Month: July 2024

Lenny Winters has recorded two wins apiece in the last two seasons, and he left it to the last possible moment to equal that tally this term. The Kumeu trainer had been winless heading into the final day of the season at Tauranga on Wednesday, but he was hopeful of getting on the board with his two representatives. Bell Time Potae was the first to jump in the Ultimate Mazda Maiden 3YO (1200m), where he was taken straight to the front by apprentice jockey Ngakau Hailey, who dictated terms throughout…

Apprentice jockey Sima Mxothwa ended the season in perfect fashion at Tauranga on Wednesday when recording his first win in the saddle aboard Hit The Switch in the Gartshore Construction (1400m). The expat South African was having his fourth raceday ride, and second aboard the Bob and Jenny Vance-trained Hit The Switch. The pair ran second at Pukekohe earlier this month, but were not to be outdone on Wednesday, running away to a one length victory over Koro’s Princess. “It’s good to finally get the monkey off the back and…

Moira and Kieran Murdoch completed the racing season in winning fashion, with Divine Essence scoring her maiden victory at Tauranga on Wednesday. Only lightly raced for a rising five-year-old, Divine Essence was having her fifth raceday start and second under the Murdoch’s care, with her most recent effort finishing back in the field on the Cambridge Synthetic. The mare looked to have gained clear improvement from the fresh-up run when trialling well in the heavy conditions at Avondale a fortnight ago but was among the middle-market paying $12.10, while Led…

Stakes winner Collect Your Cash (NZ) (Rageese) will continue his racing career in Australia after recently being purchased out of former trainer Shankar Muniandy’s Wingatui barn by leading Sydney trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. The son of Rageese was bred by Windsor Park Stud and was offered through their ‘Racing, Racing and Beer’ South Island Sale as a yearling in 2022 where he was purchased by Ben Kwok, under his Lionrock Bloodstock banner, for $15,000. He was subsequently sold to a client of Muniandy’s, for whom he won two…

The stage is set for redemption with Kiwi-bred sprinting star I Wish I Win (NZ) (Savabeel) and Trackside Media teaming up again to chase glory in this year’s A$20 million The Everest at Randwick in Sydney on 19 October. The Waikato Stud-bred speedster went agonisingly close to winning the 2023 edition of the world’s richest race on turf, only getting clear late to fly into 2nd, less than half a length away from the winner, Think About It. Trackside Media, the broadcasting arm of Entain Australia and New Zealand, who…

Gifted short course specialist Master Fay (Deep Field) might not be fully wound up if he steps out at Ruakaka on Saturday, but that doesn’t mean he won’t prove a handful for his rivals. The lightly tried six-year-old has delighted Cambridge trainer Chad Ormsby with his progress since returning from a break and with conditions to suit, he’s likely to kick off in the Alibaba’s Flying Carpets Kerikeri Cup (1100m). “We’ll be trying to avoid the wet tracks with him at this stage of his campaign, Ruakaka might be the…

Smart galloper Antino (NZ) (Redwood) is building towards a return to the racetrack with an early season Group One target high on the agenda. The Tony Gollan-trained gelding has had a short break after contesting three races across the Queensland Winter Carnival, with a strong win in the Gr.2 Victory Stakes (1200m) at Eagle Farm back in May the highlight in a campaign which culminated in a luckless 12th in the Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m). “He raced in the worst part of the track in the Stradbroke,” Gollan told Radio…