Category: Gallops

The horse who has provided Star Thoroughbreds with its most significant moment on the racetrack this season is just weeks away from her first barrier trial. All options are on the table for Australian Derby winner Aeliana (NZ) (Castelvecchio) this spring, including a potential tilt at the country’s weight-for-age championship. The filly was among the stars of the Sydney autumn carnival, finishing a desperately unlucky second to Broadsiding in the Rosehill Guineas before thumping her rivals to claim the Derby by more than five lengths. Syndicator Denise Martin of Star…

The heartbreak of Trentham was well and truly healed for the connections of Smug (NZ) (Complacent) at Woodville on Sunday, when the rising star came out on top in a stirring edition of the Glenanthony Simmentals Stud Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase (4800m). The son of Complacent was initially capable hurdler and placed in the Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3100m) last season, but when he switched into the steeplechasing role for the first time last month, he looked right at home. Smug made every post a winner in that debut, until disaster struck,…

Gail Temperton’s emerging talent Never Look Back (NZ) (Shocking) conquered two of the stars in New Zealand jumps racing when taking out Sunday’s Te Whangai Romneys Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3000m) at Woodville. A winner of four flat races, Never Look Back had been a consummate professional in his jumping debut in mid-May, but had mixed his jumping in the Manawatu Hurdles (2500m) and Waikato Hurdle (3200m), albeit still finishing fifth in the latter. The market was a slight reflection of those results, with the son of Shocking drifting from $5.50…

Promising hurdler Quid (NZ) (Rios) delivered the result all the punters had anticipated at Woodville on Sunday when he powered away with the Gladiators and Eye Ota (3000m). A winner of three on the flat, Quid undoubtably brought the strongest form into the race, having finished a narrow second to Our Daymo when the pair went to war in a maiden hurdle at Trentham in late June. Despite that performance, the TAB opened the Kevin Myers-trained gelding at $4 during the week, which was swiftly snapped up, and he closed…

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD NEWSLETTER

New Zealand-bred three-year-old Arcadia Park (NZ) (Ocean Park) passed his first black-type test with flying colours in the A$125,000 Listed Aquanita Stakes (2019m) at Bunbury on Saturday. The Michael Grantham-trained gelding went into the race with two wins and three placings to his name from eight career starts, most recently a smart last-start success over 1600m at Pinjarra on June 28. The Aquanita was a step up in class and distance, but Arcadia Park was well and truly up to the task. Arcadia Park was ridden by Clint Johnson-Porter and…

Stakes-winning New Zealand import Aberlour recorded her first win on Australian soil with a strong front-running performance in the A$160,000 Toyota Forklifts Handicap (1800m) at Randwick on Saturday. Sent out as a $15 chance in the hands of expat Kiwi jockey Alysha Collett, Aberlour broke well from the starting gates and slid forward to take the lead within the first 100m. That was where she stayed, bowling along in front with a two-length margin up until the home turn. Aberlour was able to kick again soon after entering the straight,…

Promising three-year-old Stop The Rock (NZ) (El Roca) collected the fourth win of his five-race career with another irresistible finish in Saturday’s A$150,000 Sportsbet Same Race Multi Handicap (2000m) at Caulfield. The New Zealand-bred son of El Roca is trained by Patrick and Michelle Payne and kicked off his career with a debut win at Warrnambool on New Year’s Eve. He returned from a freshen up with a fifth at Cranbourne in May, but never looked back from there. He has now strung together three consecutive victories, including two Saturday…

Progressive mare Nancy She Wrote (NZ) (Wrote) provided co-trainer Ben Foote with the perfect welcome home from a Gold Coast holiday when she came from well back to capture the Tanalised Mile (1600m) at Ruakaka. The five-year-old daughter of Wrote is prepared by Foote and son Ryan from their Cambridge stable and has always looked a promising middle distance performer for her breeder and owner, Gerald Bell. After being given a brief spell following an unplaced run over 2100m at Ellerslie in April, Nancy She Wrote resumed with a handy…

Apprentice jockey Ace Lawson-Carroll honoured his late friend Ngakau Hailey with a salute as he guided Reward Smile (Havana Grey) to a poignant win in the Northpine Waipu Cup (1400m) at Ruakaka on Saturday. Jockeys wore black armbands in the $40,000 feature in memory of the 18-year-old Hailey, who was killed in a tragic vehicle accident in Hamilton on Wednesday. Lawson-Carroll was pleased to pick up a victory that meant much more than most. “It’s quite special and I’m glad I could get that win for Ngakau,” he said. “I…