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Nereus rises to Awapuni Gold Cup challenge

Shaune Ritchie & Colm Murray continued an outstanding season with their stayers when up-and-coming star Nereus powered home to win the Gr.2 City Of Palmerston North Awapuni Gold Cup (2100m) at Trentham on Saturday.The Cambridge-based training partnership completed a rare double in March with two-mile specialist Mahrajaan victorious in the Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) and Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m), and look to have another staying star on their hands with four-year-old Nereus.The son of Savab...

Captain adds to envious record in Easter Cup

A ground saving ride by Thomas Stockdale paved the way for the Paul Preusker-trained Captain Envious to upset the applecart when he prevailed in a thrilling finish top the Gr.3 Easter Cup (2000m) at Caulfield.The son of Savabeel went into the race after two less than impressive efforts to open his autumn campaign with punters sending last year’s Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m) winner out at odds of better than $32 on the tote.He looked to be travelling easily in midfield against the fence for Stoc...

Here To Shock adds a new string to his bow

Racing on or near the pace has been a hallmark through most of Here To Shock’s career, but the talented New Zealand-bred changed things up at Caulfield on Saturday and powered home from off the pace to win the Gr.3 Victoria Handicap (1400m).The accomplished six-year-old drew the outside gate in a field of 11 for Saturday’s A$200,000 feature, and rider Daniel Stackhouse elected to ease back and settle in the back half of the field as Edison set a solid pace in front.Here To Shock had only fou...

Gold Wolf heads Kiwi-bred quinella at Caulfield

Promising three-year-old staying prospect Gold Wolf showed he could be a contender for the Gr.1 South Australian Derby (2500m) next month when he produced a strong finish to tip out fellow kiwi-bred galloper Antrim Coast in a thrilling conclusion to the Listed Elvis Thurgood Galilee Series Final (2400m) at Caulfield.The David and Coral Feek-prepared son of Tivaci has come along in leaps and bounds of late after breaking his maiden status over 1600m at Moe in December. His continued development w...

Good Banter too tough in Adrian Knox

With a hard-fought victory in Saturday’s Gr.3 TAB Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m) at Randwick, Good Banter completed a trans-Tasman feature double for three-year-old progeny of former Cambridge Stud stallion Tavistock.Good Banter became Tavistock’s 50th individual stakes winner – a tally that had reached 48 less than two hours earlier when Outovstock won the Gr.3 Higgins Concrete Manawatu Classic (2100m) at Trentham. In between times, six-year-old mare Apostrophe became the 49th black-type winn...

Desperado gets Caulfield victory in driving finish

Former Kiwi galloper Desperado lived up to his name when he produced a desperate finish to take out the Robert Taranto Handicap (2000m) at Caulfield on Saturday.Initially prepared in New Zealand by Brian and Shane Anderton where he was successful in his fourth of five starts, the now six-year-old son of Ghibellines was purchased by a group of Australian and Kiwi owners that includes many of the same names who were involved in another former Anderton runner in Ablaze who numbered the 2019 Jericho...

Super Seth two-year-old maintains perfect record

An outstanding few weeks for Waikato Stud’s freshman sire Super Seth continued at Caulfield on Saturday with the unbeaten Feroce winning the A$150,000 Vale John Russell (1200m).Feroce now boasts a two-from-two record and is one of two first-crop winners in Australia so far this season for Super Seth. His other Australian winner is the exciting Linebacker, who has also been successful in both of his starts including last Saturday’s Gr.3 Baillieu Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill. Linebacker is being...

2024 Online Yearling Sale Live on Gavelhouse Plus

NZB's 2024 National Online Yearling Sale is now live, with the quality 100-lot catalogue available to view on Gavelhouse Plus.For the fourth year, the digital edition to NZB’s National Yearling Sales Series is set to be conducted on the premium online platform Gavelhouse Plus with bidding closing on Wednesday 17 April from 6pm (NZT).  All unbroken yearlings purchased from the National Online Yearling Sale are eligible to be nominated for NZB’s lucrative Karaka Millions Se...

