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Trelawney takes run of bad luck on chin

Trelawney Stud’s colours were prominent in black type events at Ellerslie on Boxing Day with three placings, but two of them came at a physical cost. High-class mare Two Illicit didn’t escape unscathed after her luckless run for third in the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) while the curtain has come down on gifted sprinter Vamos Bebe’s career after she bled again when runner-up in the Listed Hallmark Stud Handicap (1200m). Trelawney’s other stakes representative was Pareanui Bay, who lost hi...

NZ Trip firms for Excelida

The Ben & JD Hayes-trained Excelida (Exceed And Excel) has enhanced her chances of a trip to New Zealand after swooping from near the rear of the field to land the Allan Wicks Handicap (1400m) at Caulfield in impressive fashion.Raced by Cambridge Stud proprietors Brendan and Jo Lindsay, connections are considering sending the five-year-old mare to New Zealand for a tilt at the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa on February 12.Placed at Listed level and runner-up in the Gr.3 The H...

Trelawney boasting strong hand for Boxing Day features

Trelawney Stud have a strong representation on Boxing Day with several stakes contenders as well as strong supporting acts on the undercard at Ellerslie and Caulfield.Leading the charge is Two Illicit in the Gr.1 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic (2000m) at Ellerslie on Sunday.The daughter of Jimmy Choux enters the Ellerslie contest on the back of a devastating win in the rescheduled Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa a fortnight ago.She will be joined in the day's feature by fellow Tr...

Colgan eager to make up for lost Group One

Top-class jockey Vinnie Colgan will be reunited with quality mare Two Illicit in the Gr.1 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic (2000m) on Sunday and should the Roger James and Robert Wellwood-trained five-year-old salute, no one would begrudge the veteran hoop success. Two Illicit enters the Ellerslie contest on the back of a devastating win in the rescheduled Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa a fortnight ago, with Danielle Johnson giving the mare a peach of a ride when standing in for Colgan...

Trelawney Stud celebrate outstanding weekend

A stellar weekend for Trelawney Stud was crowned on foreign shores when the farm's New Zealand Bloodstock graduate Sky Field triumphed in the Gr.1 Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday evening. It was a race with tragic outcomes after a horrific fall at the top of the straight which claimed the lives of Amazing Star and Naboo Attack. While jockeys Lyle Hewitson, Zac Purton and Yuichi Fukunaga were reported by the Hong Kong Jockey Club to be in stable conditions in hospital. The Caspar Fo...

Two Illicit caps magical day for Trelawney

Trelawney Stud and Cambridge trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood capped an already stellar day at Te Rapa on Saturday when Two Illicit strode clear of her rivals to claim the Gr.1 Rydges Wellington Captain Cook Stakes (1600m), the first elite-level success of her career. The Cambridge conditioners and Taylor family had earlier secured a stakes double with Concert Hall in the Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m), closely followed by Cheaperthandivorce taking out the Gr.3 SKYCITY Hamilton Waikato Cu...

James and Wellwood to the fore at Te Rapa

Something about the start of summer brings the very best out of Concert Hall, who broke an 11-month win drought with a superb victory in Saturday’s Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa. The $110,000 fillies and mares’ showpiece was the 10th win of a 29-start career for the high-class daughter of Savabeel, and it was the third time she has won a Group race in the month of December – following on from her victories in the Gr.3 Manawatu Cup (2300m) in 2019 and the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (200...

Prise De Fer prepares for Captain Cook offensive

Prise De Fer will continue his hunt for an elusive Group One win in Saturday's Rydges Wellington Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa. The Jamie Richards-trained Savabeel six-year-old gelding has won seven of his 26 starts but in eight starts at Group One level, three placings have been the best he has done. However, off placings in the Gr.1 Windsor Park Plate (1600m) and Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) at Hastings at his most recent starts, Richards believes Prise De Fer can seize his opportunit...

