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Dramatist picks up second Pearl Series Bonus

3yo filly Dramatist picked up her second NZB Insurance Pearl Bonus prize in a month. A stylish win at Banks Peninsula Racing Club in the Racing 75 Benchmark Fillies and Mares over 1400m saw connections scoop the bonus prize. She was nominated into the NZB Insurance Pearl Series in 2012. See our website for information on how to register your 2014 yearling. - Nicola Griffiths...

Vale Nelson Bunker Hunt

American Nelson Bunker Hunt, who died in Dallas earlier this week, was by any measurement a big, big man. The rotund Texan, along with brother W. Herbert Hunt, inherited multi-billions from their father, the legendary Texas oilman H. L. Hunt. Bunker added to the fortune and at one time was considered the richest man in the world. With a seemingly bottomless pit to his wealth, he became the world's most influential racehorse owner, winning America's prestige Eclipse Award four times and racing ...

Owen Tomlinson breeds Group Three winner "Ginner Hart"

"He is a good old horse, and it's great to see him winning," quipped Owen Tomlinson, the man behind Hobby Horse Hall Racing Limited the breeders of the Group Three Lion Red Plate winner Ginner Hart (Volksraad[IRE]-Lyford Cay). "The family has been good to me and it's good to see this horse going on. I haven't got too many left out of the family now, my son Ben is more involved than me but we are still going," Tomlinson told the NZTBA from his home on the Gold Coast. "I tried to watch the race ...

The Filly ..... third time lucky!

There is a long held philosophy in breeding that you should breed your mare to the same stallion three times to give it the best chance of throwing a good horse. The Filly, the recent winner of the group three Rich Hill Stud Taranaki Breeders Stakes is testament to that theory, as she is the product of the third mating of her dam Bayline Beauty (GB) (Soviet Star[USA]- Bottom Line[GB])with Ishiguru (USA)(Danzig[USA]-Strategic Maneuver[USA]). A tough little race mare her win in the Group Three e...

LETMEGO wins NZB Insurance Pearl Series Maiden

An impressive win at Taupo today in the 1300m NZB Insurance Pearl Series Maiden saw connections of 3YO filly LETMEGO (No Excuse Needed (GB)/Embargo) win bonus prizemoney following her nomination into the NZB Insurance Pearl Series in 2012. She is the third 3YO filly nominated for the Pearl Series to win to date. Earlybird nominations for yearlings are now being taken. See our website for further details. - Nicola Griffiths...

Michael Wallace spends up in Ireland

Working in his role as the Racing and Bloodstock Manager for the China Horse Club, Michael Wallace purchased the second highest priced lot at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale on Tuesday when he went to €850,000 to secure Lot 227 a colt by Sea The Stars (IRE)/Evensong (GER). Michael Wallace Bloodstock/China Horse Club purchased two further lots on Monday; Lot 81, a colt by Dream Ahead (USA))/Tiger Spice (GB) for €110,000 and Lot 170 a colt by Windsor Park shuttler Rip Van Winkle (IRE)/Cawett (IRE...

Robert's Blog – September 2014

Robert's Final Blog from Kentucky Hi there everyone, welcome to my final update on my Sunline Scholarship experience. It's been a whirlwind 30 weeks that has gone much faster than I ever thought it would. It has definitely been a great experience where I have had plenty of opportunity to learn off some of the best in the business and I am looking forward to putting my new knowledge and skills into practise back in NZ. My final blog will cover my final weeks at Taylor Made in the states inclu...

Volkstok'n'barrell win a thrill for Mana Park

A few weeks ago Mana Park's Maryanne Simon was trying to find a good home for a nice old mare that had been semi-retired, now that mare is off to Cambridge Stud to visit Tavistock again. The mare is 18 year-old Volkster (Volksraad[IRE]-Row of Mapperley) the dam of the Group Three Bonecrusher Stakes winner Volkstok'n'barrell - Tavistock's second stakes winner. She is owned by Hong Kong based Dominic Li of IDL Bloodstock Limited, who also has a racing share in Volkstok'n'barrell along with his tr...

