Author: NZRacingDesk

Final Return has raced creditably in strong company at Ellerslie without major success and will be back there on New Year’s Day in a bid to break through. The New Plymouth-based stayer has regularly tripped north and collected four placings on the course, including a third in the Gr.3 Avondale Cup (2400m) earlier this year. Final Return has another visit on his immediate program for a crack at the Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2400m) on January 1 after finishing fourth in the 2025 edition of the event. “He hits…

Bill Thurlow and Sam O’Malley are setting their sights on a return to Group One competition with Whangaehu (NZ) (Proisir) after a pleasing trial at Woodville on Tuesday. The well-performed Proisir gelding was required to trial to the satisfaction of the stewards after his last-start eighth in the Gr.3 Thompson Handicap (1600m) at Trentham in October, where he was slow to leave the starting gate and reluctant to hit out in the early stages of the race. Thurlow and O’Malley got what they were hoping for on Tuesday as Whangaehu…

Expat jockey Rory Hutchings has adopted his proven “have saddle, will travel” approach to another summer stint in New Zealand. Last summer the 30-year-old former champion apprentice made the most of his opportunities with 14 wins from 100 rides, including the Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) and Listed Fulton Family Stakes (1500m) on local star El Vencedor (NZ) (Shocking), and the Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m) on the Chris Waller-trained raider Konasana. He has a long-standing relationship with the Waller stable, including a recent stint based on Queensland’s Gold Coast, but…

It’s part one of Michael’s chat with the King of Hong Kong, Zac Purton. They discuss the Aussie jockey’s kiwi connections, his career moves, Hong Kong racing, and Zac Purton the family man, including some awkwardness with his father in law. Guerin Report – S2 Ep. 13 Ft. Zac Purton Pt.1

Smart filly Oratia Beauty (Too Darn Hot) went close to a major black-type credit last time out at Ellerslie and will get the opportunity to take care of unfinished business on the course at the next time of asking. A genuine daughter of Too Darn Hot, she rallied bravely under rider Matt Cartwright to finish runner-up in Saturday’s Listed Trevor & Corallie Eagle Memorial 3YO (1500m). That effort continued the encouraging start she has made to her career with a win and a quartet of placings from six appearances. “She…

Unbeaten filly Well Written (Written Tycoon) is back in work and while exact plans have yet to be confirmed, a clearer picture of her New Year schedule is forming. The only certainty is that her primary target is the $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m), and with that speculation is mounting as to which slot the Stephen Marsh-trained filly will be running for when the field for the country’s richest race lines up at Ellerslie on March 7. “She’s been back in the stable five days and looks great after having…

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The two-year-old race staged by the Levin Racing Club at Otaki every November has a proven record of unearthing top-level talent, and Te Akau Racing is hoping for more of the same with Sunday’s Levin Jumpouts 2YO (1100m) winner Kinnaird. The late-spring juvenile event boasts four subsequent Group One winners among its list of winners in the last 17 years alone, starting with the 2008 winner Eileen Dubh, who returned to take out the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) on the same raceday in 2009. The 2009 and 2020 winners, Jimmy…

Stephen Marsh has his sights set on further feature-race success, with his proven performer Provence (NZ) (Savabeel) confirmed for Saturday’s Gr.1 TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m) at Trentham. The Cambridge trainer took his black-type tally for the first four months of the season to seven when Ammirati (NZ) (Savabeel) claimed a bizarre win in Sunday’s Gr.3 Jennian Homes Wellington Stakes (1600m) at Otaki. In a dramatic final 50 metres, fellow Cambridge-trained three-year-old Road To Paris (NZ) (Circus Maximus) shied at the winning post with victory in sight, dropping rider Masa Hashizume…

New stakes winners for resident stallions Redwood and Tarzino were celebrated by Westbury Stud at the weekend. The former’s homebred daughter Pulsatilla (NZ) (Redwood) produced a dominant performance to land the Listed Trevor & Corallie Eagle Memorial 3YO (1500m) at Ellerslie while Tarzino’s strapping son Tshiebwe (NZ) romped home in the Listed Wanganui Cup (2040m). The Shaun and Emma Clotworthy-trained Pulsatilla is also owned by stud principal Gerry Harvey and will follow a path toward the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m). “She was always a nice filly and is out…