Sir Slick couldn't do it in the Easter Handicap. :( He had excuses though, no horse has carried that weight to win the race since the 1970s and he likes to race near the front but couldn't get up with the crazy early sectionals after breaking a bit slowly from his wide gate.

We got to see a special horse win the race though, Pasta Post (4 g Postponed - Blue Heaven). He's won 8 out of 10 in his life now, not bad for a $22k yearling purchase. :)

Replay: http://www.ellerslie.co.nz/show.cfm?...wf&w=294&h=240


And the other stakes race yesterday was the Champagne Stakes for 2yos. The winner was a horse having only his second start, Sufficient (2 c Zabeel - Fleur De Chine). Nice colt this one, Derby horse next year?
http://www.ellerslie.co.nz/show.cfm?...wf&w=294&h=240

Thanks, ed. Gonna watch the replays in a few.

Good boy anyway, Sir Slick!

http://www.thoroughbrednews.co.nz/nz/?id=34953

Any late word, ed?

Hope he'll be alright.

Yeah I hope he will too, sounds pretty serious. We still don't really know much about the extent of his injuries.

It's very sad to hear, he's definitely the most talented jockey in NZ.

belated happy bday ed..

you hear that Seachange is pointed to the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot. What do you make of her chances over a straight 6f against the top Aussies and top Euro sprinters. Im surprised they arent shooting for the G1 Queen Anne over a mile or even the G2 Windsor Forest over a mile restricted to fillies and mares..

Thanks. :)

Yeah it's interesting. Her absolute best distance is probably 7 furlongs, after Dubai Ted Durcan said that he didn't think there were any horses in Europe that could beat her, but unfortunately there aren't really many options for her at that distance. :(

In NZ she was just so much better than her opposition that most of the time she still won easily over a mile, but I think Dubai showed that against world class opposition it's just a bit too far.

I still think she could have won the Windsor Forest Stakes though.

But she sprints well in a fresh state (broke 1:07 at Trentham in January, although the times are often questionable there), so I think she'll still be competitive. But the best sprinters will probably be just a bit too quick.

Awwww.


Poppy worked quietly up Bury Hill this morning, followed by her usual walk in the forestry. She seems grateful for the company with Takeover Target and Magnus arriving last nite. Poppy has taken quite a shine to Magnus. :)

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/0a27188.html

Good to hear she's settling in well over there. I hope the Brits get to see the real Poppy some time in the next few months. :)

thats a funny read thanks for link, like real tourists, constantly complaining about the weather...

i really hope she does really well here.

It's 4 months away, but what the heck...

KELT CAPITAL STAKES
4 October 2008
G1 2040m NZ$2 million
Katy Keen
Pasta Post
Princess Coup
Mirkola Lass
Ombre Rose
Prize Lady
Gallions Reach
Gaze
Magic Cape
Nom du Jeu
Sterling Prince
The Veep
Lord Monty
Capecover
Vosne Romanee
Ginga Dude
Antipodean
Shariat's On Fire
Jonbalena
Prince Kaapstad
Our Star Pupil
Fritzy Boy
The Pooka
Rios
Run Like Al
Don't Say Clang
Leadership
The Foreman
Mufhasa
Insouciant
Lovetrista
Six O'Clock News
Diamond Deck
Satinka
Il Divo
Lunus
Mill Vinnie
Just Once
Tiakinui
Princess Annaliese
Boundless
Crossthestart
Izzat/Vital King
Pentane
Pentathon
Red Ruler
Spin Around

Wow. This looks like it might be one of the best Kelt fields ever. Princess Coup is the favourite at the moment and will probably still be at post time, but there are some real rising stars of NZ racing in there - Katy Keen, Pasta Post, Red Ruler, Boundless, Nom du Jeu...

A couple of other interesting names in there - Lovetrista and Diamond Deck. The 2 best-bred horses in NZ, who looked so good early last season but haven't been seen on the track for a few months due to injury setbacks. If they're on their game on Kelt day they could be huge chances too.

Not sure what to think about Izzat/Vital King. He was only average here before leaving for Hong Kong, but he looked like a completely different horse over there.

Prized Gem won the race in 2002, so it would be awesome if her little boy Nom du Jeu did the same thing in 2008!

Oh, and in other good news the Derby winner C'est La Guerre has been bought by Lloyd Williams. :)

The stable he was in before liked to put all their horses in jumping races after their flat careers were over, no matter how good they were on the flat or how poor they may be over jumps. I didn't want to see a Derby winner subjected to that.

Now he's being set for the Melbourne Cup...not the next one though, the one after that!

It's never too early! :D

* * *

First time I've ever seen a mistake in Racing Post... on the sidebar it says Red Rocks. :D

You will, of course, visit him for me... right?


Red Clubs to shuttle to New Zealand

Red Clubs was a talented two-year-old who tasted Group 1 glory in the Hyadock Sprint Cup

by Nancy Sexton
.
RED CLUBS will stand at Michael Tololi's Stoney Bridge Stud in New Zealand for the upcoming southern hemisphere season, where he will command a fee of NZ$15,000 (£5,839/€7,309).

The deal, which was brokered by Will Barrons and Richard Venn, means that the Tally-Ho Stud resident joins Stravinsky as one of only two European champion sprinters to stand in New Zealand.

“To have secured a current European champion who is by a stallion held in extremely high regard in Australasia is just fantastic,” said Peter Jenkins, manager of Stoney Bridge.

“We have been searching for a brilliant speed sire-prospect for some time, and Red Clubs ticks all the boxes,” he added.

Trained by Barry Hills, Red Clubs was a tough and talented two-year-old, winning three of nine races, including the Group 2 Coventry Stakes. The son of Red Ransom later added successes in the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup and Group 2 Diadem Stakes to his record.

Red Clubs is currently standing his first northern hemisphere season at a fee of €12,500.

Wow, good news!

I'll try to go visit him, will be easier if he's at Stoney Bridge's Auckland stud.

Went to Avondale today. It's a pretty depressing place, the last upgrade was probably at least 40 years ago. The whole place is falling apart. And it was a dark, cold day.

But there was one bright light, a horse making his debut in the 2yo race called Kildonan. He dropped back to last, and approaching the final turn he was making a run around the outside. But then he went insane, charging out even wider - was probably 10-12 wide coming around the turn, and lost so much ground that it looked like he would finish way back.

Well, that didn't happen. Won by 8. :D

Opposition was probably pretty average, but that run was special. I'll be watching this boy closely.

I'll put a video up tomorrow. :)

ed, since when did Seachange change trainers? should there be any noticeable different?

Ralph Manning decided that he couldn't continue training her and still run his big stable back home to a satisfactory level for his owners here, so he handed the training over to Graeme Sanders.

I don't think there should be too much of a difference, Graeme's a well-respected trainer who should be able to give her an excellent preparation for the Golden Jubilee. It sounds like he's leaving a lot of it up to the strapper Jayne Ivil, who knows the mare well.

On Poppy...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartim...285a27188.html

Here it is:
http://www.dailymotion.com/classicco...kildonan_sport

Very impressive.

Oh wow... VERY nice!

What do you think, ed? Can she do it?

http://guardian.sportinglife.com/GU_...267326,00.html