Author: NZRacingDesk

Join Guy Heveldt, Emily Murphy and Jayne Ivil as they dissect the racing from Tauranga and Tauherenikau on Saturday. Then Aidan Rodley beams in from Melbourne to reflect on Derby day with a look ahead to Melbourne Cup. Weigh In, November 2

Local trainers Brian and Shane Anderton will have strength in numbers at their home track’s Melbourne Cup day meeting on Tuesday. The Wingatui-based father and son partnership have accepted 17 runners across the nine-race card, including three in the headlining Grand Casino Open Handicap (1400m) in Capo Dell Impero (NZ) (Ghibellines), Inflamed (NZ) (Ghibellines) and Mayor Of Norwood (NZ) (Ghibellines). All progeny of the Anderton’s White Robe Lodge sire Ghibellines, the trio have accumulated 18 wins between them, with full-brothers Capo Dell Impero and Mayor Of Norwood particularly effective over…

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With those same tearaway tactics that have made her one of Australian racing’s fan favourites in recent years, Trelawney Stud-bred mare Pride Of Jenni ran her rivals off their feet again at Flemington on Saturday and became the first two-time winner of the Gr.1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m). The daughter of Pride Of Dubai produced a similarly spectacular front-running performance to win the fillies and mares’ feature in 2023. That was a first win at Group One level for Pride Of Jenni, who went on to add the Cantala Stakes…

Two weeks on from a luckless third in the A$20 million Gr.1 The Everest (1200m), Jimmysstar had a well-deserved moment in the spotlight with a dominant victory in Saturday’s A$3 million Russell Balding Stakes (1300m) at Randwick. The New Zealand-bred son of Per Incanto burst on to the big sprint stage in Australia last season with explosive Group One victories in the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) and All Aged Stakes (1400m). All roads led to The Everest this spring, but until Saturday, Jimmysstar had to settle for a series of strong-finishing…

Local runner Gigi produced a herculean performance to claim an amazing home track victory at Tauranga on Saturday in the Bayleys Tauranga 2100 (2100m). The consistent six-year-old looked to be a forlorn chance when he had to sit three wide for a greater part of the early stages in the open stayers contest before tracking pacemaker Khan Hunter and then moving forward to lodge his claim rounding the home bend. Quickly caught and headed by eventual runner-up Solidify, Gigi and rider George Rooke appeared to have spent their winning chips…

Awapuni filly War Princess moved a big step closer to a summer target when she ventured to Tauranga on Saturday and scored an impressive come-from-behind victory in the Armory Standing at Mapperley Stud 3YO (1200m). The $40,000 race was the first time War Princess had travelled to the north, the first time she had raced right-handed, and after being left slightly flat-footed in the early stages of the race, the first time she had raced or trialled anywhere other than on the pace. With the first two races on Saturday’s…

A rare visit to the Wairarapa on Saturday produced a milestone for Tony Pike, who brought up his 800th winner in New Zealand. The Cambridge trainer, who had saddled only three starters at Tauherenikau in his career before this weekend, made the 500km trek south with four runners and went into the meeting with 798 wins to his name. Pike trained two winners on the eight-race card to reach 800, with Thooza taking out the Power Related Services Rating 75 (1300m) before Agera added the Pete’s Kitchens Feilding Cup (2050m)…

Wonderfully consistent mare Glamour Tycoon showed all her fighting qualities to down a talented field of open class sprinters and capture her fifth career victory in the Bayleys Mount Maunganui (1300m) open handicap at Tauranga. The daughter of Written Tycoon has fashioned an enviable record that has seen her out of the first three placings on only six occasions in her 20 starts to date and that record was extended on Saturday in the hands of rider Wiremu Pinn. Pinn jumped her away nicely from an inside draw to stalk…

A sensational few weeks for Stephen Marsh’s three-year-olds kept rolling on at Tauranga on Saturday when Swiss Prince led home a quinella for the Cambridge trainer in the Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m). Marsh had previously won the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) with Magic Carpet on September 27 and the Gr.2 Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) by almost seven lengths with Well Written on October 18. Well Written is unbeaten in two starts and is a $2.50 favourite for the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton. For…