Kiwi Chronicles
Spring racing at its best
A spectacular runaway Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) and a heart-stopping Everest (1200m), captured the racing headlines this past Saturday. In the case of the Caulfield Cup, seeing is believing. Yet, even seeing how Incentivise (Shamus Award) sat wide from the outside barrier (18) around a tricky Caulfield track, went even wider rounding into the... Read More
More from Kiwi Chronicles
The bottom line
A continuing theme of this weekly report is the strength of certain female families. In recent months, the famous “Belle” family has been discussed at length. This past month, Georgina Belle (Pakistan II), no connection to the Belle family, and her stakes-winning descendants have been impacting the industry weekly. Last week, highlighting a Group 1... Read More
The great New Zealand mare behind Lagardere winner Angel Bleu
Featuring an extravaganza of six Group 1s, France’s biggest day of racing last Sunday at Longchamp revealed a number of interesting pedigrees, one of which has a significant connection with New Zealand. Angel Bleu (Dark Angel), winner of the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Gr 1, 1400m) for three-year-olds, is the fifth northern hemisphere Group 1 winner... Read More
‘Cranky’ is a positive
What better way to hail the surging stud career of your young stallion than to have your own colours aboard his first stakes winner? That is the case for Waikato Stud, their exciting Tivaci (High Chaparral) and his Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Never Been Kissed. Having her fourth start, the filly is owned... Read More
Savabeel setting the pace
For the Kiwis, a good number of highs, combined with several honest stakes performances, could be taken from Australian stakes racing over the past weekend. Making a strong statement is Waikato Stud’s Savabeel (Zabeel) who is on a roll two months into the 2021-22 season. In terms of individual stakes winners his four is headed... Read More
Racing – The great equaliser
The sudden retirement of star mare Avantage (Fastnet Rock) shook the headlines late last week after it was discovered that she had heat in her off-fore. A subsequent X-ray found a hole in the tendon and Te Akau Racing immediately withdrew her from Saturday’s Tarzino Trophy (Gr 1, 1400m). Combining the huge demand for quality... Read More