Year: 2025

War Machine (NZ) (Harry Angel) did not run up to expectations in The Everest, but Ben Hayes has urged punters to stick with the explosive gelding. The Group 1 winner gets the chance to get his spring campaign back on track in Saturday’s $3 million Russell Balding Stakes at Randwick. The 1300-metre event will be War Machine’s first start since The Everest, in which he clocked in 10th, which was only second run of the campaign and Hayes would like to think he has much more to achieve this campaign.…

OTI Racing’s Terry Henderson says any rain to hit Flemington before Saturday will only enhance Azazel’s (NZ) (Shocking) chances of causing an upset in the VRC Derby. Henderson told The Verdict podcast he was buoyant about the young stayer’s hopes this weekend. Importantly, there is little concern about Azazel running out a strong 2500 metres. “He is bred that way,” Henderson said. “He’s out of a Tavistock mare, by Shocking. “If we get some rain on Friday, that will bring him right into the race. “The Godolphin horse (Observer) is…

The path towards the Gr.3 Martin Collins New Zealand Cup (3200m) has been near-faultless for Who Knows (NZ) (Redwood) and the mare has one more box to tick before the big dance at Riccarton in a fortnight. After a successful campaign through the winter, culminating in a runner-up finish in the Gr.3 Winter Cup (1600m), Who Knows has enjoyed a relatively light spring, trialing in September before showing her class to win the Egmont Cup (2100m) with ease earlier this month. The daughter of Redwood went back to the trials…

Trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott went on a fact-finding mission to Pukekohe on Wednesday with I’munstoppable (NZ) (Charm Spirit), and they got the answers they were after. The Group Three winner was victorious first-up over 1200m at Matamata earlier this month, and her trainers elected to test her going right-handed before nailing down her future targets. They duly entered her in Wednesday’s Group and Listed 1100m trial at Pukekohe, alongside her Group Two-performed stablemate Lux Libertas, and they were pleased with what they saw. The daughter of Charm Spirit…

Taranaki galloper Herbert (NZ) (Sweet Orange) will be back on top of the book in open company at Tauranga on Saturday after starting his season competing at the elite level. The son of Sweet Orange went from a one-race winner in 12 starts to a six-race winner in 24 starts last season, racking up just shy of $360,000 in stakes with key victories in the Gr.3 Taranaki Cup (1800m) and lucrative $350,000 Wairere Falls Classic (1500m). That success was a reward for patience from his trainer John Wheeler, who never…

Rangiora galloper Show Pony (NZ) (Vespa) has been near-unbeatable so far in his four-year-old season and trainer John Blackadder is hoping his rise can continue up in grade at Ashburton on Friday. Showing promise early in his career, the Vespa gelding finished fourth in a Gr.3 Barneswood Farm Stakes (1400m) at just his second start before placing behind southern star Pivotal Ten in the Listed Gore Guineas (1335m). He earned a trip to Trentham later in the season where he finished at the back end of the field in the…

He may already have a Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) win to his name but New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame trainer Chris Waller says he still yearns to win the Flemington showpiece as much as anyone. Waller produced Kiwi-bred Zed mare Verry Elleegant to win the 2021 Melbourne Cup in the hands of New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame jockey James McDonald, the Sydney-based trainer looking to attack this year’s feature in numbers, with eight stayers among the remaining 40 in Cup contention. “The Melbourne Cup is everyone’s dream,” Waller…