Category: Gallops

Trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson are excited about the future with regally-bred colt King’s English after he broke through for his maiden win in impressive fashion at Te Aroha on Wednesday. A son of Snitzel, King’s English is out of dual Group One winner English, who also placed on four occasions at elite-level, including a runner-up performance in the Golden Slipper (1200m). He was purchased at last year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale by Te Akau principal David Ellis for A$700,000 and made a good impression at the trials…

Twelve months since the start of a frustrating run of Group One seconds in the TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m), Te Awamutu mare La Crique is ready to go one better in next week’s Trentham feature. That close second was the first in a frustrating and almost unbelievable sequence of runner-up placings at Group One level. All five starts since last December have been at racing’s highest level and every one of them has produced the same result. The most recent was her half-length second to Waitak in the Gr.1 Howden…

Shaune Ritchie caught up with Gareth to discuss what winning the Jericho means to him as he looks to do it again this Sunday with Tempest Moon. LISTEN HERE: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/shaune-ritchie-on-giddy-up-26-11-25/id1542139858?i=1000738433825

The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr stable is hoping for some significant rain ahead of the Zipping Classic at Caulfield. The rain that fell at acceptance time on Wednesday for the Caulfield meeting was music to the ears of the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr stable. The Group 2 Zipping Classic (2400m) on Saturday is the contest the Price and Kent Jnr stable have picked out for Hezashocka (NZ) (Shocking). The problem is the stayer has a terrible record on dry ground and is far better performed when…

Ken and Bev Kelsos’ millionaire duo of Legarto (NZ) (Proisir) and Alabama Lass (Alabama Express) are well on target for further major assignments as the feature summer racing period looms. An easy trial win at Te Aroha on Wednesday has confirmed that Legarto is ready to resume her career in the Gr. 1 TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m) at Trentham on Saturday week. The six-year-old, already credited with stake-earnings of more than $2 million, has been off the scene since finishing fifth in the Gr.1 Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) at Te…

Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray took out the 2023 edition of the A$304,000 Jericho Cup (4600m) at Warrnambool with Nassak Diamond (Roc de Cambes), and on Sunday they will be seeking to usurp their former stable runner in the marathon feature with Tempest Moon (NZ) (Turn Me Loose). Ritchie is in Australia with the daughter of Turn Me Loose, who like Nassak Diamond, carries the familiar silks of owner The Oaks Stud. The Cambridge trainer is excited to be back in Warrnambool and said the city gets in behind the…

Bellatrix Star (Star Witness) has defied early predictions and is set to be back at the races as early as Saturday at Caulfield after a stunning recovery from a fractured neck. The spring’s best jockey, Mark Zahra, has been confirmed as taking his first ride aboard the now four-year-old as she races for the first time in more than a year in the A$175,000 Listed Doveton Stakes (1100m). Such a comeback was something her connections dared not to even dream of at the start of the year when she broke…

Progressive staying prospect Skippers Canyon (NZ) (Belardo) will take another step towards a planned Pakenham Cup tilt when he runs over 1800m at Caulfield on Saturday. Stokes has a number of horses nominated to compete at the Zipping Classic Day meeting, with Skippers Canyon scheduled to run in a Benchmark 74 after making an impression first-up at the same track earlier this month with a last-to-first victory over 1700m in the same grade. That was Skippers Canyon’s second win from three starts for the Stokes stable since joining the team…

Farag (NZ) (Sacred Falls) will be given the chance to enter a new chapter in the Jericho Cup story at Warrnambool this Sunday when he strives to become the first back-to-back winner of the 4600-metre marathon. ‘’No horse has done it before so it would be great for him to achieve that,’’ trainer Aaron Purcell said on Tuesday. ‘’It’s obviously very hard to win the race once, let alone twice, but he’s in the right shape to give it a real shot.’’ To become the first defending champion of the…

Group Two winner Tuxedo (NZ) (Tivaci) is gearing up for a busy summer, with the son of Tivaci given a quiet trial over 1100m at Taupo on Tuesday to help ready him for his looming targets. He had a pleasing three-year-old term for trainers Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray, winning three of his six starts, including the Gr.2 Waikato Guineas (2000m) and Gr.3 Wellington Stakes (1600m), and was runner-up behind Damask Rose in the $1.5 million Karaka Million 3YO (1600m). He returned this season with a first-up victory over 1400m…