Veyron is well. :) He's running in this race on Saturday with an apprentice riding him to get his weight down (Jack Wong). It's his last warm-up for the Zabeel Classic on Boxing Day.

Thanks for that!

Danielle is riding so well this season.
http://www.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/Jockeys.aspx

She had her best ever season last year with 95 wins, but she's already reached 60 this season and we're only four and a half months in! She's projected to get more than 150 if she keeps going at this rate.

That's amazing... good for her!

Exciting weekend coming up but am disappointed to see the always-hard-trying Eight Schillings scratched. Will be happy when he finally wins on again... it's been a while.

Can't wait to see Veyron, Amun Ra et al. :)

VERY nice debut win from Strata Lady. We have some good two-year-olds this year - Maritimo, Windborne, Rocanto...

Wow did she ever look professional! Very nice win!

Just watched Spin Doctor's win and read your piece (loved it, of course)... I can never be disappointed with Veyron so it's all good and you're right, he is super under-rated.

Just watched the Pure Champion race as well... man by the end of it though I was hoping Diademe would hold on! Now Pure Champion is who I thought would win (I was completely wrong about every other race though... all my picks were off the board and he is just so good so not like this is any shocking redboarding revelation) BUT I hoped for Ginner Hart (cause that would be amazing!) but yeah... what heart Diademe showed in that one! (Man, Scapolo looks HUGE :D).

THAT WAS NUTS!

A bit of Mom and Dad both? Indeed! :D

So Ed you will be at Ellerslie on Friday, right? When do the fields come out (I should know this by now but don't)?

I CANT WAIT!

Good to see they've finally put the replay up!

Yep, I'll be there on Friday. Noms come out in about three hours, and the final fields are confirmed tomorrow.

The Boxing Day fields are amazing, as always! So many outstanding horses in the Zabeel, and the Eight Carat is full of potential.

Pinzaara's got a good draw for her career finale in the Newmarket! It's a tough race for her but I know she'll try her heart out again.

The 2yo and 3yo races early in the card are really nice as well.

They ARE amazing fields!!!

Okay first off and most importantly, good luck to the beautiful Pinzaara. Hope she ends it with a win. What a great horse to follow... thanks for sharing her goings on. :)

Good luck to El Chico and to Dillinger at Wingatui (even if I don't know where that is!) , to Iamishwara at Awapuni (whoa I have not seen the name Crocodile Canyon in a long time!), to Dorian Grey at Pirongia (nor that...) AND oh Ellerslie...

Good luck to Lauren Tate and Allez Eagle in the 1st, Giant Turtle and Amun Ra in the 4th, half the field but especially Pinzaara :tro: in the 5th, an awful lot of horses in the 7th and 8th :D , Veyron and pretty much every horse in the Zabeel Classic which is one of the most exciting fields I've ever seen (!!!!!).

Have a beautiful Christmas, ed, and a very happy (and fun) Boxing Day.

Thanks! I have tomorrow and Christmas Day off, which is going to be nice, and then Ellerslie. Can't wait.

A very happy Christmas to you too, as well as anyone else who might be reading this thread and not posting. :)

My boss wrote a nice article about Pinzaara:
http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...-on-the-planet

Absolutely loved reading this... good luck to your little star who most certainly deserves to win.

A cool little horse indeed!

edit - How wonderful seeing this is the lead story!

I am getting such a kick out of seeing the Tavy and Sports Illustrated stories pushed aside for the Pinzaara piece! So awesome, ed! :)

Big crowd, a beautiful day and an exciting first race. This is going to be a great day!

Not Pinzaara's day. :( Nothing went right for her today. But that's okay.

There were some big surprises yesterday. But I was so happy for Soriano and Rory Hutchings when they got their first G1 wins in the Zabeel.

Sorry to hear about PInzaara and cannot wait to see the replays.

Soriano won??? Are you serious? Very happy to hear that and will catch up and watch everything tonight!

Is Miss beautiful Pinzaara now officially retired? What a great ride that must have been. :)

You of all people know how much I LOVE Veyron and Soriano etc but the only one I have watched so far was the most important one....

Pinzaara did well! What a ridiculously difficult field that was what with Ruud Awakening and Rollout the Carpet, Antonio et al... she was up there with the best of them though and you should be really pleased with her fantastic race record and the way she moved up continually.

I hope you have as exciting runner as her again very soon.

Give her a hug (and let her know my kids, who are both grown, have no clue who Sunday Silence was or Man O'War, Six Perfections, Zarkava, etc but damned right they both know the name Pinzaara. I kid you not).

I will get to the rest (SO much racing on Boxing Day) when I can... Veyron will be next up. :)

Okay well now, idiot that I am, I am in tears from watching Soriano's win.

That was... there are no words for how outstanding that was and probably the greatest field of the year (or my favorite anyway)... just thrilled that she finally did it and brilliantly!!!!!!!!

What a class act MdP is congratulating Rory immediately...

So happy for connections and that they all came home safe.

Brilliant field... she is amazing. Glad it was finally her day!

