fortunanz

1 2 3 4 5 6 … 75

ZEDWILLDO wins in Maiden company – Mornington 6th December 2024

Published 8 December 2024

ZEDWILLDO, the 6yo Gelding by Zed out of Katie Spice proved that distance was his friend when winning the Maiden 2460 meter event at Mornington on Friday, the 6th of June December in the hands of Will Gordon. Trained by Brett Scott at Mornington “Des” had indicated with close-up second and third placings in recent starts that he was knocking on the door of win, but then unfortunately was ridden upside down at Geelong 27th November when stepping up to the 2400 meter trip for the first time and weakened into 6th placing closing stages. This time however, new rider Will Gordon executed pre race instructions perfecly, settling “Des” at the back of the field and riding him cold in a race which was run at quick tempo. At the 900m mark, sensing that the pace had slackened, Will urged ZEDWILLDO forward and eliciting a good response from the horse, he soon had him eyeballing the race favourite, Najle and the two of them knuckled down to a 2 horse war down the length of the straight, with ZEDWILLDO going to the line the stronger in a time 0f 2.36.26 and a half head margin.

Click HERE to see the race replay

Trainer Brett Scott was on course and was a happy trainer after the race – “That was good strong staying perfomance – this horse will stay all day but needs to be switched off early and ridden cold and that is what Will delivered today. Congrats to all of his Ownership Team, particularly John Galvin and his Fortuna Racing ownership group – this is the first horse we have trained for them and its great to get the win after running some nice placings recently”

ZEDWILLDO –  Maiden Victory – Mornington 6th December 2024 – Will Gordon aboard
Fortuna Director John Galvin had watched the race from his Hamilton home and expressed delight after the event “Zedwilldo is a very dour, one paced staying type who has taken time to find his feet due to his tendency to go a bit keen in his earlier races, however he has been beautifully handled by Brett Scott, who has really taught him to relax and today he was given the perfect ride by Will Gordon allowing him to settle early and run home strong and, as a result, duly delivered”
ZEDWILLDO was acquired by John Galvins Fortuna Racing from his owner/trainer Diane Kennedy in 2023 after trialing well in New Zealand and was subsequently shipped to Victoria as a future jumping prospect – he has now had 8 raceday starts for a win and two minor placings

=======================================================

 

 

Friday Flash – 6th December 2024

Published 6 December 2024

RAGAMUFFIN –  4th Raceday win – Woodville 17th November 2024 – Craig Grylls aboard

=================================================================

Headline News

Fortuna Owners Day has been postponed and will now be held Sunday ninth of February 2025

TE AKAU APPOINTS NEW ASSISTANT TRAINER

Shares in our recent RTR Sale acquisition, the 2yo Filly by Swiss Ace, are disappearing quickly – just 11% left
 

================================

Fortuna has five runners this week (with two on debut), one in Victoria Friday, two at Riccarton Friday and two at Trentham SaturdayMornington – Friday

ZEDWILLDO contests the Maiden 2460 meter event – race 1 at 12:50pm Aus time  (2:50 pm NZ time) – notable rider change with Will Gordon taking the mount. Had bought good form into his last start at Geelong on the 27th of Nov, with a 3rd and a 2nd placing at his two previous runs, but was poorly ridden at Geelong with his rider just giving him no chance – an out and out stayer he needs to be ridden cold and if that can be pulled off today, he is a solid each way chance in this – TAB says “rockhard fit and looks well placed, so expected to get chance this time” – showing $4.80/$1.60

Riccarton Synthetic – Friday

PORTIA CATONIS races in the maiden 1200 meter event – race 4 at 4:39pm with Harry Grace aboard. This is her second race day start and on debut at Timaru 21st of November she was very disappointing, beaten 18 lengths – her work since has been good. She gets the synthetic this time, blinkers go on and we are certainly looking for her to show significant improvement this time. Has a wide draw to contend with – TAB says “Wide draw again – give another chance” showing $13/$3.60

QUEEEN CONSORT makes her debut in the Maiden 1200 meter event – race 4 at 4:39pm with Wiremu Pinn aboard. This lovely three year old daughter of Eminent has taken time to mature, but trialed nicely at Te Awamutu on the 18th of November – has settled in nicely to the Riccarton base and is poised to give a good showing here on debut – TAB says “stable has good strike rate with first starters” – showing $4.50/$1.80

Trentham – Saturday

MAROKOPA FALLS makes her debut in the 2yo 1000 meter event – race 1 at 12 Noon with Craig Grylls aboard. She presents as an interesting runner in this event – only purchased in June at the Gold Coast National Yearling sale she has come to hand very quickly – has only had one trial at Taupo where she finished full of running but with no luck in the run home – has impressed the training team significantly enough that they are content to have her make her debut off the back of that one trial – TAB says “shapes as a prospect” – showing $4.20/$1.28

STAR SHADOW resumes in the 3yo 1400 metre event – Race 3 at 1.10pm with Michael McNab to ride – a winner on debut at Otaki over 1300m in April, she has had three trials to prepare for this race – set to give a bold showing. TAB says “multiple class dropper resuming – triple trial winner – win chance for sure” – showing $5.50/$1.80

=======================================================================================

Trackwork – Fortuna Runners

Tuesday 3rd December – Matamata

Star Shadow (O Bosson) worked over 1000 metres in 1.06.5, home in 37.0.

Marokopa Falls (O Bosson) worked in company over 800 metres in 52.2, home in 36.6.

Inca Belle (H Hassman) worked over 1000 metres in 1.04.5, home in 37.0.

Wednesday 4th December – Cranbourne

Dreamflight (C Wilson) worked over 800 metres in 54.8, home in 37.92

Leaderboard (L Winks) worked over 1000 metres in 1.13.4, home in 41.92.

Riccarton

Sailing Away (H Durrant) worked over 1200 metres in 1.28.7, home in 37.98.

Thursday 5th December – Matamata

Star Shadow (O Bosson) worked over 1000 metres at three-quarter pace in 1.11.2, home in 40.6.

 

============================================================

Other News

Fortuna Owners Day has been postponed and will now be held Sunday 9th of February 2025
 

Sadly we have been forced to postpone this event – this due to the fact that Jessica has had a period of illness and underwent surgery in Waikato Hospital 13th of November and although subsequently discharged, further complications developed and she has been readmitted to hospital where she is undergoing further treatment – all of this means it is logistically impossible for us to proceed with the Owners Day on Sunday, the 15th of December as planned, hence the deferral to Sunday 9th of February.

I know that will be disappointing to our big group of owners who had planned to attend this day, but I’m sure you appreciate the circumstances make it impossible to proceed. We can look forward to hosting you all on Sunday, the 9th of February.

==============================================

TE AKAU APPOINTS NEW ASSISTANT TRAINER

Te Akau Racing is delighted to announce the appointment of Hunter Durrant to the role of Assistant Trainer, acknowledging his important role in the stable’s continued success.

“We recognise Hunter’s dedication and expertise, especially in managing our Riccarton operation under the guidance of our trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson,” said Te Akau Principal David Ellis CNZM.

“Hunter has been exceptional since we established our permanent base at Riccarton,” Ellis said.

“He’s a skilled horseman with a calm demeanor, sharp instincts, and the ability to connect with our owners and team. This promotion is a well-deserved recognition of his hard work and leadership.”

Durrant joins a distinguished lineup of assistant trainers, including Nicole Shailer at Matamata in the North Island and Ben Gleeson at Cranbourne in Victoria, who play crucial roles in ensuring seamless operations across Te Akau’s stables.

Last season Te Akau’s southern operation delivered exceptional results – earning three prestigious titles at the South Island Racing Awards, including Champion Two-Year-Old for Nucleozor and Champion Miler for Perfect Scenario.

This season the seamless success continues, fresh off a NZ Cup carnival week that included Captured By Love winning the Group 1 NZ 1000 Guineas and Mehzebeen the Group 3 NZ Cup and Listed Metropolitan Stakes.

The wins this season have included a landmark moment on 28 September 28 when Age of Discovery delivered Mark Walker’s 2000th career training victory.

Hunter’s promotion solidifies Te Akau’s commitment to excellence in racing.

David added:

“We love supporting South Island racing and first had stables in 2002 at Rangiora. It was timely to set up permanently again in the South last season, with the stables at Riccarton, and Hunter has been instrumental in that success.

“Hunter’s promotion is not only about rewarding hard work but also about setting the stage for even greater success.”

