New Zealand to Wager on French Racing
- Friday, 07 August 2009 00:00
Like their Australian counterparts, the New Zealand TAB will offer betting on French racing from two venues every Tuesday evening with the racing to be a mixture of gallops and harness.
The expansion will also allow the NZ TAB to also provide more extensive coverage of Australian, South African and British racing with a betting pools to be commingled with Tabcorp
"Australia has been offering betting on French racing for a number of months now and it has proved to be popular with punters across the Tasman," New Zealand Racing Board Racing Manager Michael Dore said.
"If it proves popular here then we could look to add more French racing to our weekly schedule.
"Our agreement with the PMU in France also means we will be able to offer betting on all the premier races from France such as the prestigious Group 1 Prix de l'Arc D'Triomphe race in October each year," he added.
Australian's have been able to wager on French racing since mid February.
The first two French meetings covered by the NZ TAB next Tuesday will be two thoroughbred meetings at Deauville and Vichy.
Queensland Carnival Plans For Kiwi Galloper
- Wednesday, 05 August 2009 00:00
"If he had a brain he would have a better record, as he worries and gets upset on race-day, but should continue to get better with age", said McKenzie.
Impressive winning his Maiden by eleven lengths on a heavy track over a mile at Otaki last August, Malachite returned to form when finding plenty to win his third race, on heavy footing at Foxton last start, and remained in the same Rating 80 grade to win the Plough Hotel over 1500 metres at Riccarton on Wednesday.
Boasting all three victories on heavy ground, rider David Walsh said Malachite coped admirably with the slow track conditions, on footing upgraded for the second time during the day from an initial read of Slow (8) to Dead (6) following the race.
"It was an easy win for him on ground that is now just on the better side of slow", said Walsh.
Malachite scored by two and three quarter lengths over Baci, justifying favouritism to pay $2.30 & $1.20.
McKenzie is hoping Malachite will continue to develop sufficiently in a mental capacity to prove worthy of a trip to Queensland next winter.
"A race like the Caloundra Cup in Queensland could suit him", said McKenzie.
The McKenzie/Walsh combination was also to the fore in the previous race, when Roverson scored on debut in the Robbie's Bar & Bistro Maiden over 1400 metres, having previously finished runner-up in his only two trial starts.
And while attempting a hat-trick, had to bow for second with Metrical, beaten by Italian Bambino, trained by Pam Gerard at Ashburton, in the Trevino's Bar & Restaurant Maiden (1200m).
Birchwood Run On Target For Riccarton
- Tuesday, 04 August 2009 00:00
Jockey Jo Rathbone is confident Birchwood Run has the right attributes for Wednesday's Grand National Hurdles at Riccarton.
Birchwood Run has been a revelation this season, winning three of his four jumping races and also running a strong second to Conquistador in the Foxton Cup (2200m).
Bookmakers have installed him the $NZ4.50 ($A3.58) favourite for the 120th running of the Grand National and Rathbone says the 4200m of the race should hold no fears for him.
"He settles very well and is a brilliant jumper and makes a lot of ground over his fences," Rathbone said.
"The fact that he can settle so well means he can get the trip, because he doesn't waste too much energy by trying to go too hard.
"He has a good turn of foot when he needs it."
After winning a restricted 3100m open hurdle at Hastings on May 21, Birchwood Run ran his second on the flat before a five-length win in Manawatu Hurdle (2900m) on June 13 and a second to Bennyosler in the Hawke's Bay Hurdles (3100m) on June 27.
Foxton trainers Christine Eagle and Michael Seymour then gave the eight-year-old Istidaad gelding his first steeplechase start and he obliged by easily winning the 4200m event at Oamaru on July 17.
The idea was twofold - to give him a chance to show his ability at the same distance as the Grand National, albeit over bigger fences, and to avoid gaining a heavier weight handicap over the hurdles.
As it is, Birchwood Run shares second topweight of 65.6kg with High Season and Arrastra on Wednesday, with Pasco having to shoulder an onerous 68kg.
