Derby charmers have the spirit

28th FEBRUARY, 2020 RACENEWS

Boom young sire Charm Spirit (Invincible Spirit) will be represented by three first-crop runners in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie this Saturday. The son of Invincible Spirit (Green Desert...

Rip Van Winkle Filly Dashes to G2 Lowland Stakes success

26 FEB 2020, NZ RACING DESK

Quality filly Jennifer Eccles once again showed her customary turn of foot to prove too good for her rivals in the Gr.2 Little Avondale Lowland Stakes (2100m) and book her passage to the Gr.1 Al Ba...

Group One red-letter day for Rip Van Winkle

9 FEB, 2020 NZ RACING DESK

Windsor Park Stud’s young guns have dominated the limelight in recent times with first-season sire titles for ShamExpress (O’Reilly) and Charm Spirit (Invincible Spirit), but Saturday was all about...

Rip Van Winkle’s Shark Attack at Te Rapa

8 FEB 2019, NZ RACING DESK

Excitement machine Te Akau Shark (Rip Van Winkle) sent out an ominous warning to his Australian rivals as he finally got a deserved Group One prize when taking out the BCD Group Sprint (1400m) with...

Rip Van Winkle's Jennifer Eccles Wins G2 Fillies Classic

8 FEB, 2019 NZ RACING DESK

A picture-perfect ride from Jason Waddell allowed class act Jennifer Eccles (Rip Van Winkle) to show her undoubted quality as she dashed away from her age-group rivals to take out the Gr.2 David &a...

Writ large: Subpoenaed holds court at headquarters

Subpoenaed (Rip Van Winkle) races with a quirky climbing action and is certain to climb through the grades and possibly all the way to Group 1 company this autumn. The Chris Waller-trained three-ye...

New Plymouth double continues Patterson’s big season

4 FEB, 2020 NZ RACING DESK

Back-to-back wins at his home track on Saturday continued a remarkable season for New Plymouth trainer Robbie Patterson. The first leg of the double came from Aridity (Mastercraftsman), who scored ...

New stakes winner for Rip Van Winkle

11 Jan 2019, NZ RACING DESK

On a day where she tasted Group One success with Gaultier in the Levin Classic (1600m) in 2017, Matamata trainer Danica Guy was at it again when she produced Germanicus (Rip Van Winkle) to take out...

Unbeaten Windsor Park filly plays Group winning tune at Ellerslie

2 JANUARY, 2019 NZ RACING DESK

Exciting Windsor Park-bred juvenile Play That Song (Showcasing) maintained her unbeaten record when she downed hot favourite Not An Option (Not A Single Doubt) to win the first of the feature races...

Classy filly sheds maiden status in style

27 Dec 2019, NZ Racing Desk

The tag of New Zealand’s best maiden was emphatically stripped from the shoulders of exciting three-year-old Jennifer Eccles (Rip Van Winkle) when she stormed past her female age group rivals to ta...

Classic aspirations for Charm Spirit 3YO

23 Dec, 2019 RACENEWS

Derby nominated 3YO Peloton (Charm Spirit) proved too strong for his older rivals when winning the Lodge Property Management Handicap over 1500m at Te Rapa on Saturday. Peloton was backing up from ...

Stars align for impressive young sire

19 DEC, 2019 RACENEWS

Four first crop 3YO Group winners and a current strike rate of 8.7% Group winners to runners confirms the upward trajectory for last season’s Leading First Season Sire and current Leading Second Se...

Charm Spirit heads exciting Windsor Park roster

16 Dec 2019, NZ RACING DESK

With Charm Spirit in stellar form and a new wave of stallions approaching their yearling debuts, the festive period has some extra shine this year for the team at Windsor Park Stud.  Multiple Group...

Lilikoi races away with Eulogy Stakes

14 DEC 2019, NZ RACING DESK

Matamata visitor Lilikoi (Charm Spirit) showed she was on track for further age-group riches this summer with a comprehensive victory in Saturday’s Gr.3 Lawnmaster Eulogy Stakes (1600m) at Awapuni....

Scorpz too tough in Ellerslie feature

18 DEC, 2019 NZ RACING DESK

Promising three-year-old Scorpz (Charm Spirit) overcame a wide run in transit to nab his second stakes victory in succession when he outstayed his age-group rivals in Sunday’s Listed Hynds 3YO Salv...

