Ahead of the looming 2025 yearling sales, several new stallion Premiership tables have been added to the Black Type platform. In addition to the recently released Group 1 Horse of the Year Premiership, the industry now has access to four different sire Premierships. The original Australian Black Type Stallion Premiership has now been augmented with a dedicated 2YO Stallion Premiership, 3YO Stallion Premiership and a 1st Season Sires Premiership. Each one measures just Black Type performance in their relative categories but is also retrospective for the past two racing seasons as well as the 2024-25 season. What is particularly interesting, even if the juvenile feature landscape is still embryonic, is that Vinery Stud’s blue-blooded stallion Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon-Naturale, by Bel Esprit) – he’s out of a full-sister to Black Caviar – leads not only the 1st Season Sires Premiership but the 2YO Stallion Premiership as well. Showing just how tough it is for young stallions to get on the board with their first crop 2YOs, at this point, the only other 1st Season Sire that features is Kia Ora’s Golden Slipper winner Farnan (Not A Single Doubt), who himself is Top 4 on the overall 2YO Stallion Premiership. Coming next is a 2nd Season Sire Premiership whose aggregation provides a more level playing field for sires whose Black Type runners may not come into their own until their 3YO season.
Ole Kirk leads two Black Type Stallion tables (pic: vinery.com.au)
Snazzytavi Boxes on to Claim Zabeel Classic
Friday, 27th December 2024
Boxing Day at Ellerslie delivered high drama as Snazzytavi narrowly claimed the Gr1 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic (2000m), holding off a spirited challenge from another star mare in a thrilling finish, reports loveracing.nz. The race capped an extraordinary year for the Tavistock mare, owned by race sponsors Brendan and Jo Lindsay and trained by Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall. Snazzytavi, making just her 15th career start, has compiled an impressive record that includes the Gr3 Easter Handicap (1600m), Gr1 Livamol Classic (2040m), and Gr2 Cal Izuzu Stakes (1600m). Her dominance in the latter had punters backing her into $2 favouritism for Thursday's feature. However, La Crique, a multiple Group 1-winning miler, loomed as her biggest threat after a strong second earlier this month in the Gr1 TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m). Both mares broke smartly, with La Crique settling fifth and Snazzytavi tracking closely under Warren Kennedy. El Vencedor dictated the pace, pinching a few easy sectionals before kicking strongly at the top of the straight. As Snazzytavi and La Crique made their moves, it was a battle of wills. Snazzytavi edged ahead at the 100m mark, but La Crique fought back fiercely, making for a nail-biting finish. In the end, the judge confirmed Snazzytavi as the winner by the narrowest margin. “On the line I thought I had it,” Kennedy said. “But credit to La Crique – she was super brave. This mare showed a lot of heart and stuck her neck out.” For Richardson and Norvall, it was a third Zabeel Classic win in four years. “We always knew she had talent, but for her to deliver like this is incredible,” Richardson said. With $970,000 in earnings and the outright lead in the $1 million Rich Hill Champion Middle Distance Series, Snazzytavi’s rise continues to dazzle.
27 Stakes Races Across the Holidays
Friday, 27th December 2024
Just hours after the Christmas pressies are unwrapped, we'll be ploughing headlong into a busy schedule of stakes racing across Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Starting on Thursday where sports lovers will be flicking between the Black Type fare, Day 1 of Melbourne's Boxing Day Cricket Test and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, there's nary a day there's not a feature or two to follow until New Year's Day. Collectively, the tracks hosting these races include Caulfield, Royal Randwick, Ellerslie; Wingatui (26 Dec); Hobart (27 Dec); Eagle Farm, Morphettville (28 Dec); Wyong (31 Dec); Ascot, Canterbury Park, Flemington, Sha Tin (1 Dec). Although Black Type Racing's editorial team is taking a brief breather, as always wewill be covering all the stakes race results in detail. Meanwhile, immediately after New Year's Day, we'll be publishing up-to-date previews of a large cohort of key vendors selling at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale that gets underway on 7 January.
