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NZTROF March 2017 Edition

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Taranaki breeders do it again!

In 2014 Taranaki businessman Chris Thompson, decided to invest in a couple of broodmares to boost his thoroughbred interests. He had already been involved with thoroughbreds for about 30 years, breeding and racing a few and on selling them out of Alan Sharrock's stable in New Plymouth, trading under the banner of Kaipikari Thoroughbreds from his 11 acre Urenui property. But with the desire to breed a few more, he purchased four broodmares and as it has turned out two of those mares have sons...

Werther seals Dubai trip

A group of New Zealanders have an important focus on the Dubai World Cup meeting next month after Werther recaptured his best form at Sha Tin on Sunday night. Werther, Hong Kong's reigning Horse Of The Year, remains unbeaten over the Sha Tin 2000 metres after giving John Moore his fifth win in the Gr.1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup on Sunday and now the son of Tavistock will head to Dubai for the US$6 million Dubai Turf (1800m) on March 25. Andrew Campbell, who originally trained Werther at Opaki ...

Excellent results for Goodwood Stud's William Fell

With graduates like Gingernuts (Iffraaj[GB]-Double Elle) a hot prospect in the Vodafone New Zealand Derby, and Nicoletta (Savabeel[AUS]-Celtic Crown[USA]) second favourite in the Wellfield New Zealand Oaks, the team at Goodwood Stud are looking forward to the month of March. Gingernuts bounced into Derby contention after a smart win in the Group Two Avondale Guineas, scoring by an impressive one and a quarter lengths after missing the start in the 2100 metre event. Whereas Nicoletta set a dete...

NZTR Chief Executive Stepping Down

Greg Purcell, Chief Executive for the past six years of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, has given notice to the NZTR Board of his intention to step down by the end of the current racing season. Having commenced his role at the helm of the thoroughbred code's management team in early 2011, Purcell believes the time is now right for the transition to a new Chief Executive. "Greg has worked with total dedication over the last six years and deserves acknowledgement forthe significant improvements ...

Oaks favourite carrying historic colours

There is more than a hint of history around the colours carried to Group Two success in the Sir Tristram Classic by Bonneval. The blue and green combo topped with a red cap has been associated with part-owner John Rattray's family for over 100 years. "They were the colours of the Irish Fusiliers, which was my grandfather's regiment and he registered them in 1915. We lost them for a period when my father let them lapse and someone else picked them up, then we got them back," Rattray said. Duri...

Start Wondering hits Group One glory again

This season's sprinting star Start Wondering (Eighth Wonder- Roseanbar) once again proved his class when he recently won the Waikato Racing Club's Group One NRM Sprint. The six-year-old gelding has clocked up three wins including the Group One Sistema Railway and the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint. He was also beaten a nose in the Group One Telegraph Handicap at Trentham in late January, making him a strong contender for sprinter of the year. Start Wondering is raced by Steve Gudsell, a member ...

Vadamos Fee Announced

Former star French galloper Vadamos (Monsun-Celebre Vadala, by Peintre Celebre) will begin stud duties at Rich Hill Stud in the 2017 Southern Hemisphere breeding season at the introductory fee of $15,000 + GST. Farm principal John Thompson said he had received outstanding feedback from visitors to the recent NZ Bloodstock National Yearling Sales at Karaka on his international Group One winner. "The word we were getting from the Australians is that they think he is exactly the type of horse who...

Minimum thoroughbred racing stakes to increase to $10,000 - NZTR Press Release 16/2/17

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Irish National Stud Scholarship Winner Cameron Ring arrives in Ireland

Fáilte go hÉireann! Arriving in Dublin, Ireland on Sunday, 22 January after a gruelling 25 hour haul was an experience in itself. Luckily Emirates put on a show with all the latest movies and a very tactical buy purchasing 'The Pumper', Jim Cassidy's biography that kept me entertained for the duration. A familiar face, Patrick Diamond (nominations and bloodstock management for the Irish National Stud (INS)) collected my tired self at 11am and we wasted no time catching up after a painful tw...

Victoria beckons leading CD trainer

Allan Sharrock's patience has run dry and so has that of his owners. The New Plymouth horseman is currently in Australia and he intends to move his training operation to Victoria when he can acquire suitable stables. "It's pretty dismal what's happening in New Zealand so I'm looking at an exit plan," Sharrock said. "I've got no option now and I have to move if I want to continue. I've been one of the lucky ones and I've got 30 horses in work for some great owners, but they've had enough a...

A Timely Reminder Regarding The Control Of Equine Contagious Diseases (including Strangles and Equine Herpes Virus)

With yearling sales, summer racing and the New Zealand Horse of the Year looming the New Zealand Equine Health Association (NZEHA Inc) encourages each of its member bodies to adopt codes as a way to handle equine disease outbreaks. Because management of diseases already in New Zealand is deemed to be an industry responsibility the only means of implementing controls on equine disease outbreaks is for Equine industry member organisations to endorse and enforce codes for the control of equine co...

Brian and Lorraine Anderton's Super Saturday

In 1950 Brian Anderton ONZM rode his first winner, the horse was White Robe, six years later he named his stud farm and training establishment White Robe Lodge after the same mare. In the early seventies he sponsored a race at Wingatui the home of the Otago Racing Club and named it the White Robe Lodge Stakes and every year since then he has sponsored that race, making him the longest sponsor of anytime of a race in New Zealand. This year the 2017 Group Three White Robe Lodge Handicap will g...