Rathbone, who last week was confirmed as the 2008-09 season jumps' jockey champion, says she rated Birchwood Run a good chance of success on Wednesday, but was keeping her confidence levels in check.
"You can't afford to get too confident - there are plenty of other good horses in the race and plenty of hurdles to be jumped," she said.
Among the rivals are up-and-coming lightweight Rioch, backed in to $6 second favouritism on Tuesday, while High Season $NZ7 ($A5.57) is well prepared and ran a good race for second in the Sydenham Hurdles behind Mr Charlton last Saturday.
Rathbone rode Wolf Pack into fifth place in that race and rates him a strong chance on Wednesday.
"We got held a bit the other day and he went well in the National last year," she said.
Wolf Pack ran eight lengths second to Just Not Cricket in the race last year with Arreviderci a length away third.
Top Melbourne jockeys Craig Durden and Steve Pateman ride Wolf Pack and Arreviderci respectively on Wednesday.
Wolf Pack and Pasco are $NZ9 ($A7.16) chances on the TAB fixed odds book, while Arreviderci, Mr Charlton and Solid Steal are rated at $NZ10 ($A7.95).
Wheeler Praises Scott's Horsemanship
- Wednesday, 05 August 2009 00:00
Trainer John Wheeler praised Brett Scott's "great horsemanship" in plotting a path between a fallen jockey and a wayward horse in steering High Season to victory in a dramatic Grand National Hurdles at Riccarton on Wednesday.
It was the 120th running of the race and one of its most eventful, with Rioch and English jockey George Strickland clearing off to a huge lead.
At times the gap to the rest of the field was at least 30 lengths as Rioch gave a bold display and approaching the third last fence he looked to have the race shot to bits.
But disaster struck as he hit the top of the fence and he and Strickland tumbled to the turf.
Worse was to come when the horse got up and then started walking away from the rail across the path of the oncoming field.
High Season and Scott avoided the peril but Tommy Hazlett and Solid Steal had no chance, crashing into the wayward Rioch immediately after jumping the fence.
The drama wasn't over with Arreviderci and Vinopolis also falling in the latter stages but High Season and Scott were away and gone, winning by 6-1/2 lengths from Mr Charlton with a further three-quarters of a length to Wolf Pack.
Scott said he saw the mishap unfold in front of him and had enough time to thread a path between Strickland and Rioch.
"It worked out to be a good move," he said.
Scott, foreman for Wheeler's Melbourne stable, is acknowledged as one of Australasia's great jumps jockeys and the NZ Grand National Hurdles was the one big race trophy one missing from his cabinet before Wednesday.
"Scotty's a champion, he's as good as you can get," Wheeler said.
"He was quite circumspect approaching the fence. If you watch the replay, he was waiting and watching which way the fallen horse went and he chose the correct way. It was great horsemanship."
Wheeler acknowledged there was a lot of luck involved in the win.
"It was an amazing race and it was unlucky for some of the others, but that's the way it goes sometimes," he said.
Club Borrows Gates After False Starts
- Sunday, 02 August 2009 00:00
Racing officials at New Zealand's Canterbury club will borrow a set of starting gates for the remainder of the Riccarton carnival following a debacle with the barriers on the first day.
A false start was declared for Saturday's feature, the Winter Cup, after the gates holding Propel and El Bee Dee failed to open.
The gates worked properly when the field set off a second time with the race won by Taking The Mickey.
But the same barriers that failed did so again for the next race, the day's final event, with The Prawn Star and Lonely George stranded.
Starter Stephanie Payne quickly declared a false start and the field reassembled, but when they set off, the same two horses were again left behind.
No false start was declared and after initial hesitation by some jockeys, the race was on despite the main course siren sounding.
Caught Out won the race from Skirmish but after more than an hour's deliberation, the race day judicial committee declared the race void and refunded punters' money.
Chief stipendiary steward Reid Sanders said he would be asking for South Canterbury's gates to be used on the next two days of the carnival.
"We can't afford to have this happening again," he told Trackside TV.
He believed the decision to abandon the race to be the correct one as punters did not receive a fair chance.
