Month: April 2025

Saturday’s Listed City Of Napier Sprint (1200m) capped a remarkable four-win sequence at Trentham for Slipper Island (No Nay Never), whose trainer Tony Pike now has his eye on an even bigger prize at the Wellington track. As recently as January of this year, Slipper Island was an underachiever with a record that fell far short of his talent. The five-year-old son of No Nay Never had won only twice in a 26-start career, with another nine minor placings and a rating languishing in the low 60s. But Pike mapped…

Te Akau Racing ran rampant at both New Zealand venues on Saturday, culminating in a runaway by Dream Of The Moon (All Too Hard) in the Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton. The $80,000 three-year-old fillies’ feature was the third win on the Riccarton card for trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson. The premiership-leading stable previously had a quinella with Knowledge Is Power (NZ) (Written Tycoon) and Hooray For Harry (Harry Angel) in the Windsor Park Stud RR&B Luncheon & Yearling Sale Rating 65 (1200m), followed by Star Shadow’s…

Underrated mare Tikki (NZ) (Per Incanto) added to her burgeoning career record when she claimed the feature race for the open handicap speedsters at Riccarton on Saturday, the Commodore Hotel Open Sprint (1200m). The Steven Prince-trained five-year-old had made her mark on tracks with a little give in them around her home province of Otago but Prince wasn’t afraid to bring her to Christchurch to tackle the best on a Good 4 surface after she had finished third in the Listed Pegasus Stakes (1000m) at the venue in November last…

Former Kiwi Sergeant Major (NZ) (Proisir) recorded a strong victory in the Listed South Pacific Classic (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday as the three-year-old son of Proisir made a deserved Australian breakthrough. Racing for a syndicate headed by Ozzie Kheir, the Ciaron Maher trained galloper raced prominently throughout and defeated ownership-mate Nostringsattached (Extreme Choice) by just under a half-length. Ridden by Ethan Brown, Sergeant Major sat to the inside of the leader a half-length adrift throughout in what is often an awkward position, but he showed plenty of resilience to…

A brilliant rails hugging ride by apprentice Lily Sutherland combined with the never-say-die attitude of progressive stayer Mehzebeen proved the key to the finish of a thrilling running of the Listed Valley D’Vine Restaurant Hawke’s Bay Cup (2200m) at Trentham. The Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-prepared five-year-old mare certainly enjoys the scenery at Trentham having placed at her only two appearances there prior to Saturday including finishing second to Pennyweka in the 2023 Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m). The daughter of Almanzor had franked her staying potential with a winning…

Samantha Finnegan picked up her first winner as a trainer when flying filly Bona Sforza (Written By) swept home on debut to take out the Listed Riccarton Park Function Centre Welcome Stakes (1000m) at Riccarton. Finnegan moved back to New Zealand last year with husband Francis and their young family and have based themselves in Palmerston North where Samantha prepares their small team of just two runners. Bona Sforza was belatedly having her first start after missing a run at Tauherenikau when the meeting was abandoned before winning an 850m…

Apprentice Luke Cartwright landed his first metropolitan Saturday victory when guiding hardy galloper Heavenly Eagle to victory in the Balgownie Bendigo BM70 Handicap (1300m) at the standalone meeting at Bendigo on Saturday. The six-year-old son of Echoes Of Heaven came from well-back in the field to grab Waimarie and leader Prinzerro just on the line in a perfectly timed ride. Prepared by Stephen Brown, Heavenly Eagle has got a good fresh record, with two wins and two placings from five occasions in a fresh state. “We’re all pretty happy,” Elisha…