Author: NZRacingDesk

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Runners from the Central Districts of the North Island dominated proceedings in Saturday’s 128th running of the Group 3 Winning Edge Presentations Winter Cup (1600m) as veteran galloper Chase (NZ) (Zed) produced a resolute finish on the inner to claim victory ahead of lightweight Who Knows (NZ) (Redwood), 2024 runner-up Bradman (NZ) (Pins) and Our Jumala (NZ) (Zed). The nine-year-old son of Zed brought winning form to his hit and run raid on the Cup after scoring over the same distance at his last start at Hawera. Despite the presence of…

Dubbo-trained Elson Boy (NZ) (El Roca) was back in the winner’s circle after a 412-day absence when leading throughout to land the Jockeys Celebration Day Handicap (1400m) at Rosehill in the hands of apprentice William Stanley. Prepared by Dar Lunn, the six-year-old son of El Roca relished the testing conditions and pushed forward under Stanley. Challenged mid-stretch by well-supported favourite Captain Furai (Toronado), Elson Boy showed the benefit of recent racing as he repelled the threat of the fresh-up rival to score comfortably. A drenched Lunn had the biggest smile…

The Patrick and Michelle Payne-trained Bold Soul (NZ) (Embellish) has been a consistent performer right through the winter months and notched another win at Flemington when prevailing in the VRC Membership Renewals Open (2530m) on Saturday. With a muddling tempo early in the staying contest, Bold Soul was initially caught deep before settling into a rhythm for returning rider Mick Dee and showed the benefit of racing when defeating the resuming Changingoftheguard (Galileo). Dee has recently returned from a stint in Japan and was delighted to get a winner at…

Steeplechasing sensation Jesko (NZ) (Atlante) made his debut over the big Riccarton fences a winning one when he triumphed in a three-way finish to Saturday’s Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge Koral Steeplechase (4250m). Unbeaten in his three steeplechase events to date, including victory in the Wellington Steeplechase (4900m) at Trentham last month, the Shaun and Hazel Fannin-trained eight-year-old was sent out at the microscopic quote of $1.30 in the Fixed Odds market for the traditional warm-up to the Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge Grand National Steeplechase (5600m) in seven days’…

Exciting jumper Dictation (NZ) (Tavistock) exacted a large measure of revenge for a costly last fence blunder twelve months ago when he dashed away with Saturday’s Avon City Ford Sydenham Hurdles (3100m) at Riccarton. The Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal-prepared eight-year-old had the 2024 version of the race in apparent safekeeping when he botched the last fence and dropped jockey Hamish McNeill. With Matthew Gillies now his regular pilot, the 2025 version of the son of Tavistock has proved he is right up there with best in the hurdling game…

Local trainers Kevin and Stephen Gray will head to Awapuni on Sunday with a spring in their step as they get set to line-up two live chances in the $100,000 Japac Homes Polytrack Championship (1400m). Exciting sprinter Cosentino will be the leading light for the stable, having won two of his last three starts on the track, and finished in a dead heat for second in his other outing. Stephen Gray has plenty of time for the four-year-old son of El Roca, and while he has yet to be tested…

It’s been a whirlwind last few years for Maija Vance, and the former jockey is taking the next step in that journey after joining her partner, Josh King, in a training partnership this week. Vance won 94 races in the saddle in New Zealand before she was involved in a well-publicised race fall in 2018, where she suffered several injuries, including damaging her spinal cord. Doctors feared she wouldn’t be able to walk again, but after intense rehabilitation, she was able to defy those odds, and 18 months later she…

Shaun Fannin has spent plenty of time in the winner’s circle during the Grand National Festival of Racing, and this year’s carnival presents an entirely new challenge for the Awapuni horseman. One of the country’s top jumps jockeys for the better part of a decade, Fannin has won each of the four jumping features at Riccarton on numerous occasions, including two of the last three editions of the Racecourse Hotel and Motor Lodge Koral Steeplechase (4250m) with West Coast. Fannin relishes the opportunity to tackle the picturesque circuit each year…

Young speed merchant Love The Sort will be on trial on Saturday for a return visit to Ruakaka for an early black-type opportunity. She will make her three-year-old debut in the Ben & Nola Wortelboer Memorial (1100m) for trainers Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray, with an eye on a sterner challenge. “I don’t think she’ll stay, I think she’s too fast and that being the case another race that looks on the agenda, providing she performs well, is the Northland Breeders’ Stakes (Gr.3, 1200m) in two weeks,” Ritchie said. “She’ll…