Wandering Eyes

Lemon Muffin, a former D. Wayne Lukas trainee, will face 2025 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) winner Splendora in the $200,000 D. Wayne Lukas Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park Feb. 7.View the full article

Francis Lui Kin-wai is looking for back-to-back wins in the Group Three Centenary Vase (1,800m) with Chancheng Glory at Sha Tin on Sunday, but Speed Dragon is another string to his bow in the handler’s search of a third win in the race. It has been a period to remember for Lui, who has rocketed up to sixth in the standings after training 10 winners at the last seven meetings. The run included a Group Three victory when Speed Dragon launched to January Cup (1,800m) glory at Happy Valley and he...View the full article

Half of the 2025-26 season will be in the books after Sunday’s Sha Tin meeting and it has been an intriguing five months of racing in Hong Kong. Some of the city’s stars – both equine and human – have dominated once again while the battle for the trainers’ championship looks set for an exciting finish. Peerless Purton It has been business as usual for Zac Purton, with the eight-time Hong Kong champion jockey building a huge lead in the title race after racking up 73 wins from the first 43...View the full article

Dr Eliot Forbes, RIB CE and Chairman of the International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR) was recently interviewed for an article published in the Ten Furlongs Magazine ARC Supplement. Click here to read the article. The post Championing Life Beyond the Finish Line appeared first on Racing Integrity Board. View the full article

Trainer Dominic Sutton will keep an open mind on the program of Feroce (NZ) (Super Seth) until he assesses the gelding’s first-up run at Caulfield. Last year’s Group 1 Australian Guineas winner is down to resume in the Group 3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes (1400m) on Saturday. The gelding’s performance in his return run will determine the path Feroce takes. Races like the Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on February 21 and the Group 1 All-Star Mile (1600m) at Flemington next month are in the back of Sutton’s mind, as is the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) on February 28. “We haven’t made any set plans. We want to see how he returns first-up,” Sutton said. “We’ll probably keep him to that 1400 metres, to a mile, but he has returned well. “Potentially he could head to the Futurity, the All-Star Mile, but if we need to keep him a level down, there is also the Blamey at Flemington. “The weather will dictate whether he goes to Sydney for a race like the Doncaster, but we’ll probably just target Victoria because we know how wet Sydney can get in the autumn. “I’ll be dodging the wet tracks with him.” Feroce had a good start to his spring last campaign, finishing third in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield, before the gelding’s form tapered off when eighth in Toorak Handicap before striking a wet track in the Golden Eagle in Sydney. “He had a really good start to the spring and in the Rupert Clarke, he was super, ran a peak performance that day, and then we got things tactically wrong in the Toorak,” Sutton said. “We pressed forward from a wide gate, and he just couldn’t do it in that high pressure race, riding the speed and that pressure early. “Then we took him to Sydney for the Golden Eagle. It rained on the day, it was a horrible track, horrible conditions. “He needs a good surface, and it was literally a forget run.” While Sutton believes Feroce’s best trip is in thae1400m to 1600m range, he may again be keen to explore stepping the gelding up to 2000m. At his only try at 2000m, Feroce finished sixth in last year’s Group 1 Australian Cup at Flemington. “It was an afterthought and he was the youngest horse in the race and with Pride Of Jenni in the race, it was a stiff 2000 metres,” Sutton said. “I have always thought he would be a 10-furlong horse, but he does seem to sprint quite well fresh. “We’ll see which way he takes us, but there are plenty of options.” View the full article