Take two for Two Illicit

It will be a case of take two for Two Illicit, who was set to start favourite in last Saturday's Gr.1 Rydges Wellington Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Trentham before that meeting was abandoned after the first race showed the track was unsafe. With the Captain Cook Stakes rescheduled for Te Rapa on Saturday, Two Illicit will again take her place, though this time with Danielle Johnson booked to ride with engaged jockey Vinnie Colgan cruelly robbed of his opportunity through the timing of a suspe...

Prise de Fer ready for Group One test

The Jamie Richards-trained Prise De Fer is set to line up in Saturday's Gr.1 Rydges Wellington Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Trentham. TAB bookmakers have Prise De Fer as a $6.50 third favourite in a Captain Cook market headed by Two Illicit at $3.20 and Aegon at $4.20. Savabeel six-year-old Prise De Fer has been freshened since his Group One placings in the Windsor Park Plate (1600m) and Livamol Classic (2040m) at Hastings in October. Comeback jockey Johnathan Parkes, who enjoyed Karaka Millio...

Two Illicit in prime order for Captain Cook

Roger James and Robert Wellwood believe there is a positive sense of timing around Two Illicit’s bid for Group One glory at Trentham on Saturday. The Cambridge trainers are confident the daughter of Jimmy Choux will relish the step up in distance on a roomy track in the Rydges Wellington Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) after two fine lead-up outings. Two Illicit successfully resumed in the Gr.3 Red Badge Spring Sprint (1400m) at Hastings before she rushed home for third in the Gr.2 Auckland Thorou...

Sky Field readies for Group One test

Caspar Fownes is banking on consistency and a bit of luck when Sky Field lines up in Sunday week’s Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m). “I’m sure he’ll give us a big run, he was a bit unlucky last start,” Fownes said. “I think once we get to the ‘A’ Course with him that he’s definitely going to be a first-three chance on the big day.” Stepping out for a barrier trial on Tuesday morning, the Deep Field gelding looked in fine fettle under Blake Shinn, pulling fiercely to clo...

ANZ Bloodstock News- Kiwi Chronicles

Lloyd Jackson, as printed in the ANZ Bloodstock News on November 30, 2021Between last Thursday and Saturday, 22 stakes races were scheduled to be run in Australasia. Weather intervened in Queensland reducing the count to 20 and what a mixed bag they were.On Saturday, New Zealand was represented  by two stakes winners at Caulfield and one at  Rosehill. However, of the three stakes run  at home, two of the three winners are by  Australian-based sires Al...

Savabeel colt impresses in Sandown Guineas triumph

Trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr have posted their first Group winner from their new stables at Cranbourne after Blue Army proved too classy for his rivals to win the Gr.2 Sandown Guineas (1600m).The three-year-old feature was contested at Caulfield for the first time, the base Price and Kent had previously called home prior to its closure as a training centre during the week, with plans afoot by the club for a second turf track for racing purposes and a host of commercial developments.A ...

Pin-up horse Gold Watch continues winning streak

Gold Watch, one of the most exciting gallopers in New Zealand racing, kept his winning streak intact at Te Aroha on Saturday with another powerful display to take out the open 1400m contest on the card. The Cliff Goss-trained five-year-old made it six wins in a row with the victory as he goes from strength to strength for his remarkable 90-year-old Tauranga-based mentor. Goss, father of Trelawney Stud's Cherry Taylor, was delighted with the performance, which was in stark contrast to his raceday...

Picket fence continues for exciting Pareanui Bay

Exciting three-year-old Pareanui Bay made it three wins from three starts when he took out the Listed Trevor & Corallie Eagle Memorial 3YO (1500m) on Saturday at Te Aroha. The Tony Pike-trained Lonhro gelding hadn’t been seen since recording a stunning win in the Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes (1400m) at Te Rapa last month and was sent out a dominant $1.90 favourite on the strength of that performance and a strong midweek trial. Rider Michael McNab had the long-striding individual...

Pareanui Bay hoping to land Eagle

Exciting galloper Pareanui Bay got the testing hit-out trainer Tony Pike was looking for when trialling at Cambridge on Tuesday. A dominant winner of the Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes (1400m) at Te Rapa a month ago, Pareanui Bay finished second in a 950m on his home track and is set to take his place in Saturday’s Listed Trevor & Corallie Eagle Memorial 3YO (1500m) at Te Aroha. “He was really good today,” Pike said. “They probably ran along at raceday speed or a touch qui...

