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U S Navy Flag filly impresses at Ruakaka

First season sire U S Navy Flag made an immediate impact at the Ruakaka trials on Tuesday. The Oaks Stud stallion recorded his first New Zealand trial win courtesy of an unnamed filly out of Pins mare Stitch, who was victorious in her 750m heat for local trainer Michelle Bradley. The filly was purchased by Bradley as a yearling for $43,000 out of Valachi Downs’ dispersal sale on plus.gavelhouse.com and she has been rapt with her buy. “I was pretty impressed with her trial. She is a lovely fi...

Catalyst Melbourne Bound

The connections of Catalyst are tired of playing the waiting game and have made the decision to head to Melbourne with the Group One winner.The son of Darci Brahma was set to have his first race in nearly two years in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa last Saturday, but the heavy track conditions forced trainer Tony Pike to withdraw his horse.The initial intention was to trial the gelding at Ruakaka on Tuesday and head to Hastings on Saturday-week for the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m), b...

Raceday resumption delayed for Catalyst

Punters will have to wait at least a couple more weeks before they see Group One winner Catalyst resume his racing career. The son of Darci Brahma was set to have his first start in nearly two years in the Gr.2 Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa on Saturday, but the wet weather that has battered the Waikato in the last few days has put a halt to those plans. “We left him in hoping the track was going to improve a touch but with the amount of rain we have had in the Waikato in the...

Speedy filly the latest stakes winner by U S Navy Flag

Love Reigns (2f U S Navy Flag - Humble And Proud, by Pivotal) provided first season sire U S Navy Flag with further Stakes success when justifying favouritism in the Listed Bolton Landing Stakes at Saratoga.The Wesley Ward-trained bay emerged as an exciting prospect in April, when bolting up on debut at Keeneland, where she scored by nine lengths and three quarters. The performance earned her a trip to Royal Ascot, where she finished fourth in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stak...

Ward scores fifth Bolton Landing with Love Reigns

Stonestreet Stables' Love Reigns  provided trainer Wesley Ward with a record-extending fifth victory in the $150,000 Bolton Landing Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for juvenile fillies, Aug. 21 at Saratoga Race Course. The Irish-bred daughter of U S Navy Flag  made a winning return from her fourth-place finish in the June 15 Queen Mary Stakes (G2) at Ascot Racecourse, which followed a 9 3/4-length debut score in April at Keeneland.Ward said he is ...

U S Navy Flag filly digs deep in Sandown Maiden

Chelsea Green (2f U S Navy Flag - Agapantha, by Danehill Dancer) displayed an admirable attitude when getting off the mark in Saturday’s seven furlong maiden at Sandown.Trained by Hugo Palmer for Chelsea Thoroughbreds, the daughter of U S Navy Flag showed promise on last month’s debut at Goodwood and appeared to enjoy a more prominent ride on her second start. Pushed along approaching the two furlong marker, she led a furlong later under Andrea Atzeni and was ridden ...

U S Navy Flag sires first Stakes winner

2YO colt Ocean Vision provides U S Navy Flag with his first stakes winner....

Stallion Parade

The Oaks Stud will again be taking part in the annual NZTBA Waikato Stallion Parade Weekend.Come along and see Darci Brahma, U S Navy Flag, Roc de Cambes and Niagara on Sunday 21st August at 1.15 pm.All Welcome....

Lord Darci breaks Canterbury hoodoo in Winter Cup

A rails-hugging ride by Terry Moseley paved the way for local runner Lord Darci to break a 22-year hoodoo for local Canterbury stables when he took out the Gr.3 Winning Edge Presentations 125th Winter Cup (1600m) at Riccarton on Saturday. Bred, raced and trained by former All Black Bevan Wilson and his wife Robyn, the five-year-old son of Darci Brahma turned the tables on his last-start conqueror Summer Festival as he out-finished the former Italian Derby winner to win going away by two lengths ...