John says “We have got to know Hunter well over the years in his time at Te Akau, firstly with him being based at Matamata and then as a travelling foreman with runners going to Australia and more recently, heading up the highly successful Te Akau Riccarton operation from which several of the Fortuna runners have had success. He is certainly a very talented horseman and this promotion to assistant trainer is well deserved”

================================================

Shares in our recent RTR Sale acquisition, the 2yo Filly by Swiss Ace, are disappearing quickly – just 11% left – see more below

FORTUNA secures a lovely Swiss Ace Filly at the 2024 Ready To Run Sale

The 2yo Filly by Swiss Ace out of Sigiriya

======================================================

We had a highly successful day 20th November at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale. The sale itself was very successful with many high priced lots and this was no surprise, given the buoyancy in the Global Racing market at the present time, particularly in Australia and with a strong buying bench from Hong Kong

As always we like to buy to budget and with a very high focus on “physical type” and so we needed to be thinking very much outside the square in terms of the lots we identified – one of the things about the Ready to Run sale is that it is very popular with the Asian market, in particular Hong Kong and also with the closure of Singapore, the Malaysian trainers were very active as well – however these markets tend not to buy Fillies and focus on Colts in the main and so our focus was to be on the Fillly options – in the end we identified four Fillies from day one of the sale – two of these failed their Vet inspections and one we had identified in particular, that we thought would meet our budget, was the Swiss Ace Filly out of an El Rocamare and with a great Vet report and a budget of $80,000 to buy her, we managed to secure her for $70,000 and so “mission accomplished”

Interesting to note that Mark Walker and I have been going through the catalogue for at least the past four weeks and time and time again as we would review and consider the options, Mark would keep coming back to this Filly, saying to me how well she had breezed up and how he thought she would be the one to make our budget. I joined Mark at the sales grounds yesterday morning where we inspected all of the horses on his and David’s list and as the Swiss Ace Filly paraded for us Mark kept commenting to me“this is a lovely Filly”

Mark has sent through the following comments. “John, as you know, you and I have been talking about this Filly for a few  weeks now, as I had identified her earlier in the piece as having the right physical characteristics to make a lovely racehorse – her breeze up at Te Rapa four weeks ago was first class and when we inspected her at the sales grounds this morning, I certainly wasn’t disappointed with what I saw. She is a lovely physical type with a great walk, is of  good medium size and demonstrated a very pleasant temperament. I think she will be the sort of Filly that could come into work at the stables very soon, trial late summer and have a race day start or two as a two year-old, but she’s got all the scope in the world to develop into a lovely three-year-old type”

David Ellis also comments as follows “John, congratulations on securing this lovely Swiss Ace Filly today within your budget – Mark and I were very impressed with her breeze up and how she paraded for us today at inspections. I think she will definitely run as an autumn two year old and has plenty of scope to be a successful three year old as well.”

On the pedigree front, Swiss Ace, in my view, is an underrated Sire, but with 366 winners (including 19 Stakes winners) from just over 500 runners, he can certainly leave a quality race horse. The dam is by El Roca and is a a half sister to the Stakes winner, Ichiban. Swiss Ace is the Sire of Niance, who won the Group 3 How Now Stakes at Caulfield last Saturday and who has now fashioned a record of 6 wins from 10 starts

Click HERE to see the link to her breeze up clip – she breezed up in 10.74 secs and as you will see, she has a beautiful galloping action

Here below is her pedigree

All up she is to be syndicated for NZ$120,000 – this includes her sale price, NZ GST, Promoters Fees, Vet fees, insurance through to 31 Jan 2026 and a healthy working capital figure of just under $12k

As always, we do shares down to 1% – see schedule below

Share 10% $12000
Share 5% $6000
Share 2.5% $3000
Share 1% $1200

Ongoing costs commence 1 Jan 2025 @ $50 per month per each 1% share – full syndication paperwork can now be viewed on the Fortuna website HERE and orders can be placed directly from this link also  – feel free to contact John directly by replying to this update or call/text 021 921 460============================================================

Guest Selector – Des Coppins

Greetings John and Fortuna followers

From last week Testify Me took a giant leap into Wellington Cup calculations with its dashing run for third in the Wanganui Cup and The Underbelly lost no admirers after being just pipped by Testify Me. Interesting to look at their respective odds 6 weeks out from Trentham; Testify Me is at $14 while The Underbelly is currently showing $8.
If the race was tomorrow they’d both be around the $5 to $7 mark. My friendly advice when it comes to backing either or both – simply wait! It’s too far out and so much can happen in 6 weekss

Sadly the other horse I mentioned in this column last week Non de Plume suffered cardiac arrhythmia.

Let’s have a look at two follow at Trentham and one for Ellerslie this weekend.

Gee Cee – race 5, Trentham 

With three encouraging runs under his belt I think he’s ready to recapture his best form. At his last start he was held up for almost the entire length of the straight behind Sumi and company at Tauranga. The wide draw at Ellerslie, prior to Tauranga, was a hindrance and the first up run at Taupo  to  finish just 4.5 lengths from subsequent TAB Mile winner at Riccarton,  Kopua, was a true indicator that he’s returned for another season in good order.
He’s 4th up and he won 4th up last year at Pukekohe over 1600m after running second in the famous Douro Cup at Trentham. He’s had two starts at Trentham for 2 placings including a strong third behind 2024 Telegraph winner and stablemate Mercurial over 1400m in January last year.

Beast of Burden, race two

It was a determined win at Te Aroha last start and I’d be surprised if he didn’t carry on with it over 1000m at Trentham. He’s always shown promise and the stable thought a lot of him as three year old and lined him up in the group 2 at Te Rapa, the Sarten Memorial. He didn’t show up after a tardy start behind Crocetti and company but his form since has been sound and he deserved the win last time.

Here’s an interesting form comparison against rival and favourite Moet Down. The last time they met at Te Rapa in January Moet Down led all the way over 1300m and Beast of Burden rushed into third. Moet Down carried 2kgs less that day and on Saturday Beast of Burden, with a one kg allowance, will meet her 6kgs better off!

Ellerslie race one, Arby

He had rotten luck last time. He dislodged rider Matt Cartwright when he attempted to jump the crossing. We were on board then and we will be on board again. Good to see the stable retaining the rider.

Good punting!

It should be a great weekend of racing and especially looking forward to Trentham.
Best of luck to the Fortuna team with their two runners, Marokopa Falls and Star Shadow.

Des Coppins
021 448 052

===========================================================

 

Friday Flash – 29th November 2024

Published 29 November 2024

RAGAMUFFIN –  4th Raceday win – Woodville 17th November 2024 – Craig Grylls aboard

=================================================================

Headline News

NZTR Board Support Continuation of Jumps Racing

Fortuna 2yo Filly TITAHI BAY wins her debut trial at Taupo stylishly

Shares in our recent RTR Sale acquisition, the 2yo Filly by Swiss Ace, moving steadily – 28% still available

Entain continue to deliver strong wagering growth with strong increases in total turnover and active customers

================================

Fortuna has no runners this week

=======================================================================================

Trackwork – Fortuna Runners

Tuesday 26th November
Cranbourne

Dreamflight (L Winks) worked over 800 metres in 57.2, home in 37.92.

Matamata

Star Shadow (O Bosson) worked over 1000 metres in 1.06.5, home in 37.2.

Thursday 28th November – Matamata

Inca Belle (A Azrul) worked over an easy 1000 metres in 1.13.9, last 600 in 42.7.

============================================================

Other News
 

NZTR Board Support Continuation of Jumps Racing

The New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) Board has today confirmed their support for the continuation of Jumps racing as part of the racing programme. This decision follows a process announced in September that included the appointment of a Jumps Racing Review Panel.

The panel resolved to recommend that Jumps racing in New Zealand should continue, but that continuation will need to be supported by several initiatives to ensure the success of the industry, both in the short and long term.

“The panel have taken a comprehensive review of Jumps racing in NZ and whilst the recommendation is for the continuation it is not for jumps racing to continue in its current state, changes do need to be made to give it the best chance to thrive,” said Darin Balcombe, NZTR COO and Jumps Racing Review Panel Chair.

The panel provided 19 individual recommendations with priorities that include:

  • Supporting, mentoring and attracting Jumps jockeys
  • Reviewing and optimising the Jumps racing calendar
  • Enhancing race programming for consistency and competition
  • Ensuring fit-for-purpose infrastructure and rules

The panel has also recommended NZTR develop key performance indicators to evaluate Jumps racing’s performance annually and a comprehensive strategic review every three years to ensure objectives and performance are aligned.

NZTR Chairman Russell Warwick applauded the panel for their hard work and collaboration throughout the review process.

“I would like to thank the panel and Alan Galbraith KC for their support throughout this process. Many factors were taken into consideration, and we believe implementing the panel’s recommendations will give Jumps racing the best opportunity to perform at a high-level long term,” he said

“This decision gives the industry the opportunity to reenergize Jumps racing and will make winter racing an exciting prospect into the future.”

The full Jumps Racing Review Panel Recommendations Report can be found using the link below.

NZTR’s implementation process will include creating a framework and outlining KPIs to measure Jumps racing’s performance annually, to be delivered prior to 31 March 2025.

