By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk Cambridge conditioners Andrew and Lyn Neal have taken a few horses south to compete over New Zealand Cup week over the years, including Group One winner, Flight South and Group Two winner Where Eagles Dare, and this year they are particularly excited about the prospects of talented pacer Alterior Motif. The four-year-old son of Sportswriter is undefeated in his two starts to date and his trainers are looking forward to testing him on the sport’s biggest day when he lines-up in the Avon City…
Month: November 2020
Butcher boys hit Cup Day
By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk The Butcher clan will head to Addington Raceway on Tuesday with potentially three family members vying to take out the Gr.1 IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup (3200m). David Butcher has already tasted victory in the great race, winning the 2008 edition behind Changeover, while son Zachary Butcher finished runner-up to Lazarus in 2017 with Jack’s Legend. Benjamin Butcher will try and replicate his father and brother’s success in the race when he competes in The Cup for the first time on Tuesday. He will…
An unusual position
By Michael Guerin Champion trainer Mark Purdon finds himself in an unusual position heading into tomorrow’s $540,000 IRT New Zealand Cup at Addington. And he says it is the right one. Purdon, along with training partner Natalie Rasmussen, has trained five of the last six New Zealand Cup winners and even the year they got beaten it was by Arden Rooney, a horse they used to train. Even more clockwork than them having the Cup winner is having the Cup favourite, with superstars like Lazarus getting as short at $1.40…
Big Fish, Little Fish – NZ Cup Day
There’s no bigger day in harness racing than New Zealand Cup day and the Big Fish Little Fish hosts Michael Guerin and Craig “The Whale” Thompson dissect the fields at Addington. They give their pics for the Cup itself, as well as cast their eyes over what is a huge 13 race programme.
Zipping option for Surprise Baby
The days of being sparingly raced may be over for Surprise Baby (NZ) (Shocking) with the stayer a chance to run in Saturday’s Zipping Classic at Sandown before being readied for a busy autumn campaign. Trainer Paul Preusker told Racing.com he is ready to unleash Surprise Baby after a quiet 12 months which saw him have to runs in between Melbourne Cup starts. ‘’We might have a look at next week (Zipping Classic) and get quite busy in the autumn,’’ he said on Sunday from Ararat. Surprise Baby started last Tuesday’s…
Spelling paddock beckons gallant Guineas runner-up
A rueful Stephen Marsh was left with a bittersweet feeling following the running of Saturday’s Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton. Not much more than a coat of paint separated his three-year-colt Bourbonaire (NZ) (Darci Brahma) from eventual winner Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls) at the finish line, the second time the pair had finished in that order after posting the same result in the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) back in September. Despite having to accept the runner-up prize for the third time in…
Four-timer for Pitmans on Cup Week opener
With local stables dominating the first day of the annual New Zealand Cup Carnival at Riccarton on Saturday it was no surprise to see the Michael and Matthew Pitman team in the thick of the action. The first seven races on the card were taken by Riccarton-based trainers with another two wins added later in the day. Local honours were shared between the Pitmans and Terri Rae who each won four races with the Pitmans adding stakes placings with Marine (NZ) (Ocean Park) in the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai…
Bargain buy set for Karaka Million
A perfect barrier draw and valuable raceday experience paved the way for gritty two-year-old Miss Ipenema (NZ) (Sacred Falls) to register her maiden victory at Te Rapa on Saturday. The Sacred Falls filly had finished runner-up in her first two starts but showed plenty of heart to kick back when headed to take out a juvenile 1000m dash over hot favourite Quattro Quinta (NZ) (Darci Brahma). Trainer Glen Harvey had spotted the nuggety filly during the 2020 National Yearling Sale at Karaka and after initially being passed in, he purchased…
Fantastic Four for Rae at Riccarton
Local trainer Terri Rae stamped her mark on the first day of New Zealand Cup week at Riccarton on the weekend with four winners from just seven starters. Rae operates a boutique stable with around fourteen horses in work at any one time but has punched well above her weight so far this season with eleven wins from just 55 starts at a tidy 4.55 strike rate. Rae was confident she had a competitive team entered on the day but she exceeded her own expectations with the highlight being the…