Barely a month into the new season and already the juices are flowing. Moonee Valley’s weight-for-age classic championship, the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040), is just next month, albeit the fourth Saturday of next month. However, the field is developing into another gem.  It’s been a decade since a New Zealand-bred horse won the Cox... Read More

Te Akau Racing’s latest star, Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), has some way yet to go to match the exploits of former stablemates Melody Belle (Commands) and Avantage (Fastnet Rock), but on Saturday’s electric performance, when bolting away with the Foxbridge Plate (Gr 2, 1200m), the four-year-old clearly has all the makings of a champion. Her... Read More

Lickety Split (Turn Me Loose) knows where the line is. The tough filly doesn’t win by much, but she fights like a tigress, a trait she has displayed in all three of her victories. A winning trial (late January at Ellerslie) was followed by her race debut, also at Ellerslie (February 19), where she co-led... Read More

Take your pick. The headline of today’s column could be applied to Mr Brightside, his sire, Bullbars (Elusive Quality) or his dam Lilahjay (Tavistock). Maybe even all three, simultaneously. Any way you look at it, it’s accurate, and Mr Brightside proves that rags-to-riches stories are still possible, even in the increasingly expensive business of buying... Read More

We thoroughbred followers have two opportunities annually to start afresh, New Year’s Day and August 1, the horses’ birthday, and with the old season behind us Kiwi Chronicles has several hopes and wishes for the new season. From purely a breeding standpoint, let’s hope that the one-way traffic of our better-performed and better-bred fillies and... Read More