Even by its own lofty standards, Waikato Stud had a day to remember at Randwick on Saturday.  Not only did New Zealand’s famous farm claim the credit in Australia’s first Group 1 of the season when Mo’unga took the Winx Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m), two races later the Waikato-bred mare Atishu claimed her second win... Read More

We love the bargain basement stories, like the Takeover Targets, or the one about the passed-in mare snapped up the next day for $1,000 while in foal with this year’s Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Stay Inside.  But sometimes we’re dazzled as well by the big hitters, the whales who swim in a league... Read More

There are cascades of class in the pedigree of Saturday’s Flemington three-year-old winner Sunfall, including the dam of a Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m)-winning cult hero, and a mare who played a large role in two other intriguing chapters of Australian racing folklore. The Mick Price-trained Sunfall is by Widden’s flagbearer Zoustar, who’s just finished... Read More

“Then she rolls it, and folds it, and rolls it again – layer upon layer upon layer.”  How fitting that Melbourne lawyer Susan Zeitz likes to compare her approach to breeding, her fascination with pedigrees, to that line from a 1980s ad for a famous brand of apple Danish. For after some 14 years developing... Read More

When Gonnadancealot won the 1800m first race at Flemington last Saturday, it heralded the start of not just one but perhaps two exciting Australian careers – that of the two-year-old filly, and her sire Sir Prancealot.  The Irish-bred 11-year-old is a stallion who, in a way, may have slipped through some cracks on his way... Read More