Thursday NZ news briefs – Jumping career planned for flat winner
An emphatic flat victory at Wanganui won’t change plans for the five-year-old Donardo.
The Don Eduardo gelding was a runaway winner of Thursday’s Palamountains Nutrition Highweight (2060m) under rider Will Gordon.
“Hopefully, he’ll be jumping soon,” said part-owner and trainer Lucy de Lautour, who also prepares the Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3100m) winner Kipkeino.
Donardo finished runner-up three runs back before he was unplaced at Wanganui last month.
“It was late in the day and the track was a bit too cut up,” de Lautour said.
Kiwi’s fairytale Cup story on TV The story of Kiwi’s dramatic victory in the 1983 Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) will be screened on TVNZ 1 on Sunday at 8:30pm.
Nick Blake and Alison Bruce play Waverley farmer Snow Lupton and his wife Anne, owners of the $1,000 purchase who captured Australasian hearts.
The only horse to win the Group 1 Wellington Cup (3200m) and Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) in the same year, Kiwi was ridden to victory by New Zealand jockey Jimmy Cassidy.
Victory in the Egmont Cup (2100m) was Lupton’s unorthodox springboard to Melbourne Cup success.
The makers of Kiwi enlisted three horses to play the star thoroughbred in Kiwi.
McDonald staying put
Sydney-based jockey James McDonald has quashed any suggestion of a move to England.
“It’s not happening, not at this stage anyway. I’m staying in Sydney. Those rumours are only rumours,” the expatriate New Zealand rider said.
“I enjoy it here. This is home, but I do enjoying travelling to the UK for those riding stints.”
McDonald said one of the highlights of his recent Royal Ascot experience was meeting Her Majesty The Queen.
“I had a good conversation with her. I was really nervous before meeting her, but it was really good. She’s not as posh as I expected and she was fantastic really.
She said she was keen to meet me and said she had been following my career in Australia.”
Kiwi-bred’s connections hoping for third time lucky
New Zealand-bred Pins gelding Rhythm To Spare will take aim at Saturday’s Listed Winter Championship Series Final (1600m) at Flemington for the third time.
The eight-year-old has finished fifth in the past two editions of the event, in which he will be ridden by Damien Oliver.
“We think he’s going as good as ever, it’s just unfortunate he’s had no luck in his last two runs in Adelaide and at Moonee Valley,” trainer Michael Moroney’s racing manager Anthony Feroce said.
“We’re just hoping for a bit better luck on Saturday and I think he can be in the finish.”
Rhythm To Spare finished fifth two outings back after an interrupted run in the Group 3 RA Lee Stakes (1600m) at Morphettville in Adelaide and was again held up when fourth over 1600m at Moonee Valley last time out.
Meeting transferred to Waverley
The first Feature Saturday race meeting in the central districts for the new season will now be held at Waverley on August 18.
The fixture was previously scheduled for Otaki, but the track is out of action until October.
The relocation of the meeting will mean a change in race distances, with the 2100m races becoming 2200m and the 1300m becoming 1400m.