been on Platinum Invador I would have missed out on Emily Margaret. “It swings in roundabouts. I am not disappointed that they put someone else on, when one door closes, another door opens. I couldn’t have written a better script.” While he is rapt to have won five stakes races this season, another highlight for Hannam was finishing runner-up in the Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Trentham in December aboard veteran galloper Authentic Paddy. “That was fantastic with the old fella,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it, he tries so hard and he is a gem of a horse. He has got a heart the size of Texas.” Hannam said he is still enjoying riding and is hoping he can break through the $1 million barrier in prizemoney by season’s end. “I do love riding, but I was a little bit suspect this morning when it was zero degrees,” he quipped. “I am very passionate about riding and I love travelling. I will go anywhere to try and get a winner or get enough rides. I just enjoy it. “Hopefully there is still a good chance I can break $1 million in stakes money this season.” Hannam will attempt to add to his season’s earnings at Waverley on Thursday, where he has a book of seven rides and he expects a strong showing from Chartwell in the Norwood’s Taranaki 1650. “He went a good race last start. I’d expect him to improve and on paper he’s probably my best ride of the day.” here. View the full article

Sleeping Beauty and jockey Craig Grylls return after winning the Listed Tauranga Classic (1400m) on Saturday. Pencarrow Stud’s decision to bring a broodmare out of retirement has been spectacularly rewarded by the dual black-type winner Sleeping Beauty. The Rip Van Winkle six-year-old mastered the gruelling conditions for a dominant victory in Saturday’s Listed Ultimate Ford and Mazda Tauranga Classic (1400m), having also taken out the Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes (1400m) at her previous start. Sleeping Beauty is the tenth and final foal out of the Danehill mare Kailey Princess. “She was quite an old mare and we’d actually retired her from breeding at the time,” Pencarrow’s studmaster Leon Casey said. “But then her first foal was the dam of Herculian Prince, who Gai Waterhouse trained to win the Gr.1 Metropolitan (2400m) in Sydney. We decided to unretire Kailey Princess to see if we could get one more foal out of her, and that foal was Sleeping Beauty.” Trained by Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott and carrying Sir Peter Vela’s distinctive blue and white hoops, Sleeping Beauty has now won 10 of her 23 starts. She has also placed in the Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) and Westbury Classic (1400m), and she was a commendable sixth in the Gr.1 Sistema Railway (1200m). “It was a big thrill to see her win the way she did on Saturday,” Casey said. “She’s just such a consistent horse and tries so hard every time – she’s the sort of horse you love to have in your stable. “She’s gone to new heights in this preparation with her black-type wins, but it has to be said that her record has been extremely good all the way through. Her early form was on wet ground and she might have been written off as a wet-tracker, but she’s shown now that she’s effective on top of the ground too. She’s hardly ever been out of the placings in her career.” Sleeping Beauty is one of eight winners for Kailey Princess, with half-siblings Prosperous Bid and Canny Princess both placing at stakes level in Australia. A half-sister to Gr.1 Victoria Derby (2500m) placegetter Sir Midas and from the family of Group One winner Racing to Win and exciting Australian sprinter Classique Legend, Kailey Princess was bred by Arrowfield and won three races in Melbourne. “We bought her out of training,” Casey said. “We got her as both a breeding and racing proposition, but she had a bit of wear and tear by that stage and never raced in our colours. We started breeding from her straight away, and she performed really well for us.” Pencarrow sold four Kailey Princess yearlings at Karaka, each of them fetching between $150,000 and $210,000. Sleeping Beauty is set to carry on the family line in Pencarrow’s broodmare band, although major spring racing targets are likely to be a more immediate target. “We’ll probably look at the Foxbridge Plate (Gr.2, 1200m) and some of the big sprint races in the spring,” Casey said. “We might breed her in the spring and then just give her a few more starts in that preparation before retiring her to stud. “We’ve had a look at some mating options for her but haven’t made any decisions yet. She’s a lovely type of mare with natural speed, so she’s going to have plenty of options.” Sleeping Beauty’s stakes double has continued an outstanding season for her sire, Windsor Park Stud’s Rip Van Winkle. He has sired 38 winners in New Zealand in 2018-19 including four at stakes level, earning $1.3 million for a career-best position of sixth on the sires’ premiership. His other stakes successes this season have come from boom galloper Te Akau Shark in the Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) and Gr.3 Spring Sprint (1400m), Bizzwinkle in the Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) and Lil Miss Swiss in the Listed Riverton Cup (2147m). Rip Van Winkle’s overall tally stands at 28 stakes winners worldwide, 14 of them in Australia and New Zealand. View the full article

