Category: Gallops

There were a couple of nervous moments for Kurtis Pertab ahead of War Queen’s (NZ) (Proisir) debut at Hawera on Sunday, but the filly brought her trial form to the races and delivered a tidy victory in the Grangewilliam Stud (1200m). A daughter of Proisir, War Queen had a reputation for barrier woes and that almost continued at the Central Districts meeting, taking her time to link into barrier one. But, the filly eventually took her place and flew out when the gates opened, settling in the lead under Ace…

King Of The North (NZ) (Jon Snow) went from zero to hero in the space of two minutes at Ellerslie on Saturday, surprising even his trainers with a massive performance to win the Join TAB Racing Club 2100. An aptly named son of Jon Snow, King Of The North has made a strong early impression as a stayer and was sent out favourite in Saturday’s Rating 75 contest – but he looked more like a pauper than a king after missing the start by five lengths. But, in-form apprentice jockey…

Promising staying mare Who Knows (NZ) (Redwood) delivered the result many anticipated when she took out a competitive John Turkington Forestry / Waipine Country Cup (2200m) at Trentham on Saturday. The daughter of Redwood has been patiently handled by Niall Quinn, with just ten prior starts including two wins at a mile and 2100m. After building nicely into her autumn campaign, Who Knows was back out to a distance she truly thrives at and was backed as the horse to beat on Saturday, closing a shortening $2.10 favourite. While punters…

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD NEWSLETTER

Liberami (NZ) (Turn Me Loose) opened up more options for his trainer Robbie Griffiths when he stretched out beyond 1600m for the first time in his career and took out Saturday’s A$130,000 Murray Cox Handicap (1800m) at Flemington. The New Zealand-bred gelding brought a rich vein of autumn form into the Benchmark 84 handicap, with his four previous starts producing second placings over 1300m and 1500m at Sandown, a third over 1600m at Bendigo, and a last-start Benchmark 70 victory over 1600m at Sandown. He looked well placed at the…

The Queensland Winter Carnival is proving to be a happy hunting ground for Imperialist (NZ) (Churchill), who collected his second Brisbane black-type prize in Saturday’s A$250,000 Gr.3 HKJC World Pool Rough Habit Plate (2000m) at Doomben. The New Zealand-bred son of Churchill opened his winning account in the Listed The Phoenix (1500m) at Eagle Farm last June, which was only the third start of his career. The Chris Waller-trained gelding had gone winless in nine races since then, but collected three placings earlier in his three-year-old season, including the Gr.2…

Emma-Lee and David Browne’s victory in the A$300,000 Listed Lexus Andrew Ramsden (2800m) at Flemington on Saturday was enormously valuable in more ways than one for the Kiwi couple. A first black-type success for their homebred mare Basilinna (NZ) (Staphanos) carried plenty of value in itself, but the Andrew Ramsden also guarantees its winner a ballot-free spot in the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) in November. “I’m a bit overwhelmed actually,” Emma-Lee Browne said. “Now we just have to wrap her up in cotton wool, and then we can be back…

Visiting Brazilian hoop Bruno Queiroz is making every post a winner in his local riding stint by adding a maiden New Zealand stakes success to his bag of tricks as he guided gallant mare Francee (NZ) (Iffraaj) to a thrilling victory in the Listed James Bull Rangitikei Cup (1600m) at Trentham. Queiroz, who had ridden for Kiwi trainer Stephen Gray during a successful Singapore excursion after leaving his native Brazil, joined Gray in New Zealand earlier this month and immediately made an impact by riding a winner on his first…

Promising three-year-old Celestial Wonder (Xtravagant) showed plenty of courage as she put in a resolute finishing burst to take out the Evergreen Bloodstock (1100m) at Ellerslie. The Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-prepared filly had looked good during her opening campaign, where she won her second start before being put aside for a spell after finishing runner-up behind Hitabell (NZ) (Embellish) in the Listed O’Learys Fillies Stakes (1340m) in November. A narrow defeat over 1200m at Te Rapa in her first start of a new campaign was followed by a midfield…