Talented galloper Honey Badger (NZ) (El Roca) provided her trainer Tony Pike with the perfect present on his return from a winter break in Fiji as she trounced her three-year-old rivals in the Aongatete Avo-Ject 3YO (1200m) at Tauranga on Saturday. Sent out as a dominating $1.80 favourite, the daughter of El Roca began well and settled on the back of pacemaker Pleasing before rider Michael McNab eased her to that runner’s outside approaching the home bend. After a brief tussle, Honey Badger bounded clear and scored by nearly four…
Year: 2025
Telfers Extend Premiership Lead with Addington Double
Steve and Amanda Telfer had a good night at Addington raceway last night, training two winners to extend their lead in the trainers premiership. C C Ardern smashed them in the Garrards Horse & Hound Handicap pace with driver Tim Williams. The gelding negotiated the standing start well, was restrained but unable to slot in for the first six hundred metres of the race. From there Williams made all the right moves to end up 1×1 from the one thousand metre mark before the field broke up at the quarter.…
New recruit makes perfect start for Gordon
Stable newcomer Paradis provided a pleasant surprise for Foxton trainer Suzy Gordon on Friday with a first-up victory in the Aquashield Roofing Maiden (1600m) at Otaki. The daughter of Complacent had previously been in the Hastings stable of Fred Pratt and Caitlin Johnson, for whom she had recorded three placings from eight starts between November of 2023 and July of 2024. Friday’s race at Otaki was the five-year-old’s first appearance in almost a year, first start for her new stable and first time racing over a distance shorter than 2100m.…
Ipswich Cup distance test for Poetic Drama
Trainers Tony and Maddysen Sears will have two runners in Saturday’s Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m), with Kiwi bred Poetic Drama (NZ) (Proisir) joined by stablemate Red Wave (Red Dazzler), who won last year’s edition of the race. Six-year-old mare Poetic Drama, who extends to a middle distance for the first time has been performing well at her past two starts in stakes grade, including a luckless sixth in the Magic Millions National Classic (1600m) two weeks ago. “Last start she got stuck behind a wall of horses. Albeit, it was…
Ashburton to host “Harness 5000” in December
A $720,000 race day has been announced for Ashburton Raceway this December. A total of 12 finals will be held but they will be only open to trotters and pacers whose sire stood for an advertised retail service fee of $5,000 or less in the breeding season of conception. The “Harness 5000” finals will be for 3YO, 4YO and 5YO and older Fillies and Mares and Colts, Geldings and Entires for both gaits. Each final will carry a stake of $60,000 and will be limited to a field size of…
Kumanovo Delivers at Cambridge After Testing Road Back
by Jordyn Bublitz It was a rewarding night at Cambridge Raceway for trainer Owen Gillies and the connections of Kumanovo, as the mare notched her second win in just three starts. Driven confidently by Zachary Butcher, Kumanovo showed a strong turn of foot to take out the Gavelhouse.com Handicap Trot, validating Gillies’ belief in her ability. It’s been a bit of a journey getting the daughter of Father Patrick back to the races, and Gillies couldn’t be prouder of how she’s coming to hand. “She’s been a hard horse to handle, and it…
Drying track good news for honest Grebeni
The Listed Civic Stakes (1400m wasn’t always the first choice for Grebeni’s next start, but co-trainer Sterling Alexiou believed it might just prove the right fit. The son of Ocean Park was being aimed towards the Tattersall’s Mile (1600m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday week, however, Alexiou and training partner Gerald Ryan had a rethink and opted to send him around at Randwick this Saturday instead. “It wasn’t really the plan to run this Saturday. He was going to go to Eagle Farm (Saturday week) and run in the Tatt’s Mile, but we were just a little bit concerned…
Platinum Diamond provides Latta’s missing piece
The Listed John Turkington Forestry Castletown Stakes (1200m) was one of the few age-group features in the lower North Island that was missing from Lisa Latta’s CV, but the fast-improving filly Platinum Diamond dealt to that unfinished business at Otaki on Friday. Latta has picked up more than 80 black-type victories in her 1200-win training career, including Central Districts two and three-year-old prizes such as the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m), Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m), Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m), Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m), Gr.2 Lowland Stakes (2100m),…
Piper’s Son outfights the favourite in Raukawa Cup
Stratford gelding Piper’s Son produced a remarkable performance to get up off the canvas and score the biggest win of his career in Friday’s $45,000 Harcourts Otaki Raukawa Cup (2100m). The Tony Dravitzki-trained Piper’s Son headed into Otaki’s Matariki meeting with a rating of just 56, making him the lowest-rated runner in the open handicap line-up. Even with apprentice jockey Elle Sole’s 3kg claim, he appeared to have his work cut out against the $2.70 favourite Boomtown Boy. But Dravitzki was confident his five-year-old gelding was not there to simply…
Telfers look to extend premiership lead
by Mike Love Current training premiership leaders Steve and Amanda Telfer look set to edge a little further ahead on the leaderboard tonight at Addington raceway with seven runners across three races. “It’s been a really good run – long may it continue,” said co-trainer Amanda Telfer. In race one tonight, The Peninsular Beachfront Resort mobile pace over 1980m, driver Tim Williams links up with Miki Flybye ($1.55FF) for the first time under race conditions. The three year old Always B Miki gelding will need to overcome the unruly draw,…