Rule Number(s): 869 (3)(b)Following the running of Race 8, the Wairau Covers Marlborough Winter Cup Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault against Open Horseman, Mr G Smith, alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that he drove carelessly, when driving PADDYPROUDFOOT, near the 200m, when allowing his ...View the full article

Rule Number(s): 869(2)-Whip Regulation (b)Following the running of Race 4, the Grove Tavern Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault against Licensed Graduation Horseman, Mr S Anderson, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2) in that he used his whip on more occasions than permitted by Clause (b) of the Use of the ...View the full article

Great to hear Newmarket. Stats haven't dropped here and Tuesdays have always been slack.

Wyndspelle winning at Awapuni last November Otaki trainers Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard are hoping to ditch the bridesmaids tag with their consistent galloper Wyndspelle next season. The five-year-old entire recorded two runner-up performances at Group One level this season and a further placing in the Gr.1 Windsor Park Plate (1600m) in September, and they believe he can breakthrough at elite level next term. “He was triple Group One placed, he probably should have won the Anniversary (Gr.3, 1600m) as well, he was pretty unlucky,” Benner said. “You can’t complain, although he is not winning, he is still going very well every time he races. “He’s gone pretty close, so hopefully this year he can get one.” Wyndspelle has returned after spelling since his runner-up performance to Melody Belle in the Gr.1 Haunui Farm WFA Group One Classic (1600m) on his home track in February, and the son of Iffraaj is being set to take a similar path next season. “He is back in work, he returned to the stable in late May. He looks sensational and he is happy to be back,” Benner said. “He will follow a similar path (to last year), he will go to the first two Group Ones at Hawke’s Bay, all going well, and we will just go from there.” Benner and Wynyard are enjoying their busiest season to date, with nearly twice as many starts as last season. They have been rewarded with 15 wins, their highest season tally to date, and are enjoying operating out of their Otaki barn. “We are chipping away and have a few more horses around us now, we have had an okay season so far,” Benner said. “We trade a few horses too along the way, so you find a lot of your better ones leave the stable, but that’s the only way to get ahead. “We always try to work around 20. We have pretty much got Otaki racecourse to ourselves, it’s a nice little set-up, nice and quiet. “We have got good facilities and have the beach nearby too, and it seems to be working well.” Benner is looking forward to next season and is hoping they can uncover another young star. “Wyndspelle is the marquee horse of the stable at the moment,” he said. “We will see how the season goes, you never really know where the next one is coming from.” View the full article

Jockey Opie Bosson and co-owner Paul Gallen with Te Akau Shark after his Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) victory Write Article text here. The Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) has been a long held ambition for connections of dual Group winner Te Akau Shark, but the Jamie Richards-trained runner is being set for another Group One target before he heads to Melbourne. The four-year-old son of Rip Van Winkle drew gasps from the crowd when winning the Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) by six lengths in November and the exciting galloper is being set for a big spring. Te Akau Shark was given a lengthy spell after pulling up with a few soreness issues after his Riccarton triumph and Te Akau Principal David Ellis said his team is pleased with what they have seen since his return last month. “We gave him a long spell through the summer and autumn,” Ellis said. “He had his first bit of three-quarter pace last Saturday morning and Jamie Richards is really happy with the way he is coming to hand. “I think he has just matured and strengthened a little bit (since last year). I was over at the stable in Matamata on Monday and he certainly is a very happy horse and is hitting out pretty freely, which is the most important thing with him.” Te Akau Shark winning the Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) Race Images South A large contingent of his owners hail from Sydney, including Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks captain Paul Gallen, and they will likely get a chance see their horse in action in the Gr.1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick in September. “We would love to win a race like the Epsom on the way to the Cox Plate,” Ellis said. “It is a pretty exciting time. He is owned by a lot of the boys from the Cronulla Sharks in Sydney, so they are pretty excited that we are bringing him to Sydney first. “I think he would be really well weighted in an Epsom Handicap. We would probably give him two runs before the Epsom and then straight from the Epsom into the Cox Plate.” Ellis believes Te Akau Shark is well suited to the month break between the two runs. “He’s a pretty clean-winded horse and doesn’t seem to need a lot of work,” he said. “When he won his last start he went five weeks between races, from 1400m to 1600m, and he seems to enjoy that.” Ellis purchased Te Akau Shark out of Lyndhurst Farm’s 2016 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale draft for $230,000 and he has been impressed with the gelding from the very beginning. “He has only been beaten once and he has shown a lot from day one,” Ellis said. – NZ Racing Desk View the full article

