Waikato Stud’s Mark Chittick had many reasons to smile over the weekend, especially after the running of two Group 2s on both sides of the Tasman.  The Travis Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) at Te Rapa on Saturday saw Pierina (Savabeel) ring up her sire’s 114th stakes winner when the six-year-old bolted clear at the 300... Read More

A family friendship that has endured for more than half a century was celebrated in spades (and a few cocktails, no doubt) when Hezashocka (Shocking) did exactly that and caused a huge upset in the Championship Stakes (Gr 2, 2100m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.  The gelding was making just his third start, having finished runner-up... Read More

You just knew it would happen. That’s because, sadly, it happens quite often. A young stallion dies prematurely then soon after, one of his progeny wins big. The New Zealand industry has lost a number of emerging stallions over the past few years, the sire of last Saturday’s Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) winner, Explosive... Read More

New Zealand stakes-race success was confined to domestic shores over the weekend, as four of the five black-type races in the country went the way of the Kiwis, but what an interesting line up they make. In this column last week Per Incanto (Street Cry) was hailed as an evergreen stallion who keeps throwing winners,... Read More

New Zealand breeders proudly hoisted their flag at Saturday’s delayed Rosehill meeting and, unsurprisingly, Zabeel (Sir Tristram) had much to say about two of the five Group 1 contests. In this column a few weeks ago, considerable space was given to “under appreciated” sire Zed (Zabeel), who stands at Mark Corcoran’s Grangewilliam Stud in South... Read More