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French jockey Corentin Berge had to wait longer than anticipated to partner Sicillian at the races, but he made that opportunity count at Arawa Park on Sunday, earning his first win on New Zealand soil. Berge arrived in New Zealand last month and had five raceday rides prior to the Arawa Park Hotel Rotorua (1400m), a take two aboard the Wexford-trained mare having been scheduled to ride her at Matamata last Saturday before the late abandonment. He retained the ride for the following weekend and had confidence that she could…

After a couple of unlucky runs in big races this season, Antipodean (NZ) (Derryn) turned his fortunes around at Selangor on Sunday with a deserved victory in the RM300,000 NZB Ready to Run Sale Championship (1400m). Antipodean was bought for $23,000 by trainer Simon Dunderdale from Regal Farm’s draft at the 2022 Ready to Run Sale at Karaka. The star five-year-old has now had 20 starts for 12 wins and six placings, including a perfect six-from-six record over 1400 metres. Previously the winner of last year’s RM200,000 Selangor Gold Cup…

Plenty of drama has surrounded Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress) ahead of Saturday’s A$20 million The Everest (1200m) at Randwick, but trainer David Hayes assures everything is fine with the Kiwi-bred sprinting sensation. “I got a call yesterday (Sunday) at lunchtime from JD, my son, and Gareth Hall (racing broadcaster) had rung him and said his twitter account had been hacked and sent out some false information, which basically had him scratched, lame in behind and not eating,” Hayes said. “That’s not the horse I have been training anyway. “The…

Harness Racing legend Barry Purdon had a weekend to remember. On Friday he made a winning return to the sulky, following a six-year hiatus, when piloting Group One-performing trotter Higher Power to victory at Alexandra Park, and on Sunday, his famous silks were to the fore once again, but this time in the thoroughbred code, when his exciting galloper Yamato Satona scored on debut in the opening race at Arawa Park for trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott. Purdon was trackside in Rotorua with his wife Katrina, who shares in…

High class three-year-old Autumn Boy may not have a New Zealand suffix next to his name, but his Kiwi roots run deep. The Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) winner was bred and sold by Beltana Stud’s Richard Rutherford, who is continuing to breed from the Chris Waller-trained colt’s dam Rosegarden. “It was terrific result all around and he’s a cracking horse,” said Rutherford, whose boutique breeding operation is located at Parnassus, about 130km north of Christchurch. Autumn Boy was offered through Amarina Farm’s draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling…

Mick Price and Michael Kent Junior’s gigantic galloper Globe (NZ) (Charm Spirit) could head to the Cox Plate following his upset win in the Gr.1 Might And Power Stakes on Saturday. Price told Racing.com on Sunday morning that he’d had discussions with the ownership group about running Globe in the weight for age championship event on October 25, which would require them to pay a late entry fee. “It’s a $200,000 pay up, they pay $100,000 down to eighth and it would be a small field,” Price said. “I’m not…

Promising colt Yamato Satona (NZ) (Satono Aladdin) made an impressive start to his racing career at Arawa Park on Sunday, kicking off a winning treble for his trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott. Racing in the colours of harness racing legend Barry Purdon, who owns the colt alongside his wife Katrina and Dean Shannon, Yamato Satona had shown promise through the trials and closed second-favourite in the Green Light Insurance Brokers (1400m). Guided by Joe Doyle, the colt was green early in the running but eventually settled to find cover…

It seemed as though it would be only a matter of time before Twain (NZ) (Per Incanto) added a stakes victory to his name and the rising star did just that at Rotorua on Sunday, powering late to take out the Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes (1215m). A winner in his debut last July, the John Bell-trained gelding has never finished out of the first four in 12 starts, including six victories and a fourth placing when starting favourite in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m). He continued to improve out of that…

Talented stayer What A Charma (NZ) (Jimmy Choux) brought his heavy track form onto an improving surface at Rotorua on Sunday when claiming the major spoils in the $80,000 Staphanos Classic (1950m). The eight-year-old by Jimmy Choux found career-best form through the winter and early spring, winning the Kiwifruit Cup (2100m) in June before a string of solid performances in open grade, including a last-start third behind Diamond Jak on Matamata Cup Day. The inclusion of class mare Val Di Zoldo meant much of the Staphanos field were compressed down…