Wandering Eyes

World Pool truly lives up to its name on Saturday, featuring 13 races at Meydan for Dubai World Cup Day and at Randwick for the first round of The Championships. Seven races from Dubai will be globally commingled, including all five Group 1contests, meaning that punters from more than 28 jurisdictions will be able to bet with World Pool. The action from Meydan follows Doncaster Mile Day in Sydney, with World Pool returning for a second year on day one of The Championships, which features four Group 1 races. World Pool ambassador Ryan Moore will be in action in Australia with three rides for Chris Waller. For the first time, two World Pool Moment of the Day awards will be given out on the same day, with a standout performance from both Meydan and Randwick set to be chosen. The grooms of both chosen horses will receive a winners' cheque of HK$40,000 (£4,000/AU$8,000) as well as entry into the World Pool Moment of the Year competition for the chance to win a VIP trip to Hong Kong in 2026. Sam Nati, head of commingling at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said, “Dubai World Cup Day from Meydan and Doncaster Mile Day from Randwick are two special fixtures in the global racing calendar and we're delighted to once again be making the meetings available to our global customers. “The stars will truly be out this weekend, and we can't wait to see champions like Forever Young and Romantic Warrior return to the track on a day that's sure to draw the eyes of the racing world.” The post Lucky 13 for World Pool on Stellar Saturday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Road, presented by Gainesway and Darby Dan FarmView the full article

It wouldn't quite be fair to say that the team around Facteur Cheval (IRE), who is owned by Team Valor International and Gary Barber, were anonymous in the week building up to the 2024 Dubai Turf (G1T). View the full article

ABR's Mike Curry previews the field for the Santa Anita Oaks (G2).View the full article

In a week where the world’s best horses, jockeys, and trainers are on show, few have attracted more attention than James McDonald, whose partnership with Romantic Warrior has brought him to the Dubai World Cup meeting for the first time. View the full article

Bob Ehalt previews the field for the April 7 Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.View the full article

The Jockey Club announced that the 2025 edition of the Fact Book is available in the Resources section at jockeyclub.com.View the full article

Stellenbosch and Sixpense look to make a mark for the 4-year-old generation in the Osaka Hai (G1) April 6 at Hanshin Racecourse.View the full article

The 2025 edition of The Jockey Club's Fact Book is now available in the resources section of the organization's website, according to a press release from that entity on Friday. The online Fact Book is a statistical and informational guide to Thoroughbred breeding, racing, and auction sales in North America, which is updated quarterly. Later this year, many of the statistics will begin to be updated on a weekly basis, and new statistics will be added. The Jockey Club is continually seeking ways to provide information in novel formats concerning the Thoroughbred industry. Please email Shannon Luce, vice president, Communications, with your ideas: sluce@jockeyclub.com. The 2025 State Fact Books, which feature detailed breeding, racing, and auction sales information specific to numerous states, Canadian provinces, and Puerto Rico, are also available on The Jockey Club website. The State Fact Books are updated monthly. The 2025 edition of The American Racing Manual will be available as part of the Fact Book in the coming weeks. The post The Jockey Club 2025 Fact Book Available appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

By Michael Guerin It was worth the wait. It may have taken Leap To Fame a little longer to get to New Zealand than harness racing fans would have liked but it took him a lot less time to get around Cambridge than his rivals would have liked in Friday night’s Race by Betcha. The magnificent Queensland pacer was supposed to make his New Zealand debut in the New Zealand Cup back in November but missed that iconic race with a blood complaint. He came to Cambridge on Friday night and turned the $1million Race by Betcha into something iconic instead. The six-year-old and his trainer-driver Grant Dixon were on a mission, a mission to turn the 2200m race into a fight, survival of the fittest, or bravest or greatest. “Larry” as he is known, was all three. Dixon had to take his medicine early as every horse drawn inside him wanted to head forward and he was forced back to last but with cover as first Republican Party, then Don’t Stop Dreaming and eventually Merlin worked to sit parked outside Don Hugo, who had led effortlessly from the start. While they were all happy to hand up the dreaded park position, when Dixon got there he saw it as a launching pad for a one-lap attack on the leader. Dixon, usually quiet in the cart, was all motion and motivation, asking Leap To Fame to go faster. And then a bit faster. He wanted to know, maybe wanted us all to know, who could go the fastest for the longest. At the 500m Don Hugo looked for a few seconds as if he was sneaking away. Larry reeled him back in on a string made of sheer guts. Once they were eyeball to eyeball at the top of the straight it was Don Hugo who blinked first, Larry set sail for the post and Chase A Dream and Merlin chased. They did not gain. At the line Australia’s best pacer has recorded one of the most stunning wins of any code in this country, a thing of beauty by the beast. It was win 50 for Leap To Fame from 63 starts, he heads home with the promise to return for this year’s New Zealand Cup, a promise rival trainers hope he will break. “That was a great relief,” said Dixon, who was driving his first ever winner in New Zealand. “I had a lot of people telling me how to drive him and I just wanted to turn it into a staying race. “I got up in his [Don Hugo’s] face and it paid dividends.” Leap To Fame’s national record time of 2:33.6 was 1.5 seconds inside the previous record, a 1:52.4 mile rate on a wet night when the Australians emphatically continued their recent domination of New Zealand’s best horses. That put a smile on owner and slot holder Kevin Seymour’s face. “I was thrilled he could come here and beat the very good local horses and show everybody here how good he is,” said Seymour. While there were no excuses for those beaten behind the harness hero, Chase A Dream was brave in second and has put his career back on track in the last week while Merlin was excellent in third, probably performing to at least the same level as when he won The Race last season. Don Hugo punctured to run fourth after being Larry’s punching bag for the second lap after setting the record speed for the first. And as is so often the case in big races, one horse has its moment of arrival and on Friday night that was Pinseeker, flashing late into fifth, beating home five horses he wouldn’t have been considered as good as just a month ago. He was by his standards he was a star. At this level they are all stars. But they are stars who on Friday night found themselves trapped in the Larryverse. View the full article

