New Zealand Racing

[my miss storm cat]

Originally Posted by _ed_

Oh, and I just found out he raced in Hong Kong with the name Better Boy.

http://www.hkjc.com/english/racing/R...p?HorseNo=D134

I'm so glad they changed it earlier this year and we can now access the retired kids.

If you ever hear of a horse named Bulldozer, let me know!

Love him to death, he was hurt and retired although he could be somewhere else now.

Thanks for posting the video. Nice!

[_ed_]

Alamosa was a VERY nice winner of the Avondale Guineas today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF5ZA_un_To

He's now won 6 out of 13 and only been out of the money once. His next target is the G1 Zabeel Classic on Boxing Day against the older horses (including Xcellent, Wahid & Dorabella). That should be a hell of a race. Tough task for a 3yo but Alamosa is class.

The big summer racing at Ellerslie is getting really close now! 10 stakes races on 2 days (Boxing Day and New Year's Day).

Christmas? Nah. Boxing Day is what I'm really excited about.

[_ed_]

One of those days at Te Rapa yesterday. All the best horses kept getting rolled by big longshots.

The day can be summed up with the Johnstone Handicap, where the brilliant Charliehorse finished out of the money for only the 3rd time in his career and 38-1 Belthazar won it.

Was a different story down at Awapuni though, 1000 Guineas winner Insouciant was even money favourite in the G3 Eulogy Stakes and killed them. Won easing up by 4 lengths. One of the best performances of the year I think, although the field was weak for a G3.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93DdPIiQUuo

And just a few hours ago Best Gift (now known as Carlisle Bay, the name he had before he went to HK), had his first run back in NZ over a mile at Ellerslie (couldn't go to day because I'm at work ). He didn't run very well, was out of the money and about 5-6 lengths behind the winner Sir Slick.

Think he'll improve with more distance though.

[my miss storm cat]

Oh crap, I posted the replay somewhere else.

Great to see him back though, even if he was last.

Wonder why he's having problems going in the gate. Hmmm.....

* * *

An update.....

Jokers Wild Bouncing Back From Infection (Whew!)



Former champion New Zealand juvenile Jokers Wild is still hanging in after being hit by a life-threatening blood infection following an operation to remove bone chips from his fetlock three months ago.
The Mike Moroney-trained entire had the operation after he ran last to Bon Hoffa in the Group One Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on September 22.

However the horse suffered severe lameness after the operation due to the staphylococcus infection and had to have surgery twice within 24 hours at the Ballarat Veterinary Hospital.

While he will not race again, it is hoped he can be saved so that he can stand at stud.

"He had a staph infection and was in a box with his leg in a cast, but it was removed on the weekend," Moroney's stable manager Anthony Feroce said.

"It all depends how he is going to be without the cast in the next week or so.

"At this stage he's alright, but he needs to be able to walk and put pressure on the leg.

"If he can do that then he should be out of the woods," Feroce added.

Jokers Wild, now a four-year-old, won two Group One races in New Zealand as a two-year-old and last season won two Group Two races and was runner-up in three Group One races there before finishing a gallant and very close third behind Miss Finland and Casino Prince in the Group One Australian Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield in March.

By Black Minnaloushe, Jokers Wild raced 20 times for seven wins, five placings and $531,733 in prizemoney.

Meanwhile Feroce said Redondo Beach had pulled up well following his win in the Western Health Cup (2500m) at Flemington last Saturday.

"It was a good win and we are looking forward to the Bagot and taking on Gallopin. It should be a good race," he said.

Redondo Beach will clash with the Danny O'Brien-trained Gallopin, who won over 2000m at Flemington on Saturday, in the Listed $150,000 Bagot Hcp (2500m) at Flemington on New Year's Day.

[_ed_]

2 amazing days of racing coming up on Boxing Day and New Year's Day at Ellerslie. 10 stakes races on the 2 days. Really exciting.

BOXING DAY

Newmarket Handicap (1200m Handicap)
Last year: 1st Kay's Awake, 2nd St Verdi, 3rd Donna Rosita - Kay's Awake G1-placed since, St Verdi stakes winner since, Donna Rosita G1 Railway winner.

Entries this year include: Captivate (G1 winner), Needuask (G2 winner), Kay's Awake again, Clifton Prince and the very fast Magic Tryst.

Eight Carat Classic (G2 1600m 3yo fillies)
Last year: 1st Veloce Bella, 2nd Princess Coup, 3rd Irlanda - Veloce Bella has won 2 G2s since, Princess Coup won the Oaks and Kelt and Irlanda is undefeated this year including 2 G2s.

Entries this year include: Insouciant , Keepa Cruisin , Anna Bek and Bella Valentina. Should be a great race.

Zabeel Classic (G1 2000m WFA)
Last year: 1st Mikki Street (amazing performance, died in a training accident a week later ), 2nd Sharvasti, 3rd Fiscal Madness

Entries this year include: XCELLENT , Alamosa, Sir Slick, Dorabella. Stunning field. I can't wait.

Great Northern Guineas (G2 2100m 3yo)
Last year: 1st Santagostino, 2nd Mettre En Jeu, 3rd Uberalles

Entries this year include: C'est La Guerre, Prince Kaapstad, Six O'Clock News, Mission Critical, Avancer, Sircross. This is the first real prep race for the Derby on the same track in March. This is probably the race I'm most excited about on the day.

[my miss storm cat]

Sounds Xciting!

Jump up and down and blow smoochies and wave wildly to X for me!!!!!

(Poor Mikki Street).

[_ed_]

The weather was really bad at the start of the day but half way through the Newmarket the sun came out and it was awesome. Really big crowd:


Too lazy to put the videos on Youtube right now, so I'll post links to the videos on the Ellerslie website instead!

Newmarket Handicap: Needuask was a very impressive winner of this race. After he won the G2 Concorde last start we were wondering if it was a fluke...well, obviously it wasn't. This was an even bigger performance. Clifton Prince went well under the top weight for 2nd and Mary Ellen closed nicely for 3rd.

Eight Carat Classic: Satinka, very unlucky in more than one big race so far this season, finally got her turn. She was ridden brilliantly by Bruce Herd (who also won the Zabeel on Sir Slick), with a beautiful run along the inside, and just held out Pretty Vegas and Keepa Cruisin in a tight 3-way finish. Insouciant was very disappointing, it was her first time on a right-handed track and Michael Walker said it felt like she didn't like racing this way around at all.

Great Northern Guineas: This race had no pace at all, which disadvantaged a lot of the back runners, but Prince Kaapstad still won impressively. It was another great ride by Samantha Spratt (who also won the Newmarket on Needuask), but the horse was headed by Il Divo and fought very strongly to regain the lead. A really excellent performance. Six O'Clock News closed nicely for 3rd.

Zabeel Classic: A bit sad to see Xcellent's unbeaten NZ record broken, but if any horse had to do that I'm glad it was Sir Slick. He's just such a tough horse, he goes straight to the lead in every race and makes it almost impossible for anyone to get past him down the stretch. When he's in his best form there aren't many better horses to watch in NZ.

Now it's only 6 days until the next big day, January 1!