A week after becoming only the second New Zealand trainer to reach 2000 wins, South Island racing icon Michael Pitman teamed up with jockey Lisa Allpress to celebrate another notable milestone in Saturday’s Avon City Ford Rating 75 (2600m) at Riccarton.
Class galloper Sacred Satono put his name firmly in the frame for a proposed Queensland Winter Carnival venture when he kicked off a new campaign with an impressive victory at Ellerslie in the opening event, the Barfoot & Thompson 1200.
Cambridge trainer Andrew Forsman will look to add black type to Russian Satire’s outstanding pedigree page after a last-to-first win in Saturday’s Auckland Co-Op Taxis (1500m) at Ellerslie.
The trend of big wins for lower-profile stables during Riccarton’s autumn carnival continued in the Gr.3 Coca-Cola Canterbury Gold Cup (2000m) on Saturday, where well-travelled veteran Green Luck delivered a career highlight for Timaru trainer Stephanie Faulkner.
An autumn trip to Canterbury has turned out to be career-defining for Matamata mare Sassy Merlot, who added a valuable black-type win to her record in Saturday’s Listed Daphne Bannan Memorial Great Easter Stakes (1400m) at Riccarton.
Underrated three-year-old filly Moonlight Magic employed a barnstorming finish from last to secure a valuable stakes victory when she captured the Gr.3 Trelawney Stud Championship Stakes (2100m) at Ellerslie in spectacular fashion.
A week after his remarkable front-running heroics on Pride Of Jenni in the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m), in-form jockey Declan Bates pulled off another wire-to-wire performance with New Zealand-bred mare Disturbia in Saturday’s Evergreen Turf Handicap (1600m) at Mornington.
Exciting juvenile Domain Ace maintained his perfect record with a dominant win in Saturday’s Listed TAB Starway Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie.
Premiership-leading jockey Warren Kennedy was the first to crack the 100-win mark for the season at Matamata on Friday when guiding Lightning Dream to victory in the Auto Super Shoppe Matamata 1600.
Local trainer Rosie Gibbs made a welcome return to the winner’s stall following Glimmer’s commanding debut performance in the Treadwell Gordon 1200 at Waverley on Thursday.
