It was! She's a bit tired after that apparently, so she'll get a couple of weeks off now. Her next start will be at Easter - either March 30 or April 1. Both of those options are at Ellerslie again. She seems to like it here!

Yeah she sure does!

* * *

I just saw on the Informant Habibi is out of the Oaks. Only a couple were mentioned...any idea who else is pointed?

http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...w-Zealand-Oaks

High Fashion should be the favourite, now that Habibi's out of the picture. She's looked good winning a couple of stakes races recently, including the G3 Lowland at Hastings on March 2.

And there's also More Than Sacred, who was such a brave winner of the G3 Sunline Vase at Ellerslie last week. She might be my pick.

Others possibly heading for the Oaks include Lucky Country, Soriano (doubtful), Ray's Girl, Decorah, Aurora Lights, Abidewithme, Blanket Bay, Atacama, Chandelier and Emerald Queen.

This is actually kind of old news, but I somehow totally missed it!

2010 Derby winner Military Move is back in NZ and back with Shaune Ritchie.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times...t-in-Hong-Kong

He had his first trial this week and was second. :)

Sounds like a nice field. :)

Oh that is awesome!

He didn't like it much in hk, did he?

Can't wait to see him again.

Meanwhile, poor Mufhasa...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news...870649&ref=rss

Yeah, poor Mufhasa. :( Hope he makes a speedy recovery. At least it explains that performance, which was pretty much the worst race of his life.

Military Move really didn't like it in HK. It's weird how some do and some don't, and there's no way to tell until they try it.

Out of nowhere i got an email this morning... pictures of Villifye (cause I mentioned I had been a fan ) and Single Minded (!). Incredibly nice especially considering they're not all busy with Sulty Assassin or anything today!

Happy Oaks Day and good luck.

(Good luck to Blanket Bay, although it's doubtful she'll win (but I'd love to see her do well), and of course now to Sultry Assassin)!

Who wins today, ed?

Wow, that's super nice!

I'll go with More Than Sacred. Have to respect the favourite, High Fashion, too.

Haha, whoa! Should have put them in an exacta!

Thrilled for MTS. A maiden til Jan 23; now an Oaks winner! And she's so tough.

Read your post before i watched the replay and thought oh well... he has to mean he shoulda put MTS and High Fashion in an exacta.

Thrilled to see it was Blanket Bay who was 2nd!!!!!! :eek: :)

MTS:tro: wow yes tough tough girl, what a great race that was...

Nice run by... I think it was Emerald Queen flying at the end.

Cheers to the new it girl, More Than Sacred!

(Oh and very happy to see Brave Centaur continue his winning streak! Have not yet watched the race but had to check results for that one just now and will catch up on replays later). :)

My special good luck list for Saturday @Tauranga... :D

Shuka (!)
Half the field in the Japan Trophy
The Hombre :{>: :cool: (He can actually win this one) (I think!)(and Alvesta) in the sprint
Yin Yang Master


Platinum Princess @Riccarton (or is it proper to say at Canterbury? Well no matter, good luck to her)!

It's not every day he gets a mention. :)

The Hombre Brisbane bound

22 March 2013, 8:25 a.m.


The Hombre will be racing for travelling expenses to Brisbane when he fronts up at Tauranga on Saturday.

Trainer John Bary has plans for a return to familiar territory with his Group One performer who more than paid his way in Brisbane as a three-year-old.

The Hombre won the Rough Habit Plate and finished runner-up in the Grand Prix Stakes, but has since been successfully reverted to a sprinting career.

He has been particularly effective right-handed and won the Listed Hallmark Stud Newmarket Handicap on Boxing Day at Ellerslie where he has also placed in the Gr.1 Railway Stakes and the Gr.3 Darley Plate.

Stablemate Survived, who trounced his midweek opposition at Arawa Park earlier this week, is also on Bary’s short list for Brisbane. He will make his next appearance in Saturday week’s Gr.3 Higgins Manawatu Classic.

NZTM

http://www.nzracing.co.nz/News/5634/...ane-bound.aspx

Yeah, good to see! Thanks for posting that.

Whoa - Our Famous Eve! I quite liked her as a 3yo, but she had done nothing at all this season as a 4yo... until yesterday! Amazing turnaround.

She was really good!

Have missed you, ed. :)

The Hombre was 4th, Platinum Princess 2nd, Yin Yang Master last poor guy and Shuka... break my heart and add yet another 2nd place finish (didn't he have like 5 in a row at one point?) to the record.

Any thoughts on the draw for Ocean Park in Dubai?

I must admit that I haven't seen a lot of racing at Meydan, World Cup night aside, so I'm not hugely familiar with the track. But it seems OK. Hopefully Johnny can get him into a nice spot in midfield, then get him clear running in the stretch. :)

Here in NZ, Recite looks to keep her unbeaten record in tact in the G1 Sires at Awapuni. Touche and maybe Quintette look like the toughest challengers.

Same here (about Meydan).

Awww I hope she keeps her record but if for some reason she doesn't? Go Touche!