Emotions high as Belclare brings down the curtain with repeat Breeders’ Stakes

Emotions were running high at Ellerslie last Saturday as the classy racemare Belclare brought the curtain down on her domestic career with a second consecutive victory in the Gr. 1 NZEA New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes.Immediately after the Lisa Latta-trained six-year-old had repeated her 2023 win in our only Group One race for fillies and mares, it was announced she will be sold at the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale on the Gold Coast next month.According to the Per Incanto mare’s ma...

Meet The Breeder - Gail Temperton

In this week's edition of Dunstan HorseFeeds Meet the Breeder, we chat with Gail Temperton, who along with partner Stan Alexander under the banner of Taikorea Thoughbreds bred Mark Twain the recent winner of the Listed VRC Lexus Roy Higgins Handicap.Tell us the story of Mark Twain?Taikorea Thoroughbreds is a small breeding farm owned by myself and partner Stan Alexander.Although I am hands on operator Stan supports me and enjoys all results of our efforts.We purchased his dam Pinders Prize ...

Belclare off to the Gold Coast

Last start Group One winner Belclare looks to have run her last race, with the Lisa Latta-trained mare entered for next month’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Broodmare sale.The daughter of Per Incanto was bred by David Woodhouse, who races the mare in partnership with John Clark and the Rusties Syndicate, for whom she has won 11 of her 36 starts and nearly $1 million in prizemoney.Belclare had a fitting send-off at Ellerslie last Saturday when defending her crown in the Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbr...

Orchestral outstanding in Australian debut

A year after winning the Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) with Prowess, Cambridge trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood returned to Rosehill on Saturday and achieved a repeat result with another special filly.Orchestral headed across the Tasman as one of the most-hyped New Zealand three-year-olds in recent memory. She had won all of her four previous starts in succession, including the Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m), the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) and a runaway victory in the Gr.1 New Zealand ...

Mark Twain rockets home in Roy Higgins

Emerging stayer Mark Twain capped a dream day for Cambridge trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood when he won Saturday’s Listed Lexus Roy Higgins (2600m) at Flemington and secured himself a ballot-free entry into the Melbourne Cup (Gr.1, 3200m).Mark Twain’s heroics in the A$500,000 staying feature came less than an hour after his superstar stablemate Orchestral won the Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) in Sydney. That Savabeel filly will deservedly dominate headlines for her blockbuster per...

Super Seth colt stars in Baillieu

Linebacker became the first stakes winner for freshman Waikato Stud stallion Super Seth with a classy and tenacious victory in Saturday’s Gr.3 Hyland Race Colours Baillieu (1400m) at Rosehill – a performance that also earned him a shot at next month’s Gr.1 Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick.Held in high regard by trainer John O’Shea, Linebacker made a perfect start to his career with a four-length win on debut at Hawkesbury in late February. The Bailleu was a big step up for his second...

Belclare goes back-to-back in Breeders’ Stakes

Perennially under-rated mare Belclare had a richly deserved day in the Ellerslie sun on Saturday, bringing her high-class New Zealand racing career to a close with a successful defence of her title in the Gr.1 NZEA New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m).The Lisa Latta-trained mare has spent most of her career under the radar and has defied double-digit odds for many of her previous successes – including a $22 upset in last year’s Breeders’ Stakes at Pukekohe and a $21 boilover...

Wymark stakes Derby claim in Tulloch

Wymark’s connections are likely to pay a late nomination fee for next week’s Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) after the rapidly improving three-year-old collected his fourth win in a row in Saturday’s Gr.2 Toyota Forklifts Tulloch Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill.The Randwick classic was not originally on the radar for the Savabeel gelding, who began his career with six consecutive top-four finishes over distances ranging from 1200m to 1500m.But the step up over ground has lifted the talented New Z...

Group One performer Hilal to Grangewilliam Stud

Australian Group Two winner and multiple Group One performer Hilal will commence stud duties at Mark and Jane Corcoran’s Grangewilliam Stud at Waitotora this spring.The impeccably bred son of Fastnet Rock was prepared predominantly by Team Hawkes in a career that spanned three seasons.Bred and raced by Emirates Park, Hilal boasts victories in the Gr.2 Stan Fox Stakes (1500m) and A$1 million Bondi Stakes (1600m) at three, but his elite talent was noticeable from the outset.Hilal debuted with a ...

