Monday, 7th July 2025
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New Zealand-bred horses have enjoyed yet another outstanding spring carnival, winning 28 percent of the Gr1 races on offer from just six percent of runners.
Undoubtedly the highlight was Melbourne Cup hero Prince of Penzance (NZ), a hardy son of Pentire purchased for $50,000 as a yearling at Karaka. A winner of seven races including a Moonee Valley Cup and, now, Melbourne Cup, Prince of Penzance has won in excess of $4.4 million in prizemoney.
Other spring highlights include the runaway VRC Derby winner Tarzino (NZ) (Tavistock), who became the seventh winner of the race to emanate from New Zealand in the past ten years. Last year’s VRC Derby winner Preferment (NZ) (Zabeel) again showed his liking for Flemington when powering to victory in the Turnbull Stakes.
Emirates Stakes winner Turn Me Loose (NZ) (Iffraaj) was one of the stars of the spring. The New Zealand 2000 Guineas winner won three races on end, despite having a delayed start to his spring campaign. Meanwhile, globetrotter Criterion (NZ) (Sebring) won the Caulfield Stakes and placed in both the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup.
Karaka graduate Mongolian Khan, an Australian bred raised and trained in New Zealand, and from a strong New Zealand family, took out the Gr1 Caulfield Cup, and in Sydney, Kermadec (NZ) (Teofilo) won the George Main in emphatic fashion to add to his Doncaster in the Autumn.
In adition, Lucia Valentina (NZ) (Savabeel), Who Shot Thebarman (NZ) (Yamanin Vital), Famous Seamus (NZ) (Elusive City), Indarra (NZ) (Stravinsky) and Hursley (NZ) (Makfi) were all stakes winners during the carnival.
Results like this are nothing new. The New Zealand breeding industry has long played an important role in the Australian Racing Industry, supplying quality racehorses with a point of difference. Over the past five years, New Zealand bred horses have won 23 percent of all of the Gr1 races in Australia, from just 5.5 percent of runners. The Kiwi environment is second to none when it comes to raising young horses. And this, coupled with significant investment in stallions and breeding stock in recent years has seen New Zealand continue to produce horses that more than hold their own when competing around the globe.
A host of emerging young sires, join the proven brigade as Karaka offers a good cross-section of the best in New Zealand breeding.
Key Gr1 Winner Facts & Figures