Just An Excuse. The Stoneleigh Sunday race meeting at Cambridge Raceway, this weekend features a special race, named in honour of back-to-back Gr.1 New Zealand Trotting Cup winner Just An Excuse. Bred by Ollie and Irene Haines, Just An Excuse was born in 1998, he was the sixth foal out of My Excuse, a mare the husband and wife had raced out of John and David Butcher’s stable. “She was a bloody nutter,” Haines said. “I don’t know how the Butchers ever got her to the races. “I can still remember watching them try to get the cart on her one day at Cambridge and I had to walk away, I couldn’t watch.” Despite her temperament, the daughter of Smooth Fella managed to win her first race and place on a further two occasions before retiring to the breeding barn. “I bred six mares to stallions at Nevele R Stud that year,” said Haines. “Live or Die was their new stallion and I sent two to him and got two colts, one was Just An Excuse and we lost the other one.” The irony of breeding two sons by Live or Die, only to have one live and the other die isn’t lost on Haines, in fact it’s the beginning of a series of events that make the story of Just An Excuse even more remarkable. “It was the same year that I had a brain hemorrhage,” he said. “I’d resigned from the (HRNZ) Executive and I’d also taken six horses to the sales and only came home with $16,000. “I thought this is an idiots’ game and I decided to get out of it. I had a big clearance sale and sold almost everything. “Just an Excuse was a weanling then and all of the trainers came out and saw him, but they didn’t like him because he had a club foot. “The silly part about it was I never told him he had a club foot, so he didn’t know.” Strangely enough that wasn’t the only time Haines tried but failed to sell the horse that went on to win over $1million in stakes money. “I’d sent a few horses over to Alex Justice in Sydney that we’d gone fifty-fifty in so I rung him up about Just An Excuse after he had qualified but he said had too many but he would ask his mate down the road if he was interested,” Haines said. “His mate asked how much I wanted for him and I said $35,000, he came back and said he didn’t want him because he didn’t qualify fast enough and he didn’t like this, that and the other. So, I said that’s alright Alex and I kept him and put him out for a while. “Anyway, after he’d won his first four races, I put them all on a video tape and sent them over to Alex and said take it up to your mate who said he wasn’t fast enough.” Such is Haines’ personality, he’s not shy in coming forward and he’s certainly not above taking pleasure in a stroke of serendipity. Lordie, as he was affectionately known, did his early education with Brent Donnelly in Cambridge and he was trained throughout his career by Robert Mitchell and driven by his son Todd. When his racing career was cut short in 2006, his undesirable feet having eventually got the better of him, Just An Excuse had won 17 and placed in 15 of 39 starts, five at Group One level – the 2003 and 2004 Cups, the 2004 New Zealand Free For All, 2003 Taylor Mile and NZ Messenger Championship. He had also raced in successfully in Australia, taking out the 2004 Ballarat Cup. Tragically, Just An Excuse had a paddock injury early in his retirement, he broke his leg and as a result he had to be put down. He’s buried at Mitchell senior’s Raglan property, from which he was trained throughout his career. “I think Robert buried him at the back of the house there, but I haven’t had the guts to go out and see him. I’ve been out there but I didn’t want to go,” Haines said and you can sense he’s still emotional over the loss. A former HRNZ board member and Cambridge Raceway president, Haines continues to race and breed a few horses that are based in Southland, where he says the costs are less. However, his attendance at his local racecourse has understandably dwindled in recent years as he’s dedicated his time to caring for his beloved wife, Irene who has dementia. In January Irene moved into specialist care prompting Haines’s decision to support the club by sponsoring a race named in their champion horses honour. The Just An Excuse Mobile Pace will fittingly be run, at Cambridge Raceway, 17 years after he made his winning debut at the venue. The Stoneleigh Sunday meeting, with Mulled Wine from the Marlborough vineyard on offer, kicks off at 11.30am with the first of 8 races at 12.04pm. Entry is free but bookings are recommended. Race books will be available for a gold coin donation, the proceeds of which will be donated to donated Dementia Waikato, visit www.cambridgeraceway.co.nz for more details. View the full article

