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Stakes double would be ‘Sinsational’ for Sharrock

Allan Sharrock will chase black-type at two venues this week with family members of one of his best racehorses, Shez Sinsational. The Taranaki trainer produced Shez Sinsational for Group One wins in the Spring Classic (2040m) at Hastings, International Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa, Zabeel Classic (2000m) and Auckland Cup (3200m) at Ellerslie, as well as a host of other top-level performances, including placings in both the Queensland Oaks (2400m) and Queensland Derby (2400m) and a Gr.2 Hollindale S...

Cup hopes in the balance for Cambridge pair

Cambridge trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman have two contenders for the Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) in Zacada and Vin De Dance, but the pair will have to perform this weekend to warrant a start in the two-mile feature. Both horses were disappointing when tailing the field home in the Gr.3 Manion Cup (2400m) on a Heavy8 track at Rosehill last month. While disappointed in their runs, their trainers are hoping they will redeem themselves in the Gr.2 Chairman’s Quality (2600m) at Randwick on Sa...

Vin de Dance presses on towards Sydney Cup

The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Vin De Dance (Roc de Cambes) and Zacada will continue along the Sydney Cup path despite disappointing performances at Rosehill last weekend. The pair finished second-last and last in the Gr. 3 N E Manion Cup, more than a dozen lengths from the winner Midterm. Vin De Dance’s jockey Blake Shinn said the 2018 New Zealand Derby winner “didn’t have the best run from a bad draw”, while Opie Bosson was unable to provide an excuse for last year’s Syd...

South Australian options for Oaks runner up

Waverley trainer Bill Thurlow was pleased with the runner-up performance of lightly-raced three-year-old Beyond The Fort in last Saturday’s Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m).  At just her third raceday start the daughter of Niagara started as a $40 chance in the Oaks and was beaten a length and a quarter by Sentimental Miss, but the performance came as no surprise to Thurlow.  “We were quietly confident that she’d run well, she’d done nothing wrong,” Thurlow said.  “She st...

Nationwide celebrations after Oaks victory

There were celebrations throughout New Zealand when Sentimental Miss won the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham last weekend. Celebrating on course at Trentham were her owners Go Racing Yesteryear Syndicate along with her breeders The Oaks Stud, while in Auckland the team at Westbury Stud were celebrating Reliable Man’s first Group One victory as a sire. The South Island was not to be left out, with Jonny Orr celebrating the fact his mare Nostalgic was now the dam of a Group One winner....

Niagara filly impresses with Group 1 placing

At just her third raceday start, Niagara filly Beyond The Fort ran 2nd in the Group 1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai NZ Oaks on Saturday at Trentham.   A winner of her previous two starts, Beyond The Fort looks an exciting filly for Waverley trainer Bill Thurlow.   From the Testa Rossa mare, Stella Rossa, Beyond The Fort has now won in excess of NZ$94,000. From limited runners (66 as at 18th March), Niagara  has left the Group 2 winner Xbox, and stakes performers Thunder Bay & Beyo...

Full Of Beauty makes it five as emerging talent flourishes on Derby undercard

Full Of Beauty (Darci Brahma) made it five wins on the bounce to give trainer John Size and his stable jockey Joao Moreira a win which may offer a pinch of mild consolation for a near-miss in the BMW Hong Kong Derby this afternoon at Sha Tin Racecourse (Sunday). “He’s a fantastic horse. He has progressed since the last time I was on board because he’s been coping with every situation he’s been put into,” Moreira said after partnering the four-year-old to a three-quarter-length success ...

Ladies combine for Group 1 Oaks success

Girl power was to the fore at Trentham on Saturday as trainer Lisa Latta and jockey Lisa Allpress fittingly joined forces as $21 outsider Sentimental Miss landed the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai NZ Oaks (2400m) at Trentham. Latta said the addition of blinkers was the key to extracting the best out of the daughter of Reliable Man, who is raced by the Go Racing Yesteryear Syndicate. “It’s absolutely fantastic,” Latta said. “We walked away from the Lowland (ninth over 2100m, Gr.2) wonderi...