Premier's Cup next for Lord Ardmore

Five-year-old gelding Lord Ardmore continued his strong winter form, making it back-to-back victories when a hard-fought winner of the Premier's Cup Prelude (1800m) at Randwick. The son of Reliable Man, who had led previously in his middle distances wins, enjoyed a sweet run throughout under Hugh Bowman to come from just behind the speed to win by a touch over half-a-length from Grove Ferry and Francesco Guardi and justify his $2.30 favouritism. Sporting the colours of syndicators Go Racing, t...

U S Navy Flag colt strikes for stakes success

Saturday saw Ocean Vision (2c U S Navy Flag - Balaagha, by Mr Greeley) make a perfect start to his French career in the Listed Prix de la Vallee d’Auge at Deauville.The first crop son of U S Navy Flag made a winning debut in April, and after finishing fourth in a pair of Stakes races, made the switch to Tim Donworth’s Chantilly stable. Dropping back to five furlongs on his stable debut, he raced at the back of the field under Maxime Guyon and ran on well close h...

Tarzino target for Catalyst

Group One winner Catalyst made a pleasing start to his spring campaign with a solid hit-out in his 900m trial at Te Rapa on Thursday, finishing fifth while powering through the line under a hold. The son of Darci Brahma hasn’t been sighted on race day in New Zealand since winning the Gr.3 Mr Tiz Trophy (1200m) on Karaka Million night more than two years ago and last raced in the Gr.2 The Shorts (1100m) in September 2020. Catalyst was unbeaten in New Zealand as a three-year-old, winning the Gr...

Lord Darci on trial for Winter Cup

Bevan Wilson is treading carefully ahead of Lord Darci's biggest test to date in Sunday's Crombie And Price Oamaru Cup (1600m). The Ashburton trainer will assess the Darci Brahma four-year-old's performance at Oamaru with a view to a possible late nomination for the Gr.3 Winning Edge Presentations Winter Cup (1600m) at Riccarton on August 6. But a combination of factors has told Wilson not to get too far ahead of himself with that target. "It's all a bit of a wait-and-see scenario but if you don...

Special stayer tops National Broodmare Sale

Peter Corbett has come to the end of a special journey with his multiple stakes-winning stayer Dee And Gee (Darci Brahma), who played a starring role with a sale-topping price of $105,000 in the 2022 National Broodmare and Stallion Share Sale on Gavelhouse Plus on Wednesday night. The durable eight-year-old was retired from the racetrack this month after a successful career, and was purchased by John Cordina who raced the Rich Hill Stud-based stallion Ace High and retains a number of shares in t...

Sierra Sue sets 2022 Online Record

Dual Group 1 heroine Sierra Sue (Darci Brahma-Centree, by Centaine) has today become the most expensive horse sold online in Australia this year, realising $1.55m to the bid of Bill Pearce’s Bromfield Park. Offered unreserved in a bespoke Inglis Digital auction by G1 Bloodstock as agent for the Sierra Sue Syndicate, the Busuttin/Young-trained mare caught the attention of a plethora of bidders before finally selling to Pearce. In doing so, she becomes the second most expensive horse e...

Lord Ardmore proves too strong at Rosehill

Champion expat New Zealand trainer Chris Waller enjoyed a highly successful afternoon at Rosehill on Saturday, saddling four winners and reaching 150 city wins for the season, and two of his victories came with impressive performances from New Zealand-breds Lord Ardmore and Bold Mac. Lord Ardmore headed a Waller trifecta in the A$150,000 Vale Nick Moraitis Handicap (1800m), leading all the way and kicking clear for a commanding two-length victory over Francesco Guardi and Mubariz. Both the first...

Special weekend for Group 1 winner Artistic

The Oaks Stud's Group 1 NZ Oaks winning mare Artistic achieved a special feat as a broodmare over the weekend, with three of her progeny winning in Australia. Reliable Star (Reliable Man) was an impressive winner when coming from last to win at Belmont on Saturday, while the Patrick Payne trained Mathew (Tavistock) won at Ballarat on Sunday, and  Grinzinger Star took out the Port of Augusta Cup in South Australia. Grinzinger Star was winning his 11th race and collected his fi...