Tajana (NZ) (Darci Brahma) is coming toward the sharp end of her season and co-trainer Shaune Ritchie is well-qualified to rate her chances of ending it on a high. The top-rated filly will attempt to add further winning momentum to her Classic campaign when she steps out in Saturday’s Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2100m) at Te Rapa. Ritchie has already won the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) with Jennifer Eccles (2020), Artistic (2012) and Keep The Peace (2010) and will bid for his first in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai-sponsored feature with current training partner Colm Murray. Like Artistic, Tajana is a daughter of Darci Brahma, bred and raced by The Oaks Stud, and Ritchie believes she has all the attributes required to add to the stable’s record. “Put it this way, she’s even more laid back and with a better temperament than the other three Oaks winners I’ve had,” he said. “You can’t train that into them, they either have it or they don’t.” Tajana came off a lengthy break to beat a small age-group line-up over 1600m at Pukekohe last time out and has since progressed faultlessly with George Rooke to again take the ride. “She sprinted very quickly but the part we wanted to see was her relax and drop the bridle,” Ritchie said. “She is in superb order for Saturday and has had a nice exhibition gallop,” Ritchie said. Stablemate Nereus will face a stern test in the Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) with Rooke to also partner Waikato Stud’s son of Savabeel. “We’ve always felt he would end up a weight-for-age horse and he’s in a niggly spot in the handicaps,” Ritchie said. “On face value his run was poor last time, he only ran seventh in a Manawatu Cup (Gr.3, 2400m) and the time between races might indicate he’s had an issue, but he’s a very, very clean-winded and light-boned horse and doesn’t need a lot of racing. “He’s gone best with his races well-spaced, and his exhibition gallop the other day was remarkable and the best piece of work he’s showed us. He will present in the best order of his life.” Dream Maker will also step up in grade in the Gr.2 Legacy Lodge Waikato Guineas (2000m) off the back of an effortless middle distance maiden victory. “He did a demolition job at Ruakaka, and this is obviously a massive step up,” Ritchie said. “He can run the trip out and he’s got that very good nick of Almanzor out of a Zabeel mare, which we saw in the Wellington Cup (Manzor Blue), and the further they go the better. “He’s a giant of a horse and still a bit of a sook. Whether he’s a future Cup horse or a Derby horse are the questions we need to find out and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ran very well, but I can understand why he’s 30 to one.” Ritchie is confident of a bright opening at Te Rapa with Esperanza in the Listen Live On sportnation.nz (1400m). “She has been desperately unlucky in her last couple of runs, and she can hopefully start us off well,” Ritchie said. View the full article

Barbara Kennedy is hoping she will be pouring more wine in celebration following Wingatui’s meeting on Saturday where the South Auckland trainer is seeking to score more southern stakes success. The expat South African is currently on her first South Island campaign, and she kicked it off with a bang when recording her first stakes win when Pour The Wine (NZ) (Telperion) powered away to a two-length victory in the Listed Timaru Stakes (1200m) at Riccarton a fortnight ago. “We didn’t expect her to win like that, but we are taking it,” Kennedy said. “Since arriving down south she has been thriving.” “It was my first win with this mare. All her prior wins had been with Peter and Dawn (Williams). It seemed like I was never going to win a race with her, so to get a win and for it to be my first stakes win was just fantastic.” While Kennedy has returned to her Byerley Park base in the interim, Pour The Wine has been entrusted to the care of Riccarton trainer Lance Robinson and Kennedy said she has received positive feedback ahead of tackling the Listed Property Brokers – Ray Kean Hazlett Stakes (1400m) on Saturday. “She has been staying down with Lance Robinson and the reports back have been that she is loving life down south, her work has been really good, they are really happy with her going into it,” she said. Kennedy will be trackside on Saturday and will take the scenic route to Dunedin, heading to Christchurch first to meet her mare before joining her on the trip south to Wingatui. “I have never been that far south, it is my first trip down there too, so I am looking forward to it,” she said. “I am flying to Christchurch and then driving down so I will hopefully get to see a bit of the countryside.” Pour The Wine will be ridden from barrier nine by Canterbury jockey Tina Comignaghi and is currently an $8.50 equal third favourite for the Hazlett, alongside the Anna Furlong-trained Betty Spaghetti, with local hope Brave Spirit heading the market at $5.50. All going to plan, Pour The Wine is set to have two more starts in the south, including next month’s Gr.3 Donaldson Brown South Island Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton, before returning home for a spell. “There are probably two more races down there that we will go for, but we will see how she comes out of this race on Saturday first,” Kennedy said. View the full article

