Kiwi Chronicles

No one saw that coming

ew Zealand Bloodstock general manager Andrew Seabrook was rightly gobsmacked. No one predicted the amazing results achieved in last week’s Ready To Run Sale. After the two similar format sales in Sydney and on the Gold Coast combined with a dicey economy, the odds that the 2023 edition of the longest-standing sale of its type... Read More

Welcome to the High Chaparral club

In a straight-long powerhouse finish in the New Zealand 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) by the exciting filly, Molly Bloom, her sire Ace High (High Chaparral) joins a growing line of High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells) sons to sire a Group 1 winner. The February 21 edition of Kiwi Chronicles described the large impression that not... Read More

Saving the best ’til last

For the first three days of the just concluded Flemington spring carnival there were a few New Zealand highlights. Melbourne Cup day was solid with three stakes winners, two by Savabeel (Zabeel) and one by War Decree (War Front). However, saving the best ’til last, day four, Champions Day, was on another level. New Zealand... Read More

No substitute for luck

A slow getaway did the damage for Legarto (Proisir) and her connections’ bold mission in Saturday’s rich Golden Eagle (1500m). That is her pattern but at Rosehill you don’t want to be four and five back on the fence before the straight. Legarto’s bad luck was the winner’s good luck. Japan’s Obamburumai (Discreet Cat) was... Read More

New Zealander vs New Zealand

It took New Zealander, world champion jockey James McDonald to deny New Zealand-bred Mr Brightside (Bullbars) in a classic renewal of the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m). Live, it looked like Mr Brightside had prevailed. Even experienced Melbourne commentator, Matt Hill, gave his initial call to the six-year-old Kiwi gelding but the photo proved otherwise.... Read More

From a simmer to a boil

The pot is simmering now but it may be boiling very soon. Proisir (Choisir) enjoyed an outstanding New Zealand 2022-23 season, siring five individual Group 1 winners. Four of the five claimed their victories before the 2023 NZB Karaka Yearling Sales series. The fifth, Prowess, became an elite winner after the sales although she also... Read More