Month: January 2023

Connections are likely to push on with Detonator Jack (NZ) (Jakkalberry) this campaign following his shock defeat as $1.40 favourite at Sandown on Saturday. John Allen settled last in the field of six but failed to reel in So Si Bon going under by three-quarters of a length. “He was mucking around going into the gates and then he came out a bit slow and Johnny was just a couple of pairs back from where he wanted to be last and then got pushed wide on the corner,” Australian Thoroughbred…

Old warrior Darc Bounty (NZ) (Darci Brahma) got up in a thrilling finish in the Class 3 1000 race at Kranji on Saturday to give replacement rider Zyrul Nor Azman his first win of the year. The Singaporean jockey stood in for fellow jockey Simon Kok Wei Hoong after the latter stood down from his riding engagements due to a fracture in his right shoulder. Despite the last-minute call-up, Zyrul already knew the Stephen Gray-trained gelding well for having ridden him to three placings from five races last year. Zyrul…

Last season’s Champion two-year-old Maven Belle (NZ) (Burgundy) made a stunning return to the racetrack when cruising to victory in the HR Fisken & Sons 1200 at Pukekohe on Sunday. The Mark Walker-trained daughter of Burgundy won four of her five starts as a juvenile including the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m), the Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m), and the Gr.3 Platinum Homes 2YO Classic (1200m). While a chip in a fetlock ruled Maven Belle out of the spring, she looks set to make up for lost time. Under…

The Listed Barfoot & Thompson Gingernuts Salver (2100m) has become one of Stephen Marsh’s favourite stops along the road to the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m), and a last-gasp triumph by Cruz Missile (NZ) (Savabeel) at Pukekohe on Sunday gave the Cambridge trainer his third win in the last four years. Marsh had previously won the Salver with Scorpz and Milford, who both went on to make their presence felt in the Derby. Scorpz ran third to Sherwood Forest and Two Illicit in the 2020 edition of the Ellerslie classic,…

Strapping two-year-old colt Dapper (NZ) (Shooting To Win) has confirmed his place in the Doubletree By Hilton Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) at Pukekohe on January 21 with a comfortable victory in the Norwegian Park 1200 at the same venue on Sunday. Dapper has now won two of his five starts and he also boasts a placing in the Gr.2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes (1100m).  Prepared at Otaki by Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard, Dapper sat just off the speed under jockey Ryan Elliot and relished the lengthy Pukekohe straight. He defeated…