Click HERE to read full report – Fortuna Racing and Te Akau Racing are big supporters of jumps racing in NZ (not to mention Victoria as well) – the recommendations in this report are very positive – the panel have done a good job here and we believe the implementation of these recommendations can only enhance the jumping scene here in NZ

================================

Fortuna 2yo Filly TITAHI BAY wins her debut trial at Taupo stylishly

Titahi Bay (Spirit Of Boom – Aotearower)  delighted her small army of owners when winning her first trial at Taupo over 900 metres in the hands of Wiremu Pinn – the drums have been beating for a while about “Boomer” and she seems to have a lot of quality about her. A graduate of the January 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale, she was acquired by David Ellis/Fortuna Racing for A$100k from the draft of Cambridge Stud after being passed in at A$140k – so once again we have managed to buy very well – she is set to trial again at Pukekohe Dec 17th and all going well she may make her race day debut after that. Trial replay can be seen HERE

=========================================

Shares in our recent RTR Sale acquisition, the 2yo Filly by Swiss Ace, moving steadily – 28% still available – see more below
 

FORTUNA secures a lovely Swiss Ace Filly at the 2024 Ready To Run Sale

The 2yo Filly by Swiss Ace out of Sigiriya

======================================================

We had a highly successful day 20th November at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale. The sale itself was very successful with many high priced lots and this was no surprise, given the buoyancy in the Global Racing market at the present time, particularly in Australia and with a strong buying bench from Hong Kong

As always we like to buy to budget and with a very high focus on “physical type” and so we needed to be thinking very much outside the square in terms of the lots we identified – one of the things about the Ready to Run sale is that it is very popular with the Asian market, in particular Hong Kong and also with the closure of Singapore, the Malaysian trainers were very active as well – however these markets tend not to buy Fillies and focus on Colts in the main and so our focus was to be on the Fillly options – in the end we identified four Fillies from day one of the sale – two of these failed their Vet inspections and one we had identified in particular, that we thought would meet our budget, was the Swiss Ace Filly out of an El Rocamare and with a great Vet report and a budget of $80,000 to buy her, we managed to secure her for $70,000 and so “mission accomplished”

Interesting to note that Mark Walker and I have been going through the catalogue for at least the past four weeks and time and time again as we would review and consider the options, Mark would keep coming back to this Filly, saying to me how well she had breezed up and how he thought she would be the one to make our budget. I joined Mark at the sales grounds yesterday morning where we inspected all of the horses on his and David’s list and as the Swiss Ace Filly paraded for us Mark kept commenting to me“this is a lovely Filly”

Mark has sent through the following comments. “John, as you know, you and I have been talking about this Filly for a few  weeks now, as I had identified her earlier in the piece as having the right physical characteristics to make a lovely racehorse – her breeze up at Te Rapa four weeks ago was first class and when we inspected her at the sales grounds this morning, I certainly wasn’t disappointed with what I saw. She is a lovely physical type with a great walk, is of  good medium size and demonstrated a very pleasant temperament. I think she will be the sort of Filly that could come into work at the stables very soon, trial late summer and have a race day start or two as a two year-old, but she’s got all the scope in the world to develop into a lovely three-year-old type”

David Ellis also comments as follows “John, congratulations on securing this lovely Swiss Ace Filly today within your budget – Mark and I were very impressed with her breeze up and how she paraded for us today at inspections. I think she will definitely run as an autumn two year old and has plenty of scope to be a successful three year old as well.”

On the pedigree front, Swiss Ace, in my view, is an underrated Sire, but with 366 winners (including 19 Stakes winners) from just over 500 runners, he can certainly leave a quality race horse. The dam is by El Roca and is a a half sister to the Stakes winner, Ichiban. Swiss Ace is the Sire of Niance, who won the Group 3 How Now Stakes at Caulfield last Saturday and who has now fashioned a record of 6 wins from 10 starts

Click HERE to see the link to her breeze up clip – she breezed up in 10.74 secs and as you will see, she has a beautiful galloping action

Here below is her pedigree

All up she is to be syndicated for NZ$120,000 – this includes her sale price, NZ GST, Promoters Fees, Vet fees, insurance through to 31 Jan 2026 and a healthy working capital figure of just under $12k

As always, we do shares down to 1% – see schedule below

Share 10% $12000
Share 5% $6000
Share 2.5% $3000
Share 1% $1200

Ongoing costs commence 1 Jan 2025 @ $50 per month per each 1% share – full syndication paperwork can now be viewed on the Fortuna website HERE and orders can be placed directly from this link also  – feel free to contact John directly by replying to this update or call/text 021 921 460============================================================

===============================================================

Entain continue to deliver strong wagering growth with strong increases in total turnover and active customers

– solid increases in year on year turnover across all three codes
– 16% increase in customers year on year

Here below are excerpts from the latest Entain Edition

Welcome to another Entain Edition – the final edition for 2024. 

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the New Zealand Bloodstock (NZB) Ready to Run Sale at Karaka, an event that reached dazzling new heights. The success of this sale is a testament to the dedication and talent across the thoroughbred racing industry in New Zealand. From the exceptional NZB team to everyone within the wider racing ecosystem, this meteoric rise reflects the strength of our industry.

A great deal of credit should also go to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Racing, Rt Hon Winston Peters, who continued his incredible form of delivering significant and tangible results for the racing industry – form that now spans multiple decades.

Those paying close attention will know that in June of this year, the Deputy Prime Minister led a trade mission to Malaysia, where a key objective was to capitalise on the burgeoning thoroughbred racing industry there, encouraging Malaysian owners and trainers to invest in New Zealand-bred horses and to attend NZB sales.

The result of his efforts? Malaysian buyers, led by the Selangor Turf Club, purchased 40 horses for nearly NZ$3 million — a record for the event. Their investments also extended to securing an NZB Kiwi slot for the first running of the race in 2025, further solidifying ties to racing here in New Zealand. This is, no doubt, just the starting point of closer relations that will drive value for the New Zealand racing industry for many, many years to come.

Most don’t need reminding of it but the New Zealand industry is incredibly fortunate to have a Minister at the helm who not only understands the value and contribution of the industry, but who consistently champions it on the global stage.

Entain Edition will be back in late January with a bumper wrap of a very busy December and January racing period including the TAB Karaka Millions.

Please share or forward this newsletter to anyone in the industry who you think might like to read this. They can sign up to receive the Entain Edition directly by contacting communications@entaingroup.co.nz. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please contact the same address.
Thanks for reading.Cameron Rodger,
Managing Director – New Zealand
Entain Australia and New Zealand		 Image
Making News
World Pool coming to New Zealand

The spring of 2024 has already been massive, but it was a genuine highlight for us to be able to confirm the arrival of World Pool in New Zealand for two meetings at Ellerslie in 2025.

World Pool is an exciting version of international commingling created by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), who have a vision to bring the world’s finest racing to its customers all year round, and to host internationally unified pools on these races. World Pool accepts bets from the HKJC’s overseas partners, which creates the deepest and most liquid pari-mutuel (tote) pools for international top races.

We look forward to showcasing the best of New Zealand racing alongside Auckland Thoroughbred Racing and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing at the TAB Karaka Millions meeting at Ellerslie on 25 January and the newly-created Champions Day at Ellerslie on 8 March. Find out more at: entaingroup.co.nz/news.
TRC at NZ Cup Week
Cup Week hits new heights

Christchurch put on a fantastic show again earlier this month, with the annual New Zealand Cup Week turnover pushing past $27.4 million for the six meetings (three thoroughbred, two harness and one greyhound) – a 5% increase on last year.

Four of the six meetings recorded year-on-year turnover increases, with fewer starters the sole cause of a drop in turnover at the other two meetings.

The most significant financial increase was at the Show Day twilight harness meeting at Addington on Friday, 15 November. Turnover of $4.4m for this meeting was $1m up on the corresponding meeting last year (+29%) with similar starter numbers. This meeting had been significantly rejigged this year with the later twilight start and the introduction of two new slot races, ‘The Velocity’ and ‘The Ascent’ for 3-year-old pacers and trotters respectively.

This continues the strong growth in harness racing that I highlighted in last month’s Entain Edition, and there has been further benefits for the harness racing industry with the champion Victorian trotter Just Believe, trained by Jess Tubbs, staying on for feature racing in New Zealand through to the end of the year, along with fellow trotter One Over All and pacing stablemates Better Eclipse and He’s From Heaven.
TAB Mile
Laura McGoldrick (third from right) and Entain’s General Manager, Content & Entertainment, Andy Hoad (second from right), present the TAB Mile trophy to the connections of the winner, Kopua.Credit: Race Images Christchurch
Brittany Graham top acquisition for Trackside 

Our Trackside team shared huge news last week with top trans-Tasman harness racing broadcasting talent Brittany Graham joining Trackside from early next year.

She’s widely regarded as one of the best and most respected harness racing presenters in the world and will further enhance the strong team of presenters and experts we have at Trackside.

Brittany will cover harness racing through vehicles like the “The Box Seat” and “Friday Night Lights”, but her role will also see her involved in thoroughbred presenting. Find out more at trackside.co.nz.
Brittany Graham
BY THE NUMBERS: Oct 2024
Entain

=================================================

Fortuna Annual Owners Day 2024 

Date – Sunday 15th December
Venue – “The Gazebo” – Matamata Racecourse
Time – 1pm – 4pm

Our very popular annual event where we celebrate the year’s successes, enjoy the conviviality of each others company and we parade all of the Fortuna horses based at the Matamata Stables

It is important that you register for this event if attending – you can do this by emailing jessica@fortuna-nz.com

============================================================

Guest Selector – Des Coppins
 

Five “Best Bets” in a row greeting the judge has been Des’ performance for his subscribers over the past week

Greetings John and Friday Flash readers,

Hopefully your week has gone well. The racing was great at Pukekohe last week and I’d suggest it was a solid platform for some wonderful racing this summer. One of our three tips for Friday Flash readers, Arby,  lost his rider in the Counties Cup at the winning post on the first round when seemingly trying to jump the crossing. Stay with him.