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk The legend of “Larry” went next level in tonight’s $1m The Race by betcha at Cambridge’s Night of Champions. Leap To Fame, affectionately known as Larry, had to go three wide and then sit parked before overwhelming arch rival Don Hugo in a new track record. Trainer Grant Dixon wouldn’t let Don Hugo out of his sight and the pair went to war with 600 to go. Despite getting a tough trip Leap To Fame was too tough when it mattered. It was an incredible performance. Don Hugo just couldn’t stay with the champ with Chase A Dream second and defending champion Merlin third. Remarkably it was Leap To Fame’s 50th career win from just 63 starts including the Inter-Dominions and the Miracle Mile. First out first home. That was the way Australian visitor Arcee Phoenix won tonight’s $600,000 TAB Trot on Cambridge’s Night of Champions. Arcee Phoenix was fourth in the race last year and tonight Chris Svanosio, known as Snooze to his mates, wasn’t mucking around at the start. He went to the lead as leading Kiwi Oscar Bonavena sensationally galloped out of contention. Not As Promised did the same. Arcee Phoenix then dictated the tempo, and never really looked like getting beaten. “It’s great to come here and win,” said Svanosio. Queen Elida was a huge improver in finishing second. Her earnings took her past the million dollar mark, as did fourth placed Muscle Mountain. Favourite The Locomotive sat parked throughout and was brave in finishing third. It was the second consecutive Australian win in the big race, following Just Believe’s triumph last year. In the support races, Kimberly Butt won the second edition of the Dorothy Cutts Invitational. She got the perfect passing lane trip with 18-to-one shot Ohoka Achilles to down favourite Iron Brigade. Trained by Owen Gillies it was the Art Major 10-year-old’s ninth win. Dorothy Cutts was on course to make the presentation. She made history when she became the first woman ever to win a full totalisator race in this country, at Cambridge in 1979. The night also featured an extra special moment for Cambridge Raceway Chief Executive Dave Branch. The Night of Champions has been a huge undertaking for Branch and his team but he was trackside with a big group of supporters as the eight-year-old gelding went to the front and starved off the challenge of Castana and favourite High Energy. He is in the ownership group that races Romeo Foxtrot. The gelding, who is trained by Dave’s mother Susan Branch, made it career win number 12 in the Charlie Hunter Northern Championship Final Handicap Trot. Without You upset hot favourite Beside Me in the Magness Benrow Sires’ Stakes 3YO Semi final while Bettors Anvil got home, paying $20, as he led and held on the 3YO Colts and Geldings Semi Final from Greased Lightnin and hot favourite Got The Chocolates. More to come View the full article

By Michael Guerin The patience of one man and passion of another put Arcee Phoenix in the position to win the $600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge on Friday night. The Victorian trotter led home an Australian-trained trifecta for the second year running in the slot race after working his way to the front in a bizarre opening 200m. Arcee Phoenix has never been a fast beginner but trainer-driver Chris Svanosio declared his hand pre-race saying he had to go forward on him and try to lead the 2200m mobile event, seeing that as his best chance of beating favourite The Locomotive. He, nor anybody else, could have predicted the obstacles that nearly derailed that plan. Another of the Australian reps Not As Promised galloped at the mobile sped away to start the race, hardly ideal as he was directly to the outside of Arcee Phoenix, who didn’t need any distractions as he was trying to trot fast but keep his cool. Then seconds later the second favourite Oscar Bonavena went into a wild gallop just metres to Arcee Phoenix’s left, Svanosio having to carefully avoid him as Oscar Bonavena was eased wide and effectively out of the race. Somehow Arcee Phoenix ignored them both as best he could and rolled to the front, from where his only danger was the trailing Queen Elida, who threatened in the home straight but never looked the winner, with The Locomotive a brave third after sitting parked. For all the drama the final result was almost effortless for Arcee Phoenix, who has previously contested this race and two other Group 1s at Cup week in Christchurch and finished fourth every time. Those trips and the experience gained were part of Svanosio teaching Arcee Phoenix to be a racehorse. He has learned his lessons well. He had a good teacher. “This is amazing,” said the Victorian of his national record run. “To grow up watching these big trotting races in New Zealand and even be a part of them is very special. “But to win it with this horse and to see him overcome those early distractions means the world to me. “He was having a good look at them at the start, especially Oscar when he galloped, but he held together. “I have always thought he was a good front runner but I haven’t been able to get him there as often as I would like because of teaching him to race early on. “He is an awesome horse, he was just jogging in front but in the home straight I just wanted the line to come up.” As popular as the victory will be for Svanosio and his stable star it was also the ultimate triumph for one of trotting’s most deserving ambassadors in slot owner Duncan McPherson. McPherson owns Aldebaran Farms in Victoria and 15 years when the very existence of trotting as a gait in Australia was under threat, with the gait even being dropped as part of the Inter Dominions, McPherson never lost faith. He loves trotters and has travelled the world and spent a fortune trying to build ties between Australia, New Zealand, North America and the trotting stronghold of Sweden. For him, a man who fought for trotting when others wanted it shrunk or gone all together, to dance and hug in the Waikato rain on this Friday night was as sweet as payback comes. “I love trotting and to do this with this horse and a great mate in Ash Haynes, who owns him, it doesn’t get any better,” he said. Or any more deserved. View the full article

