New Zealand Racing 2013-14
 

Spring racing kicks off this weekend with the G3 Foxbridge Plate at Te Rapa. You could say it's not a bad field - five G1 winners. :eek:

Whoa nice field and big step up for The Filly who I've been watching (like everyone else, I'd imagine) and who I like so much.

How does one even make a pick with a field like this??!!

Fitting to end last years thread with Mufhasa and I, of course, agree with your sentiments.

Happy new thread haha!

Good Lord I think, since it's tomorrow in NZ, it's THE day, no? Cannot wait to see who gets Horse of the Year!

That's right! The awards are coming up in just a few hours. I'm on the late shift at work, but I'll be following the results online as they come in!

Have a look at this 3yo maiden winner at Ruakaka yesterday. WOW.
http://www.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/4...ce-Detail.aspx

That's a spectacular performance. Trainer has confirmed he's heading for the 2000 Guineas in November, probably via Hawke's Bay. One to watch, for sure!

2012-13 awards results:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times...out-top-honour

Congrats to Ocean Park! :)

And the horse that didn't race in NZ all season gets the 3yo award. A bit disappointing, but not unexpected. Just one vote for Habibi is a shame. :(

Congrats to Ocean Park and to you for being right about most of it. :)

Am only having a very short horsie break this morning but I did look at the fields @ Te Rapa (since I hadn't before) and oh I do so love the field for that first race. (Good luck to Belfast Lad who doesn't have to win as his 2 in a row a little wile back was astonishing and Shootoff, Kidnapped and Palm Island).

(... and good luck to Wattle Bay in his race. Get that 2nd win!).

Don't forget to include updates on Pinzaara and Archie whenever you have news, ed. :)

Will do! I'm going to go and visit Archie and Pinzaara early next month. Really looking forward to it.

Still buzzing about that performance by Beauty's Beast at Ruakaka. Man I love those sorts of wins.

Finally had a chance to watch... very nice!

Not sure what happened with Keentorule... any idea if he's okay? Hope so (and Rusty Lace too. I couldn't tell why he / she was scratched from the replay).

Beautiful win though. One to watch!

Cheers to Postman's Daughter for winning the Foxbridge Plate (which I've yet to watch). Tough field... nice to read that she won.

Otaki meeting scrapped cause of the earthquake(s)? Hope everyone out that way is alright.

Both horses are fine. :)

No one was hurt in yesterday's earthquake down there, luckily! But it's the same area as the one a few weeks ago, so they're going through a bit of a horrible ordeal! Hope that's the last of them. But, yeah, the track there has some old stands, and they wanted to make sure they're structurally secure.

So happy for Postman's Daughter! She tries so hard every time, and she never gets much respect. 16-1 odds today, 20-1 when she won a G2 earlier, and three G1 places at 34-1, 26-1 and 20-1! She beat an amazing field fair and square today. Nice runs by Xanadu, Final Touch, Fritzy and Sangster.

Wattle Bay ran his heart out in his race! So close.

Glad everyone is fine (horses and people both). Great news!

I will watch Wattle Bay and all the replays tomorrow. :)

Heartbreaking for Wattle Bay! Wow that was close and the other race was spectacular!

Poor Alegrio (I think that's who got bumped around).

Pretty nice run by Fritzy Boy.

Good for Postmans Daughter and hey that is really nice the way the NZ racing site is including post race stuff on the videos.

Very nice watching Danielle after the race. :)

Recite and Bounding at Taupo (?)... where is that ed?

Good luck to Lucky Feather (oh please win one!) in his race (@ Te Awamutu and I suddenly feel very stupid for not knowing where that is either but aaaaw the race is named for Fully Fledged? Nice!)

I see Wattle Bay is entered again on Wednesday!

Taupo's right in the middle of the North Island - a beautiful little tourist town on the edge of a big volcanic lake.


It's a small town and minor racetrack, but because of the volcanic soil it has amazing drainage, so good horses have raced there over the last few springs - Keep The Peace, Military Move, He's Remarkable, and now Recite and Bounding! This should be a great race. I can't wait!

There are some other interesting 3yos running there today too - Dunoon is rated pretty highly by Roger James, and El Roca has apparently looked good in trials.

Te Awamutu's another small town - not far from Hamilton (where the racetrack is Te Rapa). Must admit I've never actually been to Te Awamutu.

Ooooh so pretty. :) Thanks, ed!

We're about 20 minutes away now from Recite v Bounding round two!

Here's what happened in round one.
http://www.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/4...ce-Detail.aspx

In my opinion, one of the best races of the whole 2012-13 season.

Bounding gets her revenge! Easy win. Looks like she's improved A LOT over the winter.

Happy to hear it... she needed a nice win. :)

Can't wait to see the replay!

Still no replay so will come back to it later. (I think I've refreshed the page about a thousand times). :D

Ed did you see the race with the triple dead heat for 3rd? That was awesome!

Yeah, amazing! I've never seen that before. Great racing down there today.

Bounding in full flight:


She looked so much more powerful today. Awesome. Next stop, G3 Gold Trail at Hastings. Then the 1000 Guineas. :) Following the same path as stablemate Fix did last year.