Write photo caption here by replacing this text. Exciting Wingatui jumper Jackfrost has arrived safely in Victoria to begin an assault on some of the major events. With the full backing of the large group of owners, trainers Brian and Shane Anderton have opted to give Jackfrost his opportunity to measure up in Melbourne with the eight-year-old having proved himself at top level in New Zealand when winning the Grand National Hurdles (4200m) and the Great Northern Hurdle (4200m) last winter. “He got to Ballarat on Saturday,” Brian Anderton said. “Courtney Barnes has gone over to look after him and Shane will go over a bit later on. The horse has to school first over there and he’ll do that on July 4. “We will confirm his programme after that but we are now giving some thought to maybe going for both Grand Nationals over there. But we’ll just see how he handles the fences in his schooling first.” Top jumps jockey Steve Pateman has expressed interest in riding Jackfrost, who has been readied for his Melbourne campaign with three flat runs and a last-start second over hurdles at Wingatui when narrowly beaten after recovering from both a first fence scare and a mistake at the last fence. View the full article

Battle Time winning at Tauranga on Saturday You can’t blame Cambridge dairy farmer Allan Hayward for his heartfelt emotion when discussing his aptly named warhorse Battle Time’s return to top form. Hayward was on cloud nine after the Group Two winner broke through for his first win in two years when comfortably winning the Seeka Premier (1200m) at Tauranga on Saturday. That thrill was also felt by co-trainer Margaret Carter, who has shared Hayward’s perseverance and faith in the six-year-old son of Battle Paint. “It was like winning a Group race to us,” Carter said. “It was fantastic to see him win again and I’m stoked for Allan. He’s the owner who has been paying the bills all the way through and he’s had so much faith in the horse.” Carter and her husband, Tim, train a team of about a dozen horses and, being a smaller stable, she said each one is treated like one of the family. “They’re like my own horses. That’s how I treat them,” she said. “That’s why it means so much to see Battle Time win again after all the problems he has had. As we’ve been told, class is permanent, and he’s proved that.” A Group One runner-up as a two and three-year-old, Battle Time was diagnosed with a bone chip in a knee after his second behind Xtravagant in the New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton. He returned from the bone chip operation to win fresh-up five months later at Tauranga and won again on the same course that campaign before recording a further Group One placing when fourth in the Windsor Park Plate (1600m) at Hastings on route to his most important success, the Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) at Riccarton in November 2016. After a couple more placings, he won again, over 1400m at Ellerslie, but the faith of Hayward and the Carters was then called upon big time in a bid to get him back to top form. Finally two years and nine starts later that day came at Tauranga on Saturday. “He was his old self,” Hayward said. “He was never going to stop. It was such a thrill to see him win like that. “I know Margaret (Carter) got as much of a thrill as me from the win. She has put a lot of work into him. “And credit goes to Chelsea Burdan who rode him. She rode him like he was the best horse in the race and looked after him.” Carter knows one win on the comeback trail doesn’t mean they’re out of the woods with Battle Time, but at least it’s promising. “One thing is for sure we won’t be running him again on hard tracks,” she said. “He’s been unsound for so long and I still wonder if his problems stem back to the bone chip he had. “But he seems to have come through the race well so we’ve got to work out where next with him. Maybe it’s worth waiting for the (Listed) Opunake Cup over 1400m at New Plymouth next month.” Having now got Battle Time back in winning form, Hayward is hoping the Carters can work the oracle on an even tougher scale with his eight-year-old half-brother Farm Boy (by El Hermano), who has been off the winner’s list for more than four years. Farm Boy’s last success, and most important of his five wins, was in the Gr.2 Avondale Gold Cup (2400m) at Ellerslie in February 2015 before finishing third in the Gr.1 New Zealand Stakes (2000m), also at Ellerslie. His career looked over two years ago, but he has come back this season and given his connections hope with a couple of placings and some encouraging runs. “He went a shocker last time and really he shouldn’t have started,” Carter said. “He’s had another patch of viruses which he always seems prone to. “He’s taken a while to get over them and he’s bounced back so we’ll press on and give him another shot. He’s worth it.” View the full article