First out first home. That was the way Australian visitor Arcee Phoenix won tonight’s $600,000 TAB Trot on Cambridge’s Night of Champions. Arcee Phoenix was fourth in the race last year and tonight Chris Svanosio, known as Snooze to his mates, wasn’t mucking around at the start. He went to the lead as leading Kiwi Oscar Bonavena sensationally galloped out of contention. Not As Promised did the same. Arcee Phoenix then dictated the tempo, and never really looked like getting beaten. “It’s great to come here and win,” said Svanosio. Queen Elida was a huge improver in finishing second. Her earnings took her past the million dollar mark, as did fourth placed Muscle Mountain. Favourite The Locomotive sat parked throughout and was brave in finishing third. It was the second consecutive Australian win in the big race, following Just Believe’s triumph last year. In the support races, Kimberly Butt won the second edition of the Dorothy Cutts Invitational. She got the perfect passing lane trip with 18-to-one shot Ohoka Achilles to down favourite Iron Brigade. Trained by Owen Gillies, it was the Art Major 10-year-old’s ninth win. Dorothy Cutts was on course to make the presentation. She made history when she became the first woman ever to win a full totalisator race in this country, at Cambridge in 1979. The night also featured an extra special moment for Cambridge Raceway Chief Executive Dave Branch. The Night of Champions has been a huge undertaking for Branch and his team and he was trackside with a big group of supporters as the eight-year-old gelding went to the front and starved off the challenge of Castana and favourite High Energy. He is in the ownership group that races Romeo Foxtrot. The gelding, who is trained by Dave’s mother Susan Branch, made it career win number 12 in the Charlie Hunter Northern Championship Final Handicap Trot. Without You upset hot favourite Beside Me in the Magness Benrow Sires’ Stakes 3YO Semi final while Bettors Anvil got home, paying $20, as he led and held on in the 3YO Colts and Geldings Semi Final from Greased Lightnin and hot favourite Got The Chocolates. View the full article

