O’Reilly mare proving to be a bargain buy
Modest purchase Bella Carolina (O’Reilly) has proved herself to be an exceptional investment for Mapperley Stud principal Simms Davison. Her value has skyrocketed since she was secured for just $6,000 out of Little Avondale Stud’s draft at the 2013 New Zealand Bloodstock Broodmare Sale with the bargain buy producing three stakes winners. “She was a... Read More
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
Sire power: stallion strength to the fore as catalogue for 2024 NZB Karaka Yearling Sale released
The best-bred crop of champion New Zealand sire Proisir (Choisir), the return of boom shuttler Satono Aladdin (Deep Impact) and a number of must-have Savabeels (Zabeel) are among the highlights of the 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale. On the back of a successful Ready to Run Sale, the auction house yesterday released a... Read More
McDonald delights Cruz with Chevalier Cup masterclass
Tony Cruz has lauded James McDonald’s precision ride to snare the Class 1 Chevalier Cup Handicap (1600m) on The Golden Scenery (Deep Field) with a ground-saving display which catapulted McDonald to a double at Sha Tin yesterday. Untried beyond 1400 metres and regarded as suspect at 1600 metres, The Golden Scenery did not leave the... Read More
Equinox blows rivals away in Japan Cup romp
Equinox (4 h Kitasan Black – Chateau Blanche by King Halo) produced one of the most remarkable performances of his already stellar career when he emulated his sire Kitasan Black (Black Tide) by winning the Japan Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) at Tokyo yesterday – his sixth consecutive win at the elite-level. In a race that... Read More
Williamson’s Playing God prophecy
Star Western Australian stallion delivers on Perth racing’s biggest day When Gray Williamson handed over the stud duties of Playing God (Blackfriars) to fellow Western Australian farm Darling View Thoroughbreds, he told Brent Atwell that the horse would set him up. In the almost four years since that conversation in the winter of 2020, Playing... Read More