Darci La Bella delivers at Hastings

New Plymouth trainer Allan Sharrock made the most of a five-and-a-half-hour road trip to Hastings on Saturday when he secured a one hundred percent winning strike rate with his three runners on the day. Sharrock left home at 3am on Saturday morning, arrived in Hastings at 8:30am and put his first runner, Darci La Bella (Darci Brahma) on the track in race three at 12:34pm. The progressive four-year-old mare was sent out a warm $2.30 favourite and didn’t disappoint as she glided home on the Heav...

Bigger things in store for Darci La Bella

For all of Allan Sharrock’s three runners at Hastings on Saturday, potential black-type targets are looming large on the horizon – including a shot at the season-opening Group One feature that holds a special place in Sharrock’s heart. From 2014 to 2016, the New Plymouth trainer celebrated three consecutive victories in the race now known as the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) – firstly with quality mare I Do, followed by back-to-back successes with Kawi. This year he hopes to tackle the wei...

Seasonal Stud Groom required

The Oaks Stud require a keen, reliable stud groom for the 2022 breeding season.This role will mostly involve working with our Broodmare team. Daily tasks include bringing mares in for the Vet, feeding out & general stable duties.The ideal candidate will have had some previous experience working on a stud farm, but training can be provided as long as you are confident handling horses. Great team environment as well as an opportunity to progress your career. Start date is negotiable, single on-far...

Pike hoping Catalyst can find old zest

Comeback horse Alligator Blood’s Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) triumph has Cambridge trainer Tony Pike hoping that one of that horse’s most notable rivals can have a similarly successful return to racing next spring. Alligator Blood’s Stradbroke victory was his first trip to the winners circle since he took out the Gr.1 Australian Guineas (1600m) in February 2020, his most notable victory as a three-year-old. Among his Australian Guineas victims was the outstanding New Zealand three-yea...

Sierra Sue retired

Dual Group One winner Sierra Sue has been retired. Sierra Sue was purchased out of Ardsley Stud’s 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock May Sale draft for $2,000 by Peter Lock. She had two trials for the Te Aroha trainer before she was purchased privately by a prominent group of Australian owners, headed by developer, hotelier and horseracing identity Ozzie Kheir through bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo. She entered the stable of Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young for whom she won nine of her 24 starts, inc...

U S Navy Flag returns to The Oaks in 2022

It’s a case of status quo for The Oaks Stud for the upcoming breeding season. The Cambridge farm will once again stand a roster that includes Darci Brahma, U S Navy Flag, Roc De Cambes, and Niagara, with their fees remaining the same. Darci Brahma has had another solid year at stud and enjoyed the success of his daughter Sierra Sue who was victorious in the Gr.1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) and Gr.1 Futurity Stakes (1400m). “Darci Brahma had another great year. He had the biggest book he...

U S Navy Flag filly makes 100,000 euro

The €100,000 mark was reached by a filly from the first crop of U S Navy Flag after she was snapped up by Jamie Lloyd at Tattersalls Ireland Gorsebridge Breeze Up Sale earlier this week.  The granddaughter of War Front (Lot 65) was providing her connections with a tremendous dividend on the 11,000gns she cost during Book 3 of last year’s Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.Henry Spiller will take charge of this filly who is a half-sister to a winner out of a Danehill Dancer mare who ...

Sierra Sue needs the rain to stop

Plans to take dual Gr1 winner Sierra Sue (Darci Brahma-Centree, by Centaine) to Brisbane are on hold due to the recent rains in the region, reports racing.com. "The tracks would want to dry up," co-trainer Trent Busuttin said. "Perhaps she may have run her last race? I am not saying she has, but the breeding barn awaits at the end of this season I'd suggest so we'll see how she trials up and go from there. More than likely the Kingsford Smith at the end of the month," Busuttin said of a kic...