My mascara is ruined! :o :D

It was just a wonderful performance, wasn't it? I thought she had no chance from last at the top of the stretch, but she flew. A really great win and she totally deserved it.

Very nice run from Pondarosa Miss as well! Can't wait to see her up over a mile and a half.

I think it's 90% certain that the amazing Pinzaara is retired now, but there is still a chance she might run in the Railway. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'll keep you posted!

Fun day at Ellerslie today! Nowhere near Boxing Day with its crowd or the quality of racing, but still some nice performances.

Kolaman and Kaharau are both on the Derby trail, The Justice League was amazing on debut in the 2yo race and it was nice to see G3 winner Shezhardtocatch back at her best.

Pinzaara confirmed for one more race in the Railway! :eek:

The New Year's Day fields at Ellerslie are stunning. I can't wait!

http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...Derby-campaign :)

Great fields! Have a wonderful time if you're going (which I will assume you are) and happy New Year.

GOOD LUCK!!!!! Exciting beyond belief!!!!! :)


(edit - Feel better, Bounding.)

Finally read it...nicely done. I like this one!

Lots of scratches today!

Good luck to your girl. :)

Ellerslie looks absolutely beautiful this afternoon. Race one is five minutes away. So excited.

Marky Mark! Wow, he really went up a level today.

There's an awful-looking incident in the Royal Stakes, so beware of that when you watch the replay. But I can report that horses and jockeys are all okay. :) Stolen Dance had an irregular heart beat, but otherwise all fine.

Volkstok'n'barrell, Sakhee's Soldier and In Style were all absolutely fantastic.

Another spill in the City Of Auckland Cup. :( The horse is fine. Michael McNab was sitting up on the track but has been taken to hospital. Hope he's okay.

Thanks for the advance warning(s)...

Just woke up and have not even emailed my mom yet to wish a happy new year BUT I did just watch Pinzaaras race and, while I'm sorry she didn't win, it it WAS wild and fantastic to see her bow out in the Railway, for God sake!

A lovely run and a game try... quite a field.

Wishing a very happy retirement to a VERY good girl...

I see that you posted on retirements and while I have not yet looked I think she should be both the last on 2014 and first on the new one.

Looking forward to seeing Fastdane Rocky on Tuesday!

Oh I just read the Veyron piece on the Informant.....

I do think he's done more than enough (... but my heart is completely pained for Ms. Laing).

Yeah, a very sad end to a wonderful team. :(

Happy about this: http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...d-to-Derby-day

The more big races on Derby day, the better.

Speaking of the Derby, how about an early top 10?

1. Volkstok'n'barrell - he's been so impressive and really has to be at the top at the moment. Donna Logan says he's possibly the best horse she's ever trained. :eek: Habibi, Rising Romance, Durham Town...

2. Rockfast - he hasn't won since September but he's impressed me a lot with seconds in big races in his last two.

3. Tavy - she's desperate for more distance, and I can't wait to see her get it. Trainer Roger James has won the Derby five times.

4. McQueen - the first surprising one! I really like the look of this horse. He flew into second on debut, then scored a nice win second time out. The horse who ran second there, Suffire, won her next race by six lengths. This guy runs at Ellerslie on Saturday and we can get a better idea of him after that - he might move down or up!

5. Kolonel Kev - a really nice win at Trentham, followed by a strong third in the Guineas. Watching this guy closely.

6. Margin Trader - another one who's caught my eye with his last couple of races, and I think stepping up over more distance will be a big help for him.

7. Stratocaster - I was a bit disappointed with his last race, but we know how good this horse is. He's way too good to leave off this list. His trainer told me he was a bit fat going into that race, so hopefully he'll improve on it. The distance should be good for him too.

8. Sound Proposition - this horse scored a VERY nice three-length maiden win last time. I'll be watching him closely as he steps up in grade over the next few weeks.

9. Midnitemagicman - another Logan horse. He took a while to win his first race! But he's been stakes placed three times, he loves Ellerslie and he tries really hard.

10. Mongolian Khan - a stakes winner at Ellerslie, but I'm not totally convinced by that performance. Craig gave him a brilliant ride in front and basically stole the race, and I don't think he could do that in the Derby.

Thanks for the list, ed! Have to get caught up on about a fourth of the runners...

I shall hold out hope for Giant Turtle to step it up big time. :D

Will you be at Ellerslie on Saturday? Have a great time if you go.

Nice news about Habibi, by the way!

Yep, I'm at Ellerslie. :) How good was McQueen? Wow!

I think he moves up my Derby list after that, possibly even as high as two.

Very nice win (but my favorite part was the "Giant Turtle off his back" line :D).

Surprised Graphic couldn't do it today (nice win by Delveen, who I have not heard of).

Good luck wishes to Flower Bomb and The Grinner especially (won't win) and to Rollout The Carpet (who should win easily)!

Have fun!!!

* * *

edit - Love and respect to Nashville and Survived and all but I am kinda rooting for the always hard-trying Ismishwara to win the Waikato Stud at the other track today. :)

edit - Looking at the twitter stuff from Awapuni... track safe? Fingers crossed.