Author: NZRacingDesk

The more things change, the more they stay the same. It may have a new permanent home and a new name, but New Zealand’s richest hurdle race continues to be dominated by Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal. Taika triumphed in the inaugural running of the $150,000 J Swap Great New Zealand Hurdle (4200m) at Te Aroha on Friday, adding his name alongside the Hawke’s Bay stable’s six previous victories when the race was known as the Great Northern Hurdle. According to jumps racing statistician Chris McQuaid, Nelson began his record-breaking…

Fierce Flight kicked off what Te Akau Racing is hoping to be a lucrative weekend for the trans-Tasman operation when winning the Te Aroha Maiden Hurdle (3100m) on Friday. The Flying Artie gelding won six races on the flat, including the Listed Hawke’s Bay Cup (2200m), and placed in the Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m), Gr.3 Manawatu Cup (2300m) and Listed New Zealand St Leger (2600m), before transitioning to a jumping career two months ago. The Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-trained gelding showed plenty of promise in his three prior starts…

The prestigious NZB Filly of the Year Series heads in a new direction on Saturday with the running of the second leg, the $150,000 Group Three Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase (1400m) at Ellerslie. The Sunline Vase has previously been run over 2100m in March as the 10th leg of the 11-race series, helping to set fillies up for the grand finale in the $1m Group One New Zealand Oaks (2400m). That has all changed in 2025-26. The New Zealand Oaks has been moved forward from late March to February and…

Shaun and Hazel Fannin’s pair of talented jumpers in Jesko and Fourty Eight will clash for the first time over fences in Sunday’s hotly-contested Ben and Ryan Foote Great New Zealand Steeplechase (6200m) at Te Aroha. Jesko has been the lamp-lighter for the stable this year, winning the Manawatu Steeplechase (4000m), Wellington Steeplechase (4900m) and Koral Steeplechase (4250m), before going down to a game Captains Run in the Grand National Steeplechase (5600m). He has been ridden on each occasion by Shaun Fannin, who was proud of his charge’s effort in…

Group One performer Chase has been in a rich vein of form of late and he will attempt to continue that at Trentham on Saturday in the Gr.3 Hunterville Vet Club Metric Mile (1600m). The nine-year-old son of Zed returned to the winner’s circle in July before heading south to Riccarton last month where he was a popular winner of the Gr.3 Winter Cup (1600m), and trainer Stephen Nickalls has been pleased with the way he has come through his southern venture. “He is a pretty seasoned campaigner now, not…

Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh has 14 horses entered across the 10-race card at Ellerslie on Saturday, and more than half of them are three-year-olds facing crucial early-season assignments. Marsh has proven black-type performers Little Black Dress, Lady Iris and Tale Of The Gypsy in Saturday’s Gr.3 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase (1400m), backed up by a range of emerging age-group talent on the undercard. Last-start Listed Wanganui Guineas (1200m) placegetters Churmatt and Swiss Prince will contest the NZB Ready to Run Sale Trainers Series 3YO (1400m), while the Join…

Martell made an instant impact in his first appearance from his new quarters and more of the same is forecast at Gore. The former Jim Collett-prepared sprinter made a successful South Island debut at Wingatui earlier this month and is expected to go close to adding Sunday’s Advance Agriculture Open (1100m) to his record. He will head a strong hand for trainer Kelvin Tyler who will also be represented by Go Lotte, while stablemates Vamos and Prince Alby are top chances in the Kevin Coyle Memorial Open (1800m). The Riverton…

Slipper Island (No Nay Never) put together a picket fence form line down the Trentham chute last season and he’ll be aiming to pick up where he left off at the Upper Hutt venue on Saturday. In autumn, the No Nay Never gelding went from winning at Rating 65 grade to defeating Group One winner Pier (NZ) (Proisir) and subsequent Group One placegetter Tomodachi (NZ) (Tarzino) three runs later in the Listed City Of Napier Sprint (1200m). That performance made four straight successes down the dogleg, and while his trainer…

Knock Off (NZ) (Fabulous) has proven to be a horse of a lifetime for Wanganui trainer Gerard Cvitanovich, who will be vying to record his first stakes victory on Saturday when his charge contests the Gr.3 Hunterville Vet Club Metric Mile (1600m) at Trentham. The semi-retired dairy farmer has been training intermittently over the last 30 years, and has contested three previous stakes races, but Saturday presents as his best opportunity as he gets set to line-up the $6 equal favourite for the mile feature. The occasion will be a…

Ka Ya Rising’s (NZ) (Shamexpress) first-up rating has him right where he needs to be for the upcoming Everest, says form guru Daniel O’Sullivan. While his returning figure of 107 was a few points off his absolute best, it keeps him in a class of his own compared to the rest of the world’s sprinting ranks. Add to that the prospect of Ka Ying Rising improving from his first-up run – a very real possibility according to trainer David Hayes and jockey Zac Purton – and the numbers make it…