Canterbury Jockey Club chief executive Tim Mills said the club had obtained the use of South Canterbury's gates.
"They will be used whilst investigations continue into identifying the reasons behind the malfunction of the starting gates which were in use on Saturday," he said.
Caught Out's trainer Peter McKenzie and jockey David Walsh and the connections of Skirmish had asked the judicial committee to declare the result valid, with the horses affected as late scratchings.
In April, a false start was declared in a race for two-year-olds when the Riccarton gates for two of the 11 runners failed to open.
But on that occasion, the jockeys had trouble pulling up their mounts.
Trainers of four of the horses who had completed most of the 1000 metres before they were able to be restrained withdrew their horses, while vets ruled the other five who ran had elevated heart rates and were scratched.
The judicial committee decided the two horses left in the barrier gates should race and their jockeys took them back to the start.
But just before they were about to enter the gates, a decision was announced on-course that the race was abandoned because of time constraints.
Grand National Hurdles To High Season
- Wednesday, 05 August 2009 00:00
‘It ain't over ‘til the fat lady sings' and ‘what could have been' are at opposite ends of the proverb scale, yet both played their part in the outcome of the $57,500 120th Grand National Hurdles Handicap, sponsored by Hanz (Hospitality Association of New Zealand), contested over fifteen fences and 4200 metres at Riccarton Park Racecourse in Christchurch on Wednesday.After Rioch, with twenty-year-old George Strickland aboard, had led by a big margin throughout, still three seconds clear of the second horse (approximately 20 lengths) angling for the run home with 500 metres to run, it appeared the race was all but over.
But one should not assume the outcome until the race is finished, and when he crashed out at the third last hurdle, then in dazed fashion ambled into the line of fire, everything changed complexion, and what could have been for Rioch and his young rider had disappeared.
With the likely winner out of the contest, and the well-favoured Solid Steal ridden by Tom Hazlett brought down in the subsequent skirmish, the race was taken by the scruff of the neck by first-day Sydenham Hurdles quinella High Season and Mr Charlton, with High Season in the hands of Brett Scott surging clear late for a six and a half length victory.
Mr Charlton held second, with three quarters of a length to Wolf Pack in third.
Owned and trained by the leading jumps trainer from last season John Wheeler, High Season came into the race with respective third place finishes in the Waikato Hurdles and the Hawkes Bay Hurdles in recent starts, and took his stakes to $275,000 with win number twelve.
Although gratefully victorious, it was not all plain sailing during the running for Scott.
"He's not an easy ride as he over-races if he doesn't get cover, and although I was looking to settle in midfield I went back to find cover and ended up back along the fence", said Scott.
"He gave a faultless display except for the fourth last, but he's a gutsy little horse and he jumped fantastic."
While John Wheeler was stoked with the victory, he was quick in asking of the wellbeing of fallen runners and riders, including his stable rider Richard Eynon who fell from Vinopolis at the last, all of which returned to scale intact.
With the elation of success filling the victorious, George Strickland, the rider of Rioch was feeling somewhat subdued.
"Kevin (Myers) told me to let him bowl along and I still hadn't gone for him, but he tried to jump it like a steeplechase fence and took off too soon."
"I don't care about falling I wanted to win the race."
"It could have really put my name out there to win this race."
"I'm absolutely gutted and won't sleep tonight, and will be gutted all week until I ride again on Saturday", an obviously disappointed Strickland said.
Although difficult to relay the tragedy to the waiting owners of Rioch, Strickland handled himself professionally, was genuinely apologetic, and should lose no admirers through the incident.
PICS - Jenny Barnes
Taking The Mickey takes Winter Cup
- Saturday, 01 August 2009 00:00
A son of Christchurch-bred parents Ken and Barbara Collie, although he was born in Wellington, the Matangi based Collie is retired, but has helped out at the stable of training partners Tony Pike and Mark Donoghue at Cambridge where Taking The Mickey is prepared for the last nine years.
Collie said, "It is the first horse I've had race here at Riccarton and this is special because my family is from Christchurch."
