Month: January 2025

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Tough and talented mare Elettrica (NZ) (Vespa), who has a half-brother in the catalogue for Karaka 2025, added valuable black type to her CV with a dominant victory in Saturday’s A$160,000 Listed Coastline BMW Sunshine Coast Cup (1400m). It was the first black-type success for the Vespa mare, who has had 36 starts for six wins, 14 placings and A$528,317 in prize-money. She has won over distances ranging from 1300m to 1800m. Elettrica is trained by Richard and Will Freedman at Rosehill, and all of her three previous Australian victories…

Saturday’s A$130,000 Nick Johnstone Real Estate Handicap (1200m) at Sandown was the first raceday appearance in nine months for Sunshineinmypocket, and the highly talented New Zealand-bred made an impressive return to action. The Proisir gelding kicked off his career with three consecutive wins at Ballarat and Sandown in February and March of last year, then finished sixth in the Listed Bendigo Guineas (1400m) in April in his only other start. Patiently handled by trainer Ciaron Maher, the four-year-old resumed his promising career with a stylish win on Saturday. Sunshineinmypocket jumped…

Last season’s champion male three-year-old Crocetti (NZ) (Zacinto) returned to his brilliant best at Ellerslie on Saturday, defeating a star-studded sprint field in the Gr.1 Sistema Railway (1200m). The Zacinto gelding was one of the standout performers on the Karaka Millions card 12 months ago, extending his unbeaten career record to seven-from-seven with a dominant performance under 60kg in the Gr.3 Almanzor Trophy (1200m). It capped a winning sequence that also included the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), Gr.2 Sarten Memorial (1400m) and Gr.3 Northland Breeders’ Stakes (1200m). But…

Barely fourty minutes after taking their eighth individual Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) contest with La Dorada (NZ) (Super Seth), the Te Akau Racing team made it back-to-back successes on the night at Ellerslie with favourite Damask Rose (NZ) (Savabeel) scoring a brilliant victory in the Listed TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m). The three-year-old daughter of super sire Savabeel had looked a filly of enormous talent when finishing runner-up to Velocious (Written Tycoon) in the Karaka Million 2YO twelve months earlier and backed up that opinion in her first three-year-old run…

It wouldn’t be Karaka Millions night if the familiar tangerine and blue colours of Te Akau Racing were not front and centre in the finish of one of the two feature events, the Listed TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m). The 2025 edition of the contest proved no difference with promising filly La Dorada (NZ) (Super Seth) extending the Matamata stable’s outstanding record in the race to eight victories with a gritty on pace effort. Leading Victorian rider Craig Williams made the trip across the Tasman to partner the Mark Walker…

Champion Sydney-based trainer Chris Waller turned back the clock at Ellerslie on Saturday with a heart-stopping victory by Konasana (Dundeel) in the Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m). Konasana was Waller’s first New Zealand winner since the 2002-03 season, when he took the plunge and moved across the Tasman. He has gone on to become one of the all-time greats, winning more than 170 Group One races and earning Hall of Fame induction in both New Zealand and Australia. Waller has won many bigger and richer races than the Westbury Classic, but…

A career-best campaign for Tumuch (NZ) (Satono Aladdin) went up another level on Saturday when the five-year-old scored his first black-type win in the Listed Speight’s Timaru Stakes (1200m) at Riccarton. The Satono Aladdin gelding has barely put a foot wrong in seven starts this season, starting with a win in Rating 75 grade at Riccarton in September. He then finished second and fourth in two appearances during the New Zealand Cup Carnival in November, followed by an outstanding last-to-first performance in a 1400m open handicap at Cromwell on December…