Ballarat Cup triumph for in-form Zayydani

Five-year-old mare Zayydani has been one of the flagbearers for the training talents of Ben and JD Hayes, and the daughter of Savabeel continued her winning ways when a gritty winner of the A$500,000 Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m) on Saturday. The Hayes brothers, who are forging a career in their own right after their father David relocated to Hong Kong and former training partner Tom Dabernig went solo, have a soft spot for the mare, who was the first winner for the partnership and also the first ...

Big weekend of racing ahead for Trelawney Stud

Brent and Cherry Taylor are gearing up for a big Saturday of racing where four horses will contest stakes races while carrying the Trelawney Stud silks.On the domestic front they have three runners at Te Rapa. The Roger James and Robert Wellwood-trained Two Illicit will contest the Gr.2 Dunstan Feeds Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) while stablemate Cheaperthandivorce lines up in the Gr.3 Franklin Auctions Counties Cup (2100m).Rounding out the trio is Vamos Bebe in the ...

Trelawney Stud in search of more Stakes success

Roger James is hoping for a big day for his mares Two Illicit and Cheaperthandivorce as they seek more black-type success at Te Rapa on Saturday. The mares, both raced by Brent and Cherry Taylor of Trelawney Stud, both gained Group Three victories at their last starts and may both start favourite in their respective races. Two Illicit is after her third success at Group Two level in the Dunstan Feeds Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m). One of those came at Te Rapa in the 2020 Waika...

Lim’s Kosciuszko remain unbeaten

Lim’s Kosciuszko brought resumed with a smashing comeback in the S$50,000 Mr Clint 2019 Stakes (1200m) in Singapore on Sunday. The Trelawney Stud graduate was unexpectedly pulled out of the Gr.3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m) in June a few days before his first real big test. No physical issues were detected, but trainer Daniel Meagher just had a gut feel the son of Kermadec was at that tipping point he could turn sour. With Mr Lim Siah Mong’s blessing, a break was called, one which...

Zayydani scores in Matriarch

A long-range plan to target the Gr.2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) with impeccably bred mare Zayydani has come off.  The daughter of Savabeel, who sports the colours of Brent and Cherry Taylor’s Trelawney Stud, was the first winner and first stakes winner for Lindsay Park trainers Ben and JD Hayes when winning a Listed race at Eagle Farm back in June. The five-year-old mare had three runs in readiness for the Group Two mares race and had caught the eye when a good fourth in the Gr.3 Coon...

Chittick awarded Irish National Stud Scholarship

The 2022 Keith & Faith Taylor Equine Scholarship has been awarded to a young industry participant from a family ingrained in the fabric of the New Zealand thoroughbred breeding industry. George Chittick, who turns 19 on Sunday, is the third generation of his family from the renowned Waikato Stud to pursue a career with horses. The scholarship will support Chittick to travel to Ireland in January next year to complete the internationally recognised Irish National Stud Diploma course. He will then...

Trainers looking to add to stakes tally

Roger James and Robert Wellwood will be chasing a third black-type success for the season when Concert Hall takes aim at the Gr.3 Balmerino Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa on Tuesday. The Cambridge trainers have already claimed major targets with Cheaperthandivorce and Two Illicit, who both carry the Trelawney Stud colours, and are confident Concert Hall, who was born and raised at the Cambridge-based farm, is in the right condition to excel in the Dunstan Horsefeeds-sponsored feature. The Joan Egan-b...

I’m Thunderstruck lands rich Eagle

2021 has been the year of Kiwi-bred gelding I’m Thunderstruck, who showed his class and trademark fight when winning the A$7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday. The son of Shocking stepped out on raceday for the first time when winning a maiden at Caulfield in January and under the tutelage of Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr has gone about plundering riches in his nine starts this year, with prizemoney earnings now surpassing A$5 million. With six wins and two placings to ...