Author: NZRacingDesk

Lucy In The Sky (NZ) (Hello Youmzain) made history on Saturday as the winner of the first stakes race run on a synthetic track in New Zealand, but Cambridge Stud had other reasons to savour the talented filly’s victory in the Listed Berkley Stud Champagne Stakes (1200m). Bred and raced by Cambridge Stud owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay, Lucy In The Sky is a first-crop daughter of the stud’s exciting shuttle stallion Hello Youmzain. On Saturday she became his first stakes winner in the southern hemisphere. The Tony Pike-trained Lucy…

Kiwi-bred gelding Canadian Ruler (NZ) (Vancouver) mastered a testing topweight and won the A$120,000 TAB Highway Handicap (1500m) impressively at Hawkesbury on Saturday. The four-year-old son of Vancouver headed into the race with two wins and seven placings to his name from a 12-race career, and he was lumbered with a big impost of 62.5kg. Trainer Matthew Dale secured the services of in-form apprentice jockey Braith Nock, whose 2kg claim reduced that weight to 60.5kg. Canadian Ruler was first to leave the starting gates, but Nock was happy to let…

Moira and Kieran Murdoch will be represented by a pair of promising mares at Te Rapa on Saturday, and both are half-sisters to Group One winners. The mother-daughter training partnership will saddle Cambridge Stud’s last-start winner Andorra (NZ) (Pierro) in the TAB Racing Club (2100m). Just over half an hour later, Butterscotch (NZ) (Preferment) will line up for her first raceday start for owner-breeder Joan Egan in the Cure Kids (1400m). Cambridge Stud owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay paid $450,000 to buy Andorra from Book 1 of Karaka 2022. She…

Following a deluge of rain in Canterbury over the last 48-hours, with both Christchurch City and Selwyn District entering a state of emergency, Riccarton’s Saturday meeting has been transferred to its synthetic track. “The (Canterbury Jockey) Club and the RIB (Racing Integrity Board) inspected the (turf) track post the abandonment of the races (Riccarton synthetic) yesterday and it was water-logged,” New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) chief operating officer Darin Balcombe said. “We had trainers ringing up from the bottom of the South Island that were going to leave home first…

Trainer Cliff Brown is banking on a trip to Caulfield to determine the direction he takes with Rogan (NZ) (Super Seth) in coming months.  Rogan runs in the Evergreen Turf Handicap (2000m) on Saturday with hopes a forward performance may lead to a trip north to Brisbane for the gelding for some bigger races.  The three-year-old, by Super Seth, is a half-brother to Von Hauke (NZ) (Savabeel) who has proven himself adept at trips between 1100m to 1600m, whereas Rogan is showing promise over more ground.  An older half-brother, Savvy Crown (NZ) (Savabeel), held winning form between 1450m and 2100m. …

Robert Dennis is heading to Riccarton on Saturday on the brink of a career milestone, but the change in surface for the 10-race card has put the Ascot Park trainer in unknown territory. New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing statistics credit Dennis with 99 winners from 814 career runners. His hopes of a 100th winner on Saturday rest with Sacred Dream (NZ) (Sacred Falls) in the Hornby Club Founders Cup (2200m), Miss Layla (NZ) (Burgundy) in the Avon City Ford Easter Cup (1600m), Azilee Star (NZ) (Tivaci) in the Listed Berkley Stud…

Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott have already trained more winners this season than any other year in their partnership, and Saturday’s Listed Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre Stakes (1400m) at Te Rapa could deliver another milestone for the Wexford Stables team. O’Sullivan and Scott sit in third place on the New Zealand trainers’ premiership with 68 wins this season. Recent victories by Varjak (NZ) (Contributer) at Matamata on April 17 and Reptak (NZ) (Shocking) at Ellerslie two days later have broken new ground for the partnership, whose previous best total was…

Andrew Campbell has had plenty of success in Australia, highlighted by his former Group One-winning stars Tavistock (NZ) (Montjeu) and Werther (NZ) (Tavistock), and this month he is hoping Croupier (NZ) (Ace High) can add his name to that honour roll. The Otaki trainer has struck gold with his first horse to the races since deciding to return to the training ranks earlier this season, and he thought enough of the son of Ace High to test his talent across the Tasman. Croupier has won two of his three career…

Classy, tenacious and mega-durable mare Bonny Lass (NZ) (Super Easy) is set to be offered in a special sale launching next week on Gavelhouse Plus. The daughter of Super Easy was raced by her breeder Sandy Moore in partnership with Brent and Wendy Cooper and their Social Racing Starting Gates Syndicate. She was trained by Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall through a 26-race career that produced eight wins, eight placings and $774,950 in stakes. Bonny Lass was a five-time Group winner, headed by the Group One BCD Group Sprint (1400m).…

He’s won Caulfield Cups, a Cox Plate and a Melbourne Cup, and now Ciaron Maher has won his hometown Cup thanks to Smokin’ Romans (NZ) (Ghibellines) staving off the late charge from Torranzino (NZ) (Tarzino) to land the 2350-metre Warrnambool feature on Thursday. The 2022 Turnbull Stakes winner lumped the topweight of 59kg to victory, leading throughout for star jockey Ben Melham. “It’s fantastic,” Maher said. “What a fantastic ride by Ben, he really understands this horse really well, he’s had some nice wins on him.” A rising nine-year-old, Smokin’…