Yeomanstown Stud resident Supremacy (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire} became Europe's latest first-crop sire to get off the mark when his Rod Millman-trained debutante Anthelia (Ire) broke through going a shade over five furlongs in Friday's Happy Birthday Lynn Cullimore British EBF Fillies' Restricted Novice Stakes at Bath. Squeezed for room at the break and racing off the tempo in seventh through the early fractions, the 18-1 chance made rapid headway into contention once past halfway and swooped late to easily outpoint Canyouhearthedrums (GB) (Lope Y Fernandez {Ire}) by an ultimately comfortable 2 1/2 lengths. Anthelia is the latest of seven reported foals and second scorer produced by Listed Rose Bowl Stakes third All On Red (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}), herself a half-sister to the stakes-placed Applecross (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}). The January-foaled bay, whose third dam is Listed Sweet Solera Stakes and Listed Rose Bowl Stakes third Halloa (GB) (Wolfhound), hails from the family of GI Secretariat Stakes and G1 Cox Plate-winning sire Adelaide (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Anthelia with an impressive run to win the Fillies' Restricted Novice Stakes at Bath to get off the mark! Lewis Edmunds | Rod Millman pic.twitter.com/zK6j6kWeR9 — The Horse Racer (@OlliCarter) April 4, 2025 The post Yeomanstown Stud’s Freshman Sire Supremacy Off the Mark at Bath appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Everyone recognizes that with the glut of entertainment options today, it's harder and harder to provide experiences that really wow people. In the old days, a trainer would accept a horse from an owner, and hope to never hear from him again, or, to quote an old Charlie Whittingham adage, “Treat owners like mushrooms. Keep 'em in the dark and feed 'em horse manure.” Those days are gone, and racing syndicates are now taking the game one step beyond mere communication—not only providing a constant stream of videos, trainer messages, and other information—but providing experiences that enhance and deepen a member's appreciation of the sport, and their bond with racing. That's good news for racing, and good business for everyone. Medallion Racing, a Taylor Made Farm partnership group that invites partners to invest in biannual groups of horses—they're currently on Medallion V—has taken the concierge and experience theory to the ultimate extreme. Matt LeTexier retired this week after a 30-year career at NAPA Auto Parts, and just in time; this year, he will participate in Medallion's Derby handicapping seminar, Kentucky Oaks owners' suite, trip to Deauville for the Arqana August sale with a healthy dose of sightseeing, and has just returned from their spring trip to Ireland. Medallion is also arranging a trip to Royal Ascot, and a suite at the Breeders' Cup for members of the partnership. “One of the reasons we invested with Medallion and Taylor Made were the European experiences,” said LeTexier, part of Medallion V, who went on the Ireland trip with his wife, December, and nephew Josh Tangen. “So when this opportunity came up, we were all over it.” On the trip, the partners visited trainer Donnacha O'Brien at his facility in County Tipperary to learn about the European style of training. “We had access to his yard, and went out two different mornings to watch them breeze,” he said. “We jumped in the Range Rover with him, and rode alongside the horses as they were running. It was kind of magical.” December LeTexier, Josh Tangen, and Matt LeTexier at Naas | courtesy Medallion Racing They also toured Coolmore with a special guide. “We had a great visit at Coolmore where M.V. Magnier gave us a tour. That was amazing. He showed us their stallions and walked us around the farm and to the breeding shed and through the museum. He was great. That's the kind of experience that just wouldn't happen without the relationships that the Taylor Made team has there.” The group also visited Ballydoyle, stayed at the Cashel Palace, dined at Mikey Ryan's, and spent a day at Naas Racecourse with their chairman, Dermot Cantillon. “Part of my retirement plan was to get involved in horse racing, and this has just really helped facilitate it,” said LeTexier, who looks forward to one day racing his own horses under the name of Pegasus Farms. Medallion V currently consists of two horses—both of which won last weekend. Grand Job (Justify) was second last out in her 2025 debut in the GIII Royal Delta Stakes, and won an allowance at Gulfstream Friday. Public Assembly (More Than Ready) won an allowance at Santa Anita. The plan, said Phillip Shelton, Medallion's racing manager, is to expand the group to 8-12 horses. Each partner in each individual Medallion unit owns a piece of every horse in the group. Medallion IV included two-time Royal Ascot winner Porta Fortuna and the multiple graded stakes-placed Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words). LeTexier and Tangen at Donnacha O'Brien's training facility in Tipperary | December LeTexier photo Shelton said that over the past few years, he has been traveling to Europe to sales and to visit the horses that Medallion has in Europe, like Porta Fortuna. “I thought I'd put it out to people, and just see if anybody wanted to go.” As it turned out, they did. The group included the LeTexiers and Tangen, and other Medallion partners Steve Weston and Jimmy Lee. Lee, who has been in four Medallion partnerships, also owns horses on his own and with other partnerships. “If you tried to develop this on your own, it would never happen,” said Lee. “You'd never get there. The level of folks in the horse racing business that I met on this trip alone is mind-boggling to me. You're getting to meet the O'Briens, Donnacha is going to train a horse for us in the group, we go to Coolmore and M.V. comes out and meets us in the parking lot and walks with us and chats with us. We had dinner with Donnacha one night, dinner with Fozzy Stack, and dinner with Paddy Twomey. Being able to see how each one does their own thing and learn and sort of get to know the people instead of just reading their names in the paper, that's cool. Just getting in the game to have that level of access is really almost unheard of. It was really, really, impressive.” “It's an appealing thing to get to experience,” said Shelton. “And that's what we're trying to do—leverage our resources and our connections. The mission statement of Medallion is an exclusive ownership opportunity at the highest levels of Thoroughbred racing. That's what we're selling. We don't want 200 partners. It's a smaller group.” What he's learned organizing these events, he says, is that money is a motivating factor, but time is almost as much so. “The more of your own free time you have to invest in planning, figuring things out, the more of a deterrent it is,” he said. “Here, everybody sends me their flight information, and as soon as you land, everything else is taken care of.” They plan shows and events, dinners and racing. The upcoming Deauville experience will offer guided tours of the D-Day landing sites and a trip to Le Mont Saint Michel, among other things. They will also visit stud farms, and accompany Shelton to inspect yearlings in the mornings. The motivation? “How can we make it as easy as possible for people to say yes?” asked Shelton. The bottom line? “I think it's a huge selling point for us,” said Shelton. “The great thing about all of these partnerships is that they're allowing you an opportunity that you cannot get on your own.” For LeTexier, the behind-the-scenes peek at racing was the secret sauce that will draw him further into the game. “For me, specifically, I'm just trying to soak it in and learn as much as I can about the business and how we can go about building our Pegasus Farms team along with them,” he said. “It has been a great experience here thus far, early on, and we're looking forward to what's ahead. You can't think of better partners, for sure.” Lee agrees. “It would be hard to be disappointed with this group,” he said. “It has exceeded everything they promise. And the guys at Taylor Made are as good a guys as you'll deal with in the industry.” The post `It Has Exceeded Everything They Promise’: Medallion, Where Racing Meets Hospitality appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) has announced several enhancements to the prizemoney for Jumps Racing, including immediate increases covering the remainder of the current season (May to July 2025), as well as the full 2025-26 racing calendar. NZTR’s total investment across 18 meetings and 57 Jumps races over this period will reach approximately $2.57 million. The increases highlight NZTR’s ongoing commitment to the development and promotion of Jumps racing throughout the country. Highlights of the revised stakes include: Uplift in stakes for Feature Steeplechases across the season, with increases ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 per race. Restricted Open Jump Races will see stakes boosted from $30,000 to $40,000. In cases where these races are split into separate events for winners and maidens, winners will compete for $40,000, while maidens will race for $20,000. The Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge 150th Grand National Steeplechase at Riccarton Park on Saturday 9 August celebrates its 150th renewal this year, with the Canterbury Jockey Club set to announce a further stakes increase to this race in the coming weeks. These new stakes enhancements complement previously announced strategic initiatives, which include: A shortened jump racing season comprising 18 racing days, running from 11 May to 21 September 2025, concluding with an exciting two-day event at Te Aroha. A strategic shift towards non-Saturday racing days, with nine of the 18 Jumps racing days scheduled for Sundays, along with King’s Birthday Monday and a feature Friday meeting on 19 September for the Great Northern Hurdle. Streamlining of venues to improve infrastructure, reducing host venues from previous seasons to seven locations. Notably, Jumps racing will no longer be held at Rotorua or Waverley this season. Introduction of the Amateur Series, primarily held at Jumps meetings, concluding with the prestigious Duke of Gloucester Cup on 19 September at Te Aroha. NZTR Chief Operating Officer Darin Balcombe commented, “These enhancements deliver immediate benefits for participants this season while supporting the ongoing development of Jumps racing.” “Following our strategic review last year, we’re focused on improving the experience for participants and fans as we head into next season,” he said. Full details of NZTR’s 2025-26 Jumps Racing Stakes are available to view below. View the full article