Group One performed filly Aalaalune Group One performed juvenile Aalaalune has given Matamata trainer Jacob McKay plenty of excitement this season and he believes she can go on to better things in her Classic year. The two-year-old daughter of Reliable Man contested six races this season, all at stakes-level, placing in three of them, including a short-margin runner-up performance behind Yourdeel in the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie in March. McKay was delighted with her season after initially thinking she wouldn’t show her best until she was a three-year-old. “I couldn’t have been happier with what she has done this season,” McKay said. “She has pretty much done everything against the grain. She wasn’t really bred to be a two-year-old and just kept stepping up. “I didn’t think she would quite show what she did as a two-year-old when I broke her in. She was always very natural and has always been a nice moving filly, but I thought it wouldn’t be until she was three that she would be showing something. “She surprised me a little bit in her first couple of trials, that’s when I decided to go for a black-type race for her first start. “Every time she just kept stepping up, she never once disappointed us and was probably unlucky not to have won one of those races along the way.” While she also placed in the Listed Splice Construction 2YO Stakes (1100m) on debut and the Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m), McKay highlighted the Sistema Stakes runner-up performance as the most emotional result of the season. “Her runner-up in the Sistema Stakes would have to be the highlight and just about the disappointment of the season,” he said. “To get so close was just a bit gut wrenching, but in saying that you couldn’t take anything away from her or the other horse (Yourdeel). “It just came down to the bob on the line and I guess Opie (Bosson, jockey) has got that little bit of x-factor when he got that half an inch out of his horse that we couldn’t quite find with ours. Hopefully we can turn the tables on them next season.” Aalaalune, who was purchased for $230,000 out of Westbury Stud’s 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Sale draft, is back in work at McKay’s Matamata property after a two month spell and he believes she has a big season ahead of her next term. “She has had a good few months off and been back in work in the last few weeks now, so I am looking forward to the spring with her,” McKay said. “Like everyone we will be trying to get to Hawke’s Bay. There are a couple of options for her there, the Gold Trail Stakes (Gr.3, 1200m) and the Hawke’s Bay Guineas (Gr.2, 1400m). “Whether I try and go fresh down there or look at Taupo or a trial on the way up. This season she was a very clean-winded filly, so she will let me know as she comes along what she wants to do, but I definitely wouldn’t be scared to have a crack at some of those big races early on with her. On her form she is good enough. “The 1000 Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m) is going to be one of our early targets. If we can run in the first two or three there then I will be pretty rapt with her.” McKay is excited by what he has seen from his filly already this preparation. “Naturally she has always looked like a three-year-old,” he said. “There is always that big question mark of whether they come back as good as what you expect. “But so far this time round she is ticking all the boxes and I couldn’t have been happier with how she spelled. She has grown a fair bit and has strengthened up, so onwards and upwards hopefully.” McKay, who has recorded five wins this term, said he is enjoying training his small team at his Matamata property and is looking to focus on quality rather than quantity in seasons ahead. “It has probably been only in the last six months or so I have actually built up a nice half a dozen horses around me that are capable of winning a few races,” he said. “There have been a few close placegetters there too which have all sort of been on Saturdays. I am happy enough with how the season has gone. “I keep to about a dozen. I have got one full-time worker and I do all the riding myself, so I don’t like to have too many. Half of them would only be babies and the other half racehorses.” McKay, who previously trained in partnership with his father Peter, branched out on his own a few seasons ago and said he has slowly developed his business and he is looking forward to concentrating more on the racing side in the coming years. “This is my third season on my own,” he said. “To start with I was only doing the breakers and pre-trainers, so I had a limited number of runners. “For the first year or so I leased a property and then I was fortunate enough to buy a property next to Matamata racecourse. “Just through having a property next to the racecourse, that’s how my first couple of horses to train came from. “I was lucky enough to get a couple of horses off Lance Noble when he finished up training here in Matamata and went up to Karaka. “One of those was Barnaby who won his first couple of starts for me. So it’s just lucky that that happened, and a couple of more horses came from that. “Eventually I will end up with just a team of racehorses and cut down on the babies a little bit, but I still enjoy educating the young ones. You get a little more out of it if you educate them and they get to stay to train as well.” McKay is already looking forward to next season with his small team and is eyeing up black-type targets with many of them. “I have got some goals for next season, obviously getting so close in some of those black-type races (this season), it would be nice to get a black-type win,” he said. “I’m never looking to go big time, but I would just like to have a bit of a quality team around me. “I’m looking forward to next season. If I can have half a dozen or so in work and win ten races for the season, I would be pretty happy.” View the full article

