Plenty of drama has surrounded Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress) ahead of Saturday’s A$20 million The Everest (1200m) at Randwick, but trainer David Hayes assures everything is fine with the Kiwi-bred sprinting sensation. “I got a call yesterday (Sunday) at lunchtime from JD, my son, and Gareth Hall (racing broadcaster) had rung him and said his twitter account had been hacked and sent out some false information, which basically had him scratched, lame in behind and not eating,” Hayes said. “That’s not the horse I have been training anyway. “The…
Year: 2025
Harness maestro has weekend to remember
Harness Racing legend Barry Purdon had a weekend to remember. On Friday he made a winning return to the sulky, following a six-year hiatus, when piloting Group One-performing trotter Higher Power to victory at Alexandra Park, and on Sunday, his famous silks were to the fore once again, but this time in the thoroughbred code, when his exciting galloper Yamato Satona scored on debut in the opening race at Arawa Park for trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott. Purdon was trackside in Rotorua with his wife Katrina, who shares in…
Kiwis driving forces behind star Group One winner
High class three-year-old Autumn Boy may not have a New Zealand suffix next to his name, but his Kiwi roots run deep. The Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) winner was bred and sold by Beltana Stud’s Richard Rutherford, who is continuing to breed from the Chris Waller-trained colt’s dam Rosegarden. “It was terrific result all around and he’s a cracking horse,” said Rutherford, whose boutique breeding operation is located at Parnassus, about 130km north of Christchurch. Autumn Boy was offered through Amarina Farm’s draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling…
The Kaikoura Cup through the years
The Kaikoura Cup will celebrate its 100th running this year. Over the next few weeks Kaikoura Trotting Club historian Phil Gourdie will look back at the history of the great race, starting today with The First 50 Years. The Kaikoura Cup – 1914 to 1964. By Phil Gourdie The Kaikoura Cup was first raced for 111 years ago. Since then it has had a far from uninterrupted run due to World Wars, the depression and the creation of the new track. In 1914, the first running of the Kaikoura Cup…
Update : Addington Wednesday Trials
Following feedback from the industry, and in conjunction with the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club, we wish to advise that the Wednesday trials at Addington will now be open to: – Horses requiring qualification– Horses needing to pass from a specific start type– Horses that have been stood down to trial by the Stipendiary Stewards. This change provides additional opportunities for connections to trial and qualify their horses midweek. Preference will continue to be given to qualifiers, with trials limited to four heats. Nominations for trials this Wednesday, 15 October,…
Akuta to miss Friday’s Canterbury Classic at Addington
By Michael Guerin Akuta’s New Zealand Cup campaign has hit a speed bump with the wonderful pacer set to miss this Friday’s Lamb and Hayward Canterbury Classic at Addington. The former Auckland Cup winner has been the comeback story of the spring but was found to have mucus in his throat after failing at Addington last Friday. Co-trainer Nathan Purdon says Akuta will start treatment straight away and with five runs under his belt already this spring and plenty of lead-up options left he can still make the IRT-sponsored Cup…
Kiss The Girls wins action-paced Akaroa Cup
By Mike Love Yaldhurst trainers Derek and Adele Jones continued to have success with their team after Kiss The Girls was a very impressive winner in yesterday’s Cavalier Trotting Products Akaroa Cup at Motukarara. In what were dramatic events before the race got underway – with two false starts and the late scratching of Ted’s Legacy with his trainer and driver Jim Curtin being injured – Kiss The Girls made two fliers from those false starts before scrambling away when it mattered to settle six back on the fence. Driver…
Cox Plate next for Globe?
Mick Price and Michael Kent Junior’s gigantic galloper Globe (NZ) (Charm Spirit) could head to the Cox Plate following his upset win in the Gr.1 Might And Power Stakes on Saturday. Price told Racing.com on Sunday morning that he’d had discussions with the ownership group about running Globe in the weight for age championship event on October 25, which would require them to pay a late entry fee. “It’s a $200,000 pay up, they pay $100,000 down to eighth and it would be a small field,” Price said. “I’m not…
Powerful debutant kicks off Wexford treble
Promising colt Yamato Satona (NZ) (Satono Aladdin) made an impressive start to his racing career at Arawa Park on Sunday, kicking off a winning treble for his trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott. Racing in the colours of harness racing legend Barry Purdon, who owns the colt alongside his wife Katrina and Dean Shannon, Yamato Satona had shown promise through the trials and closed second-favourite in the Green Light Insurance Brokers (1400m). Guided by Joe Doyle, the colt was green early in the running but eventually settled to find cover…
Twain all class in Sweynesse Stakes
It seemed as though it would be only a matter of time before Twain (NZ) (Per Incanto) added a stakes victory to his name and the rising star did just that at Rotorua on Sunday, powering late to take out the Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes (1215m). A winner in his debut last July, the John Bell-trained gelding has never finished out of the first four in 12 starts, including six victories and a fourth placing when starting favourite in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m). He continued to improve out of that…