It’s a long way from scraping a living out of selling yearlings at Claudelands’ Waikato sales for a $1,000, sometimes less, just to put food on the table, to a sale topper for $1.6 million. The writer well remembers the old Claudelands ring and the auctioneers’ rostrum which stood about five feet above ground. During... Read More

Proving the point that no one knows from where the next good horse will emerge, two unheralded sires, The Bold One (Fastnet Rock) and Vespa (Elusive Quality), took centre stage at Trentham on Saturday. One clue as to who might bag the Wellington Cup (Gr 3, 3200m) was available as the runners were loading. A... Read More

A tenacious Levin Classic (Gr 1, 1600m) victory by Quintessa (Shamus Award) elevated the plucky filly to be counted as one of the best of this season’s crop of three-year-olds. The question is: How does she measure up to the unbeaten Crocetti (Zacinto), the boom filly Molly Bloom (Ace High) or the talented Lupo Solitario... Read More

This year’s Marton Cup (Listed, 2200m) result was a triumph of patience as forty years has elapsed since the Schumacher family became involved with a mare named Wild Lavender (Varano), the great-granddam of Saturday’s Cup victor Canheroc (El Roca). Wild Lavender was foaled in Great Britain and imported to New Zealand in 1975. Her dam,... Read More

Sometimes a poor result can turn out to be just the opposite. Certainly, that is the case regarding Repo Bay (Shocking) who was offered for sale in May of 2019 carrying yesterday’s Railway (Gr 1, 1200m) victor, Waitak (Proisir). The mare’s vendor is likely relieved that Repo Bay failed to reach her reserve and was... Read More