The other two Waitak, in the open sprint, charged into second and he’s another on the verge of a big sprint win while Petrucci, who also ran second for us at Wanganui, will get us again for sure. She’s overdue.

Thanks to the Fortuna readers who signed up last weekend for the email tipping service. I’d  say they’d be thrilled to land 5 unbeaten best bets this week with 5 race days ( Sicilian, Golden, The Grey Goose, Tycoon Prince and Ballon D’Or). 

The offer to join for the next 3 months at $240 remains. That’s 80 meetings ($3 per meeting). Simply email dcoppins@xtra.co.nz for relevant details. 

After last Saturday’s Cup, we are closing in on a Cup bonanza.
I’ve sorted out three horses who I think are genuine Cup horses at the higher end in NZ this summer and all three will contest the Wanganui Cup on Saturday.
They’re all well placed at the weights and here’s how I rate them.

Testify Me:
He was last years St Leger winner and he’s close to peak fitness despite his second last possie at Ellerslie last time. I thought the run prior at Ellerslie was huge over 1600m.
Not only did he win the St Leger but he also won the Hawkes Bay cup. The track may well have been too firm last time at Ellerslie and there’ll be juice in the track at Wanganui. Look for a bold showing.

The Underbelly:
He was narrowly beaten by Testify Me in the St Leger and he’s won 7 of his 16 starts and is one of the rising stars on the stayers circuit.
He beat an early Melbourne Cup contender Mark Twain last summer and he looks ready to show up on Saturday.

Nom de Plume:
She will start a relative outsider on Saturday but again I’m looking for an eye catching run as a stepping stone to the summer staying races. She will take quick improvement from her first up midfield run behind stablemate The Hottie. She ran 6th behind Testify Me and The Underbelly in the St Leger at the end of a busy campaign after  running a game 5th in the Avondale Cup just 2 lengths from the winner.
Good punting folks!

Des Coppins
021 448 052

===========================================================

 

Friday Flash – 22nd November 2024

Published 22 November 2024

RAGAMUFFIN –  4th Raceday win – Woodville 17th November 2024 – Craig Grylls aboard

=================================================================

Headline News

RAGAMUFFIN wins at Woodville

FORTUNA secures a lovely Swiss Ace Filly at the 2024 Ready To Run Sale

================================

Fortuna has two runners Friday and Saturday, both in NZ

New Plymouth – Friday

MALBOROUGH BAY contests the R75 1400m event – race 6 at 5.46pm – Apprentice Sima Mxothwa to ride from barrier 5. Beaten narrowly this track 6th November and is running in great form – drawn perfectly, claim is very helpful and is a good winning chance here  – TAB says “missed by a narrow margin last time here and displaying improvement over the last few runs – large claim helps – strong each way bet” – showing odds of $3.80/$1.50

Wanganui – Saturday

COURT OF APPEAL races in the R65 2040m event – race 8 at 4.50 pm – Ashvin Goindasamy to ride from  barrier 4. Good 4th placing at New Plymouth 1800m last time on a track that was a bit too wet for her –  crying out for more distance and gets it here with a good draw to assist – TAB says “Underrated – Win chance here” – showing odds of $8.50/$2.70
=======================================================================================

Trackwork – Fortuna Runners

Tuesday 19th November

Malborough Bay (W Pinn) worked over 1000 metres in 1.07.17, home in 37.34.

Court Of Appeal (J Allen) worked over 1200 metres in 1.21.69, home in 38.41.

Thursday 21st November

Court Of Appeal (J Allen) worked over 1200 metres at three-quarter pace in 1.27.0, home in 41.0.

============================================================

Other News

RAGAMUFFIN wins at Woodville – 17th November 2024 – his 4th career win

RAGAMUFFIN  delivered a strong winning performance in the Centralines Rating 65 1600m event at Woodville Sunday 17th November. Not having been in the winners circle since April 2024, but having run consistently since, he shrugged off the 8 day back up after running at Te Rapa on the 9th November and a wide barrier draw, with a resolute winning run. Down in grade to Rating 65 and with Craig Grylls back aboard, Ragamuffin stepped a bit slowly away, but Grylls soon had him over to the rail and traveling nicely in behind the speed. Presented at the top of the straight, Ragamuffin put in what looked like a winning break and although challenged strongly over the last 100m or so, he went to the line with a short head margin in a time of 1.41.59 on a Heavy 8 surface and returned $2.90 and $1.30 on the New Zealand TAB

Click HERE to see the race replay

Trainer Robbie Patterson was a happy man post race. “Whew, we did it – we have had a bit of a frustrating run with this horse, with him not getting all favours at times, so its great to nail this one with a strong performance, aided by a typical Craig Grylls quality ride –  Congratulations to John Galvin and his Fortuna team of owners”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Ragamuffin” – Woodville – 17th November 2024 – Craig Grylls aboard

Fortuna Director John Galvin, watching the race from his Hamilton home, expressed a high degree of satisfaction after the race “That was a satisfying result for Ragamuffin today – he has not had his share of luck in recent times, striking unsuitable track conditions or wide barrier draws – last week at Te Rapa, he was not ridden to suit, but with a lovely ride by Craig Gryll today, he delivered a nice result  for his ownership group”

Owned by the Fortuna Ragamuffin Syndicate – an Ownership group of 37 individuals, Ragamuffin was purchased by David Ellis CNZM on behalf of Fortuna Racing for $80,000, from the draft of Lilywhites Lodge, at the NZ Bloodstock 2020 Ready To Run Sale

=============================================================================================

FORTUNA secures a lovely Swiss Ace Filly at the 2024 Ready To Run Sale
 

The 2yo Filly by Swiss Ace out of Sigiriya

======================================================

We had a highly successful day Wednesday at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale. The sale itself was very successful with many high priced lots and this was no surprise, given the buoyancy in the Global Racing market at the present time, particularly in Australia and with a strong buying bench from Hong Kong  – the sale average of NZ$175k was up 11% on the 2023 figure

As always we like to buy to budget and with a very high focus on “physical type” and so we needed to be thinking very much outside the square in terms of the lots we identified – one of the things about the Ready to Run sale is that it is very popular with the Asian market, in particular Hong Kong and also with the closure of Singapore, the Malaysian trainers were very active as well – however these markets tend not to buy Fillies and focus on Colts in the main and so our focus was to be on the Fillly options – in the end we identified four Fillies from day one of the sale – two of these failed their Vet inspections and one we had identified in particular, that we thought would meet our budget, was the Swiss Ace Filly out of an El Rocamare and with a great Vet report and a budget of $80,000 to buy her, we managed to secure her for $70,000 and so “mission accomplished”

Interesting to note that Mark Walker and I have been going through the catalogue for at least the past four weeks and time and time again as we would review and consider the options, Mark would keep coming back to this Filly, saying to me how well she had breezed up and how he thought she would be the one to make our budget. I joined Mark at the sales grounds yesterday morning where we inspected all of the horses on his and David’s list and as the Swiss Ace Filly paraded for us Mark kept commenting to me“this is a lovely Filly”

Mark has sent through the following comments. “John, as you know, you and I have been talking about this Filly for a few  weeks now, as I had identified her earlier in the piece as having the right physical characteristics to make a lovely racehorse – her breeze up at Te Rapa four weeks ago was first class and when we inspected her at the sales grounds this morning, I certainly wasn’t disappointed with what I saw. She is a lovely physical type with a great walk, is of  good medium size and demonstrated a very pleasant temperament. I think she will be the sort of Filly that could come into work at the stables very soon, trial late summer and have a race day start or two as a two year-old, but she’s got all the scope in the world to develop into a lovely three-year-old type”

David Ellis also comments as follows “John, congratulations on securing this lovely Swiss Ace Filly today within your budget – Mark and I were very impressed with her breeze up and how she paraded for us today at inspections. I think she will definitely run as an autumn two year old and has plenty of scope to be a successful three year old as well.”

