Author: NZRacingDesk

Promising filly Summer Schemer (Dirty Work) crowned a memorable recent run of results for Highden Park when she made the perfect start to her career at Ellerslie on Saturday. The Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray-trained two-year-old continued a hot roll for Libby and Sam Bleakley’s Manawatu-based sales preparation and agistment operation. “It’s been a great month for us with the little racing team we’ve got, we’ve been spoiled,” Libby Bleakley said. “We’ve got Kids Got Gears (Magnus) with Nayton Mitchell in the South Island and he ran sixth last week…

Ohope Wins (NZ) Those prospects looked decidedly shaky at the home turn, however, when Ohope Wins was languishing fourth-last and a dozen lengths from the lead. But jockey Joe Doyle was fully aware of the incredible engine he had idling underneath him. He angled Ohope Wins to the outside in the straight and turned her loose. Ohope Wins came with giant strides down the straight and blazed past her opposition. She didn’t stop there either, drawing away to win by two and a quarter lengths. “When you get to ride…

Group One winner Captured By Love (Written Tycoon) was back in the winners’ circle at Taupo on Sunday, with an elite-level assignment now firmly in her sights. The daughter of Written Tycoon has mixed her form this season, with her last appearance in the Gr.3 J Swap Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa in December producing an unplaced result. She was subsequently freshened and took care of a small but select field in Sunday’s Rabobank Cup (1400m), giving trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson the confidence to press onto next month’s…

David Hayes believes Ka Ying Rising’s (NZ) (Shamexpress) extraordinary dominance can continue indefinitely after the world’s premier sprinter demolished quality opposition to post a Hong Kong record 18th successive victory in course record time in the HK$13 million Gr.1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.   Stretching his unbeaten sequence beyond Silent Witness’ longstanding mark of 17 wins, slotted between 2002 and 2005, Ka Ying Rising imperiously steamrolled his opposition in 1m 19.36s to smash the previous course record of 1m 19.92s, jointly held by Encouraging…

Milan Park Principal Hops On NZB Kiwi Ride War Princess winning the Gr.3 Lawnmaster Eulogy Stakes (1600m) at Trentham. Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images) Tony Rider whet his appetite for victory in the $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) after breeding the inaugural winner of the race in Damask Rose (NZ) (Savabeel) last year, spurring him to lease a slot in this year’s edition of the Southern Hemisphere’s richest three-year-old race. The Milan Park principal has leased a slot in the Champions Day feature off RACE, and fittingly, he has chosen War Princess (NZ) (U S Navy…

Ellerslie’s Saturday meeting proved to be a momentous occasion for Chris Wood, with That’s Gold’s dominant win in the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) bringing up his 500th training victory in New Zealand. “It was a big thrill. That is 500 wins in New Zealand and to bring it up with a Group Two race was very good,” Wood said. “It was really exciting and the horse did the whole team proud.” While he has notched up 500 wins in his homeland, Wood also experienced plenty of success across the Tasman. “I…

Trainers Ken and Bev Kelso have been scratching their heads with their Group One-performed mare Alabama Lass (Alabama Express) over the last few months, but they received a confidence boost following her win in a Group and Listed 1100m trial at Taupo on Sunday. After finishing runner-up when first-up in the Gr.1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at The Valley in spring, she disappointed when tailing the field home in the Gr.1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) three weeks later and following a series of post-race examinations, nothing untoward was found. The daughter of…

Tony Rider whet his appetite for victory in the $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) after breeding the inaugural winner of the race in Damask Rose (NZ) (Savabeel) last year, spurring him to lease a slot in this year’s edition of the Southern Hemisphere’s richest three-year-old race. The Milan Park principal has leased a slot in the Champions Day feature off RACE, and fittingly, he has chosen War Princess (NZ) (U S Navy Flag), a filly trained from the Club’s Awapuni track, as his representative. “We have got War Princess,” Rider said. “We rate this…

Talented sprinter I’m All In (NZ) (Zoustar) showed he was back to his best with a gritty performance to take out the final race on an action-packed day at Ellerslie on Saturday, the Horizon By SKYCITY (1200m). Another runner sporting the colours of Cambridge Stud principals Sir Brendan and Lady Jo Lindsay, the lightly raced four-year-old was having just his 17th start and the second in his current campaign after finishing an eye-catching third first up behind Archaic Smile at Trentham last month. Trainer Stephen Marsh produced the favourite for…

Close up in strong company in the spring, Go Racing’s Lord Penman (NZ) (Contributer) broke through and claimed his first Australian victory in the A$160,000 Racing and Sports Handicap (1400m) at Rosehill on Saturday. The New Zealand-bred Contributer gelding ran second on his Sydney debut in August, then filled the runner-up spot behind Linebacker in the A$1 million Silver Eagle (1300m) and finished within four lengths of the undefeated Autumn Glow when seventh in the Gr.1 Epsom Handicap (1600m). Lord Penman was sent out as a $2.40 favourite for his…