Category: Gallops

Peter Brosnan brought up his century of winners in emphatic style last weekend at Te Rapa, and the Matamata horseman will head south on Sunday with a couple of key contenders in the Hawke’s Bay features at Woodville. Brosnan was sitting on 99 wins heading into last Saturday’s Te Rapa meeting, and it wasn’t long before Squire (NZ) (Savile Row), who he trains in partnership with wife Jessica, scored a nine-length demolition of his rivals in the open hurdle. He was rapt with the result, with the milestone coming as…

The New Zealand racing industry is in mourning following the passing of apprentice jockey Ngakau Hailey. The 18-year-old hoop was involved in a vehicle accident in Hamilton on Wednesday between a dirt bike and car, with Hailey sustaining critical injuries, and he later passed away at Hamilton Hospital. “It’s tragic, words just can’t describe it. I was talking with him on Monday and then this happens,” New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Northern Riding Master Noel Harris said. Apprenticed to Te Awamutu trainer Debbie Sweeney, Hailey kicked off his riding career two…

Speedy youngster Spandeedo (NZ) (Ferrando) will be even more of a force to be reckoned with when he learns to harness his abundance of pace. Despite his youthful enthusiasm, the son of Ferrando has collected a win and two placings from three appearances and will bid to add to his record in Saturday’s Simon Bendall @ Metcalfe Real Estate 2YO (1200m) at Hawera. “He should have won three in a row really, if they let him run he just goes too fast into the turn and can’t corner so well,”…

Group One-winning sprinter Crocetti (NZ) (Zacinto) has returned to Danny Walker and Arron Tata’s Byerley Park stable with some lofty summer targets in mind. The four-year-old son of Zacinto was a standout in his three-year-old season, winning six of his seven starts, including the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), and was runner-up behind Bonny Lass in the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m). The Daniel Nakhle-bred and raced chestnut picked up where he left off, winning the Kerikeri Cup (1100m) first-up this season before placing in the Gr.3 Concorde Stakes…

Donna Logan has been in a rebuilding phase since returning to New Zealand from Singapore late last year and she is excited to kick-off the careers of her Byerley Park stable’s foundation juveniles this weekend. Logan will return to her old stomping ground of Ruakaka on Saturday, and she is excited to return to the place she called home for several decades. “There will be a lot of people there we haven’t seen in a long time and it is always fun to go back up to Ruakaka,” Logan said.…

Brazilian hoop Bruno Queiroz was airborne in the tangerine silks of Te Akau Racing at Riccarton’s synthetic meeting on Wednesday, guiding two of the stable’s runners to success and another to a narrow placing. The double emulated his effort on the previous day at Otaki, where he piloted Testing (NZ) (Time Test) and He’s All Fabulous (NZ) (Fabulous) to victory across the rescheduled card, before heading south with a big book of rides. His Riccarton brace commenced in the Speight’s Summit Ultra On Tap Maiden (1600m) where odds-on favourite Purple…

Local gelding Zoulander (NZ) (Zoustar) belied his odds once more when scoring his second consecutive victory on Riccarton’s synthetic track on Wednesday. Despite winning over 1400m on the surface last month, he was unwanted by punters in the Join TAB Racing Club Rating 75 (1400m), jumping a $26.40 outsider. The seven-year-old gelding was slow out of the gates, but he quickly regained the deficit and apprentice jockey Floor Moerman elected to push forward on the fence to sit in the trail. Pacemaker Doubtful Sound (Not A Single Doubt) kicked clear…

The star Kiwi jockey joined Racing Pulse after recently announcing he is going to come out of retirement and return to race riding. Listen Here

Apprentice jockey Triston Moodley is on the mend in Hamilton Hospital following an incident at the Waipa trials on Tuesday. The 23-year-old hoop was kicked in the head in the mounting yard at the Te Awamutu track and he was airlifted to Waikato Hospital where he underwent surgery last night. Moodley is apprenticed to Byerley Park trainer Danny Walker, who has been by his bedside and reported that he has come through the surgery well. “He got kicked in the head yesterday at the trials, he is in Hamilton Hospital,…

Two of the heavyweights of New Zealand synthetic racing are set to meet for just the second time this week at Cambridge’s synthetic meeting on Thursday. The Mark Treweek-trained Lhasa (Hellbent) has won six of his nine starts on the surface, while the David Greene-trained Branciforti (NZ) (Belardo) has won four of her nine polytrack starts, including defeating the former in last year’s $100,000 Martin Collins Polytrack 1400m Innovation Race at Awapuni. The pair will renew their rivalry in Thursday’s Cambridge Real Estate 1300, with the 92-rated Lhasa set to…