NZTR find another 500k for stakes next season.

[Murray Fish]

2 hours ago, hesi said:

The Aussie horses are 2nd and 3rd tier horses anyway

I keen to try and beat them with one!

[Huey]

14 hours ago, hesi said:

Take the Aussies out and still very good fields.

The Aussie horses are 2nd and 3rd tier horses anyway

Meaning what?

They still improve those fields , especially the Railway,  any kiwi horses in the Railway you think could win an Aus G2 sprint?

[Murray Fish]

19 minutes ago, Huey said:

any kiwi horses in the Railway you think could win an Aus G2 sprint?

 

Alabama Lass,  wasn't she beaten a nose in a G1 over there?

 

[hesi]

28 minutes ago, Huey said:

Meaning what?

They still improve those fields , especially the Railway,  any kiwi horses in the Railway you think could win an Aus G2 sprint?

Meaning the stake money while improved in NZ, along with the travel incentive, is still not enough to attract top tier Aussie horses

[hesi]

32 minutes ago, Murray Fish said:

 

Alabama Lass,  wasn't she beaten a nose in a G1 over there?

 

Correct, Moir Stakes, by Baraqiel, a little bit more than a nose.

It is hard to know how a horse might go in Aus.

Roch 'N' Horse ran 2nd in a Telegraph, then went over and won the Newmarket and Champions Sprint (both G1) beating Nature Sprint

[Huey]

1 hour ago, hesi said:

Meaning the stake money while improved in NZ, along with the travel incentive, is still not enough to attract top tier Aussie horses

Im not sure why you'd expect it to be given what they race for and the opportunities available to them.

I reckon we have done well getting these horses over here.

[Huey]

1 hour ago, Murray Fish said:

 

Alabama Lass,  wasn't she beaten a nose in a G1 over there?

 

Fair call , perhaps she could.

[hesi]

1 hour ago, Huey said:

Im not sure why you'd expect it to be given what they race for and the opportunities available to them.

I reckon we have done well getting these horses over here.

Sounding unusually positive, has someone hacked you.

I think the aim is to get some topliners come and race in NZ.  The stakes for the 3 KM races and the Kiwi are comparable with what is available in Aus and the KM's and to a lesser extent the Kiwi, fall at a time when there is not a lot going on in Melbourne and Sydney.

Top horses coming from Aus adds legitimacy to what they doing here.  The 2nd and 3rd tier horses coming helps but seen by most as second rate Aussie horses picking off our best races

[hesi]

9 steps forward, 10 steps back.  Ohope Wins, while not in the Kiwi, sold to Yulong, will race here up until the Oaks and/or Derby.

One potential quality 4 year old that won't race here again.

Like trying to stop the tide coming in

That is 4 of the best 3 year olds produced in NZ (Leica Lucy, Willydoit, Well Written and Ohope Wins that will never race in NZ as 4-year-olds and above

 

Edited yesterday at 04:51 AM by hesi

[curious]

13 minutes ago, hesi said:

9 steps forward, 10 steps back.  Ohope Wins, while not in the Kiwi, sold to Yulong, will race here up until the Oaks and/or Derby.

One potential quality 4 year old that won't race here again.

Like trying to stop the tide coming in

True. But why on earth would anyone want to stop the tide? The export business keeps the whole industry afloat. 50% of next weeks book 1/2 yearlings will be exported. Wouldn't you want to support it?

[curious]

On 22/01/2026 at 5:44 PM, curious said:

Yes. Won't be a good start to your field quality argument if they are in the mix.

How do you rate the fields quality now that those second and third tier Aussies have done their thing?

[Chief Stipe]

13 hours ago, curious said:

How do you rate the fields quality now that those second and third tier Aussies have done their thing?

I'd hardly call multiple Group 2 OZ winners "third tier"!

[Chief Stipe]

As Birchley said "it takes a very good 2yr old to win the KM".