New Zealand export Voyage Warrior is one of the most promising gallopers in Hong Kong Leading rider Zac Purton enjoyed a rocket run on young sprinting sensation Voyage Warrior in the Class 3 Ma On Shan Handicap (1000m) at Sha Tin in Hong Kong on Sunday to take home a treble. “It was a good effort,” Purton said of the top-weight, who took his career tally to three wins and a second from four starts, all down the 1000m straight. “He had to carry top-weight and Look Eras really served it up to him through the mid stages, so he had to absorb all that pressure as well. I thought he did a good job,” Purton said. Purton partnered Voyage Warrior for the first time on Sunday, having inflicted the gelding’s only defeat the time before atop the highly-regarded Thanks Forever, who won that race in receipt of nearly 6kgs. Trainer Ricky Yiu was delighted to see his charge, a horse he sourced from New Zealand, regain the winning thread. “He gradually rolled to the outside, he didn’t even pull his stick – the winning jockey knows what kind of car he’s driving, it’s as simple as that,” he said. And the trainer answered in the affirmative when asked if he would pitch Voyage Warrior into Group races in the first half of next season, should he continue to deliver. “I would,” he said. “He’ll be four next season and there are some big races, feature races coming up that I really want him to participate in. I’ll gradually move him up to 1200 metres, it’s about time to run him round the bend, that’s the plan. He’s done well as a three-year-old, it’s been a long season and he won’t run again this season.” Bred by Waikato breeder Bob Emery, Voyage Warrior is a son of Stravinsky mare Chaleur. The son of Declaration Of War was initially sold from the Henley Park draft during the Select session of the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale for $55,000. Voyage Warrior returned to Karaka later that year for the Ready to Run Sale, where he was knocked down to Yiu for $280,000 from the JK Farm draft. View the full article

Winx. Champion mare Winx is to be mated with Australian stallion I Am Invincible in her first season at stud later this year. Her owners, Peter and Patty Tighe, Richard Treweeke and Debbie Kepitis, announced on Monday they had chosen the Hunter Valley-based Yarraman Park stallion as her first mating. They issued a statement via the mare’s trainer Chris Waller saying they had fielded interest from home and abroad but decided she would remain in Australia. “As owners, we have utilised and considered the expert advice of bloodstock professionals both domestically and internationally,” they said. “We have sought the opinions of various pedigree consultants, bloodstock agents and stud managers. “They provided us with the foundation of information to assess and use to compile the short list of stallions for consideration. “This process highlighted the extreme depth to the stallion ranks in Australia and across the world, however when considering the options of travelling overseas her welfare remained of the highest priority and we decided she would remain in Australia for her first breeding season. “We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who made expressions of interest. The level of attention was overwhelming and something we are very grateful for.” I Am Invincible is second on the Australian General Sires list to Snitzel. His daughter, Invincibella, won the final Group One race of the Australian season on Saturday, the Tatt’s Tiara at Eagle Farm. The mating plans for the star mare have proved a topic of widespread conversation amongst industry insiders, with a handful of bloodstock pundits suggesting New Zealand’s Champion stallion Savabeel would be an ideal match for Winx. A daughter of Street Cry out of Kiwi mare Vegas Showgirl, Winx retired as an all-time great of the turf after winning her third Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick in April. The rising eight-year-old was the winner of 37 of 43 starts, including 25 victories at Group One level and more than A$26 million in prizemoney earned. View the full article

