Latest news with #KarakaMillions
NZ Herald
16-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Velocious gets ideal opportunity at Ellerslie to make up for lost season
Which is one reason Velocious heads there today. 'It is her favourite track, she has won a Group 1 and a Karaka Millions there,' says Marsh. 'We are looking at Australia with her, there is a race in Brisbane on June 7 that would suit her but obviously she would need to race well this weekend. 'I think she will. Forget last start when things didn't go her way, she will go a lot better on Saturday.' Velocious (R6, No 1) could hardly come into today's set weights and penalty race better off, carrying only 1kg more than horses just out of maidens even though she is a Group 1 winner of nearly $1 million. She gets the right barrier to settle handy and if she is going to be heading to Sunshine State she would want to be at least paying a dividend today. While that potential trip explains why last season's Juvenile of the Year is racing in a normal race in mid-May, Marsh says there is a different reason Bourbon Empress is a surprise acceptor for the open 1400m today. Already the winner of the Group 2 Rich Hill Mile this season, Bourbon Empress would usually be enjoying her autumn spell before chasing spring Group 1s but Marsh says her appetite is the issue. 'She is such a big, strong mare who does so well we thought if we gave her a long spell, she would do too well and it would be really hard to get the weight off her. 'So she will have one or run races now to tick her over and we haven't totally ruled out her popping over to Australia for a race either.' A horse who has travelled the other way across the Tasman is one Marsh suggests could provide a good start to the day, in a rare opening-race run before noon. 'Hakushu has a lot of ability and actually went to Australia but never raced there,' explains Marsh. 'He is better than maiden grade.' The Cambridge trainer is also campaigning Super Photon (R4, No 1) in a A$150,000 ($163,500) race at Flemington today, up against good mate Andrew Forsman, who has Yaldi in the same race. 'I think Flemington will suit him and I can't believe the odds he is [$34] considering he beat the older horses last start,' says Marsh. Marsh is locked in a battle for the title of New Zealand's leading black-type trainer, with 17 wins at that level, the same as the Walker/Bergerson stable but the latter have the favourite Towering Vision (R4, No 1) in today's $100,000 Skycity Champagne Stakes at Ellerslie. While Marsh may also ultimately have to settle for his usual second on the trainer's premiership as he sits 20 wins behind Walker/Bergerson, he is still proud of his best-ever season, especially at black-type level. 'The staff have done an amazing job and we have had great support from owners,' he says. 'That has enabled us to go to the yearling sales and buy the horses we want and this year we have bought 16 yearlings, which is a lot for us. 'But we have almost sold all of them, with only a couple of small shares in horses who didn't cost a lot of money left but I'd imagine that would go pretty quickly. 'With the huge stake increases in New Zealand and Australia right next door, we realise there is a golden opportunity and we want to make the most of it and take new owners along for the ride.' 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
06-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Horse racing: New Zealand Bloodstock moves to boost centenary yearling sales
To facilitate that, New Zealand Bloodstock will increase the numbers of horses sold on the first three days of the sales next year, starting on Sunday, January 25 and Monday, January 26 for Book 1 horses while 290 horses will be offered in Book 2 on Tuesday, January 27 before many of the overseas trainers return home. Book 1 of the yearling sales usually sees around 220 horses a day catalogued, meaning that after withdrawals around 200 yearlings would be offered each day. That meant around 660 total horses could be catalogued in Book 1 to be sold over those three peak days, Sunday to Tuesday. New Zealand Bloodstock (NZB) will boost those numbers for next season by cataloguing 290 lots per day for Book 1 on Sunday and Monday with another 290 for Book 2 on the Tuesday. Crucially, all 871 yearlings catalogued for those three days can be on the salegrounds at the same time, enabling buyers who may usually miss Book 2 yearlings to inspect them as well. 'We want to get as many of those top horses in front of as many overseas buyers as we can,' says NZB managing director Andrew Seabrook. That will make for some long days but big books and longer sales days are becoming more common right around the Australian sales industry, with Karaka the best-placed to cater for it because of its extensive hospitality offering. The Karaka salegrounds are also a vast, green and inviting space whereas the major overseas salegrounds aren't as comfortable for those settling in for a 10-hour day. While the plans to put the 870 yearlings, minus withdrawals, in front of as many top-end buyers as possible should please vendors, it will still leave yearlings to be sold and they will be catered for with the new Summer Sale for 200-plus yearlings on the Thursday. That will have more of a Book 3 feel it and while it will be targeted by those looking for value horses, Seabrook says it will come with added incentives. 'We will increase the hospitality from what would normally be available at that stage of the week and that specific sale will have some attractive sales terms and $200,000 worth of Karaka Millions bonuses for horses bought there,' says Seabrook. 'The 100-year anniversary is truly an exciting occasion. We are thrilled to be celebrating such a milestone on behalf of the wider industry and are looking forward to producing one of the best catalogues seen in New Zealand.' SUPERSTAR FOR SALE One of New Zealand's star mares is being offered for sale as a breeding proposition this week. Group 1 winner Bonny Lass goes up for sale on NZB's Gavelhouse Plus online platform, with bidding opening on Wednesday night and closing next Thursday. The winner of eight races and nearly $800,000 in stakes, Bonny Lass is one of only two mares in the modern history of New Zealand racing to win at Group race level every season from 2 years old to her 6-year-old season. Her sale continues the recent trend of elite race mares being sold at the end of their careers, one that has become far more pronounced in the age of syndication as it is unfeasible for syndicates to breed from them. 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
02-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Riccarton mud bath avoided as racing bosses get flexible
Punters who bet into the meeting before the switch have had those bets refunded and the meeting was re-opened for betting with scratchings put back into the fields on Thursday night. What punters end up with is a meeting certain to go ahead while the trainers chasing valuable black type with their two-year-olds in the Champagne Stakes at least know they will have a fairer surface. The Champagne Stakes remaining black type had to be approved by the Pattern Committee, the group charged with maintaining the quality of New Zealand black type racing. 'The switch to the synthetic has to be a good move because I don't think punters enjoy seeing horses trying to handle a Heavy 10 if they don't have to,' says Cambridge trainer Tony Pike, who has Lucy In The Sky in the feature. 'Sure, it probably helps our filly because I was worried about the very heavy track but in reality we would have struggled to even run the whole meeting on the turf. 'Taking my horse out of it I see no issues running a black type race on a synthetic track. You wouldn't do it every week but I think all round the right decisions have been made for the industry.' Lucy In The Sky comes out of the Group 1 Sistema Stakes at Ellerslie last start so drops enormously in grade today and while her $2.50 price last night wasn't enormous overs she could close significantly shorter today. Pike has a team of eight at Te Rapa today too and is confident of starting the day with a winner, he just doesn't know which horse. 'I think I can win Race 1 but I am not sure who is the better chance out of High Country or Poetic Justice,' he says. With the pair at boosted odds of $6.50 and $5.50 respectively smart punters looking for an early TAB account bump could do worse than backing them both. The Te Rapa meeting also holds a black type juvenile race as those opportunities start to run dry for the babies but it has a far more even feel, with a Karaka Millions runner like Toretto against those who have emerged over the autumn. Across the Tasman there will be Kiwi flavour at both Eagle Farm (Queensland) and Morphettville (South Australia), with Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh having runners at both. Marsh has Roctave (R8, No.10) in the A$1million South Australian Derby while Tardelli, who was narrowly beaten against the older horses in the Easter at Ellerslie last start, contests the A$350,000 Queensland Guineas with Michael McNab to ride.