After making up a huge slice of ground for third to Point Guard (Woodbury Lad) over 1400 metres at Te Rapa last Saturday, a decision to race in the Winter Cup was a late one.
"It was a last minute decision to come down here, and I was so nervous. I've been around horse all my life and this is fantastic. Racing has its ups and downs, but moments like this make it all worthwhile", said Collie.
A fifteen minute delay following a false start could have been a blessing in disguise for Taking The Mickey and his rider Vinny Colgan.
Colgan said he had given his mount a couple of digs before the start, as he is generally a slow beginner, resulting in Taking The Mickey situating handy before the riders sighted a red flag being waved to signal the false start.
Colgan said, "When he jumped well the first time it would have meant riding him upside down, so I just let him find his own way out the second time and he settled well back."
Still back and wide straightening for the 500 metre run home, Taking The Mickey was still giving The Twist (Danske), who had made the front, four lengths at the 200 metres, and rounded off with a terrific burst to win a close finish.
Taking The Mickey beat The Twist by half a length, with half a neck to third placed Don't Say Clang (Clang), and a nose to Elblizem (Elnadim) in fourth.
In winning his seventh race, his fifth over a mile, Taking The Mickey extended his prize money to $240,000, and returned double-figure odds of $10.40 & $3.10.
On a track that continued to improve during the day, from an initial read of Heavy10 to Slow8, the time for the mile was 1:39.31, last 600 metres in 37.27.
Taking The Mickey was the second horse by Tuscany Flyer (Rory's Jester) to win at Riccarton on Saturday following Toms Oscar, trained by Ross Beckett, two races earlier.
From three-time winning mare Mary Ford, raced by Collie, Taking The Mickey had been a marvellously consistent performer throughout his career since winning his Maiden on debut in November 2005, finishing fourth or better in thirty-one of his forty-five starts, with his biggest win prior coming in the $40,000 Chairman's Trophy at Ellerslie in May, as well as rushing home for third to quality gallopers Culminate (Elnadim) and Gaze (Cape Cross) over 1400 metres at Ellerslie last October.
Governor Bois Appreciates Better Footing
- Wednesday, 05 August 2009 00:00
A winner of six races on the flat, including a Dunstan Feeds Championship Qualifier at Te Rapa defeating Tinseltown and I'm Isaac, and a win over capable gallopers Wai and Halls at Awapuni, Governor Bois had placed in seven of his nine hurdle attempts before scoring on a track rated Slow (8).
Wheeler said, "He's a pretty good horse, having won approximately one-hundred and twenty thousand, but he needs a good track."
In addition to striking favourable footing he was given a perfect ride by Shelley Houston.
Patiently handled back in the field on the rail, Houston worked Governor Bois through the field from the 600 metres to challenge for the lead at the last hurdle, and after judging it nicely he kept up a strong gallop to draw away with second placed Asset Stripper, winning by half a length, with one and three quarter lengths to Ben's Dream, who signalled a hurdle win is within his grasp.
Owned by Wheeler along with Barry and Deidre Neville-White, Governor Bois had displayed an ability to quicken at the business end of his races, on numerous occasions, an attribute that will see him gain further success over hurdles when confronted with footing to suit.
Counter Punch ready for Grand National
- Saturday, 01 August 2009 00:00
After jumping the sixteen fences beautifully throughout, the only question mark that remains is an increase in distance to 5600 metres, with both trainer Mark Oulaghan and rider Tommy Hazlett signalling an air of confidence, mixed with the obvious reservation of him not having run the trip before.
Oulaghan said, "The way he is bred it shouldn't be a problem and he was still strong at the finish", while Hazlett commented on his toughness, saying, "We know he stays and we know he's a hardy customer", while each acknowledged it is going into unchartered territory, with an element of not knowing exactly until you try.
Adding to the uncertainty was his tendency to pull during the early stages of the running, an attribute he would not want to carry through to the Grand National.
Hazlett said, "We wouldn't want him to pull as hard, plus he's a quality hurdler coming back to steeplechase pace."
