News Briefs - August 9

Telfers hit 200

Aardiebytheseaside's win at Auckland last Thursday gave the brother-sister combo of Steve and Amanda Telfer their 200th training success. They brought up the milestone from 1259 starts, with their first winner being Cloudy Bay at Auckland in August 2020. Steve also has 190 wins when in partnership with Chris Garlick (2012-17), 28 with Amanda and Hayden Cullen (2023) and 131 on his own account, from 2008 to 2020. That gives Steve Telfer 549 wins overall, with Amanda at 228.

Upsets on one of North America's biggest days

Hambletonian day at the Meadowlands in New Jersey saw its fair share of upsets. At double figure odds Tactical Approach won the 98th edition of the $1m three-year-old trotting feature for driver Scott Zeron and trainer Nancy Takter in 1:50.6. His sire Tactical Landing is available in New Zealand at Dancingonmoonlight for $15,000. And paying nearly $60 was Heaven Hanover in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks. Tactical Approach is now the second highest stakes earner in North America this year ($581,489) behind Confederate ($687,929).

Just like magic

Two separate horses with the same name have performed with credit over the last week, on either side of the Tasman. The Dalgety-trained Magician, a half brother to the well-performed Merlin, finished second on debut at Addington on Friday and a day later his namesake, an emerging Tasmanian four-year-old, won his way into the $2.1mil TAB Eureka with hard-fought victory in the inaugural $80,000 Beautide (2090m) at Hobart. HRNZ records show two other Magicians have raced in this country, one was a three race winner in the 1950s, the other had two starts in the late 1980s.

Blue September all set for 2023

HRNZ's Blue September campaign will be having an official Launch dinner at Addington Raceway on Friday September 1. The campaign, now in its third year, is all about raising money and awareness around prostate cancer and encouraging men to get checked early. Tickets for the dinner are $55, of which $10 will go the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Tables of 10 are $500.

There will be :

- A Buffet Dinner
- Cash Bar
- Raffles with some great prizes!
- Punters Club
- Meet the Blue September ambassadors
- Free racebook and racing entertainment all night

Book now by emailing [email protected]

To see the flyer click here

Spring boost at trials

Just as the weather improves and the harness racing community looks forward to spring racing, and especially New Zealand Cup and Show week, the trials are starting to really hum. There are 113 horses at the Chertsey trials near Ashburton this week, after last week's trials at Addington saw the return of a number of quality horses including Allamericanlover, Anything Goes, and Alta Meteor.

Stallion register now available

The latest Register of Standardbred Stallions is currently available. The publication has been produced by the NZ Standardbred Breeders' Association and features 200 pages crammed full of breeding information and statistics. To find out more email : [email protected]