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Contingency plan for RTR Breeze-ups; Magneto on track for Guineas berth;Fourth stakes winner for Time Test; Farr recuperating after Great Northern fall
Contingency plan for RTR Breeze-ups
New Zealand Bloodstock has devised a contingency plan for the 2021 Ready to Run Sale Breeze Ups.
On Sunday 3 October, the Government imposed an Alert Level 3 'border' placed around Raglan, Te Kauwhata, Ngaruawahia, Hamilton city and Huntly for an initial period of five days, ending at 11.59PM Friday 8 October.
New Zealand Bloodstock and the Waikato Racing Club have been advised that Breeze Ups for the Ready to Run Sale cannot take place under current Alert Level 3 restrictions, and therefore have devised the following contingency plan:
A) At 1PM on Friday 8 October, if it is announced the restrictions have been lifted, the 2021 Ready to Run Sale Breeze Ups will go ahead at Te Rapa Racecourse as scheduled on the 11 and 12 October.
B) If, however, that announcement extends the border restrictions, the Breeze Ups will be postponed until the following Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 October at Te Rapa.
C) If on Friday 1PM 15 October (or earlier), it is announced that that the restrictions are to be extended even further, the Breeze Ups will be held at the Cambridge Jockey Club's synthetic track on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 October.
New Zealand Bloodstock said it will adapt to the changing circumstances in the best way it possibly can and would like to thank the Waikato Racing Club, Cambridge Jockey Club and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing for their help in ensuring it has a workable and realistic contingency plan in place.
More information will be made available regarding the Breeze Ups in due course.
Magneto on track for Guineas berth
South Auckland trainer Steven Cole elected to bypass last Saturday's Gr.2 Dundeel At Arrowfield Hawke's Bay Guineas (1400m) with Magneto in favour of a softer target closer to home this week.
The son of Showcasing finished third in the Listed El Roca – Sir Colin Meads Trophy (1200m) at Hastings last start and Cole thought it would be too much of an ask for Magneto to make the long trip to Hawke's Bay once again a fortnight later.
"He has bounced through his last run and at this stage he is going to run at Matamata this weekend in a three-year-old 1400m," Cole said.
"Being in Auckland we have got to go the day before and doing that twice in a short space of time is a big ask early in his prep.
"The logistics of being in Auckland at the moment is pretty hard, admittedly we have been very lucky with Caley Myers looking after our horses. It is still a big effort to get them down there and back."
Cole was impressed with Magneto's second-up effort in the El Roca and is looking forward to stepping him up over more ground as they look to the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton in November.
"I thought it was a super run," Cole said. "His first run at Te Rapa I thought he was going to be pretty vulnerable considering he had one very quiet trial and an exhibition gallop at Ruakaka, that was five or six weeks before his first race.
"He improved naturally with it and Michael (McNab, jockey) really liked the horse and thought the step up to 1400m would really suit him.
"The 2000 Guineas is still the main aim at the moment. It's just a matter of how we are going to get down there and whether Auckland people will be able to get down there at all. We will get to that hurdle once we get past Matamata."
NZTBA Scholarship deadline looming
Applications for the 2022 Keith and Faith Taylor Equine Scholarship which supports the successful recipient to travel to Ireland and complete the world renowned Irish National Stud Diploma Course are set to close next week.
The Scholarship, which was established in 1991, is open to any person aged 30 or under who is interested in furthering their career in the thoroughbred industry.
Applicants should have some work experience at a thoroughbred stud in New Zealand and be committed to furthering their career in the thoroughbred industry.
Due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions, the successful candidate must be fully vaccinated (Irish National Stud policy) and be willing to complete any quarantine requirements. If the return to New Zealand is delayed for any reason the Irish National Stud and NZTBA will support the recipient during this time.
The Keith and Faith Taylor Equine Scholarship provides the successful candidate with:
– Return economy airfare
– Fees for the National Stud Diploma course
– Accommodation
– Cash advance to cover some personal expenses
Applications can be sent to nztba@nzthoroughbred.co.nz by Friday October 15 and need to include a CV and covering letter stating why applicants wish to apply and why they would be a suitable candidate for the scholarship.
Interviews will be conducted October 20 and 21 with the recipient selected and notified by Friday October 29th.
More information on the scholarship can be found at: https://www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz/scholarships/
Fourth stakes winner for Time Test
Little Avondale Stud stallion Time Test was represented by a stakes winner in Italy on Sunday when The King's Horses won the Listed Criterium Nazionale (1200m) in Rome to advance his record to three wins from four starts.
The colt also became the fourth individual stakes winner from the first crop of the Dubawi,
who is also the sire of Group Three winners Rocchigiani and Romantic Time, as well as Listed winner Tardis.
Bred in the purple, Time Test is out of Passage Of Time, a Group One-winning daughter of Dansili and a half-sister to Gr.1 Falmouth Stakes (1600m) heroine Timepiece.
A high-class performer on the track, Time Test was a multiple Group Two winner and Group One placed in the UK for Roger Charlton, while he also placed in two Grade Ones for Chad Brown in America.
Time Test, whose eldest Southern Hemisphere crop have just turned two, stands at Little Avondale Stud where he will cover a full book this season at a fee of $8,500 +GST.
Farr recuperating after Great Northern fall
Jumps jockey Emily Farr has been discharged from hospital after suffering injuries from her fall aboard Kaharau in the Great Northern Hurdle (4200m) at Te Aroha on Sunday.
The evergreen galloper misjudged a hurdle near the 1100m mark and fell, dislodging Farr, who sustained a number of injuries, and Kaharau was humanely euthanised after he was found to have fractured his right foreleg.
"I got knocked out for four minutes," said Emily Farr in a statement. "I have a suspected broken cheek bone and have broken my collarbone.
"I have facial bruising around my right eye and forehead, severe swelling around my lung, neck and back, and I lost two teeth.
"All CT scans have come back clear and I discharged myself last (Sunday) night."
While her injuries will see her sidelined for a while, Farr said she was more distraught about the loss of Kaharau, the winner of 14 races on the flat, including the Listed Dunedin Gold Cup (2400m), and two placings in the Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m).
"I lost my favourite boy yesterday and that hurts more than all my injuries and will for a very long time," she said.