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) has announced several enhancements to the prizemoney for Jumps Racing, including immediate increases covering the remainder of the current season (May to July 2025), as well as the full 2025-26 racing calendar. NZTR’s total investment across 18 meetings and 57 Jumps races over this period will reach approximately $2.57 million. The increases highlight NZTR’s ongoing commitment to the development and promotion of Jumps racing throughout the country. Highlights of the revised stakes include: Uplift in stakes for Feature Steeplechases across the season, with increases ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 per race. Restricted Open Jump Races will see stakes boosted from $30,000 to $40,000. In cases where these races are split into separate events for winners and maidens, winners will compete for $40,000, while maidens will race for $20,000. The Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge 150th Grand National Steeplechase at Riccarton Park on Saturday 9 August celebrates its 150th renewal this year, with the Canterbury Jockey Club set to announce a further stakes increase to this race in the coming weeks. These new stakes enhancements complement previously announced strategic initiatives, which include: A shortened jump racing season comprising 18 racing days, running from 11 May to 21 September 2025, concluding with an exciting two-day event at Te Aroha. A strategic shift towards non-Saturday racing days, with nine of the 18 Jumps racing days scheduled for Sundays, along with King’s Birthday Monday and a feature Friday meeting on 19 September for the Great Northern Hurdle. Streamlining of venues to improve infrastructure, reducing host venues from previous seasons to seven locations. Notably, Jumps racing will no longer be held at Rotorua or Waverley this season. Introduction of the Amateur Series, primarily held at Jumps meetings, concluding with the prestigious Duke of Gloucester Cup on 19 September at Te Aroha. NZTR Chief Operating Officer Darin Balcombe commented, “These enhancements deliver immediate benefits for participants this season while supporting the ongoing development of Jumps racing.” “Following our strategic review last year, we’re focused on improving the experience for participants and fans as we head into next season,” he said. Full details of NZTR’s 2025-26 Jumps Racing Stakes are available to view below. View the full article

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) has announced several enhancements to the prizemoney for Jumps Racing, including immediate increases covering the remainder of the current season (May to July 2025), as well as the full 2025-26 racing calendar. NZTR’s total investment across 18 meetings and 57 Jumps races over this period will reach approximately $2.57 million. The increases highlight NZTR’s ongoing commitment to the development and promotion of Jumps racing throughout the country. Highlights of the revised stakes include: Uplift in stakes for Feature Steeplechases across the season, with increases ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 per race. Restricted Open Jump Races will see stakes boosted from $30,000 to $40,000. In cases where these races are split into separate events for winners and maidens, winners will compete for $40,000, while maidens will race for $20,000. The Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge 150th Grand National Steeplechase at Riccarton Park on Saturday 9 August celebrates its 150th renewal this year, with the Canterbury Jockey Club set to announce a further stakes increase to this race in the coming weeks. These new stakes enhancements complement previously announced strategic initiatives, which include: A shortened jump racing season comprising 18 racing days, running from 11 May to 21 September 2025, concluding with an exciting two-day event at Te Aroha. A strategic shift towards non-Saturday racing days, with nine of the 18 Jumps racing days scheduled for Sundays, along with King’s Birthday Monday and a feature Friday meeting on 19 September for the Great Northern Hurdle. Streamlining of venues to improve infrastructure, reducing host venues from previous seasons to seven locations. Notably, Jumps racing will no longer be held at Rotorua or Waverley this season. Introduction of the Amateur Series, primarily held at Jumps meetings, concluding with the prestigious Duke of Gloucester Cup on 19 September at Te Aroha. NZTR Chief Operating Officer Darin Balcombe commented, “These enhancements deliver immediate benefits for participants this season while supporting the ongoing development of Jumps racing.” “Following our strategic review last year, we’re focused on improving the experience for participants and fans as we head into next season,” he said. Full details of NZTR’s 2025-26 Jumps Racing Stakes are available to view below. View the full article

