West Indies, a two time winner on the flat in Australia is being prepared for a jumping programme in the upcoming jumps season. A 4yo gelding by Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo Mare, he is bred to stay all day and loves a wet track – he has been schooling over the Hurdles at Cranbourne for several months now and shows real affinity for the jumping game – in full work now, he will be aimed at a couple of highweight races during February, will have two mandatory Hurdles trials late Feb, early March before making his Hurdles debut and the iconic Warrnambool 3 day Carnival in the first week of May will be a nice target for him

As is common when we make a decision to change direction with a horse from flat racing to kumps racing, there are some syndicate Members who do not wish to be involved in a jumping proposition and accordingly 4.5% of the shares have become available – these shares are being offered for zero up front consideration with ongoing costs from 1 February of NZ$60 per month per each 1% share – if you have interest in taking up all or part of this offering (we will do shares down to 1%) then please email me   john@fortuna-nz.com or call/text 021 921 460============================================================

Fortuna Owners Day – Sunday 8th February 2026 – Special Guest Des Coppins

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LEGEND OF KINGS – still some shares left

• Legend Of Kings is a lightly raced 5yo with a genuine stayers pedigree
• physically he lives up to his pedigree 100%
• lightly raced for a 5yo, he has plenty of miles in the legs
• not a lot of money
• in full work at Matamata since 18th Dec, he will trial 10th Feb at Ellerslie and then be off to the races, so not long to wait
• Has been allocated a Rating of 63 so his first NZ start will be in Rating 65 grade
• Just 10% left

5yo Gelding Legend of Kings (by Camelot out of Joshua’s Princess)

Click HERE to see LEGEND OF KINGS parading pre sale

Review all the above information and purchase a share in LEGENDS OF KINGS today from the link HERE  or make contact with John 021 921 460 if you would like more  information

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Kylie Bax to host new TV Series on the Thoroughbred – will feature on non racing Channels

There’s not much doubt that if you are a regular follower of racing you are well served with the various coverages and programs featured on Trackside, be it racing itself, pre race form analysis, post race interviews and other programming – unfortunately for racing most of this footage goes unseen by those members of the community who are not active followers of racing – it is certainly not unheard of but it’s very unusual for racing to be featured on one of the mainstream channels.

That’s all about to change with the launch of the TV series “Upon The Land We Stand”. Hosted by the former International Super Model, Kylie Bax, now of course, a well known breeder and syndicator right here in NZ, this programme takes an inside look at the life of Thoroughbred racehorses here in NZ – and the good news is that this progamme is going to be featured on non racing Channels such as Freeview, Sky Go and Sky Now – click HERE to see a promotional Video – first episode 7pm Saturday 10th

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Guest Commentator – Des Coppins

Greetings John and Fortuna followers.

We’ve kicked into January in good spirits after some decent competitive racing at Trentham on TAB Telegraph day last Saturday.
It’s been a busy week and the black type races as part of the 9-race show at Trentham were  generously complimented with some decent provincial meetings with wonderful crowds.
We are now leading into more holiday racing with big city days at Trentham and Ellerslie to enhance the enjoyment.

It’s Question Time from a breakdown of stories over the past week.

Q1: How unfortunate that the traditionally popular Thames’s meeting at Te Aroha was severely impacted by atrocious underfoot conditions. To see close on 68 scratchings one has to ask, would that be the biggest number we’ve ever seen on a summer race date?

Q2: Were you wondering why those in charge didn’t try to postpone the meeting by 24 or even 48 hours?

Q3: Didn’t First Five’s win in the group one TAB Telegraph prove once again how this great sprint  suits 1400m type horses as opposed to straight out 1200m stars?

Q4: While January 3 is the earliest the Trentham summer carnival has ever started the bonus was clearly having the world’s best jockey on course wouldn’t you say?

Q5: When you ride champions like Romantic Warrior and Via Sistena to multiple big race wins and 21 group ones in one season (2024-25) chances are the bank manager sees you as his best friend. If you add last seasons prize money alongside the 5 months so far this season J-Mac’s total is just on $A50m. Not bad for less than 18 months is it? Our top man, Craig Grylls in comparison for the same period, has grossed $NZ9.3m. Craig earns 5% in NZ while James gets the same percentage in Australia but 10 percent in Hong Kong.

Q6:  J-Mac is not only a hero in the eyes of racegoers as evidenced by the “selfies” and signings he undertook at Trentham with the public but his fellow riders in the jockeys room wanted much the same and accordingly a few them lined up for a picture with him.  Some rode against him for the first time as well  in the Levin Classic and the Telegraph.
For some of these riders that may well be a one-off wouldn’t you say because his international diary is full season after season which naturally limits his NZ presence?

Q7: Didn’t La Dorada’s win in the Levin Classic on Saturday once again prove how sad it is for this historic race to lose its group one status  for the first time after 45 years? In the last 5 years 4 winners of the race have between them won 13 group one races. Despite the downgrade the excitement lives on. Saturday’s race was a beauty.

Q8: While none of us condone excessive whip action by jockeys do you think a local jockey in a lessor race should pay $600 for breaching the whip rules while a visiting jockey, on a similar offence, must pay five times more because it was a black type race?
Do you feel maybe the punishment should focus on the infringement but not the purse!
In case you weren’t aware jockeys can lose 50 percent of their riding fee in black type races for breaching the whip rules.

Q9: In terms of animal welfare and the people we need to work with to ensure our industry is doing its utmost why do we call whips, whips?
The Oxford Dictionary says a whip is a “blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain.” Heaven knows why we can’t officially change the name  to a more user friendly word , ie “ the persuader!”

Q10: It’s Kumara’s big day on Saturday. While some venues may be fighting for survival either now or further down the track let’s not forget the fights Kumara has had to endure in its 138 years!
a. In 1948 the club was issued threats of closure from a report of the Royal Commission on gaming and racing but the next year it posted a record turnover.
b. In 1964 the NZ Racing Conference recommended Kumara close its venue and shift to Greymouth. A ground swell of submissions opposing the move proved successful.
c. In June 1975 the club was notified by authorities again that 1976 would be the last time for Kumara and the club was to either transfer to Greymouth or have their license revoked.
Once again tenacity paid off with political intervention by Robert Muldoon.
And 50 years later, despite a few weather impacted cancellations, Kumara remains one of the best holiday venues in the land.
Kumara’s perseverance and resilience is pretty special isn’t it?

TRENTHAM TRIO TO FOLLOW

GRAIL SEEKER : attacked the line with the quickest sectionals and she is certainly back to  her best. She stormed to victory in the Telegraph 12 months ago and whether it’s the Railway at Ellerslie  or the BCD sprint at Te Rapa she’ll be a leading light.

SWEETEST THING: her run on debut in a black type two year old augurs well for what comes next. She’s eligible for the Karaka Million but a path culminating in the Sires Produce at Trentham on March 28 may make more sense.

DOCTOR ASKAR: he looks right back to the form that saw him win 5 races in a row including the Easter at Ellerslie. He looks a genuine Thorndon Mile chance on January 17.

Good punting!

Des Coppins
021 448 052

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