BTE is cross-entered... do you know which one he'll go in?

Good luck to Choice Bro and Blood Brotha in their respective races.

Still no word on Mufhasa..... will hope no news is good news. :)

Glad he's going home. :)

http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...plans-scrapped

Yeah. So disappointing that he didn't show the world how good he is, but it's great to hear they're looking after him.

Some great results here. Recite is such a good filly. And so nice to see BTE win one!

Also, Zed was a racehorse I really liked a few years ago - he was my Derby horse that year at one point, then got hurt and had to retire. So I LOVED seeing his sons go 1-2 in the G3 Classic. :D

That was a really nice race! I thought Platinum Kingdom would was gonna win and then all of a sudden Survived just found another gear... amazing.

And a very nice run by Usanity. What a fighter.

Nice news about Military Move winning his barrier trial.

Excerpt, although I'm sure you've read this already. :)

Former Derby winner on track for raceday comeback
31 March 2013, 7:57 p.m.
(No author listed)

Former New Zealand Derby winner Military Move took another step in his return to racing with a comfortable win over 1150m at the Paeroa trials last week.

The strapping son of Volksraad is back in the care of his original trainer Shaune Ritchie after a stint in Hong Kong where he raced on nineteen occasions for two wins and three minor placings.

“I think he just started to get a bit tired of the environment in Hong Kong and when we went up and watched his run in July last year he wouldn’t load into the barrier and played up which isn’t like him so we managed to get him back here and have taken it slowly since then,” explained Ritchie. “Right now we are just trying to work out whether he still wants to be a racehorse and if he shows us any signs that he has had enough then he will be retired immediately."

Nice to hear. :)

That's really good to hear, yeah. :)

Aw, outside gate for RA in the Golden Slipper. :(
http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...es-Marsh-smile

Thought she had a genuine chance, but that might have just been completely extinguished.

There are some really nice orses in the field but I think she's good enough... I hope so!

It would be cool to see both her and Silent Achiever win.

Absolutely! And maybe Habibi too, if that's not being too greedy...

Of course it's not (only I have apparently been in a cave as I didn't know that was this weekend too)!

Did you see Villifye is back this weekend (in the same race as Military Move)?!!!

Was looking at the fields at Te Aroha (I won't pretend to know where that is) and oh... am I nuts or doesn't it seem like both Shuka and Yin Yang Master could win their races?

Have been meaning to ask... where is Southern Lord these days?

Sorry for bombarding you with questions! :D

No problem!

Starting with Southern Lord - he was sold to Hong Kong. I know he's up there now, but I don't think he's raced yet. Not sure if his name has been changed - I'll try to find out.

Te Aroha is about three hours' drive south of Auckland in the upper half of the North Island. It's a beautiful track, with Mt Te Aroha behind it.


I definitely think Shuka and Yin Yang Master could win their races, yeah. But they've got in the habit of not quite winning! Hopefully they can break that habit and get well-deserved wins here.

Yeah, looking forward to seeing Villifye and Military Move! Not sure what the plans are with Villifye, but it sounds like a quiet campaign for Military Move before a possible crack at the big G1s at Hastings in the spring, if everything goes well. Fingers crossed!

Nice field for the G1 Breeders' Stakes at Te Aroha. Fleur de Lune or Xanadu? Diademe? Capital Diamond? Quintessential? Or maybe even Neena Rock, who's looked so good in weaker grades.

Looks very pretty... if I knew about Southern Lord I had forgotten (but I don't think I did) and yeah the Breeders' Stakes field looks great! :)

Wow, I just noticed two more: the George Ryder Stakes has Mufhasa and Veyron (his first race outside NZ)! :eek:

WHAT????? I had NO idea either. Shocked and happy at he same time (and oh I guess this means the King is feeling alright)! :tro:

Can't wait to see who else is in the field. :)

http://www.racingandsports.com.au/ra...asp?NID=274035 :)

Excellent. :)

As for Ms Habibi,...
http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/ne...-free/1817214/

Good luck to all of them!

Weird race from Habibi - looked completely uninterested for most of it, dropped way back, but then finished really well to get 3rd.

Whoa, Silent Achiever! She flew!

Mufhasa was so brave! Best performance I've seen from him in a while. Veyron did well too, although didn't sprint like he sometimes does.

No luck for Ruud Awakening. She had a shocking trip. But the winner was so amazing.

So, no wins for NZ today, but really proud of them! Especially Silent Achiever and Mufhasa. And Habibi should improve a lot.

Thrilled for Mufhasa (and for all of them, of course but...)... have yet to watch the replay but so happy. :)

Shuka won!

Oh! I just checked the Riccarton results... Coup Align!!!

Yeah, amazing comeback! Apparently the crowd went crazy for him.

Last G1 of the season, the Easter Handicap, coming up this Saturday at Ellerslie. :( Looking forward to it, but where did the season go?!

That's impossible, it can't be over already. :confused:

When will we know the field and who do you expect will be there?