Danny Shum’s superstar chases a Hong Kong record 11th Group One win and a maiden Dubai Turf victory for the city.View the full article

Habana will make his raceday return at Ellerslie on Saturday. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Group 2 winner Habana has bounced back from a health scare and will make a welcome return to action in Saturday’s Elsdon Park (1300m) at Ellerslie. The Zoustar gelding has won eight of his 21 starts and more than $420,000 in stakes, headed by a victory in last year’s Group 2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m). Habana was last seen on October 24 at Ellerslie, where he was beaten by a long head by Meaningful Star in a 1600m open handicap. “He was coming up well, but then he had a bout of colic just before Christmas and they ended up having to operate on him,” trainer Lance Noble said. “Thankfully he’s made a full recovery, but it obviously ended up ruling him out for the whole summer. “That’s a bit of a shame when you look at what El Vencedor has been doing this season. Those two horses clashed a few times last summer, and we managed to beat him in the Rich Hill Mile and the Fulton Family Stakes (Listed, 1500m). So it makes you wonder what might have been, but we’ve still got the horse, which is obviously the main thing.” Noble will use Saturday’s $65,000 open sprint as a stepping stone towards the Group 3 Easter Handicap (1600m) at Ellerslie on April 19. Habana will attempt to become the second consecutive winner of that race for Cambridge Stud owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay, who won it with top-class mare Snazzytavi last year. Habana himself finished second behind White Noise in the Easter Handicap in 2023. “He looks good,” Noble said. “He’s fully matured now and hasn’t been over-raced, so there’s no reason to think he can’t get back to his best. “It’s getting quite late in the season now, so he’ll probably just have a couple of runs this time in and then we’ll save him for the spring. He’ll run on Saturday, and then the plan is to go to the Easter from there. “He’s drawn 14 on Saturday and has to carry 61.5kg, so he faces a pretty big task. But we need to get a run into him before the Easter and this fits in well.” Noble’s other runner at Ellerslie on Saturday is two-year-old filly Heloisa in the Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series (1200m). In her only previous start, Heloisa ran third at Matamata behind Tajana and Hostility. Both of those rivals went on to place behind La Dorada in last Saturday’s Group 1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m). “It was pleasing to see the two that beat her go on to run second and third in the Group One,” Noble said. “She had to do a bit of work to lead in that debut race, so it wasn’t a bad effort. She’s improved with the run and I’ve been very happy with her. If that form stacks up, she should be a nice chance. “We’ll see how she goes on Saturday, but we could look at taking her back to Ellerslie for the Star Way Stakes (Listed, 1200m) in a couple of weeks’ time. She’s a really nice filly that I think is going to be even better at three.” Heloisa comes from the first New Zealand crop by Cambridge Stud shuttle stallion Hello Youmzain. The Lindsays have already seen their colours carried to two-year-old victories at Ellerslie by Hello Youmzain fillies Remala and Lucy In The Sky. “It would be nice for another member of our stable to be a two-year-old winner in his first crop,” Noble said. “I’ve got quite a few of them and I really like them all. They’ve always looked like they would start to come into their own in the second half of their two-year-old seasons and go on with it at three, and I think that’s how they’re tracking.” Habana and Heloisa could kick off a big day for the Lindsays, whose colours will also be carried by last-start Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) winner Joliestar in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick. Horse racing news View the full article