On the pedigree front, Swiss Ace, in my view, is an underrated Sire, but with 366 winners (including 19 Stakes winners) from just over 500 runners, he can certainly leave a quality race horse. The dam is by El Roca and is a a half sister to the Stakes winner, Ichiban. Swiss Ace is the Sire of Niance, who won the Group 3 How Now Stakes at Caulfield last Saturday and who has now fashioned a record of 6 wins from 10 starts

Click HERE to see the link to the Sales page – here you will be able to see her breeze up clip – she breezed up in 10.74 secs and as you will see, she has a beautiful galloping action

Here below is her pedigree

All up she is to be syndicated for NZ$120,000 – this includes her sale price, NZ GST, Promoters Fees, Vet fees, insurance through to 31 Jan 2026 and a healthy working capital figure of just under $12k

As always, we do shares down to 1% – see schedule below

Share 10% $12000
Share 5% $6000
Share 2.5% $3000
Share 1% $1200

Ongoing costs commence 1 Jan 2025 @ $50 per month per each 1% share – we are still finalising syndication paperwork, but all you need to do now to secure your share, conditional upon you perusing the final paperwork, is to email us with an indication as to the percentage you are seeking to take up in this syndicate and you will be guaranteed that percentage – we look forward to hearing from you============================================================

Fortuna Annual Owners Day 2024 

Date – Sunday 15th December
Venue – “The Gazebo” – Matamata Racecourse
Time – 1pm – 4pm

Our very popular annual event where we celebrate the year’s successes, enjoy the conviviality of each others company and we parade all of the Fortuna horses based at the Matamata Stables

It is important that you register for this event if attending – you can do this by emailing jessica@fortuna-nz.com

============================================================

Guest Selector – Des Coppins
 

Amazing results for Des’ subscribers to his full service at Riccarton last Saturday, with winners in the first eight races from his selections – here is what he selects for the Fortuna Team this week

Greetings John and Team Fortuna

The racing excitement in NZ doesn’t let up.
Hard on the heels of some superb thoroughbreds going around last weekend  ( with the two horses we highlighted Beavertown Boy at Riccarton and Saint Bathans at Tauranga, both running second ) our attention is drawn to to an exciting card at Pukekohe on Saturday.
If the weather is kind, this should be a cracking day as the entire programme is stacked full of talent. I think whoever starts favourite in the Counties Cup deserves to paying at least $6, maybe more such is the strength of the field. We still have some decent middle distance horses in the country if we can use this race as a guide.

Arby, Counties Cup:

I’m picking Arby to give some cheek in the Cup.

He’s been a victim of bad luck in some decent races throughout his career. He has taken on group ones both here and in Oz and over his races have been in the black type arena.
He likes Pukekohe.  He won his first race here; ran an unlucky 4th in the Rich Mile on the track and was a good thing beaten about this time last year behind Flame Bird over 1400m when fresh. At his last start he didn’t get much of a go at Ellerslie but charged into second behind The Odyssey. He’s ready to give top Aussie jockey Matt Cartwright another big win in NZ and break his duck from limited opportunities at Pukekohe.

Waitak in the Counties Bowl.

He’s been freshened – it’s been 5 weeks since his last race – but he will strip ready to go.
The 1100m will be run at lightning speed. There are three or 4 genuine on pace runners in the field and it would come as no surprise if Waitak, on the big track, swarms home and gets the job done.  Of course he won the Railway here last summer. Any juice in the track will be to his advantage.

Wanganui 

Petrucci, race 5

We have to keep the faith with her despite at least two mentions in the Friday Flash in the past.
Clearly she finds trouble more than she should but her final sectionals are always solid and as soon as she gets an uninterrupted passage from go to whoa I believe she can get the job done.
The inform top CD apprentice Lily Sutherland is on board and she has an almost a 50 percent in the money strike rate with the Te Akau team!
Breaking that statistic down she’s had 22 rides for the tangerine for 4 wins and 6 placings.
There’s an important gear change; the addition of visor blinkers.
For the record she won with them on last Boxing Day at Pukekohe.

Footnote:
Thanks to the few Fortuna readers who joined up last week and they had a great kick start with the first 8 winners labelled on Cup Day at Riccarton. For good measure they had a $21 winner to enjoy at Woodville on Sunday.

Here’s the offer going forward.
3 months starting NOW and including December, January and February racing for $240
( gst included).

If you are keen simply email dcoppins@xtra.co.nz and all details will be revealed.
Good punting folks!

Des Coppins
021 448 052

===========================================================

 

Fortuna Breaking News – 21 November 2024

Published 21 November 2024

 

The 2yo Filly by Swiss Ace out of Sigiriya

==========================================

FORTUNA secures a lovely Swiss Ace Filly at the 2024 Ready To Run Sale

We had a highly successful day Wednesday 20th November  at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale. The sale itself was very successful with many high priced lots and this was no surprise, given the buoyancy in the Global Racing market at the present time, particularly in Australia and with a strong buying bench from Hong Kong  – the sale average of NZ$175k was up 11% on the 2023 figureAs always we like to buy to budget and with a very high focus on “physical type” and so we needed to be thinking very much outside the square in terms of the lots we identified – one of the things about the Ready to Run sale is that it is very popular with the Asian market, in particular Hong Kong and also with the closure of Singapore, the Malaysian trainers were very active as well – however these markets tend not to buy Fillies and focus on Colts in the main and so our focus was to be on the Fillly options – in the end we identified four Fillies from day one of the sale – two of these failed their Vet inspections and one we had identified in particular, that we thought would meet our budget, was the Swiss Ace Filly out of an El Roca mare and with a great Vet report and a budget of $80,000 to buy her, we managed to secure her for $70,000 and so “mission accomplished”

Interesting to note that Mark Walker and I have been going through the catalogue for at least the past four weeks and time and time again as we would review and consider the options, Mark would keep coming back to this Filly, saying to me how well she had breezed up and how he thought she would be the one to make our budget. I joined Mark at the sales grounds yesterday morning where we inspected all of the horses on his and David’s list and as the Swiss Ace Filly paraded for us Mark kept commenting to me “this is a lovely Filly”

Mark has sent through the following comments. “John, as you know, you and I have been talking about this Filly for a few  weeks now, as I had identified her earlier in the piece as having the right physical characteristics to make a lovely racehorse – her breeze up at Te Rapa four weeks ago was first class and when we inspected her at the sales grounds this morning, I certainly wasn’t disappointed with what I saw. She is a lovely physical type with a great walk, is of  good medium size and demonstrated a very pleasant temperament. I think she will be the sort of Filly that could come into work at the stables very soon, trial late summer and have a race day start or two as a two year-old, but she’s got all the scope in the world to develop into a lovely three-year-old type”

David Ellis also comments as follows “John, congratulations on securing this lovely Swiss Ace Filly today within your budget – Mark and I were very impressed with her breeze up and how she paraded for us today at inspections. I think she will definitely run as an autumn two year old and has plenty of scope to be a successful three year old as well.”

On the pedigree front, Swiss Ace, in my view, is an underrated Sire, but with 366 winners (including 19 Stakes winners) from just over 500 runners, he can certainly leave a quality race horse. The dam is by El Roca and is a a half sister to the Stakes winner, Ichiban. Swiss Ace is the Sire of Niance, who won the Group 3 How Now Stakes at Caulfield last Saturday and who has now fashioned a record of 6 wins from 10 starts

Click HERE to see the link to the Sales page – here you will be able to see her breeze up clip – she breezed up in 10.74 secs and as you will see, she has a beautiful galloping action

Here below is her pedigree

All up she is to be syndicated for NZ$120,000 – this includes her sale price, NZ GST, Promoters Fees, Vet fees, insurance through to 31 Jan 2026 and a healthy working capital figure of just under $12k

As always, we do shares down to 1% – see schedule below

Share 10% $12000
Share 5% $6000
Share 2.5% $3000
Share 1% $1200
Ongoing costs commence 1 Jan 2025 @ $50 per month per each 1% share – we are still finalising syndication paperwork, but all you need to do now to secure your share, conditional upon you perusing the final paperwork, is to email john@fortuna-nz.com  with an indication as to the percentage you are seeking to take up in this syndicate and you will be guaranteed that percentage – I look forward to hearing from you
John

RAGAMUFFIN wins at Woodville – 17th November 2024 – his 4th career win

Published 19 November 2024

RAGAMUFFIN  delivered a strong winning performance in the Centralines Rating 65 1600m event at Woodville Sunday 17th November. Not having been in the winners circle since April 2024, but having run consistently since, he shrugged off the 8 day back up after running at Te Rapa on the 9th November and a wide barrier draw, with a resolute winning run. Down in grade to Rating 65 and with Craig Grylls back aboard, Ragamuffin stepped a bit slowly away, but Grylls soon had him over to the rail and traveling nicely in behind the speed. Presented at the top of the straight, Ragamuffin put in what looked like a winning break and although challenged strongly over the last 100m or so, he went to the line with a short head margin in a time of 1.41.59 on a Heavy 8 surface and returned $2.90 and $1.30 on the New Zealand TAB

Click HERE to see the race replay

Trainer Robbie Patterson was a happy man post race. “Whew, we did it – we have had a bit of a frustrating run with this horse, with him not getting all favours at times, so its great to nail this one with a strong performance, aided by a typical Craig Grylls quality ride –  Congratulations to John Galvin and his Fortuna team of owners”

“Ragamuffin” – Woodville – 17th November 2024 – Craig Grylls aboard

Fortuna Director John Galvin, watching the race from his Hamilton home, expressed a high degree of satisfaction after the race “That was a satisfying result for Ragamuffin today – he has not had his share of luck in recent times, striking unsuitable track conditions or wide barrier draws – last week at Te Rapa, he was not ridden to suit, but with a lovely ride by Craig Gryll today, he delivered a nice result  for his ownership group”