[hesi]

The unheralded NZ horse Magill that almost held on but still lengths ahead of the 3rd horse, pulled up in a distressed state and was transferred to a local vet

[Chief Stipe]

5 minutes ago, hesi said:

The unheralded NZ horse Magill that almost held on but still lengths ahead of the 3rd horse, pulled up in a distressed state and was transferred to a local vet

Is that an off topic deflection @hesi ?

[curious]

23 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

I'd hardly call multiple Group 2 OZ winners "third tier"!

That was Hesi's description, not mine.

[hesi]

7 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Is that an off topic deflection @hesi ?

Just the usual

[Chief Stipe]

31 minutes ago, curious said:

That was Hesi's description, not mine.

Fair enough.  Both Arkinsaw Kid and Jigsaw are very useful Grp 2 winners in OZ.  Both have won a number of black type races and each have over AUD$2m in stakes.  I don't think that people realise that in OZ there are in my opinion less than 30 true elite horses that consistently perform at the top level.  

[curious]

7 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Fair enough.  Both Arkinsaw Kid and Jigsaw are very useful Grp 2 winners in OZ.  Both have won a number of black type races and each have over AUD$2m in stakes.  I don't think that people realise that in OZ there are in my opinion less than 30 true elite horses that consistently perform at the top level.  

True. That said, they have minced a Group 1 race here which says what for the relative quality of our G1s?

[Chief Stipe]

19 minutes ago, curious said:

True. That said, they have minced a Group 1 race here which says what for the relative quality of our G1s?

Well no OZ Grp 1 features in the top 10 world ratings.  

But yes our Grp 1's are struggling to hold status especially WFA and Open Class.  

Part of my theory is that the sit and sprint style of racing that has taken hold is making our horses weaker.  They are just not used to maintaining a high cruise and then sprinting off that.  It was great to see some class Jockeys not afraid to go forward at the start, sit wide or go early on the bend.

[curious]

3 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Well no OZ Grp 1 features in the top 10 world ratings.  

But yes our Grp 1's are struggling to hold status especially WFA and Open Class.  

Part of my theory is that the sit and sprint style of racing that has taken hold is making our horses weaker.  They are just not used to maintaining a high cruise and then sprinting off that.  It was great to see some class Jockeys not afraid to go forward at the start, sit wide or go early on the bend.

I guess only time will tell about our age group races. Well Written maybe?

[Chief Stipe]

15 minutes ago, curious said:

I guess only time will tell about our age group races. Well Written maybe?

Well Written passed my last test and that was to see her covered up and needing to take some rough and tumble to get clear and moving.  She did that well.

I'm not as enthusiastic about her race sectionals as some are.

The run yesterday that caught my eye was Sweynesday.

[hesi]

I think it was a great race day all round, with good sized fields containing lots of form, that would have attracted a lot of betting.  We never really know because figures are never published.

The track was good, despite attempts to claim a leader bias, that is probably more a poor ride than bias.  The track had 132 mm of rain over the last 7 days and was rated a S5, Ellerslie never gets to be better than a G4 these days.  So despite the early criticism by many, it is providing a good racing surface even after substantial rain has fallen.  Note that New Plymouth had H10 with only a third of the amount of rain.

Comparing it to Aus racing.

The Railway showed again that we are lucky to be at G2 level, with 2 2nd string sprinters dominating, although the run of Sweynesday was indeed very good.  A shame another up and comer First Five did not contest the race

The 2 year old KM, a win to what can only be rated as a 3rd tier Aussie horse, but only just beat a very much unheralded NZ horse with daylight back to third

The 4 year old KM.  2 NZ horses reasonably comfortable over a 3rd tier Aus horse

The 3 year old KM.  No Aus horses, but I doubt there is a horse in Aus that could have come close to Well Written, and I presume the reason why no Aus 3 year olds made the trip.  Further to the title of this thread unless I get castigated for going off topic lol, it may indeed attract Well Written to contest 1 or 2 of the HB G1's as apparently the condition of sale being that Marsh must continue to train the horse.  So I presume the horse will be based in NZ then travel to Aus for any Autumn or Spring races