Cambridge trainer Tony Pike. Photo: Nicole Troost Sydney’s weather provided an extra challenge for horses heading into Saturday’s Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) via the Group 2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m), but Tony Pike believes Golden Century will be less disadvantaged than most. The Tulloch was originally scheduled to be run at Rosehill last Saturday, but that meeting was postponed to Tuesday. Golden Century lined up in the rescheduled race and finished seventh, making up ground despite racing greenly down the straight. Pike is happy to press on into Saturday’s Derby at Randwick with the Pierro gelding, who had previously run third behind race rivals Willydoit and Thedoctoroflove in last month’s Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie. “I thought he ran reasonably well in the Tulloch,” the Cambridge trainer said. “He just raced a little bit fresh. We deliberately kept him on the fresh side for the step back down to 2000m, and he probably just travelled a bit too keenly and wasn’t the easiest horse to ride. He can sometimes be like that. “In that sense, I think the four-day turnaround into the Derby might actually help him a bit more than some of the others. He worked nicely on Thursday, and if he can settle a bit better in the running, there’s no reason to think he can’t run well in the Derby. He’ll run out a strong 2400m around Randwick better than most. “Whether he can actually win the race, I’m not sure, but I’d be confident that he won’t be too far away from them at the finish.” Pike will also keep a close eye on proceedings back home, where he will saddle seven runners at Ellerslie – Wind Rush in the TAB (1600m), Pink Gin in the Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series (1200m), Dimaggio and Overdrawn in the Cambridge Stud Easter Yearlings (1500m), course specialist Rudyard and the resuming Cannon Hill in the Elsdon Park (1300m), and Arundel Castle in the Auckland Co-Op Taxis (1500m). “We’ve got a nice, solid team at Ellerslie,” Pike said. “I thought Wind Rush ran well for second without much luck at Matamata the other day (March 23). He’d have to be a big chance of going one better on Saturday. “I’ve got a bit of time for the two-year-old filly Pink Gin as well. If she’s able to get across from her wide gate, she’ll be a genuine chance in that race too. “Hopefully those two can start the day off on a good note for us.” Horse racing news View the full article

Wingman will contest the Manawatu Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association 3YO (1350m) at Wanganui on Saturday. Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North) Saturday’s Manawatu Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association 3YO (1350m) is likely to be the final start of the season for Wingman, who is the only horse to have beaten Group 1 star Leica Lucy. The Roydon Bergerson-trained Wingman showed bright promise in the spring with two wins from his first three starts. That included a 1400m three-year-old race at Trentham in early December, where he edged out Leica Lucy by a head. That filly then went on to win five Group races in a row, culminating in last month’s Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m). Wingman was subsequently unplaced in the Group 2 Levin Classic (1400m) and Group 2 Wellington Guineas (1400m), which bookended a runner-up effort behind Ballon d’Or at Trentham. “The Wellington Guineas was a bit of a hard watch,” Bergerson said. “Nothing really went right for him there. The jockey got off and apologised afterwards. That’s the way it goes in racing sometimes. “I’ve been very happy with the horse since then. We were thinking about taking him up to Auckland for the three-year-old race there on Saturday, which would have been a chance to see how he goes at the mile. But the Wanganui race doesn’t look quite as strong, so we’ll stay closer to home and stick to the 1350m. As long as there’s not too much rain around, he should be a good chance.” The Wanganui track was rated a Soft5 on Friday morning, with morning rain expected to ease to showers in the afternoon. Regardless of Saturday’s result, this is likely to be the final three-year-old appearance for Wingman, who has earned $65,575 for owner-breeder Gerry Harvey in his six-start career to date. “He’ll probably head to the paddock after this,” Bergerson said. “We think a fair bit of the horse. We’ll give him a decent break now and then start thinking about the spring.” Wingman headlines a three-pronged contingent for Bergerson at Wanganui on Saturday. The Wanganui Insurance Brokers Maiden (1600m) features the well-bred Our Giulia, who is by Savabeel out of Bergerson’s dual Group 3 Winter Cup (1600m) winner Karla Bruni. Our Giulia was a last-start second placegetter at Waverley on March 19, beaten by a nose by Rainbow Delight. “That was a really good run and I thought she’d got up on the line,” Bergerson said. “A bit of sting out of the track never worried her mother, so this mare should be okay too if there’s a bit more rain. “Karla Bruni was a maiden winner at Wanganui herself (in May of 2011), so it would be nice to see her daughter follow in her footsteps.” Vee Vee will step back down in distance for Saturday’s Happy Birthday Big Don Could Surprise (1600m). “He just over-raced in that last-start run over 2040m,” Bergerson said. “Jimmy Chung rode him and he couldn’t really get him to settle. Going back down to the mile and with a senior rider aboard (Craig Grylls), hopefully the horse will relax a bit better this time. We’ll try stepping back up to 2000m again after this.” Horse racing news View the full article

Love Poem will contest the Group 3 PJ Bell Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on Saturday. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Stephen Marsh believes all the key indicators point to his well-bred three-year-old Love Poem giving her Australian rivals a serious run for their money at Randwick on Saturday. The Cambridge trainer will be trackside for Love Poem’s Australian debut in the Group 3 PJ Bell Stakes (1200m) and can only see positives ahead of the opening leg of her two-start offshore campaign. “She’s great, she travelled over on Tuesday and hasn’t turned a hair,” he said. “She’s drawn well, the track should be beautiful, set weights and penalties suits her so we couldn’t be happier. I think she’s right in it.” Love Poem has fashioned the excellent domestic record of two wins and five stakes placings, including a runner-up finish in the Group 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) behind top colt Savaglee. The only time she has finished out of the top three was a week later at Riccarton when fourth in the fillies’ classic. She then went for a break and booked her passage across the Tasman when successfully resuming at Tauranga over 1200m earlier this month. Should Love Poem run up to expectations in the hands of Jason Collett, she will make one more appearance before returning to New Zealand. “There’s another race over 1400m (Group 3, James HB Carr Stakes) in two weeks’ time at Randwick and then she’ll definitely come home and have a nice spell and get ready for the spring,” Marsh said. Raced by Wellingtonian Lib Petagna, the Snitzel filly was purchased for A$280,000 from breeder Arrowfield Stud’s draft at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale and is out of a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner and leading sire Pierro. Marsh is also confident an all-out attack on the Barfoot & Thompson (1500m) at Ellerslie with Penman, Erin Go Bragh, Bourbon Proof, Sexy And I Moet and Dramatic Lass won’t go unrewarded. He finds it hard to split his three-year-olds, but said barriers would favour Penman (four), Erin Go Bragh (five) and Bourbon Proof (two). “The three boys have all got good draws whereas the girls have got wide gates, we have a lovely hand in the race and it’s probably going to come down to who gets the most luck in the running.” Penman claimed three on the bounce before he lost a shoe when unplaced in The NZB Kiwi (1500m), Erin Go Bragh has won two from three, including an impressive resuming victory, and Bourbon Proof was a multiple stakes placegetter before he was out of the frame in the Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m). Dramatic Miss was a bold last-start third in the Group 2 Wellington Guineas (1400m), in which Sexy And I Moet made late ground for ninth after drifting well back from an awkward barrier. Horse racing news View the full article

