Category: Gallops

Riccarton trainer Lance Robinson will trek south to Gore with just the one run runner on Sunday, but he is hopeful that will be enough to bring home a winner’s cheque. Promising Tagaloa gelding Alottago will be seeking to bounce back in the Listed Liquorland Gore Guineas (1335m) following his seventh placing in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) in November, the only blemish on his seven-start career. Robinson said the Heavy9 conditions were not to his gelding’s liking on that day and he was proud of his tenacity…

Samantha and Francis Finnegan followed a successful pattern when going to $125,000 to purchase a sharp filly by Written By at the Summer Sale at Karaka on Thursday. Awapuni conditioner Samantha Finnegan picked up her first winner as a trainer when Written By filly Bona Sforza swept home on debut to take out the Listed Welcome Stakes (1000m) at Riccarton and she also finished fourth in the Gr.1 1000 Guineas (1600m) behind star filly Well Written. Bona Sforza was a $150,000 Karaka yearling purchase and the Finnegans went to $125,000…

Trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott have been putting in the hard yards over the past few weeks as they look to amass their next stable stars and they struck early at the Summer Sale session of the New Zealand National Yearling Sales at Karaka on Thursday. Bidding remotely through New Zealand Bloodstock’s Andrew Seabrook, O’Sullivan went to $80,000 to buy a striking filly by Noverre out of the four-win El Roca mare Royal Roc as Lot 865. “She is just athletic and a really nice filly. She walked well,…

After World Pool made its first appearance in New Zealand last year, the TAB Karaka Millions meeting on Saturday took betting on the meeting to another level. Powered by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, World Pool accepts bets from the HKJC’s overseas partners, creating the deepest and most liquid pari-mutuel pools for international top races. With customers from at least 25 participating countries and regions around the world wagering into a single pool, World Pool hosted betting on all six races at Saturday’s meeting, ensuring a 71% uplift in turnover…

Flemington trainer Glen Thompson is keen to build up his stable numbers and was pleased to come away with a pair of colts by Sword of State at Tuesday’s Book 2 session of the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales. Thompson, who trained in partnership with Mike Moroney until the legendary horseman’s death in February last year, lost several of his higher-rated horses, with Ballymore Stables absorbed by Lindsay Park. But Gr.1 Australasian Oaks (2000m) winner Benagil has been a headline act for Thompson’s small stable alongside Flemington Group Three…

David Hayes is applying blinkers to Public Attention (NZ) (Written Tycoon) for Sunday’s (1 February) HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m), a move the trainer believes will help the quality grey colt reach another gear when the Four-Year-Old Classic Series begins.  Public Attention placed fifth at Group 1 level in Australia pre-import, and has made three starts in Hong Kong – finishing in the top four each time. This weekend’s contest sees him rise to a mile at Sha Tin with the addition of blinkers, which he wore to…

A week after the pick of the eligible crop did battle in the Listed Karaka Millions (1200m), a second wave of quality juveniles are set to line up at Ellerslie in Saturday’s Gr.3 Colin Jillings Classic (1200m). The field is headed by Harvey Wallbanger (NZ) (Home Affairs), whose two starts at Ellerslie have produced a debut win in October and second place in the Gr. 2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m) on New Year’s Day. In between those two races the Tony Pike-trained gelding finished second in the Listed Counties Challenge Stakes…

The momentum from a record Book 1 session at NZB’s 100th National Yearling Sale continued into Book 2 on Tuesday, where a condensed session saw 188 yearlings sell for an incredible $12,247,000. Surpassing all previous records, the Book 2 session reached an average of $65,144 (up 80%), a median of $60,000 (up 124%) and a clearance rate of 76%.  “As we had expected, putting the Book 2 horses in front of the international buyers has been key,” commented NZB’s Managing Director Andrew Seabrook. “To see a $2.5 million increase in turnover from…

Cambridge Stud enjoyed another strong day of selling at the Book 2 session of the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales at Karaka. The famed nursery were leading vendors of the Book 1 Sale and also held that mantle on Tuesday, clearing all but one of their 16-strong draft in Book 2 Progeny of Cambridge Stud’s emerging sire Sword Of State were again in vogue, while barn-mate Embellish provided the day’s top lot, with Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young signing for a filly out of Queen Of Wizardry for $200,000.…

One of the Australia’s most talented juveniles, Warwoven (Sword Of State), won’t be racing for next month’s Gr.1 Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield and remains in doubt for the autumn juvenile riches in Sydney. Trainer Bjorn Baker said on Tuesday that the colt had been sent for a short let-up after his sensational Magic Millions scratching earlier this month, but he was due to return to the stable at the end of the week with an eye to reviving his Golden Slipper prospects. The son of Sword Of State was…