Category: Featured

Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) winner Willydoit (NZ) (Tarzino) will be racing for a spot in the Gr.1 Australian Cup (2000m) when he lines up at Flemington.  Willydoit and stablemate Holymanz (NZ) (Almanzor) contest the Gr.2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) on Saturday as the pair look to enhance their claims of further autumn riches.  Now in his second preparation for the Ciaron Maher stable, Willydoit is yet to strike the form that saw him win the New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie last March.  Maher’s National Assistant Trainer Jack Turnbull said the stable had learned a lot about the now four-year-old following his first campaign in Sydney during the spring.  Willydoit resumed…

Group Two performer Checkmate (NZ) (Mongolian Khan) will head to his home track of Matamata this weekend for a mile test before trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott look to step him up over more ground. The Okaharau Station-bred and raced gelding returned to form when third in the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day before running fifth in the Gr.3 Aotearoa Classic (1600m), and his trainers were intending on testing him over 2000m in the Listed Kaimai Stakes at Matamata a fortnight ago, but…

Kingsclere Stables have an exciting week ahead of them, with promising mare She’s A Dealer shooting for black-type at Trentham on Sunday, while six days later the Cambridge barn will hold a strong hand in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m). Trainer Roger James had five New Zealand Derby wins to his name before Robert Wellwood joined him in partnership eight years ago, and a win in the race was high on his list. Wellwood achieved that goal two years ago with Orchestral, and the stable is favoured to repeat…

Luke Ferraris reunites with David Eustace-trained Dazzling Fit (NZ) (Ribchester) in the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (1 March) and believes the galloper can be competitive despite being one of the lowest-rated entries in the field. A third-place finish in a Class 3 1800m contest under Zac Purton this month, raising Dazzling Fit’s rating to 76, was enough to secure a place in Sunday’s field. That day, he finished half a length behind the winner, to whom he gave 11 pounds, BMW Hong…

Unbeaten two-year-old colt Warwoven (Sword of State) will be back at the races for the first time since the beginning of January when he lines up in the Gr.2 Skyline Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on Saturday for trainer Bjorn Baker. An impressive winner of his first two starts, Warwoven was hot favourite for the Magic Millions 2YO (1200m) but was deemed unfit to start on raceday morning. “Any athlete going to any sports competition, there is always a fine line between being 100 percent healthy but doing the work to…

Joe Pride concedes Ceolwulf probably can’t beat Autumn Glow this weekend – unless Randwick is hit with a deluge of rain. Sydney’s weather will determine if Ceolwulf (NZ) (Tavistock) has any chance of toppling glamour mare Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) in the Verry Elleegant Stakes at Randwick, according to his trainer Joseph Pride. Autumn Glow is a prohibitive $1.30 favourite to extend her unbeaten sequence to 10 on Saturday, and Pride concedes it’s a deserved quote. His one caveat is if the upper end of the wide-ranging prediction of rain falls, declaring Ceolwulf some hope to…

Te Akau Racing will head to Wingatui’s Classics Day on Saturday in full force, including stable jockey Opie Bosson, who will fly south to ride several of their leading contenders at the lucrative meeting. “It is a great day to have runners and good live chances, especially with the money on offer,” Te Akau Racing assistant trainer Hunter Durrant, who heads their Riccarton barn, said. “It will be great having Opie down here, it always makes a difference.” Bosson, who recently recorded his 100th Group One win in the saddle,…

Lance Robinson won the Listed Property Brokers – Ray Kean Dunedin Guineas (1600m) seven years ago with Air Max (NZ) (Nadeem) and he believes he has the right horse to double his tally in the race when he heads to Wingatui on Saturday. The Riccarton trainer will head south with his Group Three performer Alottago (NZ) (Tagaloa), who like many of his counterparts has had an interrupted preparation due to the abandonment of the Listed Gore Guineas (1335m) earlier this month. The son of Tagaloa subsequently had his first-up run…

Wingatui trainer Shankar Muniandy has made the Listed Property Brokers – Ray Kean Dunedin Guineas (1600m) his own in recent years, and while he won’t get the opportunity to extend his record in the race at his local meeting on Saturday, he will be chasing some lucrative prizemoney on offer with a former winner. Muniandy won the Guineas two years ago with Collect Your Cash (NZ) (Rageese) before doubling his tally last year with Loose Sally (NZ) (Turn Me Loose), and the latter will seek to continue her winning ways…

Waikato Thoroughbred Racing (WTR) have renewed their partnership with Wexford Stables for this year’s $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m), with the Club selecting L’Aigle Noir (NZ) (Ribchester) as their representative. The familiar combination contested last year’s inaugural running of The NZB Kiwi with Sethito (NZ) (Super Seth), who finished sixth, and they are looking to improve on that result when the Southern Hemisphere’s richest three-year-old race is run on Champions Day at Ellerslie Racecourse on March 7. A deal was brokered shortly after L’Aigle Noir’s luckless fourth placing in last Saturday’s $150,000…