Latest news with #ChaseADream
NZ Herald
22-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Chase A Dream rollercoaster hits another low with battling trial
'I will sleep on it tonight after having a chat with Chris [Ryder, co-owner] and see what he thinks. 'If he was only going to Queensland for the Inter Dominion, that trial wouldn't be good enough to send him. 'But he has an invite to the Rising Sun on July 5 and it might not be anywhere as strong. 'So we will decide tomorrow [Wednesday].' It is extremely rare for a Purdon-trained runner to be as erratic as Chase A Dream has proven this season. On his best nights, he has won the Waikato Flying Mile and finished second to Leap To Fame in the $1 million Race by Betcha but in stark contrast his other five starts this season have produced a seventh, eighth, two ninth placings and a 10th. 'We have had him checked out for everything physical, we have done chiropractic work on him and we really can't find anything else wrong. 'So it is a very tricky one.' Purdon says Rubira will definitely still head to Brisbane via Sydney on Sunday to compete in the best 3-year-old races at the winter carnival while stablemate Oscar Bonavena will be on the same flight to target the A$500,000 ($544,000) Inter Dominion Trotting Final on July 19. Purdon was pleased with Akuta's first public appearance since December 2023 in Tuesday's trial but the muscular son of Bettors Delight will now head to the paddock as part of a in-and-out rehabilitation from a tendon issue. 'The vets seem to think that is the best way to handle those sort of issues these says, bring them up to near full speed then ease off them and do it again,' explains Purdon. 'He seems good at this stage so he can have another break now and hopefully come back for the second half of the season.'
NZ Herald
21-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Chase A Dream won't be chasing the Inter Dominions
Chase A Dream's best form has been elusive this year. Photo / Race Images Chase A Dream's Queensland campaign and any hope of a stud career are both over before they began. The exceptional but erratic 4-year-old was pulled out of the Rising Sun at Albion Park in July 5 on Wednesday morning by co-owner and trainer Mark Purdon, following a so-so second to stablemate Rubira at a Pukekohe trial on Tuesday. That means he won't board a plane to Sydney on Sunday with Rubira and Oscar Bonavena, instead staying home and heading to the spelling paddock. But before then, he will be gelded as Purdon seeks more consistency from the Group 1 winner in the second half of the season. 'We think that is the best thing for him,' says Purdon. 'He will be gelded, have a break and hopefully come back better and more consistent in the second half of the season. 'We are disappointed to not be going and really appreciated the invite to the Rising Sun but it just hasn't worked out for him.' Purdon confirmed both Rubura (Derbys) and Oscar Bonavena (Inter Dominion Trotting Champs) will still make the trip. With Chase A Dream out of the series and Republican Party almost certain to follow there will be few, if any, realistic New Zealand chances of making the pacing final on July 19 but Oscar Bonavena and Bet N Win give New Zealand two top chances in the Trotting series. Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald's Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world's biggest horse racing carnivals.
NZ Herald
19-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Tuesday trial to decide whether Inter Dominion dream still alive
'That is why we are leaving him in for now but, basically, he won't be going unless some major names, most obviously Leap To Fame, come out,' says driver Carter Dalgety. 'And even then that would need to happen soon because after this week he would have been spelling too long to get him back up and fit enough for the series.' While horses like Pinseeker and Beach Ball, who has transferred to Sydney trainer Luke McCarthy, could start in the series the only Group 1-winning contender New Zealand still has is Chase A Dream. He has become the great enigma of New Zealand harness racing, wonderful some weeks but woeful others. The four-year-old doesn't have to go down the traditional Inter Dominion path as trainers Mark and Nathan Purdon have accepted an invite to the Rising Sun on the first night of the carnival and if he wins that Three and Four-Year-Old race he will basically be invited straight into the Inter Final two weeks later. The problem is nobody, not even one of the greats of all-time in Mark Purdon, knows what to expect from Chase A Dream. He was supposed to race at Alexandra Park last Friday but was too highly rated compared with his rivals so wasn't allowed to start, hence he heads to the Pukekohe trials on Tuesday. 'At this stage Queensland is still on,' Purdon the Herald. 'He'd obviously need to trial ok and if he does he will be on a plane with Oscar Bonavena and Rubira on Sunday.' That would see the trio land in Sydney and go by road to Brisbane in the hope of gaining consistent racing leading into the series. 'We are still keen to take him and Oscar will be going as this is possibly his last season and it is a big stake [A$500,000] for the trotters. 'Rubira was one of our better three-year-olds until he got hurt in a trackwork incident but he will go with the two open-class boys and race in the Derbys.' Purdon knows just how awesome Leap To Fame is as Chase A Dream finished second to him in his stunning Race by Betcha win at Cambridge before the latter's form fell off a cliff. 'We are hoping he can get to Queensland and get into at least one easier lead-up race away from Leap To Fame so maybe we can get his confidence back up,' says Purdon. 'We toyed with the idea of not going but we still think he is good enough to be there.' Oscar Bonavena may have taken loyal punters on a rollercoaster ride this year but the Inters could be his last shot at big-time glory, especially with doubts over trotting series favourite Keayang Zahara, who is drifting to turn up in Brisbane. If the young superstar doesn't head there then Oscar Bonavena and Rowe Cup winner Bet N Win look two of the few realistic chances in the series alongside TAB Trot winner Arcee Phoenix and highly talented Victorian mare Susan Is Her Name. While Republican Party is long odds to go to the pacer's series his juvenile stablemate Fugitive looks certain to get a slot in the A$500,000 Ladbrokes Protostar on July 12 especially if he wins the Welcome Stakes at Addington this Friday. Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald's Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world's biggest horse racing carnivals.
NZ Herald
01-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Cullen: Have faith in my star's standing start manners
'I think he can begin quickly,' says co-trainer Hayden Cullen, who with wife Amanda is in the best form of his career. 'He has only had the one stand and I know he only finished fifth but he was off a 30m handicap by himself, at Cambridge and once they began he had nothing to race so just mucked around. 'He was safe but not fast and ended up being last most of the way and never really got into it. 'But it wasn't his manners that cost him and being a good pacer I think he can use his draw this week so the stand doesn't bother me.' On his Taylor Mile win and fourth as the only horse coming wide in last Friday's Messenger, if We Walk By Faith leads or trails freegoers like Sooner The Bettor or Rakero Rocket, he will be the horse to beat. The Cullens also have the enigmatic Don't Stop Dreaming in the race and while Hayden opts for We Walk By Faith as their better hope Don't Stop Dreaming, like all those on the 10m mark, could win if the race gets turned on its head at the start. 'He was good last week and didn't have a hard run, which should suit him this time, and he can go close but of course that might depend how the race is run.' Republican Party looks the best placed of the pacers on the 10m mark as he is a great beginner and has been in wonderful form so he if can step quick enough to gain an advantage over some of the front markers, then the complexion of the race might change. That will also be the case for Mo'unga, although he is the horse who looks unluckiest to be back on the 10m mark while what Chase A Dream does tonight is anybody's guess. On a night with so many big trot races, the juvenile pacers have their autumn finals with Alecto (R8, No.2) looking to have a major advantage in the draws over unbeaten Australian filly Ripples (9), who beat her last Friday but raced erratically. In the boys final, Fugitive (R6, No.6) looks the most advanced but Andretti (4) should be a big improver on last Friday. The Cullen team also have high-class filly General Jen taking on the older horses in Race 2 and she prepares for the Sires' Stakes Final next Friday. Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald's Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world's biggest horse racing carnivals.