Still coming down from the high of taking out last weekend’s Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m), trainer Lisa Latta is hoping to quickly add to her stakes haul over the long weekend. Her first bid will be at Tauherenikau on Waitangi Day where last-start winner Connello (NZ) (Time Test) will contest the Listed Clubs NZ Wairarapa Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m). Bred and raced by Wairarapa local David Woodhouse, the Time Test four-year-old mare carries his silks, which are commonly associated with his former homebred dual Group One-winning mare Belclare. Connello has also performed with distinction on the track, winning four of her 25 starts to date, and placed in the Gr.3 Grangewilliam Stud Breeders’ Stakes (1400m), Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m), Gr.3 Eulogy Stakes (1600m) and Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1600m). Latta has been pleased with her progression since her last-start victory over 1400m at Trentham last month and she is hoping Connello can put in a repeat performance for Woodhouse at his home track. “She is not very big, but she tries extra hard,” Latta said. “She has trained on really well from that win. “David lives down there (Wairarapa) so it would be great to win it for him.” Latta will have strong representation at the holiday meeting, including in the Chatham Islands Jockey Club Wairarapa Cup (2050m). While she is weighing up her options with Knickerless, Thrilling will be a definite starter in the race for the Awapuni horsewoman. The four-year-old daughter of Shocking has been mixing her form of late and disappointed when unplaced over 2200m at Trentham last month, and Latta is hoping she can bounce back on Friday. “Thrilling was a bit disappointing last start,” she said. “The track was a little bit off in places and it was just a real headscratcher, but we couldn’t fault her afterwards. Back onto a decent track I think we will see a different horse.” Latta will head to Te Rapa on Saturday with just the one runner in Platinum Attack who will tackle the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m). The five-year-old gelding made a winning start to his preparation when victorious in the Listed Pegasus Stakes (1000m) at Riccarton in November before finishing runner-up to Azeezle in the Levin Stakes (1200m) at Otaki. He was met by rain-affected tracks when sixth and fifth respectively in the in the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) and Gr.1 Railway (1200m), and Latta is hopeful of an improved performance on better footing this weekend. “We are really happy with him,” she said. “He has just been plagued with wet tracks and wide draws. “We have added some ear covers on him and he will get back on a good track on Saturday, but he will need a bit of luck from that draw (8).” Meanwhile, Latta is looking forward to returning north to Ellerslie on Champions Day where Manzor Blue will contest the Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m), with her connections paying the late nomination fee for the two-mile feature following her Wellington Cup heroics. “She has pulled up well, we are really happy with her,” Latta said. “We have put a late nom in for the Auckland Cup, so we will press on towards that.” Stablemate Be Real, who finished third in the Wellington Cup, has been retired, with the mare scanning in-foal earlier this week. “We rescanned her yesterday (Wednesday) and she is definitely in-foal,” Latta said. “It was great to get some valuable black-type for her.” View the full article

Longstanding vendors Highview who have been selling yearlings since 1986, have announced the staging of an Unreserved Deplenishing Sale at its Hamilton property on Sunday 15 March 2026. NZB will conduct the Sale on-farm, which will offer approximately 50 lots consisting of yearlings, two-year-olds, racehorses, broodmares, mares with a foal at foot and more. “There’s a changing of the guard at Highview, with my son Kurtis now taking a more prominent leadership role,” commented Highview’s Brent Gillovic. “We’ve accumulated a lot of horses so this is a genuine reduction process to trim the operation back to around 30 to 40 mares before I hand over the reins. “We have held a couple of these deplenishing sales previously back in the early 2000s which were quite successful. “While it goes against the trend in today’s day and age, for us it is just easier to manage this many horses in one go, here onsite, and sell them all in one hit. “We’ve got a number of sires represented including some nice young horses by the likes of Wrote, Santos, Divine Prophet, Sword of State, Xtravagant, Hello Youmzain, Sweynesse, Vadamos and more. “There will be something for everyone. At the end of the day, our main goal is to find these horses good homes, we’re not expecting the world for them. “It will be a nice Sunday afternoon, with plenty of opportunity for everyone.” The Highview Unreserved Deplenishing Sale will see around 50 thoroughbreds for sale, conducted from 1pm at Highview Stud, 1544 Kakaramea Road, Hamilton, with gates open at 10am. The catalogue will be available to view online at www.nzb.co.nz by late February, while printed catalogues will be available on the day. While online bidding is unavailable, all prospective buyers are welcome to attend. Alternatively NZB and BAFNZ agents will be able to inspect and bid on your behalf should you be unable to attend. For more information, contact the NZB Bloodstock team, or Brent Gillovic on +64 21 921 467 or by emailing brent@highview.co.nz. To register, existing NZB account holders can see the NZB team prior to the Sale starting on-farm at Highview Stud. While new buyers can create an account online here. The Sale will be conducted by NZB under special terms and conditions which will be available in due course. View the full article

Harness Racing New Zealand (HRNZ) has issued a reminder to all trainers about Strangles, a highly contagious bacterial disease affecting horses. HRNZ is advising vigilance, outlining the key signs to watch for, such as fever, nasal discharge, swelling and abscesses and emphasising steps to manage and prevent spread through good biosecurity and prompt action with your veterinarian. For more information, please follow this link. Strangles – What you need to know … The post Strangles – What you need to know (HRNZ reminder issued 5 February 2026) appeared first on Racing Integrity Board. View the full article

Intrepido, trained by Jeff Mullins, defeated Desert Gate and Plutarch in the 2025 American Pharoah Stakes (G1) and is scheduled to meet them again in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) Feb. 7 at Santa Anita Park.View the full article