Meet the Breeder - Brian Anderton

This week in Dunstan Horsefeeds Meet the Breeder, we have a quick chat with Brian Anderton, a name synonymous with breeding in the South Island and most recently had success in the Gr.3 South Island Breeders' Stakes with home-bred mare, Burgie.Tell us the history of White Robe Lodge.I was a jockey at 13, first winner at age 14, horse called White Robe therefore the business name! So I started as a jockey, then stud master then trainer – I combined all three passions.The business started i...

Te Akau to extend golden run with gavelhouse.com

The last few days have delivered a series of unforgettable moments for Te Akau Racing, and there could be more to come for the syndication powerhouse with Star Of Justice (Justify) and Grace ‘N’ Grey (NZ) (Spirit of Boom) now available for sale on the latest 56 Lot fortnightly auction on gavelhouse.com.Te Akau’s bumper weekend kicked off on Thursday night on Gavelhouse Plus. Group One-winning mare Maven Belle (NZ) (Burgundy) was sold for a whopping NZ$902,500, while the stakes-performed Sn...

Burgie back to her best in Breeders’ Stakes

Talented mare Burgie (Ghibellines) turned a frustrating campaign around with a powerful finish to win Saturday’s Gr.3 Valachi Downs South Island Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton.White Robe Lodge’s homebred daughter of Ghibellines is making a habit of spending time in the black-type spotlight in Christchurch at this time of the year. She won the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m) in the autumn of her three-year-old season in 2022, then returned 12 months later for a second...

Antrim Coast heads Kiwi-bred quinella in Alister Clark

New Zealand’s Group One three-year-old form was to the fore at Moonee Valley on Saturday, where Antrim Coast (Roc De Cambes) edged out Quintessa in a thrilling finish to the A$500,000 Gr.2 DCE Alister Clark Stakes (2040m).Te Akau Racing’s Quintessa went into the race as a $4 favourite. She had previously shown her star quality on home soil, winning the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) at Trentham in January, then finished an eye-catching fourth in this month’s Gr.1 Australian Guineas (1600m...

Dramatic victory in Tauranga feature

Underrated mare Diss Is Dramatic (Dissident) found her winning groove again when she stormed home to claim the feature event at Tauranga, the Gr.2 Ultimate Mazda Japan Trophy (1600m).Steady rain during the day saw the track downgraded to a Heavy8 and played into the hands of those horses who could find a path to the better going out wide in the home straight.Rider Matt Cameron executed that plan to perfection as he allowed the Lisa Latta-prepared four-year-old to settle mid-pack in the earl...

Eternal Flame deals to family’s unfinished business

Saturday’s A$300,000 Gr.2 BMD Group Sunline Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley provided a special reward for a part-owner who has spent the last few years wondering what might have been.The fillies and mares’ feature was won in impressive style by the New Zealand-bred Eternal Flame (Sacred Falls). The talented four-year-old is co-owned by Trevor Eastwood, who had previously raced the mare’s injury-plagued close relative Kinane.Out of a half-sister to the dam of Eternal Flame, Kinane won twice...

European superstar to stand at Windsor Park

One of the world’s best racehorses last year has been secured to stand at Windsor Park Stud in 2024.Ballydoyle superstar Paddington, a four-time Group One Classic and Royal Ascot-winning son of leading commercial sire Siyouni will shuttle to Windsor Park following the completion of his first stud season this year at Coolmore, Ireland.Paddington is the only horse in history to win the Group One quartet of the Irish 2000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes, Eclipse Stakes & Sussex Stakes.&nb...

Bumper Oaks result for Rider’s Milan Park

Tony Rider celebrated a classic dose of double delight in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham on Saturday.In a near perfect result for the Milan Park principal, he had the honour of breeding the winner Pulchritudinous and also owns the dam of the runner-up Positivity.Rider enjoys a close association with Pulchritudinous’ trainer and part-owner Chad Ormsby and purchased the mother of the second filly from her late co-breeder Sir Patrick Hogan.“Chad and I have had horses together and...