
Age shall not weary him
Veteran galloper Gino Severini capped off some consistent form of late with a determined performance to take out the Gr.2 Gartshore Tauranga Stakes (1600m) on Saturday.

Veteran galloper Gino Severini capped off some consistent form of late with a determined performance to take out the Gr.2 Gartshore Tauranga Stakes (1600m) on Saturday.

A year on from Pier’s heroics in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), his older half-sister Maria Farina has picked up a feature win of her own during the New Zealand Cup Carnival at Riccarton.

Handy galloper So Risque showed plenty of fight in registering a winning performance in Saturday’s MRC Foundation Handicap (1400m) at Caulfield.

A close fifth behind Nest Egg on the first day of the carnival, imported stayer Mahrajaan went to a new level a week later and turned the tables on the hot favourite in Saturday’s Gr.3 Martin Collins 160th New Zealand Cup (3200m) at Riccarton.

Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay celebrated Group One success on Saturday as royally bred filly Joliestar claimed the Gr.1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield.

The John Sargent-trained Toesonthenose scored the fifth victory of his career when running out a strong winner of the Karaka 2024 Midway Benchmark 72 Handicap (1600m) at the Newcastle feature meeting on Saturday.

Highly regarded filly About A Girl will continue her career in Australia from the champion Sydney stable of Chris Waller.

Chad Ormsby has been preparing two-year-olds for New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready To Run Sale for the last decade and he believes he will be offering his best draft at Karaka next week.

Visits to Christchurch have been few and far between for Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott during their decade-long training partnership, but the Matamata pair have two strong reasons for venturing south this weekend.

The two-mile distance is a step into unknown territory for most Gr.3 Martin Collins New Zealand Cup (3200m) contenders every year, but Nest Egg’s trainer Stephen Marsh has more confidence than most that his runner’s stamina will shine through at Riccarton on Saturday.

High-flying mare Express Yourself took a big step towards the sprinting big time with another dominant performance in the $50,000 Woodridge Homes (1100m) at Trentham on Friday.

Cambridge trainer Sam Mynott has enjoyed her first New Zealand Cup Week with stable star Imwonderfultonight and is hoping she can finish it with a bang at Riccarton on Saturday.