Time can often be a thoroughbred’s best friend. The riches available for two-year-olds, especially in Australia, can be very tempting but many New Zealand–bred horses are simply not ready at that age. A long program of importing staying lines from England and Ireland, dating back sixty or more years, has meant that the blood that... Read More

Between last Thursday and Saturday, 22 stakes races were scheduled to be run in Australasia. Weather intervened in Queensland reducing the count to 20 and what a mixed bag they were. On Saturday, New Zealand was represented by two stakes winners at Caulfield and one at Rosehill. However, of the three stakes run at home,... Read More

From New Zealand midweek, to Australia on Saturday, then up to Hong Kong on Sunday, the spotlight on the local industry hardly dimmed.  New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale proved a great success and, as if to put an exclamation point on things, the big money in Victoria the Saturday following went the way... Read More

The moon and stars aligned perfectly for the entities involved in The Perfect Pink (Savabeel) and her New Zealand 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) at Riccarton on Saturday. Jamie Richards secured his 50th Group 1 winner, an astonishing number given his relatively short career as a trainer. The wise-beyond-his-years young man saddled up five runners... Read More

Prior to last Tuesday and the stunning Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) victory by Verry Elleegant (Zed), the above trifecta of words was reserved for the original Kiwi (Blarney Kiss), the 1983 winner. The similarities are noteworthy. Both are from very humble New Zealand backgrounds. Kiwi was bought by farmer Snowy Lupton for the princely... Read More