Owned by the Fortuna Ragamuffin Syndicate – an Ownership group of 37 individuals, Ragamuffin was purchased by David Ellis CNZM on behalf of Fortuna Racing for $80,000, from the draft of Lilywhites Lodge, at the NZ Bloodstock 2020 Ready To Run Sale

 

Friday Flash – 15th November 2024

Published 15 November 2024

 

BELLATRIX STAR –  5th Raceday win – Caulfield 12th October 2024 – Craig Williams aboard

=================================================================

Headline News

BELLATRIX STAR to spell – will resume in Autumn with ambitious targets

Secondary Market Offerings

Fortuna Annual Owners Day 2024

NZ Bloodstock READY TO RUN SALE just around the corner
 

================================

Fortuna has two runners this weekend, both in NZ

Tauranga – Saturday

INCA BELLE contests the R65 1200m event – race 6 at 2.10pm – Vinnie Colgan to ride from barrier 3. Beaten in a head bobber this track two weeks ago at her resuming run – represents a very strong each way chance here  – TAB says “Beaten a nostril fresh up – three runs here for two wins and a placing – top tier must” – showing odds of $6.50/$2.20

Woodville Sunday

RAGAMUFFIN races in the R65 1600m event – race 8 at 4.37 pm – Craig Grylls reunites from  barrier 11. Given no chance by his rider at Te Rapa last Saturday rushing forward from a wide barrier draw and four wide the trip – drops in Grade here in what is an easier race, but has an awkward drew again –  has plenty of ability, but just needs some luck to go his way  – No odds yet
=======================================================================================

Trackwork – Fortuna Runners

Tuesday 12th November

Inca Belle (W Pinn) worked over 1000 metres in 1.06.6, home in 38.5.

Sailing Away (W Pinn) worked over 1200 metres in 1.20.1, home in 37.0.

============================================================

Other News

BELLATRIX STAR  to spell – will resume in Autumn with ambitious targets
 

Six starts in Melbourne during the spring, all at Black Type level, producing three wins and a Group One second and over A$700,000 in prize money, was the outcome for this wonderful sprinting daughter of Star Witness. A sub par performance in the Group One Champions Sprint last Saturday, where, unfortunately, she was not ridden to suit her racing style, did little to tarnish her record, where she won in emphatic fashion on all three of the Melbourne Metro tracks, with two clear highlights being her defeat of the older horses at WFA level at Caulfield in the  Schillaci Stakes, running the fastest sectionals of any runner on the day and her scintillating 2nd to Switzerland in the Coolmore Stud Stakes on Derby Day, where she ran 4 lengths better than benchmark down the Flemington chute. Thoroughbred Racing Review, reflecting on that event, commented as follows

There were only two horses that finished above benchmark for the final 200 metres in the Coolmore and that was Switzerland and Bellatrix Star (Star Witness) – both high-class sprinters.

“ALI” as she is known to her 70 strong ownership Group, has now gone to the paddock for a short, but well deserved break – she will be back in the Autumn for an ambitious, four race programme, all at Group One level – see her proposed campaign below.

  • 20th of January Cranbourne jump outs
  • 3rd of February, Cranbourne jump outs
  • 15th of February – Lightning Stakes Flemington Group One weight for age 1000m – $1 million
  • 8th of March – Newmarket Handicap Flemington Group One handicap 1200m – $1.5 million
  • 22nd of March William Reid Stakes Moonee Valley Group One weight for age 1200m – $1 million
  • 5th of April TJ Smith Stakes Randwick Group One weight for age 1200m – $3 million.

==========================================================

Secondary Market Offerings

HAYATE

Still a few shares in the Fortuna six year old racemare Hayate (by Maurice out of half sister to a Caulfield Cup winner) on very favourable terms – she has a very strong pedigree – her race day form has been moderate but she has collected four wins and nine places from 28 race day starts and her last two wins have been at 1550m and 2000m  with the win at 2000m being particularly strong. Click HERE to view that race replay. She campaigned at Riccarton during her last preparation but in her only race beyond 1600m she had to carry a big weight in an amateur riders race and simply got too far back to be able to feature

She has enjoyed a recent long spell at  Te Akau Stud,  but is now back in training at Matamata and set to go to the trials in early December –  our plan is to get her up in trip as soon as we can because we  believe that she is a genuine staying type who will appreciate getting over more ground. Interestingly enough, when she was at Riccarton, Mark and Sam introduced quite a bit of schooling over the good sized hurdles at Riccarton into her routine and she proved to be quite adept at that,  so while she will continue to pursue flat racing options during her next campaign, we plan to give her a hurdles trial in the autumn and maybe a race or two over the jumps during the jumping season just to see how she takes to it. –  she is Pearl Series registered and thus eligible for the Pearl Series Bonuses (20k to the winner, $4k for 2nd and $2k for 3rd for any Pearl Series race

Click HERE to see her at trot ups earlier this week

So if you have interest in being involved in this lovely racemare on very good incoming terms, the opportunity exists to take up shares at a zero purchase price and $50 per month ongoing for each one percent share from the 1st of December – all you need to do participate in this is email me or alternatively call/text me on 021 921460

Image

HAYATE

============================================================

Fortuna Annual Owners Day 2024 

Date – Sunday 15th December
Venue – “The Gazebo” – Matamata Racecourse
Time – 1pm – 4pm

Our very popular annual event where we celebrate the year’s successes, enjoy the conviviality of each others company and we parade all of the Fortuna horses based at the Matamata Stables

It is important that you register for this event if attending – you can do this by emailing jessica@fortuna-nz.com

============================================================

READY TO RUN SALE just around the corner
 

Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st November sees the very popular New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run sale held at Karaka – Fortuna has had great success at this sale in recent times, with each of our purchases in the last four years being Ragamuffin, Inca Belle, Vivacious and Our Paramour having greeted the judge on several occasions – David Ellis, Mark Walker and I have been working together to draw up a shortlist for this year’s sale  and we have some really nice types on our list – as always we will be buying to budget, but seeking a quality thoroughbred or even two this year.

I have around 40 names on our “expression of interest” list and if you are keen to be added to that list, just let me know – what this means is that all parties on that list will have the opportunity to see our purchases before we advertise them publicly, but with no obligation to proceed –  so just drop me a note if you are keen to be on the list and I will add you to it

============================================================

Guest Selector – Des Coppins

Incredibly from the last five meetings, Des has delivered 23 winners from 45 races (2 selections per race) with his full subscription service – Wednesday at Riccarton he delivered 6 winners from 10 races, including one at $26 and another at $13 – I have been a regular user of his full service and as an extremely busy person who struggles to find the time to do the form properly, I rely on Des to research the form and obtain stable information from his extensive suite of contacts and I can tell you my own TAB account has swelled significantly over the last six months as a result of using the service – I can certainly recommend you get involved at what is not a significant outlay – Des can be emailed dcoppins@xtra.co.nz or called directly 021 448 052 – see below for details on costings

Here is what Des has to say this week for our readers

Hi John and the Fortuna Team

No sooner than seeing the curtain fall on 4 great days at Flemington we are wasting no time in swinging into action at Riccarton with Cup week in Christchurch ending on Saturday. Some fantastic racing lies ahead.

My NZ Cup pick is Beavertown Boy:

I liked the way he attacked the line in the traditional lead up and he appears to have peaked for the two mile test at the right time.
Winning the NZ Cup is nothing new to jockey Kelly Myers. She won it in 2016 ( Pump Up The Volume); 2008 ( Hoorang) and of course 2014 with Mungo Jerry, who, like Beavertown Boy, is trained by the Bull family.
And hasn’t Adrian Bull been so patient with the 8-y-o who amazingly will having just his 15th start tomorrow?
The son of the Melbourne Cup winner, Shocking, has never been further back than 4th in all 5 middle distance starts.
He has to be one of the hardest to beat.

Saint Bathans,
Race 6 Tauranga

This big fellow hasn’t had much luck this season and we are heading back to the well after tipping him in this column in the past.
This looks his easiest task of the season and I think the way the track will play in he should be perfectly suited.
Saint Bathans wasn’t happy with  on again off again pace at Ellerslie last time but he  battled bravely to finish around three lengths from the winner. What’s worth noting is that he’s never been out of the money in 3 starts at Tauranga.

Our Jumala, race 7 Trentham (Friday)

This handy galloper from Robbie Patterson’s yard had no luck the other day at Trentham and found more blockages than inner city Wellington.
She’s fit with just that one run under her belt this season and she is certainly not only up to winning this race on Saturday but is worth following while tracks are on the easy to heavy side throughout the season.
She ran second on a soft track at Trentham in May at group 3 level and while she will be best suited over a little more ground she also has a placing over 1600m on a heavy track about this time last year at Trentham and while she’s reasonably fresh this is a perfect distance for her.