Espresso Martini back to winning form at Tauranga

Promising three-year-old Espresso Martini resumed from a brief break in fine fashion when she dealt to her older rivals over 1400m at Tauranga on Saturday. The royally-bred High Chaparral filly hadn’t been seen since finishing down the track in the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) at Trentham back in January. That unplaced run came off the back of a tidy effort for fifth in the Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day following a win at the same venue in the Listed Trevor Eagle Me...

Vin de Dance on Cup trial

Group One winner Vin de Dance (NZ) (Roc de Cambes) will contest Saturday’s Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) on route to Australia for the Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) held at Randwick on April 13. Prepared by Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, Vin de Dance was a tough winner of the Listed Kaimai Stakes (2000m) at Matamata last start. “We will bring Vin de Dance over to Sydney – he won the New Zealand Derby (Gr.1, 2400m) last year and he ran second in the Rosehill Guineas (Gr.1, 2000m...

Latta looking forward to Cup

Trainer Lisa Latta is looking forward to lining up Five to Midnight (NZ) (Domesday) in the Gr.1 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup (3200m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.   Latta said the six-year-old gelding has pulled up well after his placing in the Gr.2 Avondale Cup (2400m) last month and believes he will benefit from the set weights and penalties conditions of the race. “He’s very well,” she said. “He had a couple of days in the paddock after the Avondale Cup and worked well on Friday ...

Five To Midnight tries to go one better in Cup

Quality stayer Five To Midnight was beaten by the smallest of margins in last year’s Gr. 1 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup, and he will return to Ellerslie on Saturday to try to go one better in the $500,000 feature.The son of Domesday finished second in a head-bobbing finish to last year’s race, beaten by a nose by Ladies First.Five To Midnight has won three races this season, all under big weights – 58.5 kilograms in an open handicap at Hastings, 60 kilograms in the Listed Feilding Gold ...

Derby winner back in business

Last season’s New Zealand Derby winner Vin De Dance capped off a tremendous day for the Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman stable when he triumphed in a desperate three-way finish to the Listed Marks Ewen & Associates Kaimai Stakes (2000m) at Matamata. The Roc de Cambes four-year-old was having just his second start in his latest campaign after being put aside following an unplaced run in the Listed Cranbourne Cup (2025m) back in October. Overnight rain that saw the Matamata track rated a Slow7 a...

Two in a row for Wonderful Paint

If there was a ‘Ride of the Night’ award to be handed out in Singapore on Friday night, not many would have begrudged Noh Senari the nod for his incredibly cool ride on Wonderful Paint (NZ) (Darci Brahma). The Darci Brahma grey is a noted backmarker, that’s a given. He had won all his three races in that fashion thus far, and with Noh in the plate at all of them. For that reason, the bang-in-form jockey could perhaps be forgiven for his cockiness when they dawdled out to last on settling i...

Telegraph result boosts Anderson's confidence

Wingatui trainer Claire Anderton is heading into the Listed Speight’s Timaru Stakes (1400m) at Riccarton on Saturday with a boost of confidence after last Saturday’s Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) result at Trentham. She will contest the Riccarton feature with regally bred mare The Precious One (Darci Brahma) who finished runner-up to Sensei last-start in the Listed Hazlett Stakes (1200m), with three of the runners in that race placing in the Telegraph. “She has done really well since her last rac...

Living Legend - Seachange

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English jockey registers first NZ win

Young English jockey Patrick Pilley made the most of a golden opportunity at Matamata yesterday when he registered his first win in New Zealand aboard The Oaks Stud owned Bridal Veil (Niagara).  The 21-year-old partnered the favourite to an easy win in the NZB Insurance Pearl Series Race. Appropriately, the Niagara mare is trained by Mike Moroney and Pam Gerard, who were instrumental in Pilley making his way to New Zealand. Pilley has a record of 55 wins in the United Kingdom as well as ano...

