Category: Featured

Sunshine Coast trainer Liam Birchley knows what it takes to win the Listed TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) having trained two previous winners, and the Queensland conditioner will again be targeting the Ellerslie feature. Birchley prepared Hardline to win in 2015 and Sister Havana in 2010, while Sarge In Charge finished second for the stable in 2009. Two-year-old filly Dream Roca is being readied for the January 24 contest, with the daughter of El Roca set to line up over 1000m at Eagle Farm this weekend. Runner up to Lady…

New Zealand racing’s hottest property, Well Written, is locked in for the $4m The NZB Kiwi, after connections of the unbeaten filly signed up for the TAB slot, held by Entain New Zealand.  The daughter of Written Tycoon has won all three of her career starts in dominant  fashion, topped off by her Group 1 1000 Guineas victory at Riccarton last month.  The Cambridge-based filly will now be set for the richest 3-year-old race in the Southern  Hemisphere on 7 March at Ellerslie, with lead-up runs planned on Boxing Day and…

Emerging stayer Mollify looks to have another gilt-edged opportunity to further her record on Friday and progress toward more lucrative middle-distance assignments. The Cambridge Stud-bred and owned daughter of So You Think has thrived in a more rural environment since returning from Australia and promises another bold showing in The Duncan Dental Tauranga Twilight Cup (2100m). Mollify can kick-start a potentially lucrative weekend for the farm and private trainer Lance Noble with Jaarffi, Frostfair and Daring Dame in action at Te Rapa on Saturday. She has won two of her…

Nikki Hurdle had the ride of her life with Group One performer Express Yourself, and just six months after her retirement, the Palmerston North horsewoman looks to have her hands on another exciting sprinter. Express Yourself recorded six wins and eight placings from 22 starts, highlighted by her runner-up performance in last year’s Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m), where she was piloted by Hurdle’s jockey son, Ryan Hurdle. Her syndicate of owners offered her on gavelhouse.com earlier this year, where she was purchased by Wairarapa thoroughbred nursery Little Avondale Stud for $102,500.…

Summer has arrived, and Shelley Hale is hoping so too will Blue Sky At Night’s form, as she gets set to defend her crown in Saturday’s Gr.3 SkyCity Hamilton Waikato Cup (2400m) at Te Rapa. Her victory in last year’s running kicked off a lucrative summer, which culminated in victory in the Gr.3 Avondale Cup (2400m), a double Hale is hoping to repeat. “We will be trying hard,” the Cambridge trainer said. While pegged as a wet-tracker earlier in her career, Hale said Blue Sky At Night has shed that…

In-form miler Gringotts has history against him in The Ingham. Already needing to set a modern-day weight-carrying record to win the $2 million The Ingham, favourite Gringotts will now have to do it from the outside barrier. The Ciaron Maher-trained five-year-old has come up with gate 24 in the capacity field of 20 plus four emergencies, adding a fresh layer of difficulty to his task of lumping topweight of 61kg, eight kilos over the minimum. The last horse to successfully carry a comparable impost was Monton, who won the 2011 renewal with 58kg. Despite the…

Here To Shock is trained by Ben, Will and JD Hayes – who provide the only three runners backing up from the inaugural edition of the $1 million slot race. They will also saddle up last year’s runner-up Arkansaw Kid and 2024 fifth placegetter Roll On High, who is also owned by Slade Bloodstock and was previously trained by Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman. The presence of Private Eye casts a huge shadow over the event and he is $2.25 favourite with Sportsbet. Slade quipped the best chance of Private…

Promising filly Places To Be’s first two cracks at black-type didn’t go to plan, but trainer Kelly Van Dyk is hoping to get her preparation back on track in the Wentwood Grange 3YO (1200m) at Te Rapa on Saturday. The three-year-old daughter of Hello Youmzain was impressive when winning by four lengths on debut at Taupo in September but ran out on the turn when looking ominous in the Gr.2 Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) at Ellerslie in October. She took up her customary front-running role in the Listed The O’Leary’s Fillies…

Wexford Stables partners Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott have plenty to look forward to this weekend with a mix of proven and fresh talent engaged on the Waikato Cup programme at Te Rapa. After finishing a luckless second in last year’s Gr. 3 SKYCITY Waikato Cup (2400m), Sassy Lass is primed to go one better despite a formline that on the surface might not suggest as much. “Her Counties Cup run this year was actually better than last year, she only got going late and finished less than a length…

Electron returned to winning form over a mile at Otaki last-start, and owner-trainer Sam Mynott is hoping she can repeat that result at Te Rapa on Saturday in the Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m). The five-year-old daughter of Turn Me Loose had been struggling to find form this preparation, but Mynott put her first few subpar runs down to the wet spring. “We didn’t get the preparation we wanted with the weather over the spring, and she was probably running in races quite unsuitable for her,” Mynott said. “She finally…