WANTED - MARES FOR LEASE

Now that the season has begun, we are encouraging owners of mares who do not plan to breed with them this season to list them on our website with the intention of leasing them to other breeders for a year (or more). Members are reminded that we currently have a section on our website called "Horses for Sale and Lease". In recent times this section has proven to be very successful when leasing a mare for breeding. Ideally mares with a SELECT SALE pedigree or better will be listed at this time. C...

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Renowned mare The Opera House has passed her rare pigmentation on to her latest foal. The white filly by champion sire High Chaparral was born at Windsor Park Stud, near Cambridge, on Wednesday night. "She is a very elegant foal, a good size, very attractive and obviously very white," said Windsor Park Stud's Rodney Schick. "She is already very popular with lots of newspapers calling today and she has gone crazy on Facebook with over 200 people sharing her photo already." The Opera House mad...

Darci's Dream - Dreaming of Group One Success

Te Akau Stud boss David Ellis is hoping that Darci's Dream (Darci Brahma-Sweet Dreams Baby) winner of the listed New Zealand Bloodstock Canterbury Belle Stakes will become their next Group One graduate. As the winner of the Canterbury Belle Stakes the Darci Brahma filly will be exempt from the ballot in the Group One New Zealand Bloodstock 1000 Guineas at Riccarton in November, and with three wins under her belt she is shaping up as a strong contender for $300,000 classic for three-year-old fil...

NZTBA member Kevin Hickman kicks off the new season with a bang

The reigning breeder of the year Kevin Hickman has had an unbelievable start to the new season, with four of the stakes winners who helped him win that title all performing at the top level again. Last Saturday two of those last season's champion two-year-old Vespa (Elusive City[USA]- Miss Avalon[IRE]) and Merion (O'Reilly- Sapphire Belle) both won at listed level and it looks like they may now clash in the Group One Caulfield Guineas on October 11. "That will be interesting, it's nice to see ...

Champions inducted in to the Walk Of Fame

This week saw two of the Waikato's favourite sons inducted into the Cambridge 'Sporting Walk of Fame'. Hosted by the Waipa District Council at the impressive Avantidrome cycling track, champion racehorse SO YOU THINK and champion sire, VOLKSRAAD now deservedly grace Duke Street with their presence with a commemorative mosaic set into the footpath. They join numerous legendary thoroughbreds including SIR TRISTRAM and EIGHT CARAT as well as 13 (and counting) Melbourne Cup winners. They were indu...

Racing for Change

Considering casting a racing-friendly vote in this year's general election? While racing isn't deemed a major issue for any of the political parties, some have released racing policies. Each recognises how significant a contribution the racing industry makes to the national economy, both in terms of the $1.6 billion to the GDP and the 17,000 jobs supported through the industry. With the New Zealand General Election (September 20) just a week away, below is a brief overview on each of the majo...

Auckland Branch celebrates their members' success

It was a big weekend for the Auckland Branch of the NZTBA as they held their annual awards evening and stallion parade. On Saturday evening around 130 guests attended the New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance sponsored event at Villa Maria Winery to celebrate the breeding achievements of the Auckland branch members. Awards were given out for four group one winners, five group two winners and seven group three winners. Rising Romance the winner of Group One ATC Oaks, the Group Two ARC Royal Stakes, ...

2013-2014 Free Handicaps released

NZTR's chief handicapper, Brett Scelly, has released the 2013-2014 Free Handicaps today. Click here to view - NZTR...

Exciting win for Windsor Park Stud

There is a certain sense of excitement at Windsor Park Stud at the moment brought about by the impressive win of Stratocaster (Mastercraftsman[IRE]-Very Musical[IRE]) in the recent Hawke's Bay Guineas Prelude. The steely grey three-year-old was making only his second race day appearance when he took out the event by a length, previously he had finished an unlucky fifth in a two-year-old event at Ruakaka in June. "It is very exciting to have a three-year-old like him going forward to races like...

