Kiwi Chronicles

Don’t forget Mother

All thoroughbreds have a mother and one in particular, Mrs Moss (Reform), continues to influence the bloodstock breeding world. Described by Henrietta, Duchess of Bedford, of Bloomsbury Stud, as a “life changer”, Mrs Moss found her way into the Tavistock-Woburn Abbey empire for the princely sum of 2100 guineas in 1975 as a broodmare carrying... Read More

Balance restored

From a Kiwi perspective, the late Tavistock (Montjeu) has done much to invigorate the success of New Zealand breds among the staying three-year-olds in Australasia, with the stallion playing a major part in the bloodlines belonging to the final two Australian state Derby winners, in South Australia and Queensland, while New Zealand’s only Derby fell... Read More

When the going gets tough…

Weather bombs and heavy rains mean that winter is well underway and racing is suddenly presented with deep tracks that mean your horse will need to be fit and tough to slog through the bog. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” is the old adage and Grangewilliam Stud’s Zed (Zabeel) had a... Read More

When the going gets tough…

Weather bombs and heavy rains mean that winter is well underway and racing is suddenly presented with deep tracks that mean your horse will need to be fit and tough to slog through the bog. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” is the old adage and Grangewilliam Stud’s Zed (Zabeel) had a... Read More

Staying the distance

Apart from Entriviere (Tavistock), whose spirited finish from last to be just a half length away third in the Doomben 10,000 (Gr 1, 1200m), the Kiwis and Kiwi-breds again found their niche in two of Saturday’s longer races for the three-year-olds.  Time and patience was evident in the South Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) in... Read More

All is not lost

Disappointments are common in racing. Ask any owner. Ellerslie’s New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Million (RL, 1200m), run in late January, is a case in point. Not the race itself, but the connections of the two runners that were last and second last across the line are unlikely to have fond memories of the day. Then... Read More