Stop Press:
As John mentioned the runs have been coming thick and fast and some decent value to boot. If you’d like to subscribe for this Saturday and up to and including all the great racing between now and through to the end of December ( 45 race days) the cost to Fortuna followers is a generous $150 gst inclusive. Simply email me
dcoppins@xtra.co.nz and all will be revealed. Selections arrive to individual emails no later than 8.30am.
Good punting folks!

Des Coppins

===========================================================

 

Friday Flash – 8th November 2024

Published 8 November 2024

 

BELLATRIX STAR –  5th Raceday win – Caulfield 12th October 2024 – Craig Williams aboard

==========================================

Headline News

BELLATRIX STAR  races for A$3m in the Group One Darley Championship Sprint

ENTAIN Edition – October

Four take aways from the US election

================================
Fortuna has three runners on Saturday, two in NZ, one in Victoria

Te Rapa – Saturday

RAGAMUFFIN contests the R75 1600m event – race 8 at 4.37 pm – rider still to be declared but will jump from  barrier 13. Produced strong finishing sectionals 1400m at Otaki last start, up to 1600m suits here – can feature in this with some luck from wide barrier and at big odds – TAB says “improver here. Wide draw – has one second up.” – showing odds of $23/$6

Riccarton – Saturday

VIVACIOUS contests the R75 1400m event – race 6 at 2.55pm – Liam Riordan crosses the Tasman again to ride from barrier 13. Brilliant winner last time from a hopeless position on the turn – up in grade and has to contend with a wide draw again – but look for her usual powerful finishing burst and a certainly a very strong each way chance here  – TAB says “class riser – can win again here wide draw and all – best on dry ground” – showing odds of $4/$1.75

Flemington – Saturday

BELLATRIX STAR runs in the Group One Darley Champions Sprint – race six at 3.50 pm Aus time  (5.50 pm NZ time) with Mick Dee back aboard to ride down the Flemington Chute. Backs up after a strong performance running second in the group one Coolmore on Derby day – meets huge opposition here against the older horses with Everest winner Bella Nipotina, Everest runner up Giga Kick and Overpass, but gets big weight relief under the weight for age scale and is racing in very good form – Strong each way chance  -TAB says “ran very well in hot Group One Coolmore and that should hold up” – showing odds of $12/$3.50

==============================================================
Other News

BELLATRIX STAR  races for A$3m in the Group One Darley Championship Sprint

“ALI”, as she is known to her 70 strong ownership group, has had a brilliant spring in Melbourne winning three times at Black type level and running second at her first attempt at Group One level last Saturday – she definitely meets her biggest challenge here taking on some of the best sprinters in Australia at Weight For Age but has not put a foot wrong since her run last week – she went straight to the beach after the race where she would be at the beach in the morning, paddock during the day and boxed at night – she returned to the stables on Wednesday and trainer. Mark Walker reports that he cannot fault her in any respect and says “she is certainly ready to give the big guns a shake on Saturday”. Mick Dee who has won on her twice already, replaces Blake Shinn as Blake cannot ride at 51.5kgs

Click HERE to see a video clip of her in the trotting ring at Cranbourne yesterday morning with comments from Mark Walker

=========================================================

ENTAIN Edition – October

See below the latest Entain Edition from Cameron Rodger and it has some interesting news about the growth in betting turnover from harness. One of the things I’ve noticed with Entain is that they are very active in recommending and assisting the racing authorities with programming and incentives. They have certainly done that emphatically with Thoroughbred and it looks like the initiatives they have helped to implement inharness are paying dividends as well
Welcome to October’s Entain Edition

This month, I want to highlight the impressive growth in harness racing. When we took over in June 2023, the code was in steep wagering decline despite strong fundamentals.

Weekly active numbers and a dedicated fanbase indicated there was potential for significant growth but the main issue was inconsistency. The code had lost its predictable weekly structure and had allowed it to become too hard for certain horses to find competitive fields, making it challenging for fans and casual punters to follow races, form, and horses.

Working with Harness Racing New Zealand (HRNZ), we developed a strategy to restore consistency. We introduced, as examples, a steady and consistent Friday night racing slot (and established Friday Night Lights on Trackside to support this), added Heats and Finals series to create continuity in form, and established Tuesday racing to showcase competitive matchups within similar classes.

Since making these changes, harness racing has outperformed even our highest expectations. Turnover, actives, and gross revenue have all seen double-digit growth. Key metrics, including starter numbers, horse retention rates, and the average betting days per customer, have also improved markedly. Most importantly, this growth is sustainable, showing steady improvement each week. What we have seen out of harness racing in these past few months stands as one of the sharpest turnarounds we’ve seen in any sporting code from a wagering perspective—a true credit to HRNZ under Brad Steele’s leadership, with support from John Mooney, driving this transformation forward.

Alongside, HRNZ has augmented the feature race calendar with two $500,000 slot races for 3-year-old pacers and trotters during New Zealand Cup Week, and we were very pleased to secure He’s From Heaven for our slot in The Velocity. Read more about that below.

I encourage you to share or forward this newsletter to anyone in the industry who you think might like to read this. They can sign up to receive the Entain Edition directly by contacting communications@entaingroup.co.nz. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please contact the same address.
Thanks for reading.

Cameron Rodger,
Managing Director – New Zealand
Entain Australia and New Zealand

 Image

====================================================

Four take aways from the US election

1.Harris delivered the celebrities

2.Trump delivered the policies

3. The US voters delivered the verdict

4. The sun is still rising in the morning

==========================================================

Guest Selector – Des Coppins

Here is what Des has to say this week for our readers

Good morning John and Team

As the people from the tour depart from Melbourne this morning in different routes back to NZ may I add that tour number 35 for me was just as an enjoyable as tour number one back in 1987.

So many memories they’ll take with them from the tour outside the brilliant racing including  the visit to the Cranbourne stables of Te Akau where they caught up with David Ellis, Ben Gleeson, Mark Walker and Reece Trumper who gave them a guided tour. Bellatrix Star, in her stabling box, was caught on camera many times after her brilliant run in the Coolmore.

As the curtain falls this Saturday on what should be another outstanding day at Flemington which I’m really looking forward to the focus turns on Riccarton and Te Rapa back home.

Here are my three to follow this weekend and maybe beyond.

Petrucci, race four Te Rapa

This is the race for her to recapture some cracking form.
She’s a notorious back marker who can put in some telling late strides and she did this last time here behind Shoes and company to record the second quickest final sectionals. The extra 100m will suit. Hopefully she extends her finishing burst this time to get the job done. She’s well weighted with the in form apprentice Ace Lawson Carroll on board.

Livid Sky, race 8 – Te Rapa

She’s also ready to win.
Her last start second at Ellerslie reflected the run prior on this track where she registered the quickest sectionals from the 800 to the post. Therefore the follow up run at Ellerslie came as no surprise. We should be able to back her with confidence again.

South of Houston, race 6, Riccarton.
This mare was racing in the spring carnival in Melbourne 12 months and while she was unplaced in the group 3 on Derby Day she did subsequently beat yesterdays impressive winner at Flemington Running By at the following Sandown Classic carnival.
She was also a winner down the straight six at Flemington in May of 2023.
I’m not sure how forward she is but on rare ability and the fact Terri Rae has a great record fresh up with her runners it may come as no surprise if she did the business at Riccarton on Saturday.

Des Coppins
021 448 052

Friday Flash – 1st November 2024

Published 1 November 2024

BELLATRIX STAR –  5th Raceday win – Caulfield 12th October 2024 – Craig Williams aboard

=================================================================

Headline NewsThree Fortuna runners will grace the turf at Flemington on Derby Day -BELLATRIX STAR  in the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes, WEST INDIES in the Group One VRC Derby and OUR PARAMOUR in the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes

================================
Fortuna has four runners on Saturday, one in NZ, three in VictoriaTauranga – Saturday

INCA BELLE contests the R65 1300m event – race 5 at 2.28 pm withJoe Doyle  to ride from  barrier 3. Is resuming and so needs to cope with the 1300 meter trip first up, however she has been well prepared, has an inside barrier draw and a strong rider aboard – can feature in this – TAB says “class dropper resuming. Twice trialed so forward. Has had three fresh up runs for two wins and replacing.” – showing odds of $8.50/$2.80

OUR PARAMOUR runs in the Group Two Wakeful Stakes – race five at 3pm Aus time  (5pm NZ time) with Blake Shinn to ride from a wide barrier. An impressive last start winner at Cranbourne over 2025m, she steps up in grade here quite significantly, but has been very well prepared for this race and is the only runner in it that has actually won at 2000 m – draw is a little bit sticky, but, she will be ridden cold and should be mounting a powerfull finishing run closing stages of the race – her work has been outstanding during the week and we think she is a strong each way chance in this at very good odds. TAB says “has ability in the mix” – showing odds of $26/$6

BELLATRIX STAR runs in the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes – race six at 3.40 pm Aus time  (5.40 pm NZ time) with Blake Shinn to ride down the Flemington Chute. Has taken all before her in Melbourne this spring winning her last three races on all three Metropolitan tracks – meets fierce opposition here in this A$2 million race but is cherry ripe – represents a very strong top three chance and can win. TAB says “keeps raising the bar, hard to knock” – showing odds of $8.50/$2.80

WEST INDIES runs in the Group One VRC Derby – race seven at 4.20 pm Aus time  (6.20 pm NZ time) with Craig Newitt to ride. We have only owned this horse for nine days but since arriving in the stable he has eaten well and produced a very strong searching track gallop on Tuesday morning  – is very long in the market and has the “visitors draw” however he will be ridden cold and based on pedigree he could be running past many of these in the closing stages of this 2500 meter race – TAB says “keeps raising the bar, hard to knock” – showing odds of $8.50/$2.80

==============================================================
Guest Selector – Des CoppinsDes’ great run of winning selections continues for those on his full service

Here is what Des has to say this week for our readers

Greetings John and Team

Irrespective on what plays out on Derby Day can I congratulate Fortuna in having 3 runners on arguably the greatest race day on the Australasian racing calendar. Having multiple runners on such an important day is normally something you’d see from the big boys like Yulong, Godolphin, Arrowfield and company. It’s a monumental effort for sure and best of luck to all the owners who hold a share or two in those 3 gallopers.
We’ll be cheering!

