Author: NZRacingDesk

Steven Ramsay and Julia Ritchie trained their 200th winner in the blue and white hooped colours of owner-breeder Sir Peter Vela when talented filly Passiflora (NZ) (Farnan) led all the way in Saturday’s Happy Hire 3YO (1200m) at Wanganui. The Ramsay-Ritchie partnership has now been credited with 200 wins from 1427 runners, with 14 black-type successes including Guiseppina in the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m), Rasa Lila and Dolmabache in the Gr.2 Travis Stakes (2000m), and Group Three victories by Amaryllis, Pure Elegance, Rasa Lila and Island Life. “It’s a real buzz for…

Royal Flower’s (NZ) (Proisir) victory in the G Bristol & Sons 2040 at Wanganui on Saturday has earned her a black-type assignment over the same course and distance next weekend. The seven-year-old Proisir mare produced an impressive performance in the $50,000 open handicap, dragging the field up to the tearaway leader Sagunto and hitting the front before the home turn. Royal Flower gave her rider Mereana Hudson everything she asked for down the straight, and she went on to win by a length and a quarter from runner-up Comedy. Foxton…

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With a successful defence of his title in Saturday’s A$1 million The Illawarra Mercury Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange, Kiwi-bred marvel Gringotts has now won five races worth $1 million or more within the space of barely a year. The Per Incanto gelding’s back-to-back victories in The Gong sit alongside his dual triumphs in the A$3 million The Big Dance (1600m) at Randwick, plus the most prestigious victory of his career in the A$1 million Gr.1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill last March. The Ciaron Maher-trained Gringotts has now…

A bold move before the home turn carried Kiwi-bred gelding Regal Lion to victory in Saturday’s A$130,000 John Duff & Co The Lester (2025m) at Cranbourne. Previously a Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) winner and Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) placegetter, Regal Lion headed into Saturday’s Benchmark 84 handicap after running sixth at Moonee Valley on October 3 and at Caulfield on October 15, winning the Mortlake Cup (2000m) on November 1 and finishing fourth in last Sunday’s Moe Cup (2050m). The seven-year-old was a $17 longshot for Saturday’s race, but…

Comeback jockey Elen Nicholas took her career to its greatest heights yet with a masterful ride aboard Final Return (NZ) (Reliable Man) to take out the Gr.3 MyRacehorse Counties Cup (2100m) at Pukekohe on Saturday. A horror run of injuries has forced Nicholas to spend more time on the sidelines than in the saddle during her apprenticeship, but she has made a triumphant return this season to sit in eighth place on the national premiership with 21 wins. She ranks second among apprentices behind only Amber Riddell with 25. The last seven…

Perennial black-type bridesmaid Qali Al Farrasha (NZ) (Almanzor) shed that unwanted tag in outstanding fashion when she downed a quality line-up of mares in Saturday’s Gr.2 Dunstan Horsefeeds Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) at Pukekohe. The five-year-old daughter of Almanzor has been desperately unlucky on several occasions at the highest level, having been stakes-placed six times in her 16-start career, with four of those coming in Group One features. The Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-prepared galloper has always looked to be a stayer of real promise and just 12 months earlier had…

Kozzi Asano signed off his brief New Zealand homecoming with a winning treble at Pukekohe on Saturday, headed by black-type success aboard Ardalio (NZ) (Ardrossan) in the Gr.3 Haunui Farm Counties Bowl (1100m). Originally from Japan, Asano arrived in New Zealand in 2017 and became champion apprentice two years later. He racked up a total of 336 wins, 20 of them at stakes level, before departing during the 2023-24 season for a successful stint in South Korea. The 30-year-old returned to his Cambridge home earlier this season and rejoined Kiwi raceday riding…

New Zealand-bred mare Grid Girl boasts a perfect two-from-two record so far as a five-year-old, having added Saturday’s A$150,000 Rosemont Stud Fillies & Mares Pendant (1400m) at Cranbourne to her first-up victory at Kyneton on November 5. Previously the winner of four of her 16 starts, the daughter of Time Test resumed as a $1.90 favourite at Kyneton and produced a performance worthy of those short odds as she romped to victory by eight lengths. Saturday’s second-up assignment was significantly tougher, facing a talented field of mares under set weights…

Quality sprinter Spencer (NZ) (Derryn) showed all his fighting qualities when he dug deep to earn his ninth career win in one of the feature events at Wanganui on Saturday, the Manawatu ITM 1340. The six-year-old son of Derryn was having his first run from the Matamata stable of Peter and Shaun McKay after doing his previous racing in the care of Erin Hocquard at Waverley. Unsighted since finishing midfield at Trentham last month, last season’s Gr.3 Spring Sprint (1400m) winner paraded in fine order before Saturday’s contest, with plenty of attitude…