At his previous start Counter Punch waltzed away to win the Wellington Hurdles (3400), after Oulaghan had traipsed him from his training base at Awapuni to Riccarton in June, resulting in a steeplechase win at his first attempt, over 3200 metres.
After being camped behind the pace, Hazlett had Counter Punch looming into contention with 600 metres to travel, along with the pacemaker Gauchito Bastado (Istidaad) and Bennyolser (Istidaad), who had commenced his run from the rear at the 1600 metre mark.
The trio drew clear swinging for the run home, with Counter Punch and Bennyosler arriving at the last together (300m), and it soon became evident that Counter Punch had his measure.
In favour of Counter Punch, he had registered his only steeplechase win at Riccarton, while Bennyosler was having his debut start over the bigger fences having included the recent Hawkes Bay Hurdles within his three hurdle victories.
The winning margin was one and half lengths, while nine and half lengths away Nicholman (Yaminan Vital) made good ground out of the pack for third.
Gauchito Bastado finished fourth.
On a track upgraded from Heavy (10) to Slow (9), the race was completed in 5:04.41.
Owned by Aroha Duncan, Mike Ormsby, Mark Oulaghan & Jim Speedy, and bred by B J Anderton, J Mears & D V Roughan, Counter Punch returned to scale with a catch-cry of ‘you beauty' from rider Tommy Hazlett.
Oulaghan said, "We decided at the end of last season to target this race and we would like to win the Grand National."
First run in 1899 as the Lincoln Steeplechase, the race was renamed in 1973, in honour of great grey jumper Koral, trained by Bill Hazlett.
Cook And Cuddle In Date Shift
- Tuesday, 04 August 2009 00:00
Wellington's Captain Cook Stakes and Cuddle Stakes are to have date changes.
The Captain Cook Stakes, a Group One weight-for-age event over 1600m, will move from late October to December 5, just over three weeks after the Coupland's Bakeries Mile at Riccarton on November 11 and three weeks before the Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.
The Group Three Cuddle Stakes for fillies and mares over 1600m will be run on October 24, instead of Melbourne Cup day. It will be run as a set weight and penalties race instead of a handicap.
The changes were requested by the RACE group of clubs, which includes the Wellington Racing Club (WRC) that hosts the two races, and were approved by the thoroughbred industry's Graded Stakes Committee (GSC) and Pattern Review Committee (PRC).
GSC chairman Chas Amon said both committees agreed the Captain Cook Stakes was not working in its current position, because it was so close to the Hawke's Bay spring carnival.
"It is likely that the Cuddle Stakes will be improved with the set weights and penalties conditions and the earlier date," he said.
RACE group racing manager Brent Wall said the WRC believed the change in dates would help strengthen the quality of the fields for the two races.
"The Captain Cook has struggled in recent times being three weeks after New Zealand's biggest WFA race. The pattern of these races allows trainers to have valuable lead-ups to races at Riccarton and Ellerslie."
Daffodil A Pleasing Second In Opener
- Thursday, 30 July 2009 00:00
Trainer Kevin Gray says glamour filly Daffodil will probably head straight to the Group One Mudgway Stakes next month after running second in a 1200m sprint at Hastings on Thursday.
In her first start since winning the Group One AJC Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick in April, Daffodil bounced out well, sitting just off pacemaker Yelracm.
While she mastered that horse early in the run home she could not hold out Woodbury Belle in the run to the line, going down by a neck with four-kilogram claiming apprentice Aimee Taylor using the whip sparingly in the latter stages.
Punters who made her favourite would have been disappointed but Gray said he was satisfied as she was up against some seasoned horses.
"I'm very happy with her. I haven't put any pressure on her at all yet," he said.
With the 1400m Mudgway - the first leg of the Hawke's Bay triple crown - on August 30, Gray said he would prepare her for the race at his Waverley stables.
"She might have a quiet trial, we will just see how she is doing," he said.
Gray said Hayden Tinsley, who rode her to victory in the One Thousand Guineas at the elite level at Riccarton in November, would ride her in the Mudgway.