New Zealand
Ultra-consistent mare La Crique (NZ) (Vadamos) earned a unique place in New Zealand racing history at Ellerslie on Saturday with her seventh runner-up finish in a Group One race. The Vadamos mare produced another top-drawer performance in the Gr.1 Proisir Plate (1400m). Almost half of the 16-horse field lined
Racing
The early spring has tended to bring the very best out of Quintessa, and that trend continued at Ellerslie on Saturday with a spectacular last-to-first performance at $36 odds in the Gr.1 Proisir Plate. The $400,000 weight-for-age triumph came almost exactly a year after the Te Akau Racing
Racing
Lollapalooza went into Saturday’s Gr.3 Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie as a maiden, but she came out of it as one of the leaders of her generation and the clear favourite for the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m). The $150,000 three-year-old fillies’ feature was
Racing
Ruakaka stayer Bosch took his best form over the Brynderwyn Hills on Saturday and scored his first Ellerslie victory in the Dunstan Horsefeeds 2200. The Pentire gelding headed into the $75,000 race with five wins to his name, all of them at his home track. His six previous visits
New Zealand
Sunday’s Clotworthy Racing Open (1600m) lost some of its top-flight talent with Mark Twain’s scratching due to the Heavy10 track at Te Aroha, but another returning stayer took the spotlight with a bold first-up performance. Last season’s Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2400m) winner Son Of
New Zealand
Former elite hurdler Nedwin (NZ) (Niagara) confirmed his arrival among steeplechasing’s top echelon with a supreme performance in the $75,000 Howden Insurance Pakuranga Hunt Cup (4300m) at Te Aroha on Sunday. The Niagara gelding has now had 48 starts for 15 wins, six placings and $487,843 in
New Zealand
Less than a month after winning a maiden hurdle at Te Aroha, Hill Of Kings (NZ) (Time Test) returned to the same venue on Sunday and landed a much bigger prize – the $60,000 Pakuranga Hunt “Vale Lamu” Hurdle. The son of Time Test was bought for just $600 off
Racing
Group Two winner Cognito (So You Think) snapped a 22-month win drought in emphatic style in Saturday’s $50,000 Join TAB Racing Club Open (1580m) at Riccarton. The son of So You Think won three races as a three-year-old headed by the Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m), and he
Racing
Emerging filly Platinum Diamond (NZ) (Hello Youmzain) sparkled again in Saturday’s Listed HS Dyke Wanganui Guineas (1200m), completing an unprecedented treble of winter age-group features. The daughter of Cambridge Stud shuttle stallion Hello Youmzain became the first horse to win the Castletown Stakes (1200m), Ryder Stakes (1200m) and Wanganui
Racing
Saturday’s NZ Horse Ambulance Winter Appeal 3YO (1000m) continued the Te Akau stranglehold over the three-year-old spring opener at Riccarton, but not with the horse that most expected. Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson took out the $40,000 age-group sprint in 2023 with the next-start Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes
Racing
Sterling Express (NZ) (Shamexpress) stepped up to Group level for the first time in Saturday’s Gr.2 Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa, and a stunning last-to-first performance showed that he belongs. Gloria Macrae and Brian McKeagg’s homebred son of Shamexpress had already racked up seven
Racing
Dorothy’s Daughter and Verry Flash (NZ) (Zed) delivered a winning double for Wanganui stables in the two jumping races at Hawera on Saturday. The first cab off the rank was the Niall Quinn-trained Dorothy’s Daughter (NZ) (Roc de Cambes), who brought up her first win over jumps in