Month: August 2025

Palmerston North trainers Kevin and Stephen Gray had a near perfect weekend, with four of their five runners collecting winner’s cheques. Ready Response (Better Than Ready) was their sole representative at Hawera on Saturday. He ran third on debut at the track a fortnight ago and the father-and-son duo were confident he could go two better in the Canter 4 Cancer Maiden 1400, and he duly delivered, running out a one length victor over Amazing Son. “He went well first-up and we just sent him back to where he ran…

A broken finger on his right hand will have last season’s National Jockeys’ Premiership winner Craig Grylls out of action on raceday for the next few weeks. Grylls fractured the middle finger on his right hand in a trackwork incident last week and while he shook it off as a minor issue at the time, it wasn’t until he tried to fulfil his next raceday commitments that the extent of the injury became known. “I did it at trackwork and didn’t really think much about it, although it was quite…

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Six-year-old gelding Hard To Cross (NZ) (Hard To Cross) was aided by the three-kilo claim of Rose Hammond as the Kiwi bred landed his first victory of the preparation when landing the Ascend Sales Trophies Handicap (1523m). Prepared by Patrick and Michelle Payne, the New Zealand bred son of All Too Hard was a well-supported second favourite and sat just behind a solid tempo set by Run Harry Run (Written Tycoon) and runner-up Globe (NZ) (Charm Spirit) to power over the top late. Hard To Cross carried just 51kgs with…

Six-year-old gelding The Creator (NZ) (Wrote) led throughout to claim the Ladbrokes Top 2/3/4 Betting Handicap (1600m) at The Valley on Saturday under a perfect Logan Bates ride. Trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr put their faith in the two-kilo claimer who elected to take up proceedings from the inside barrier and rated the son of Wrote to perfection kicking off the bend to score by just over a length from Pudding (NZ) (Tavistock). “He doesn’t want it firm but he doesn’t want it really heavy like it was…

Sterling Express (NZ) (Shamexpress) stepped up to Group level for the first time in Saturday’s Gr.2 Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa, and a stunning last-to-first performance showed that he belongs. Gloria Macrae and Brian McKeagg’s homebred son of Shamexpress had already racked up seven wins from a promising 18-race career, with three smart victories as a three-year-old followed by another four last season. His last start had produced his biggest win yet, storming home from the back of the field to take out the $60,000 Winter Championship…

A well-judged front-running ride by Daniel Stackhouse has aided five-year-old gelding Navy King (NZ) (U S Navy Flag) to claim the lion’s share of the prize in the MSC Signs Handicap (2040m) at The Valley on Saturday. The Symon Wilde-trained son of US Navy Flag was able to take the role of pacemaker from a wide draw without too much pressure and despite laying out slightly in the home straight, had half a length to spare over runner-up Bur Dubai (Night of Thunder). Having shown good potential as a three-year-old,…