Kiwi Chronicles

Racing – The great equaliser
The sudden retirement of star mare Avantage (Fastnet Rock) shook the headlines late last week after it was discovered that she had heat in her off-fore. A subsequent X-ray found a hole in the tendon and Te Akau Racing immediately withdrew her from Saturday’s Tarzino Trophy (Gr 1, 1400m). Combining the huge demand for quality... Read More
More from Kiwi Chronicles

Good, but how good?
We knew she was good and, although her highly anticipated return to top-line racing was delayed slightly, Entriviere (Tavistock) lived up to all expectations with a powerful performance in the Sheraco Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday. Her record is impressive, just eight starts for six victories and two seconds, her career... Read More

Four studs, four stories
Four leading New Zealand studs each had varying stories to tell this week. They experienced the highs, as well as the exasperations associated with racing and breeding. Grabbing headlines is not new for Waikato Stud’s Savabeel (Zabeel). Even when he sires the winner of the first two-year-old race for the season it is old hat.... Read More

New boys are ready
With the new breeding season almost upon us, Kiwi Chronicles takes a look at the four new boys added to the stallion ranks for this year. Two of the four, Windsor Park Stud’s Circus Maximus (Galileo) and Cambridge Stud’s Hello Youmzain (Kodiac), are about to embark on their initial southern hemisphere duties, having already begun... Read More

A helping hand to your friends
One could imagine the conversation at dawn on Sunday between Waikato Stud barnmates Savabeel (Zabeel) and Tivaci (High Chaparral) to have been quite the jovial one after another week of notable successes shared between the stud stalwart and his junior colleague. At different ends of the career spectrum they may be, however, the apprentice would... Read More

Lost opportunity?
Hindsight is, as they say, twenty-twenty, and as that relates to opportunities lost regarding stallions, Darci Brahma (Danehill) comes close to fitting that lost opportunity. The term: “Flying under the radar” seems appropriate and Darci Brahma has done that for most of his career. A very nice Group 2 win by his daughter Sierra Sue... Read More