Robert's Blog – August 2014

Robert's latest blog from Kentucky Greetings everyone, I'm into the final leg of the Sunline International Management Scholarship currently at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky, USA. I've been here for about 6 weeks so far and have been busy working on the farm preparing yearlings and at working at sales here in Kentucky and 800 miles away in Saratoga, NY. I arrived in Lexington, KY late on Friday 11th June and the first thing that hit me was the heat. Even though it was nearly midnight it was...

Sun shines on Waikato Branch annual stallion parade

The Waikato Branch of the NZTBA held their annual JLT Bloodstock Stallion parade last weekend, and were blessed with magnificent weather and a good crowd of enthusiastic breeders. According to Waikato Branch committeeman Keith Lunn who was the MC on both days, the stallions all looked fantastic and so did the farms, and the breeders that attended all enjoyed the beautiful weather and the camaraderie. The parade commenced on Saturday at Hallmark Stud in Te Kauwhata where Super Easy was paraded ...

NZTBA appoints new Office Manager

The New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association has appointed Nicola Griffiths to the position of Office Manager, following the retirement of Sally Cassels-Brown after 28 years. Nicola brings to her new role a long-standing interest in equestrian sports and a strong professional background in the thoroughbred industry, administration, marketing and client liaison. Nicola has most recently worked as the Insurance Manager for Gow-Gates Insurance Brokers and before that filled a similar role f...

Kevin Hickman named 2014 New Zealand Breeder of the Year

Canterbury NZTBA branch members Kevin and Joanne Hickman headed back to Christchurch from Hamilton with quite a bit of excess baggage in the form of three Horse of the Year Award trophies. The Hickman's were voted Breeder of the Year, Owner of the Year and their exquisite mare Silent Achiever (O'Reilly – Winning Spree) Stayer of the Year. "It was a heavy night in the end, we were a bit lucky," said a delighted Hickman. And talking specifically about the Breeder of the Year award he said it ...

2014 Broodmare of the Year and the 2014 Breeder of the Year nominations announced

The nominations for 2014 Broodmare of the Year and the 2014 Breeder of the Year were announced recently with the winners to be presented at the New Zealand Thoroughbred Awards in Hamilton on August 14. After the phenomenal success of the New Zealand bred horses in Sydney over the autumn it is understandable that the dams of Dundeel - Stareel, Sacred Falls – Iguazu's Girl and Silent Achiever – Winning Spree, all group one winners in Sydney, have received nominations for the broodmare title, ...

Waikato Stud's O'Reilly top of the tree again

O'Reilly is again cleaning house. The Waikato Stud sire has for the second time in his celebrated career swept all three stallion categories for the New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Awards. In the 2012-13 season, O'Reilly claimed the Dewar Stallion Trophy for leading New Zealand sire based on Australasian earnings, the Grosvenor Award for New Zealand earnings and Centaine Award for global earnings - and he has repeated the dose for the second straight year. O'Reilly's progeny earned more than $...

NZTBA Life Member Norm Hawthorne remembered by Steve Brem

"The end of an era" is a cliché often trotted out when we mark the passing of someone with a long history of individualism and achievement. But there was nothing clichéd about Norman Victor Hawthorne who passed away aged 87 in July. He was an original. Rough-rider, shearer, pastoralist, horseman extraordinaire, hard taskmaster, animal lover, raconteur, romantic, mentor, big softie, squeeze-box player…these were just some of his better-known sides. As a friend for 35 years he was, above all ...

Whangarei Cup winner for Glennis Munro

Whangarei Cup winner Bechtolsheimer (Remind[USA]- Sophie Ro) has literally come a long way this year to achieve success in the open 2100 metre handicap event, scoring decisively by three-quarters of a length. That win completed a hat-trick for the four-year-old mare who is raced by her breeder Glennis Munro, a resident of Avondale in central Southland. She was previously trained in Riverton where she won two races, before Munro made the decision earlier this year to send her north to be trained...