Category: Featured

Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai) has taken a step closer to her second-up assignment with a gallop at Caulfield. Ciaron Maher took advantage of taking a small team of horses away from Cranbourne for gallops at Caulfield on Tuesday morning. One of those horses was evergreen Trelawney Stud bred mare Pride Of Jenni who is building towards a start on Saturday week. Maher indicated the Gr.1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington was the likely next assignment for Pride Of Jenni while the Gr.1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m)…

Trainer Jamie Richards hopes Karaka graduate Storming Dragon (Star Turn) can turn his consistency into a hard-earned win when he tackles the Class 3 Hydrangea Handicap (1200m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. “He’s running really well,” Richards said. “He just costs himself at the start and he doesn’t travel very well for the first half of the race. “It looks like he wants to go further, but when you step him up in trip, he lets you down a little bit. He just needs everything to go perfectly for…

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) has confirmed that it will recognise and support the enforcement of key traceability provisions within the Australian Rules of Racing relating to broodmare returns and foal ownership declarations. Some time ago, Racing Australia amended its Rules of Racing to prohibit any horse from racing unless both a Mare Return and a Foal Ownership Declaration have been lodged in accordance with the Australian Rules. These rules are now being actively enforced, and horses that have not complied with the requirements are being prohibited from being registered…

With a view to what the long-term future holds for Saturday’s feature Tauranga winner Omega Boy (NZ) (Time Test), the Gr.2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2100m) will be next on his schedule to assess his middle-distance potential. Off the back of a Rating 75 1400m win a fortnight before at Hawera, trainers Peter and Trent Didham made a well calculated move to step their rapidly improving five-year-old up to Group Two northern company in the Ultimate Mazda Japan Trophy (1600m). Ridden by Cambridge apprentice Sam McNab, Omega Boy proved right up…

Entries for NZB’s 2026 National Weanling Sale are now open, with the Sale set to be held at the Karaka Sales Centre on Thursday 25 June. Continuing as a dedicated weanling only format, the Sale is a happy hunting ground for those searching for their next pinhook success story or racetrack star. The Sale also offers breeders an attractive platform to sell their young stock to a strong international and domestic audience, with the added bonus of Karaka Millions eligibility. The weanling session in 2025 returned more than $2.5 million…

Jimmysstar (NZ) (Per Incanto) would most likely still have launched his campaign in the Gr.1 William Reid Stakes (2000m) had it been at its home track, Moonee Valley, but the Ciaron Maher stable are not complaining about its home for this year. The A$1 million sprint will be run at Caulfield this Saturday with The Valley out of action while under renovation. Jimmysstar has had six starts at Caulfield for five wins, including the Gr.1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) and Gr.1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m). The six-year-old has won two trials in preparation for his return and Maher’s assistant…

Brad Widdup has two riders on standby to partner Jedibeel (NZ) (Savabeel) in this Saturday’s Gr.1 The Galaxy (1100m) depending on what weight the sprinter is allotted. Handicaps for the 1100 metre feature at Rosehill will be released on Tuesday and once Widdup knows what impost Jedibeel will carry, he will lock in a jockey. “Depending on the weight, we’ve got Tommy (Berry) booked, or Alysha (Collett), so we’ve got two bites at the cherry there with jockeys,” Widdup said. “Hopefully he can draw a gate, and we’ll go from there.” Jedibeel is among 25…

James McDonald once again takes Australian racing’s centre stage at Rosehill on Saturday with the world’s No. 1 rider seemingly destined to establishing a new record for career Group One winners. If McDonald can claim two Group One wins from the five on the Rosehill program this Saturday, he will not only overtake Damien Oliver as the most successful Group One rider in Australian racing history, he will also register his 100th Group One win in Australia. Currently, McDonald has 98 Australian Group One wins, 16 in Hong Kong, 11…

Racehorses competing into their double-digit years are common in jumping ranks, but those in the mould of weekend winner Butterfield (NZ) (Niagara) are by far the exception. At Tauranga on Saturday, 10-year-old Butterfield belied his age when he outsprinted his rivals in the Rating 75 1400m, working to the lead from a wide gate for regular rider Tayla Mitchell to establish a clear lead and clinging to victory by a short half-head from Oppenheimer (NZ) (Belardo). That took the Niagara gelding’s record from 52 starts to six wins, six seconds…

Girl Talk’s (NZ) (Zed) hot run of form has earned her an early crack at a black-type feature at the scene of her latest triumph. She was successful on Saturday in Rating 75 company at Wanganui and a return to the River City for the Gr.3 Windsor Park Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes (2000m) on April 6 is now firmly in the sights of the four-year-old. Younger stablemate Iffigive (NZ) (Contributer) will also remain on target for a return to stakes racing if she performs up to expectations at Waverley on Wednesday.…