Tom and Noreen Quinlan's Athnid Stud has welcomed the first reported foal by the multiple Group 1-placed sprinter Shouldvebeenaring. The colt is out of the unraced Equiano mare Irish Madam, who is the dam of three winners from as many runners to date, including recent Dundalk scorer How'sthebai (Bated Breath). Irish Madam herself is a full-sister to the G1 Sprint Cup runner-up Strath Burn. The Irish National Stud's director of sales Gary Swift described the new arrival as “an excellent colt for Shoulvebeenaring [with] good bone, great depth at his hip and shoulder and an alert head, sharp and just like Havana Grey's stock.” He added, “It was also very fitting that a member of the Quinlan family welcomed his first foal as they are very close friends of the INS.” The G3 Prix de Ris-Orangis winner Shouldvebeenaring, who also finished second in the Sprint Cup and third in the Prix de la Foret as a three-year-old, covered 125 mares in his first season at the Irish National Stud in 2025. He will stand the upcoming season for €6,000. The post Athnid Stud Welcomes First Foal by Shouldvebeenaring appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Fresh from claiming the title of leading buyer at Karaka for the 18th time, Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis is turning his attention to one of his highlights of the racing calendar at Te Rapa this Saturday. Both Ellis and his wife Karyn Fenton-Ellis are former chairs of the Waikato Racing Club, and Te Rapa’s Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) and Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) raceday features a prestigious race named in honour of their contributions – the Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2000m). The $275,000 feature for three-year-old fillies has carried the Ellis name since 2020, and the stable has recorded two victories during that period with Amarelinha (2021) and Self Obsession (2022). Te Akau will be represented in the 2026 edition on Saturday by last-start winner Born To Be Royal, who was bought by Ellis for $260,000 from Karaka 2024. In addition to her recent victory over 2000m at Matamata, the King’s Legacy filly has placed in another five of her eight career starts, including the Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) and last month’s Gr.2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes (2000m). Born To Be Royal will contest the Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies Classic (2100m) Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) “It’s a very special race meeting for Karyn and I every year, and we’d love to win the race that carries our name again,” Ellis said. “I think we’ve got a really strong chance in it this year with Born To Be Royal, and we’d especially like to win it with her because our good friend Butch Castles has a share in the filly with us. “Cameron George also has a share in both that filly and also Towering Vision, who will be a leading contender in the Waikato Guineas (Gr.2, 2000m), so he has a couple of very good chances on what should be another fantastic raceday at Te Rapa.” Ellis is more than satisfied with his results from the 100th edition of the National Yearling Sale at Karaka, where he extended his long reign as leading buyer. NZB’s Book 1 statistics credit him with 17 purchases from that top-tier session for a total of $4.26 million. He finished $545,000 ahead of the second-placed Chris Waller Racing/Mulcaster Bloodstock (10 purchases for a total of $3.715 million). Although Ellis was underbidder on a couple of yearlings on his wishlist – most notably the $1.1 million sale-topping colt by former star Te Akau racehorse Sword Of State – he came away with a range of yearlings priced from $40,000 (a Circus Maximus filly in Book 2) up to $475,000 (a Home Affairs colt out of stakes-performed Te Akau mare Special Memories). “It’s great to be leading buyer again, although I always say that the competition is not to see who buys the most, but who buys the best,” Ellis said. “That’s what we’re aiming to do when we go to these sales every year.” Ellis has a proud record in that regard too, famously purchasing eight of the last 10 winners of the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) including the subsequent multiple Group One winners Melody Belle, Avantage and Probabeel. Te Akau reached 100 Group One victories when Return To Conquer took out the Sistema Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie last March, and 61 of those successes have come from horses bought at Karaka. Other notable Ellis yearling purchases include the likes of Darci Brahma, Burgundy, Xtravagant, Heroic Valour, Cool Aza Beel, Maroofity and King’s Chapel. That track record is a hard act for the new batch of yearlings to follow, but Ellis sees all the right signs among his latest intake. “It was a very successful sale at Karaka with an extremely competitive buying bench, and we were made to work hard for our purchases,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier with the yearlings we’ve bought. We missed out on two that we had on our list, but we got all the rest. “My vet Chief Stipe Black came around and saw all the horses with me the other day, and both he and I think that we’ve done extremely well with the horses we’ve managed to bring home. “We bought across a wide range of prices, so there’s many different levels available for people to get involved and buy shares at. Interest has been pretty strong so far – Karyn thinks they’re selling the best they have been for three or four years. “All up, we bought 15 at Magic Millions and 21 at Karaka, so that’s a lot of horses to try to sell all the shares in. We buy them all on spec too. So it’s a big job every year, but one that we really enjoy.” View the full article

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With the Southwest Stakes (G3) set for Feb. 6, it's only fitting that the winner of last year's edition also returns this weekend at Oaklawn Park. Speed King is set to make his 4-year-old debut in the Feb. 5 Fifth Season Stakes. View the full article