Great pic and yeah she was really good. :)

Hey what's up with this...

Hooray for 7 of 14 being G1 winners BUT where is Rogan? :confused: I thought he always had the mount on Veyron (I mean unless he's injured). (?).

http://www.thoroughbrednews.com.au/s....aspx?id=68178

Unfortunately it's because Australian authorities took too long to approve his visa.
http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...ydney-campaign

It's all sorted now, but too late for this weekend's race. He'll be back on next time Veyron runs, though!

Did you see Wattle Bay's race yesterday?

Oh ed I completely forgot (so thank you!) and yes I just watched it... wow that was so nice seeing him win! With respect to Mark Sweeny who usually has the mount that was a really nice ride Dylan Turner gave him. :)

Too bad about Rogan...

The good news is he got his name back.

Bad news... well maybe it's not bad BUT I wish he'd be sent home to race.

http://www.thoroughbrednews.com.au/s....aspx?id=68172

Yeah, I miss him! But it's good he's got the old name back.

No stakes races this weekend. :( Bit of an anticlimax after the Foxbridge last week! But at least the first G1 race of the season is now less than 10 days away. :D

Also, we're seeing a whole bunch of nice 3yos coming out. There was another one yesterday.
http://www.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/4...ce-Detail.aspx

Love this time of year.

I still need to catch up on some of the replays and news.

I did look at the nims for the Makfi though and oh... that is some list of names!!!

Yeah, so exciting.

Current odds:
Final Touch 4.5
Xanadu 5
Mufhasa 8
Nashville 10
Survived 12
Fleur De Lune 14
Sangster 14
Brave Centaur 16
Postman's Daughter 16
Thunderbird One 16
Full Of Spirit 18
Rollout The Carpet 18
Silent Achiever 18
Pimms Time 21
Miss Pelear 26
Fritzy Boy 30
Taurus 41
All others 50+

:D
SO thrilled for him and Linda and the whole team.
http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...n-Laings-faith

Replay: http://www.racingnetwork.com.au/Visi...0&newsid=14897

Ed I could watch that replay all weekend, over and over, I am so happy. :)

So amazing. I don't know why I was surprised - I was at the track for four of his five G1 wins, so I know exactly how good he is. I just for some reason didn't expect him to run so well this time. I feel bad for doubting him! Great, great horse.

I did the same thing... I doubted him but was confused cause on paper he looked like he could do it. I guess it's that you and I know he just doesn't always cross that line first no matter how great of a horse he is.

Even if I had won nothing I'd be so happy. One of my favorites and it means everything that he did it (and Streama... good girl!). :)

Rogan's back on!
http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...t-Sydney-start

Their loyalty is amazing.

But thanks to Christian Reith for doing a great job as the substitute!

Happy to hear that and yes, you're right... thank you to Christian Reith for a fine ride. :)

Hastings fields. :eek:

The Makfi is of course amazing. But look at the 3yo race that opens the card! Four undefeated horses, and some of them are rated so highly - El Roca and Sir Andrew are both entered for the Caulfield Guineas. Then there's Touche, who was so good last season, and Laced Up, who's Jimmy Choux's little sister.

Laced Up? Great name! :D :tro:

Can't wait!

Makfi field:



Scratchings are due to the rain-affected track.

Odds:

Final Touch 4.50
Xanadu 5.50
Survived 8.50
Thunderbird One 9
Nashville 10
Postman's Daughter 14
Full Of Spirit 14
Sangster 18
Fleur de Lune 18
Rollout The Carpet 18
Fritzy Boy 21
Pimms Time 21
Miss Pelear 26
Taurus 31
Kekova 41
No Excuse Maggie 41
Amberio 41
Capital Diamond 60

Whoa that field is TOO good!!!!!

First off congrats cause I know you had to have had this. :)

I just watched the replay and am confused... what happened with Miss Pelear and Thunderbird One?

Survived is such a nice horse... pleasure to watch him win and nice run by Full of Spirit, of course. Another brave run from Fritzy but oh... the one who took my breath away was Final Touch, way out wide, and that extra gear she found.

Great race. I hope every one (Miss Pelear, Thunderbird One and poor Leigh!) is alright.

Happy to see The Filly won her race... haven't yet watched the replay but will get to it!

Survived was fantastic - very impressive win. But, yeah, Final Touch's performance was the standout. How did she get 3rd from that far back? Phenomenal.

As for Thunderbird One and Miss Pelear, here's what happened. It's kind of hard to explain, but I'll try! Thunderbird One has a tendency to misbehave in the starting gate, so a member of the gate staff was holding on to him and keeping him still. They then let go of him just before the gates opened. That caused Thunderbird One to think, "Time to go!" And he charged forward, slamming against the gate. For some reason, that caused both his gate and the one next to it to lock shut while all the others opened. So he and Miss Pelear were hugely disadvantaged and didn't get a fair start. And Thunderbird One was still reacting from hitting the gate, so he bucked and dislodged his rider. No one was hurt, luckily, but it was an unfortunate situation. Stewards declared Thunderbird One and Miss Pelear non-runners because they were denied a fair start.