Melody Belle continues the legacy of the "Belle" family

In winning the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Million race, Melody Belle (Commands[AUS]-Meleka Belle) became the latest Stakes winner from the prolific Stakes winning "Belle" family nurtured by the Sarten family since 1939. Marie Leicester nee Sarten, is the registered breeder of Melody Belle and she is proudly carrying on the legacy of this amazing family from her late parents James and Annie Sarten. Leicester bred and raced the dam, Meleka Belle (by Iffraaj[GB]), and Melody Belle is he...

Bargain buy ignites yearling sales fairytale

An intrepid move to buy a $3000 weanling filly, race her and then mate her with a stallion standing for $7000 brought about one of the best feel-good stories at Karaka this week. A group of Mid Canterbury rugby and harness racing mates agreed to race Pyrus filly Shamrox from the Ashburton stable of Danny Champion, who bought the horse as a weanling out of the paddock from breeders Edwina Morris and Alan Jones. Shamrox showed immediate ability and the quintet of brothers Neville and Phil Prend...

Transcript of interview with Waikato Stud’s Mark Chittick as he reflects on the final yearling by O’Reilly to step through the Karaka Sales ring as Lot 1097 (O’Reilly x Toss Up colt) sold to Roger James for $200,000:

Unfortunately, it's happened. It was always going to happen at some stage. We would have liked it to have not been this year, and in a couple of years' time – he was a lovely horse and it just fell that he was a lovely horse to end with which was really cool. It's great that the colt has been bought by Roger James, who has had so much success with the sire. Obviously, there was a lot of fierce bidding there and to get a nice result like that makes you pretty emotional. He's been so respons...

James secures piece of Waikato Stud history

In a fitting tribute to his influence on the annual NZB National Yearling Sale over the past two decades, the last son of the mighty stallion O'Reilly to grace the Karaka complex as a yearling topped the prices on the final day of the Select Session. Offered as Lot 1097, the bay colt from Zabeel mare Toss Up strode into the auction ring under the watchful eye of Waikato Stud principals Mark and Garry Chittick along with a host of stud staff. Led through the ring by Dave O'Leary, for many year'...

Outstanding Results in NZB Insurance Pearl Series for Karaka Graduates

The New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Pearl Series has become an enormously popular and richly rewarding initiative in New Zealand racing, and results show that the National Yearling Sales Series at Karaka is a terrific source of quality contenders for the lucrative bonuses. The New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Association Pearl Series is a bonus scheme for New Zealand-bred fillies and mares, offering bonuses of almost $2.6 million and prizemoney of nearly $2.8 million. The scheme includes 215 ...

Circular following meeting of NZTR and Thoroughbred Sector Interests with NZ Racing Board (Circular 31/1/17)

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Thoroughbred Racing Leaders in Agreement On Priority for Industry (Press Release)

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Newhaven Park to stand Xtravagant

In a coup for the Australian breeding industry, Newhaven Park is excited to announce they have secured Champion New Zealand 3YO Xtravagant (Pentire (GB) x Axiom (NZ)). A sensational eight length debut winner at his only start at two and a dual Group One winner, Xtravagant won the Group One New Zealand 2000 Guineas by eight and a half lengths in race record time before beating older horses in the Group One Waikato Sprint, again by an extraordinary margin of eight lengths. Xtravagant will be retir...

Raise You Ten - another winner to the dynasty created by Frank Conway

In late January fifty-one years ago, Frank Conway a successful painting contractor, ventured to the Waikato yearling sales and bought his first horse. For 500 guineas he bought a Gold Sovereign(GB) filly out of Gold Sim and named her Mayo Gold, a champion filly, she won 18 races including the Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes, the Railway Handicap and as a three-year-old in the space of eight days the Wellington Stakes and the Wellington Oaks. Fast forward to January 2017 and deep in the South ...

Buyers descend on Karaka

The countdown to the New Zealand thoroughbred industry's most important week is on, as a host of the world's most prominent racehorse owners, agents and trainers descend on Auckland ahead of the 91st New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales Series at Karaka. The vibrant Karaka Million twilight races at Ellerslie on Sunday herald the start of festivities, with Prime Minister Bill English set to officially open Karaka 2017 on Monday morning. A total of 1347 yearlings will go under the h...

Death of Haunui Farm stallion a loss for breeding industry

The local thoroughbred breeding industry suffered a major loss this weekend when the Haunui Farm based Gr. 1 Australian Guineas winner Ferlax was euthanized after sustaining a paddock injury on Thursday afternoon. On the eve of transporting his first crop of yearlings to the annual National Yearling Sales series at Karaka, the death is a bitter pill for his connections to swallow. "We are quite devastated," said Haunui Farm's Managing Director, Mark Chitty. "We were privileged to have had t...

Hall of Fame's win for Canadian based Michael O'Keefe

Currently it's around minus 20 degrees in the city of Montreal in Canada, so receiving the news that you had just bred a Group One winner was like a burst of warm sunshine for Michael O'Keeffe the breeder of Hall Of Fame (Savabeel[AUS]-Around The World[AUS]). "It was fantastic news, he's a little champion and I couldn't be more pleased, it certainly brightened up the day, the winters here in Quebec are fierce," said O'Keeffe still an Australian at heart, when talking about the Group One Levin ...