Theoden will contest the Ascot Sports Bar Handicap (2225m) at Ascot Park on Sunday. Photo: Race Images South Winton galloper Theoden holds a strong record at Ascot Park, and trainer Leda Beck is hoping that continues on Sunday, with an eye towards the Riverton Cup (2147m) in a fortnight where the Southern Cups bonus is on the line. The six-year-old son of Proisir sits within range of securing the $50,000 winner-takes-all bonus, with 10 points up for grabs for the winner of the Riverton Cup, and Theoden is just five points in arrears of series leader Lofty’s Gift. Beck will use Sunday’s Ascot Sports Bar Handicap (2225m) as a fitness run for her gelding, and she is hoping he can continue his golden run of form at the venue, with Theoden having had six starts at the Southland track for a win and five placings. Theoden will be joined in Sunday’s race by stablemate Par Tee, who is also an outside chance of securing the Southern Cups bonus at Riverton. “They are going to have a run before they head to Riverton. If they go well that would be great and I am thinking Theoden wants to run in the top two,” Beck said. Beck will head to Ascot Park with four other runners, including debutant Aozora Note in the Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series (1200m), Amalfi Coast in the Northern Sports Bar & TAB Handicap (2225m), Firoden in the Waxy’s Irish Pub Handicap (1600m), and Leisure Dollar in the Our Dad Is Still Funny 10 Years On (1400m). “They have all trialled pretty well,” Beck said. “Aozora Note is a nice three-year-old filly will be a nice horse next year. “With Amalfi Coast, it was a shame there wasn’t a mile, it would have been nice to kick-off over a mile. She is an out-and-out stayer. “Firoden is my daughter’s horse, so he is just going around and any money is a bonus. He has gone down a massive grade and he is more than capable of running in the money. “Leisure Dollar is the one whose raceday manners might let him down a little bit. He is straight fresh with no trials or anything. He can gallop but everything has to go right for him.” Horse racing news View the full article

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk He’s harness racing’s hype horse. And now both Marketplace’s mum and sister are up for sale. Gavelhouse Standardbred is currently selling Cullen Who, the dam of the sensational Marketplace, and also his weanling full sister. Cullen Who is Lot 14, the weanling is Lot 1. Adding to Cullen Who’s value is the fact that she is in foal. Cullen Who won five races before starting her broodmare career where she’s had five progeny, all by Bettor’s Delight. Marketplace so far has been the stand out. The 2024 NZ 2YO Colt/Gelding Pacer of the Year and multiple Group 1 winner has won seven of his last eight races and is widely recognized as a future superstar. Cullen Who has also left two black-type performers in nine-race winner Who’s Delight and Who’s Bettor. Cullen Who, the 12-year-old daughter of Christian Cullen, has given her connections including well-known race caller George Simon the ride of a lifetime but they believe now is the right time to sell their stellar mare. “Myself, Tony Barron, Gordon McKenzie and Tony Clark bought her after she won her first race at Forbury Park and then she won about four or five races for us,” Simon told NZB Standardbred. “A couple of the boys said that maybe we should sell Cullen Who (last year). At that stage she was in-foal and we asked around but there were no takers, so we carried on. Just after that Marketplace came out and started winning everything in sight.” His success changed the game. “We got together again and had a bit of a chat about it and we thought if the feeling was that there were a couple in the group that wanted to sell, now is the time to strike on the back of what Marketplace has done, and we thought the best and fairest way to do it was is to put her on Gavelhouse Standardbred and let the market decide.” The ownership group also decided to put up for auction Marketplace’s full sister, a weanling. She is at $62,500 has met her reserve while Cullen Who has not yet met her reserve. She is at $80,000 though the auction only went live last evening. “This is an opportunity to buy into the family with the filly or buy the family jewels, which is the mare in-foal to Bettor’s Delight,” says Simon. The pair are part of a 19 Lot catalogue that closes on Wednesday, April 9 at 7pm. To see the auction click here View the full article