Sydney to Hobart (pic:wikipedia.org)
Aust/NZ/HK Holiday Black Type Schedule
Friday, 27th December 2024
Here, in full, is the complement of 27 stakes races that will run from 26 December to 1 January, inclusive – race times (Australian Eastern Daylight Time) will be added as soon as they are known:
WED TBA: Gr2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stks (2000m) Ellerslie
TBA: Gr2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) Ellerslie
TBA: Gr2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m) Ellerslie
TBA: Gr3 Queen Elizabeth Cup (2400m) Ellerslie
TBA: Listed Canterbury Sprint (1200m) Canterbury
TBA: Listed Kensington Stakes (1400m) Flemington
TBA: Listed Bagot Handicap (2800m) Flemington
TBA: Gr2 Perth Cup (2400m) Ascot
TBA: Gr3 La Trice Classic (1800m) Ascot
TBA: Listed Summr Scorcher (1000m) Ascot
TBA: Gr3 Chinese Club Challenge (1400m) Sha Tin
TBA: Gr3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy (1000m) Sha Tin
TBA: Gr3 Taranaki Cup (1800m) New Plymouth
TBA: Listed Oaks Prelude (1800m) New Plymouth
No Shock Result in $1m The Supernova
Friday, 27th December 2024
Karaka graduate Here To Shock (NZ) (Shocking) continues to defy expectations, taking his career to new heights with a stunning victory in Saturday’s A$1m The Supernova (1400m) at Pakenham. A $70,000 purchase by Slade Bloodstock from Book 1 of Karaka 2019, Here To Shock has proven to be an outstanding investment, with 12 wins, seven placings, and $2.4m in stakes – almost 40 times his purchase price. The gelding’s journey to success has been a gradual progression. At five, he claimed his first black-type win in the $200,000 Listed Golden Mile (1600m) at Bendigo in April 2023. In his six-year-old season, Here To Shock added further prestigious wins, including the $200,000 Gr3 Victoria Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield and the $300,000 Gr3 BRC Sprint (1350m) at Eagle Farm. “He’s an old marvel,” said Will Hayes, who trains in partnership with his brothers Ben and JD. “We had our eye on this slot race from a long way out and selected him to run in our slot today. Getting back to those paddocks in Euroa, he loves the country environment. He had the earmuffs on today to keep him relaxed, and keeping him relaxed has been key to him going through the grades.” With $1.5m in earnings this season alone, from just five starts since August, nzb.co.nz reports Here To Shock is a remarkable advertisement for the quality and durability of progeny by former Melbourne Cup hero Shocking. The Rich Hill Stud stallion has two yearlings catalogued for Book 1 of Karaka 2025, plus 11 in Book 2.
Here To Shock claims another big race (pic: Bruno Cannatelli)
Bivouac Filly Tops Karaka Millions 2YO Order
Friday, 27th December 2024
Emerging from the shadows of her more fancied rivals, Intention, by Darley’s multiple Group 1-winning 1st season sire Bivouac (see below), delivered a stunning upset in last weekend's Gr2 Happy Hire Wakefield Challenge Stakes (1100m) at Trentham, according to NZ Racing Desk. The $175,000 race marked just the second start for the Awapuni filly, who had a troubled debut at Otaki late last month. Sent out as a $17 outsider, the blue and white silks of Tineke Balcombe’s In To Win Syndication defied expectations, as Intention’s unhurried start and sharp finish under jockey Tina Comignaghi left her competitors scrambling. Landlock looked to have secured victory after taking the lead at the top of the home straight, but Intention’s explosive burst through a gap off the rail saw her clinch a half-length win, with Landlock three-quarters of a length ahead of the third-placed favourite Marokopa Falls. Trainer Mike Breslin’s confidence in the filly was well-placed. “I’ve always thought a lot of her, and I decided to line her up on debut without a trial,” he said. Despite a difficult start to her career, Breslin noted her significant improvement and stellar trackwork. “I wouldn’t have run her in a race like this if I thought she was out of her grade. It’s great for Tineke and her syndication business—we didn’t buy her for very much, and she’s proving to be a real standout.” Intention’s victory slashed her odds for the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) at Ellerslie in January from $41 to $14, and Breslin hinted at keeping this option open after a brief paddock break. Bred by Llanhennock Trust and bought for $65,000, Intention hails from the first crop of Bivouac and an unraced Snitzel mare. Her earnings of $102,625 from two starts now top the Karaka Millions order of entry. Comignaghi praised the filly’s maturity and potential, calling her “a real professional” with an exciting future ahead.
Winning Sire: Tavistock (Montjeu-Upstage, by Quest for Fame)
Stud Farm: Cambridge Stud
Trainer: K A Lees
Jockey: J Ford
Race record: 8 wins and 4 placings from 18 starts for $676,025 in earnings
Sales Info: $60,000 yearling consigned by Pencarrow Stud at the 2021 NZB NYSS and then a $130,000 juvenile consigned by Kiltannon Stables at the 2021 Inglis Ready2Race Sale