Before looking at 3 horses to follow for not only this weekend but beyond let me thank recent registrations to my tipping line. While we had a few sign up last week I omitted to leave my email with you. It’s dcoppins@xtra.co.nz
The sub of $240 gst inclusive takes you from now until the end of January.
By registering your interest today you’ll not only receive privately to your email each NZ Raceday top 2 tips but this will be also extended for Derby Day tomorrow plus my trifecta for all groups one in Melbourne this spring. For the record my 3 tipped last week landed the Cox Plate trifecta at $88.

Of course the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday comes into play as well.

Last Saturday we nearly got the lot with Oppenheimer who many may well have backed at $21. The $5.50 for a place was satisfying.

Tauranga, r8, Jolted

The improving track conditions will assist this promising stayer and the run last time was a good indicator that she’s spot on for a peak showing on Saturday.
She likes the track with a win and a placing from just two starts here to back that up.

Tauranga, race 9, Navigator

He’s something of a late bloomer and this season he has really looked the part as a five year old.
He’s never been out of the money and runs through the bridal each time with real purpose.
Amazingly he’s only once been further than 3 lengths from the winner in his 11 starts.
He would handle anything from good to slow and I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t run right up to the mark again.

Flemington , r 8, Alsephina

She’s a class act.
She’s new to Victoria with much of her form in Western Australia but her three runs in Melbourne have included a win at Moonee Valley and two placings at Caulfield and Flemington.
In all 3 runs she has jumped from double figure barriers and in her last 10 starts she’s never finished further back than third bar once!
On Saturday she will go from barrier 6.
She’s at good odds, around the $12 mark ahd is worth a look.
Good punting!

===========================================================

 

Friday Flash – 18th October 2024

Published 18 October 2024

BELLATRIX STAR –  5th Raceday win – Caulfield 12th October 2024 – Craig Williams aboard

=================================================================

Headline News

Derby Day awaits with two Fortuna 3yo Fillies BELLATRIX STAR and OUR PARAMOUR aimed at Group Races on the Day

Te Akau Cranbourne Stable’s outstanding results for the new season to date

================================
Fortuna has two runners over the weekend, one in Victoria, one in NZ

Moe – Friday

ZEDWILLDO contests the Maiden 1600m event – race one at 12.40pm Aus time (2.40pm NZT) with Paul Gatt to ride from  barrier 10. Encouraging resuming run last time this trip, but is bred to stay all day and needs to get over more ground – this race is a stepping stone to that. TAB says “No easier this time and is likely to struggle” – showing odds of $71/$11

Otaki – Saturday

RAGAMUFFIN races in the R75 1400m – Race 6 @ 2.57pm with Ashvin Goindasamy to ride – capable galloper who is resuming after a break following his last start on a really heavy track at New Plymouth 17th August – won a jumout at Hawera last week and a trial at Foxton on Tuesday, so is primed for this but has a very wide draw to negotiate over the 1400m trip. Needs luck, but if he gets it, can feature in the finish at big odds.  TAB says “Resumes, trial winner recently, has won on both wet and dry grouns” – showing odds of $16/$4.50

==============================================================
Trackwork – Fortuna runners

No timed Fortuna trackwork this week

==============================================
 OTHER NEWS

Derby Day (November 2nd) awaits with two Fortuna 3yo Fillies BELLATRIX STAR and OUR PARAMOUR aimed at Group Races on the Day

To say that there is a sense of excitement building in the Fortuna camp at the moment would be somewhat of an understatement – as I said to my good friend David Ellis during the week, when congratulating him on selecting these two lovely Fillies for us “David, if you’d said to me three or four months ago that we were going to have two runners on one of the most prestigious days in Australia racing competing in two different group races, I would’ve had you committed” – but yes it is happening and congratulations to all of our owners who have shares in either of these Fillies – in fact many have got cross ownership with shares in both – as always our syndicates are big and there are 69 individual members in Bellatrix Star with members from Kerikeri to Cromwell and one Australian member and in Our Paramour we have 55 members from Kaukapakapa to Wyndham with two from Australia. We have big crews attending Flemington on the day for both horses, 40 for Bellatrix Star and 24 for Our Paramour – how good is that!!!

For the record Bellatrix Star will be contesting the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) for A$2 million and Our Paramour will be running in the Group Two Wakeful Stakes over 2000m for A$300,000 – and depending on her performance in that race and how she comes through it, she is a good chance to back up in the Group One VRC Oaks 5 days later for A$1m.

Finally, I add a note here from the Australian Racing writer and analyst, Nic Ashman commenting on her run in the Schillaci

“Speaking of Bellatrix Star, the filly is really progressing well. Off a dawdling tempo, she’s recorded a scintillating 21.68s between the 600 metres and 200 metres to beat the class benchmark by just over 1l. That 400-metre dash she showed was by far the quickest of the day. She also clocked the best last 800 metres and 600 metres of the meeting. She should be close to favourite for the Coolmore Stud S. but is still double figures”

As I write this, she is showing $11/$3.50 NZ TAB Futures Odds

Te Akau Cranbourne Stable’s outstanding results for the new season to date

Here in New Zealand the training team of Mark Walker/Sam Bergeson have got off to their usual flying start, leading the NZ Trainer’s Premiership, recording 33 winners from 150 starts in the season to date, at the impressive strike rate of 4.55 – however across the Tasman Mark Walker is setting a hot pace with 9 winners from 27 starts at a strike rate of 3.0!!! – Remarkably, according to a website that tracks a return on investment (ROI) from a betting perspective for individual trainers, Mark is running at 176%, meaning that if you had put $10 to win on each of Mark’s 27 runners you would now have $475 for your $270 outlay!!!

 

==========================================================

Guest Selector – Des Coppins

Here is what Des has to say this week and as he advised last week he includes a couple of tips from the two big races in Australia this week, The Everest and The Caulfield Cup

Greetings John and Fortuna friends.

What a week for your team with 3 emphatic  victories in NZ and Australia! Heartiest congratulations.

Can I just say that feedback in racing ownership from the stable to the client is so vitally important in this day and age and I know a few people who have shares in Fortuna runners who  all say the same thing;“communication is the key“  and win, lose or draw Fortuna shareholders are treated with total respect in this domain  whether they hold a decent chunk of an ownership or just one percent! That’s so refreshing to hear.

THE EVEREST and CAULFIELD CUP

What a great weekend of racing coming up and while we have some decent form to look forward to at Ellerslie and Otaki the focus for most of us will centre on The Everest and the Caulfield Cup.

For what it’s worth I enjoy taking on the exotics for both the Caulfield Cup and the Everest over the years because the pools are so healthy, especially with the first 4’s and quinellas.  I’ll be building a case for Land Legend to become the 5th horse to go back to back from the Metropolitan in Randwick to the Caulfield Cup and give Chris Waller, who has 3 runners in the Cup, his 3rd Caulfield Cup in 5 years.

While I’d love to see the Kiwi ownership with I  Wish I Win or Joliestar take the spoils in The Everest I’ve an inkling for the three year old, Traffic Warden. The way I read it, either of the Gai Waterhouse – Adrian Bott pair of Storm Boy or Lady Camelot will lead. If they don’t there’s great back up in the on pace arena with I Am Me and Growing Empire. Traffic Warden has hit the ground running this season and I thought he was one of the unlucky two year olds last season in both the Golden Slipper when 4th and the Sires Produce when 2nd. With an ounce of luck he could have won one or the other or both! He’s drawn to get a cosy trip behind the pace and with the lighter weight he could do a Yes Yes Yes or Giga Kick as an Everest winning three year old.

Close to home I’m banking on the unlucky runner at Tauranga last time, Val Di Zoldo to get a well deserved win in race 8 at Ellerslie and I’ll be very keen on Boomtown Boy to win race 5 at Otaki. Again, both horses are worth following this month and the next as they are relatively early in spring preparations and can only get better as the season extends.

Good punting!
Des

======================================================

1 2 3 4 5 6 … 75