by Michael Guerin Gemma Thornley may find herself forced to make a tough decision if the second half of 2025 goes as well as she hopes. The 25-year-old was the punter’s princess at Addington on Sunday when she reined favourites Belmont Valor and Action Major to win consecutive races before her aunty Olivia Thornley won the very next race for an unusual family treble. It wasn’t Gemma’s first daily double and she even drove at treble at a deep south meeting a couple of years ago but she acknowledges the…
Day: 14 July 2025
Barrier draws set the scene for Inter Dominion Grand Finals
by Adam Hamilton The first 200m will go a long way to deciding young Kiwi star Bet N Win’s winning chances next Saturday night’s $500,000 Inter Dominion trotting final. Bet N Win drew well in gate five and will move even closer into four if emergency Sir Fahrenheit doesn’t gain a start, but his main danger Arcee Phoenix drew even better in barrier one. All eyes will be on the start and whether trainer-driver Chris Svanosio can muster enough early speed on Arcee Phoenix to hold the lead. In contrast,…
Warmonger sidelined
The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained Group One winner Warmonger has been sidelined due to injury, with plans for a tilt at this year’s Caulfield and Melbourne Cups in tatters. The son of War Decree has suffered a tendon injury that will see the four-year-old out of action for at least 12 months. The runaway winner of last year’s Gr.1 Queensland Derby finished second in the Listed Randwick City Stakes (2000m) behind Alalcance in the autumn and raced without luck when unplaced in both the Gr.1 Tancred Stakes and…
Bulb General sparkles in Sha Tin breakthrough
The Jamie Richards-trained Bulb General crowned his return from serious illness with an impressive breakthrough victory at Sha Tin on Sunday. The three-year-old son of Embellish had begun his Hong Kong career in encouraging style with a debut third earlier this year before he was sidelined. “He raced very well in February and the form out of the race was strong and, unfortunately, he did get held up with a little bout of colic after his first run,” trainer Jamie Richards told the Hong Kong Jockey Club. “He’s made a…
Taiaroa rides home first winner
It was a proud moment in the Taiaroa family on Sunday when amateur jockey Evan Taiaroa recorded his first win in the saddle aboard Grand Prospect at Woodville for Foxton trainer Sue Walsh. “It was great to finally get the monkey off the back,” Taiaroa said. The 47-year-old hoop has had a lifetime involvement in racing, having followed his jockey father, Arnold Taiaroa, into the sport. “Dad showed me the ropes when I was six to about 12-years-old,” Taiaroa said. “My mother was really against it because she didn’t want…
Wynne recovering after serious track incident
Southern horsewoman Samantha Wynne is recuperating in Christchurch Hospital after sustaining serious head injuries in a horse-related incident on Saturday morning. Wynne, who relocated to New Zealand from her native Ireland over a decade ago, has made Canterbury home, where she has been both a successful jockey and more recently a trainer. She had enjoyed a memorable season, highlighted by three stakes victories with Pivotal Ten, who she rode in the inaugural $3.5 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) at Ellerslie in March. As she does on a regular basis, the 36-year-old…
Great Northern hopes still alive with Fourty Eight
The Great Northern Hurdle (4200m) has always been the major target for Fourty Eight this preparation, and the hopes of reaching the iconic race took a massive step forward at Woodville on Sunday when he took out the Cody Singer Memorial (4000m) in convincing fashion. Raced by a large contingent of owners, including breeder Sheena Martin and the Frac Club, Fourty Eight had been suffering from feet issues over the last couple of months and trainers Shaun and Hazel Fannin thought their hopes of getting to the Great Northern were…
Well-placed pair kicking off busy week for Bergerson
Roydon Bergerson will see a number of Central Districts racecourses over the coming week, with the busy period kicking off at Hawera’s rescheduled meeting on Tuesday. The Awapuni-based trainer had entered two runners for the card set to run last Saturday, but after heavy rain and surface water on the course, the races were pushed back three days. The guarantee of a soft surface will pose no issue for Farravallo, who will represent the stable in the Property Management Specialist @ Metcalfe Real Estate (1200m). In a compact field of…
Vale leading administrator Ian Boyland
New Zealand racing has lost a highly respected and popular administrator with the passing of Ian Boyland at the age of 81. He was a former long-serving Secretary of the Wanganui Jockey Club and came from an accounting background to take up the role in 1971. It was a notable and bold appointment as Boyland was then the youngest Secretary in the country and served until 1997. “I first met Ian at a secretaries’ conference at Ellerslie in 1977 and he was representing the Wanganui contingent,” long-time friend and colleague…
Kneebone launches training career
Tauranga’s race meeting on July 6 marked the beginning of an exciting new venture for Nick Kneebone. The Cambridge-based horseman saddled his first raceday runner, the appropriately named Nick Time, who finished sixth in the Container Co Maiden (1400m). Kneebone, son of long-time auctioneer and New Zealand Bloodstock’s Director of Business Development Mike Kneebone, has spent a large part of his 20s gaining international experience to set him up for his move into training. “It’s something that’s been a fair few years in the making,” he said. “I started off…