Trainer Samantha Logan (second from right) with jockey Aaron Kuru after Zamora’s win at Te Aroha on Sunday Te Aroha racecourse has become a happy stomping ground for trainer Samantha Logan. The Cambridge horsewoman picked up her second career double at the Waikato track on Sunday with Zamora and Henry Tudor in the two steeplechase events. “I have only had one other double and that was at Te Aroha as well, so it’s a been a pretty good course for me,” she said. Logan recently changed tack with Henry Tudor, placing him over the steeples for the first time on raceday on Sunday after he failed to fire in two previous hurdles races this season. Jockey James Seivwright kept the nine-year-old gelding out of trouble at the head of the pack and that is where he remained, winning The Spray Rig Maiden Steeplechase (3500m) by a nose over Georgethefifth. “He is a very consistent horse, I was glad he was up front and out of trouble on Sunday,” Logan said. “It was very eventful (the race) and he just kept his rhythm up in the front with Georgethefifth and those two seemed to stay out of trouble.” Logan said the idea to put the son of Royal Gem over the bigger fences was to try and enhance his confidence levels. “He won a maiden hurdle at the end of his campaign last year. He had only fair runs in open company this year, but he has done plenty of steeplechase schooling, so we were confident he would get over the big fences well. “We thought we would give him a run back in a maiden chase to get his confidence back and it paid off.” While he showed his potential over the bigger fences on Sunday, Logan believes he is versatile enough to compete in both hurdles and steeplechase company over winter, which could culminate with a tilt at the Great Northern Hurdles (4200m), a race he finished eighth in last year. “I think he is definitely versatile enough to do both (hurdles and steeplechase),” she said. “He’s not a slow horse and he’s not just confined to the steeples now that we have switched him. “We will just take him slowly after this race and we will try and find a place where he can keep his confidence high. Henry Tudor made a pleasing start to his steeplechase career at Te Aroha on Sunday Trish Dunell “He couldn’t quite stay the distance in the Northern Hurdles last year. He was still a maiden hurdler at that stage, so it was a pretty creditable effort. “It is definitely not out of the question to switch him back to hurdles for that type of race. He can go the distance if he gets the right run.” Stablemate Zamora gave Logan a clean sweep of the steeplechase events on Sunday when winning the Knottingly Farm Open Steeplechase (3500m) by 3-3/4 lengths. The seven-year-old gelding was fresh-up on Sunday and Logan gave owner Barry Beatson a lot of credit for the result. “Barry Beatson is the owner and he hunts a lot down in Dannevirke,” she said. “He has got a big farm down there with a lot of hills, so he pre-trains his horses and puts a lot of miles into them on the hills down there and then sends them up here to finish them off. “It was a joint effort and it really paid off.” Logan believes Zamora has matured a lot since he last stepped out onto the track in September last year and she is looking forward to lining him up in some of the better Steeplechase contests over winter. “We thought he may have needed the run, but he was further ahead than we thought, so it was a really good bonus,” she said. “We thought he was a horse that preferred the better going, but he has shown that he can get through the heavy tracks. “It caught him out a bit in the Pakuranga Hunt Cup (4200m) last year and the ground was just a bit testing for him at that stage of his campaign. “He has come back a stronger horse this year and that was quite a tidy field he put away on Sunday. Hopefully the strength he has got and the maturity he has now, he will be quite competitive in some nice races.” Logan has a solid winter team and said she is looking forward to next season with some exciting two-year-olds. “We have got 12 in work here in Cambridge. It keeps us busy and we have got a few nice two-year-olds coming through that we are looking forward to. It’s going well at the moment.” View the full article

