Racing
New Zealand jockey James McDonald has won the Longines World's Best Jockey title for the second consecutive year and third time overall. The 33-year-old, who is based in Australia, also won the Longines World's Best Jockey Award in 2022. On his way to claiming the 2025
Racing
Waitak’s class and versatility will stand him in good stead at Trentham where he chases a fourth top-flight title. He has triumphed over 1200, 1600 and 2040m at the highest level on good, soft and heavy tracks and Wexford Stables have him in tip-tip order for Saturday’s Gr.
Racing
It’s been an eventful year for apprentice jockey Triston Moodley, but it is ending on a high. The talented rider was sidelined for three months after he sustained a head injury at the Waipa trials in July, but he made a pleasing recovery and has made an instant impact
Racing
The past few days have been a case of pinch me once, pinch me twice as Glen Massey couple Ian and Shelley Wright have celebrated Farag’s second consecutive win in Australasia’s longest flat race, the A$300,000 Jericho Cup. First run in 2018 to commemorate the Australian
Racing
Allan Sharrock is balancing stronger opposition against the prospect of a rain-affected track as he weighs up Ladies Man’s chances of claiming back-to-back Gr.1 TAB Mufhasa Classics (1600m) on Saturday. Ladies Man won last year’s Trentham weight-for-age feature with a brilliant final burst to claim La Crique
Racing
Saturday’s Gr.3 Concorde Stakes (1200m) at Pukekohe will be missing one of its headline acts after a temperature spike forced Crocetti to be withdrawn. The dual Group One winner has been off the scene since being unplaced in The Quokka (1200m) in Perth in late April, and he
Racing
Final Return has raced creditably in strong company at Ellerslie without major success and will be back there on New Year’s Day in a bid to break through. The New Plymouth-based stayer has regularly tripped north and collected four placings on the course, including a third in the Gr.
Racing
Bill Thurlow and Sam O’Malley are setting their sights on a return to Group One competition with Whangaehu (NZ) (Proisir) after a pleasing trial at Woodville on Tuesday. The well-performed Proisir gelding was required to trial to the satisfaction of the stewards after his last-start eighth in the Gr.
Racing
Expat jockey Rory Hutchings has adopted his proven “have saddle, will travel” approach to another summer stint in New Zealand. Last summer the 30-year-old former champion apprentice made the most of his opportunities with 14 wins from 100 rides, including the Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) and Listed Fulton
Racing
Smart filly Oratia Beauty (Too Darn Hot) went close to a major black-type credit last time out at Ellerslie and will get the opportunity to take care of unfinished business on the course at the next time of asking. A genuine daughter of Too Darn Hot, she rallied bravely under
Racing
Unbeaten filly Well Written (Written Tycoon) is back in work and while exact plans have yet to be confirmed, a clearer picture of her New Year schedule is forming. The only certainty is that her primary target is the $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m), and with that speculation is mounting
Racing
The two-year-old race staged by the Levin Racing Club at Otaki every November has a proven record of unearthing top-level talent, and Te Akau Racing is hoping for more of the same with Sunday’s Levin Jumpouts 2YO (1100m) winner Kinnaird. The late-spring juvenile event boasts four subsequent Group One