Author: NZRacingDesk

All eyes will be on Hong Kong champion Ka Ying Rising at the Randwick barrier trials but the session will also provide an important hit-out for Group One winner Linebacker (NZ) (Super Seth). Originally being targeted at Saturday’s Epsom Handicap (1600m), the four-year-old was ruled out of the feature after a setback caused him to miss a scheduled start in the Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m) last month. While it was only a minor ailment, it was enough to force a rejig of Linebacker’s spring program. “In simple terms, he sprained…

Lady Performer (NZ) (Sacred Falls) put plans of the broodmare paddock on hold for another year after capping off a consistent run of form in the Johnny Neil Builders (1400m) at Hawera on Saturday. The eight-year-old had nearly been retired at the end of the spring last season, but her owner-trainer Lydia Pickford opted to bring her back for another winter, which has paid off with Lady Performer recording a win, two seconds and five thirds since resuming in early April. She was due another winning turn, but facing Rating…

This week Guy Heveldt is joined by Aidan Rodley and Jayne Ivil to review a wet weekend of racing across the country. Kim Reid joins us to talk about the family connection of Hi Yo Sass Bomb and then we turn our sights across the Tasman after a star filled Saturday. Weigh In, October 5

Progressive mare Afterglo (NZ) (Ardrossan) got her preparation back on track in impressive style in the deteriorating conditions at Matamata on Saturday. A winner on debut at the course in April, she has been patiently handled by local trainer Stephen Autridge and appeared first-up this spring in a competitive Rating 65 contest at Ellerslie, where she finished below expectations in 11th. Heeding advice from jockey Matt Cameron, Autridge moved on to the Colliers Waikato Rural Real Estate (1400m) with the daughter of Ardrossan, who started the eventual favourite in a…

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David Hayes has a New Zealand-bred superstar heading into the A$20 million Gr.1 The Everest (1200m) in two weeks, where his sons Ben, Will and JD Hayes might line up against him with a Kiwi-bred Group One winner of their own. Lindsay Park’s last-start Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) hero War Machine kicked off his new campaign in sparkling style in Saturday’s A$300,000 Gr.2 Gilgai Stakes (1200m) at Flemington. The Hayes team hopes War Machine’s blockbuster first-up performance caught the eye of a slot-holder for The Everest at Randwick on October…

New Zealand-bred mare Perfumist (NZ) (El Roca) bounced back to her brilliant best with a dominant front-running performance in the A$160,000 Melbourne Storm Mile (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday. The daughter of El Roca burst onto the scene as a three-year-old last season with wins in five of her first nine starts, including four in a row in December and January. Those performances earned her a ticket across the Tasman for the inaugural $3.5 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) at Ellerslie in March, where she ran a close and creditable fifth.…

Ben, Will and JD Hayes know a thing or two about the juvenile progeny of Per Incanto, and they unveiled another exciting son of the Little Avondale Stud stallion in Melbourne’s first two-year-old race of the season on Saturday. The Lindsay Park team took out the A$175,000 Listed Darley Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (1000m) at Flemington with Eurocanto (Per Incanto), who is by Per Incanto out of the Savabeel mare Shespending (NZ). Eurocanto’s perfect debut came just under three years after the Hayes brothers saddled another Per Incanto first-starter, Little Brose,…

Quality mare Hi Yo Sass Bomb (NZ) (Complacent) showed she is in for another plentiful spring campaign when she exploded over the final 150m to storm over the top of her female rivals and score a stunning victory in the feature race at Hawera on Saturday, the Gr.3 Grangewilliam Stud Breeders Stakes (1400m). Kim Reid’s now seven-year-old daughter of Complacent has fashioned a top-class record over the past two years including a runner-up finish behind Snazzytavi (NZ) (Tavistock) in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) alongside a win in the Gr.3…

Who Knows (NZ) (Redwood) was runner-up in a time-honoured Riccarton feature at the beginning of the season, and she earned favouritism for another one with an emphatic victory in the Weir Tours Egmont Cup (2100m) at Hawera on Saturday. The $60,000 open handicap was the fifth win from only a 16-start career for the Redwood mare, who has placed on another four occasions, including a second behind Chase (NZ) (Zed) in the Gr.3 128th Winter Cup (1600m) at Riccarton on August 2. Wanganui trainer Niall Quinn is eyeing a return…