News

Promising mare Give Giggles extended her perfect record at Ballarat to four-from-four with an emphatic win in Saturday’s A$80,000 A Grade Sheds Handicap (1100m).

Progressive mare Flamebird made up for an unlucky run in stakes company at her last start to register career win number four when she dashed home to take the Stella Artois 1500m Championship Qualifier (1400m) at Pukekohe.

Emerging stayer Captain Envious took his career to a new level with a runaway victory in the Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m), leading home a Kiwi-bred quinella in Saturday’s A$500,000 feature.

A desperate finish to the Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) saw exciting three-year-old Lupo Solitario extend his career record to three wins from just four starts as he defeated talented filly Orchestral by the barest of margins in a thrilling conclusion to the age-group feature.

New Zealand-bred juvenile Beau Dazzler was thrown in at the deep end for Saturday’s A$200,000 Listed Eureka Stud Phelan Ready Stakes (1000m) at Eagle Farm, and he rose to the occasion with a bold black-type win.

Peter and Dawn Williams have fond memories in past editions of the Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m), and the Byerley Park trainers are hoping another crown lies ahead with Desert Lightning on Saturday.

A strong start to the season sees Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott sitting fourth on the New Zealand trainers’ premiership with 19 wins, and the Matamata pair can continue their form with another big and talented team of weekend runners.

Lance Noble is sending just one horse down to Wellington this weekend, hoping his rising star Habana can deal to some unfinished business in the race now known as the Gr. 1 TAB Classic (1600m) at Trentham.

Highly talented three-year-old Lupo Solitario has pleased Matamata trainer Danica Guy in the build-up to his return to racing, but a last-minute setback has cast some doubt over his participation in Saturday’s Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) at Pukekohe.

Globetrotting Swedish jockey Ulrika Holmquist has made a homecoming of sorts, returning to New Zealand to ride for the summer.

After making an enormous impression in his first three starts in the spring, all eyes will be on Lupo Solitario when he returns to action against a small field in Saturday’s Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) at Pukekohe.

Prise De Fer was rewarded for his consistency when recording his first elite-level victory in the Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Trentham last year, and trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson are hoping for a repeat dose in this year’s edition, when run as the TAB Classic on Saturday.