Month: September 2025

New Zealand Bloodstock has unveiled the 2025 Ready to Run Sale catalogue, comprising a quality line-up of 480 two-year-olds. Combining commercial pedigrees with professional sale preparations, the offering follows a blue-chip honour roll, with recent graduates amassing 10 Group One wins and 12 other stakes victories last season alone, further underlining the sale’s global reputation as the best of its kind. Graduates span the spectrum from Hong Kong headline acts Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’oro) and Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse) to current Australian Group One winners such as Mr Brightside (NZ)…

Top-class galloper Antipodean (NZ) (Derryn) produced devastating turn of foot to win the RM70,000 Trinity Cup for Class 1 horses over 1400m at Sungai Besi on Sunday for ex-pat Kiwi trainer Simon Dunderdale. Winning jockey Bernardo Pinheiro said the best is yet to come from the champion galloper. “He’s about 85 percent today and should be 100 percent for the Selangor Gold Cup (on Sep 14),” said the Brazilian jockey. Pinheiro should know. He rode Antipodean to four of the gelding’s nine wins last year including the 3YO Pacific Cup…

Mathew Gillies brought up a memorable milestone at Te Aroha on Sunday when recording his 100th win in the saddle in New Zealand. The 39-year-old went into the meeting with several promising rides, but it was upon the Dean Wiles-trained Justice that he brought up his riding century in the Dean Wiles Racing Maiden Steeplechase (3600m). Gillies had schooled the Belardo six-year-old and took plenty of confidence from his debut steeplechase in July. “I went and schooled him during the week and he jumped really well,” Gillies said. “On his…

The Waikato horseman was close friends with The Oaks Stud General Manager Rick Williams, who said he will be a big loss to the industry. “It is a terrific loss,” Williams said. “He had been ill for some time unfortunately with a very acute form of Parkinson’s. His last year has been very tough on the family. “He was a champion bloke and a champion trainer. We travelled the world together and had a lot of fun together.” Priscott has a lifelong involvement in racing and was introduced to the…

Tony Pike’s powers of persuasion have come up short against the money on offer in Hong Kong. The Cambridge trainer was keen to hold on to impressive debut winner Quantum Legend through his three-year-old campaign but has been unable to convince Hong Kong owner Kenneth Lau to leave him in New Zealand. “Unfortunately, it looks like he is going to take him up there. The PP bonuses (for previously raced horses) are so attractive for the owners if they win in Class 3,” Pike said. “We made a good case…