Scorpz continues on Derby path

12 DEC, 2019 NZ RACING DESK

Exciting three-year-old Scorpz will be tested over 2000m for the first time at Ellerslie on Sunday in preparation for the Group 1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby (2400m) in February. The Stephen Marsh-t...

Gunga Din impresses for ShamExpress

9 DEC, 2019 RACENEWS

New Zealand-bred gelding Gunga Din (ShamExpress) relished a hot race tempo at Rosehill in Sydney on Saturday to street his Highway Handicap rivals and pull off another training coup for veteran Can...

Plenty of spirit in Group win

3 Dec 2019, RACENEWS

The stocks of ‘young gun’ sire Charm Spirit (Invincible Spirit) continue to rise with the win by 3YO colt Scorpz in the Gr.3 Wellington Stakes at Otaki on Friday confirming the cracking start Charm...

Scorpz another first crop Group winner for Charm Spirit

29 Nov, 2019 NZ Racing Desk

Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh had a memorable day at Otaki on Friday, winning a stakes double and unearthing another Derby prospect. The Waikato conditioner won the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m)...

Melbourne Carnival Group Winner For Charm Spirit

29 OCT | WPS

 Melbourne Carnival Group winner for Charm Spirit   Impressive young sire Charm Spirit (Invincible Spirit) confirmed his class among an outstanding group of emerging stallion talent, when s...

Northern filly plays stakes winning tune at Trentham

28 OCT | NZ RACING DESK

Windsor Park-bred 2YO Play That Song (NZ) (Showcasing) backed up an impressive debut win at Ruakaka earlier in the month with another dominant performance to take out the Listed Hanley Formula Well...

Fascino scores Classic success for Charm Spirit

28 OCT | BY AAP

After 1600m in the Fillies Classic at The Valley on Saturday, Fascino (NZ) (Charm Spirit) and La Falaise (Canford Cliffs) could not be separated in the Group Two race. The Ciaron Maher and David Eu...

Best still to come from the Shark

28 OCT | BY NZTM

Not that he needed convincing but trainer Jamie Richards left Moonee Valley on Saturday evening with confirmation that he has a galloper capable of matching it with the best Australasia has to offe...

CHARM SPIRIT MARCHING TO TOP

26 SEP 19 | WPS

With six individual 3YO winners already to kick off the new season, including last weekend’s Group winning filly Aretha, 2019 Leading Freshman Sire Charm Spirit (Invincible Spirit) has continued hi...

ARETHA GRABS HASTINGS FEATURE IN DESPERATE FINISH

22 SEP 19 | NZ RACING DESK

The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Aretha opened her three-year-old account in dramatic fashion when she took out the Gr.3 Hawke’s Bay Breeders’ Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) in a grandstand f...

AGENDA FOR JENNIFER ECCLES

04 SEP 19 | Adrian Clark

The next thee races for Jennifer Eccles - who won then lost on protest last Saturday's Taupo Pak'n Save Fillies 1100 at Hastings - have been decided. The Rip Van Winkle filly will return to Hasting...

LATE WINDSOR PARK PLATE ENTRY FOR HELENA BABY

02 SEP 19 | NZ Racing Desk

Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) placegetter Helena Baby will get his shot at redemption against victor Melody Belle later this month. Helena Baby wasn’t among the initial nominations for the Gr.1 Winds...

WILD CHOICE GROWS WINGS

27 AUG | TRELAWNY STUD

Wild Choice (Shamexpress x Exquisite Choice) broke through for a well-deserved maiden victory at Mornington on Tuesday.  The Richard Laming-trained three-year-old had placed in each of his previous...

McDonald keen on the Shark in the Epsom

21 AUG | Racenews

Kiwi superstar jockey James McDonald is the hot favourite to win the prized ride on excitement machine Te Akau Shark (Rip Van Winkle) for the biggest race of his career. The ride on the powerful ch...

Australia Gets First Look at Rip's Subpoenaed

21 AUG | Breeding & Racing Daily News

In late April, Breeding&Racing's Daily News reported on an eye-catching debut winner for trainer Tony Pike at Te Rapa in New Zealand. Named Subpoena, the 2YO filly rattled home over 1200m with ...