Kauri Cove delivers again

Terry Lines’ $1,300 gavelhouse.com buy Kauri Cove delivered his second win for Kelvin and Aimee Tyler’s father and daughter training partnership at Southland’s meeting on Saturday. Jockey Kavish Chowdoory guided Kauri Cove to lead over the entire 2,600m trip with the son of Roc de Cambes proving too classy for his rivals, winning impressively with two lengths in hand.  Since his purchase from regular gavelhouse.com users, The Oaks Stud, Kauri Cove has earnt upwards of $23,000 and may ...

Darci's deeds shouldn't be underestimated

Darci Brahma (NZ) (Danehill) has morphed into an unsung stallion hero following a decorated racing career.He’s a rare individual as a top priced yearling, who became a class racehorse. The Pencarrow Stud graduate topped the 2004 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka when he was knocked down to Te Akau chief David Ellis for NZ$1.1 million, and then went on to justify it on the track. Trained by Mark Walker, Darci Brahma won the G1 TJ Smith Classic at Eagle Farm as a 2-year-ol...

Prepared to Impress

Our 2019 Karaka Yearling Sale draft is now available for inspection - contact the office on 07 823 3026 to arrange a time....

As always, Darci Brahma is doing a first-rate job

There were plenty of grounds for celebration at The Oaks Stud, Cambridge, last weekend. Most were courtesy of the stud’s senior stallion Darci Brahma, who has been a great servant not only to the Dick Karreman-owned nursery but to the New Zealand breeding industry for more than a decade now. The latest flush started in the opening race at Avondale last Thursday, when Nocturnal (4 b m Darci Brahma-Upstaged) broke her maiden duck at 2000 metres. She was not only bred by The Oaks but carried the ...

Black-type for Espresso Martini

Jockey Leith Innes produced a gem of a ride to land the Listed Trevor Eagle Memorial 3YO (1500m) on Espresso Martini at Ellerslie on Saturday, with the well-bred filly securing valuable black-type. The daughter of High Chaparral and The Oaks Studs’ Group One winner Keepa Cruisin, stalked the leader Jip Jip Rock throughout, before peeling off her back to collar her late. “Leith rode her an absolute treat and it is great for Donna Love and the team to get a result here with a stakes win,” ...

Bright future for well related Sinarahma

Trainer Allan Sharrock has fond memories of his top-class mare Shez Sinsational, and he can see a number of similarities in her four-year-old daughter Sinarahma. The Darci Brahma mare strolled to victory in the AME Electrical (1340m) at Wanganui on Saturday, landing a number of good bets in the process. “I think she has got a lot of her mum’s quality, although she is probably not as tall,” Sharrock said. “She is going to be a dead-set 2000m horse, but she has got a turn of foot, is tou...

Weather watch ahead of Counties Cup

Many trainers are keeping a cautious eye on the weather in Auckland ahead of Saturday’s Counties Cup meeting at Pukekohe Park. The track was rated a Dead 6 on Wednesday, after 9mm of rain overnight and more rain is forecast for the remainder of the week. Palmerston North-based trainer Lisa Latta is hoping the forecast improves but admits she has a versatile contender in the Gr.3 SsangYong Counties Cup (2100m), in last start Listed Feilding Gold Cup (2100m) winner Five to Midnight. “He’s ...

Dee And Gee set to surprise again

Five-year-old mare Dee And Gee surprised both her trainers and punters alike when scoring a three-length victory in last Saturday’s Listed Metropolitan Trophy Handicap (2500m) at Riccarton. The $51 chance never looked like being caught and no doubt punters will be keeping her safe when she backs-up in Saturday’s Gr.3 Christchurch Casino 155th New Zealand Cup (3200m) at Riccarton.  Prepared at Timaru by Terrill Charles and her partner Peter Corbett, heavy rain the day before last Satur...