Pippi Rea (outside) winning at Riccarton on Saturday Balcairn trainers John and Karen Parsons stretched their memories back 30 years when Pippi Rea extended his winning streak to five at Riccarton on Saturday. “We have to go back to Seamist to remember another horse we’ve had who has won as many in a row,” Karen Parsons said after Pippi Rae’s last-stride victory over Saber in the Sonia & Garry Thompson Open Sprint (1200m). Seamist, a daughter of Beaufort Sea, was a stable star for John Parsons when winning 12 races, highlighted by the 1992 Gr.1 Auckland Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie and the 1991 Gr.2 Japan – New Zealand International Trophy (1600m) at Tauranga. She registered seven wins as a three-year-old and after finishing runner-up to Phillipa Rush in the 1989 Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton, she actually went on to win six races in succession, including five Listed races culminating with victory in the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m) at Riccarton. Pippi Rea, a five-year-old son of Pins, has now won nine of his 34 starts, but won’t get a chance to equal Seamist’s winning streak of six (albeit in lesser company) until next season. “It’s hard to win a few in a row, let alone five, and really the last few wins have been a bonus because we have been meaning to turn him out for a spell,” Karen Parsons said. “He prefers better tracks. “He was supposed to go out after he won at Riccarton (on May 31), but we kept him going for Waimate and he won there, too. “We were lucky to get away with this last win. Even though it was rated a Slow8, they still ran a respectable time (1:12.67). But he can go out for a well-deserved spell now.” Pippi Rea’s winning streak began with a 1000m double within three days at the Marlborough meeting in April, and his run of top form has been a thrill to Kevin Hickman, who bred him and races him with members of his family. Pippi Rea is from Smitten Kitten (by Volksraad), whose performances for Hickman included eight wins (two Listed events) and seven black-type placings. “He’s always shown a lot of ability and last year he got hurt when he went up to Trentham for the Telegraph (Gr.1, 1200m),” Parsons said. “He had a go at the Stewards Handicap (1200m) at Riccarton last year, too, and he went a top race for third. When he comes back into work we’ll probably set him for that again.” The Parsons stable is going through a quieter patch than usual with many of the main players either out for a spell or just returning to the stable, though steeplechaser Delacroix is in top form, having won by 11 and a half lengths at Timaru last start. “We’re idling along a bit and it’s giving us a bit of time educating some of the young ones before we build up again with the likes of Kiwi Ida, Johnny Jones and co,” Parsons said. Kiwi Ida, a winner of 10 races including the Gr.3 Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) at Riccarton last November, has been enjoying a break since her last-start win over 1400m at Wingatui late last month and the Parsons are looking forward to boosting her profile further in a new campaign. Johnny Jones, an eight-race winner, has also been freshened since finishing seventh at Riverton last month, while Camino Rocoso and Final Savings returned to the stable on Sunday after a freshen-up. Camino Rocoso, a former northerner who won four races and was twice Group Three placed for Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, is unbeaten for the Parsons, having won on both days of the Marlborough meeting last month. Final Savings, a Savabeel three-year-old son of the Parsons’ multiple Group One winner Final Touch, ended his last campaign with a maiden win at Wingatui in March, while his two-year-old sister Touchabeel has been placed in three of her four starts and has done a month’s work. View the full article

Spare a thought for the industry workers. They have their horse teams in now working hard in miserable conditions to be ready for spring racing.

A bit like the racing scene Tuesdays is always quiet. Even more so this time of year.

Rule Number(s): 870(3) and Breaking Horse RegsFollowing the running of Race 7 (Subway Marlborough Lines Stadium 2000 Hcp Trot Trot) Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr Mulcay lodged a protest (Information A11420) alleging that “Ideal Invasion” breached Rule 870(3) and the Breaking Horse Regulations by breaking for a distance in excess of 150m rounding ...View the full article

Rule Number(s): 870(3) and Breaking Horse RegsFollowing the running of Race 1 (Crafar Crouch Construction Trot) Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr Mulcay lodged a protest (Information A11419) alleging that “Milly An Eyre” breached Rule 870(3) and the Breaking Horse Regulations by breaking for a distance in excess of 50m within the final 200m of the home ...View the full article