Celebrations All Round At Matamata

1 August 2011

Matamata trainer Andrew Scott celebrated a notable milestone on his home track today courtesy of a WS-bred and sold winner. The No Excuse Needed mare Excuse Me Madam provided him with his 500th training success when she came back from a lengthy lay-off to post her maiden victory.

“It’s really exciting and good to get it here – it’s a great thrill,” Scott said. “She’s a promising staying mare and we’ve been pretty busy with her at home getting her ready and I’m sure there’s more wins in store for her yet.”

The four-year-old’s two previous appearances had both result in placed efforts and the last of them nearly 12 months ago. “I worked her on Tuesday morning and she gave me the indication that she would be fit enough after such a long lay-off,” successful rider Michael Coleman said.

Excuse Me Madam was purchased by former champion jockey Lance O’Sullivan for $52,500 out of WS’s Select Sale draft to Karaka in 2008 and she is raced by a syndicate that includes his father Dave and the O’Sullivan Family Trust. She is a daughter of the Wairarapa Breeder’s Stakes winner and Gr 1 New Zealand Oaks runner-up Rampage Queen from the family of the Gr 1 Avondale Cup winner Eva Grace.

Tivaci’s Movie Night steals the show at Newcastle

A sister to the Gr.1 ATC Flight Stakes (1600m) winner Never Been Kissed, the Waikato Stud-bred and raced Movie Night (NZ) was rewarded for her consistency, breaking her maiden with an all-the-way win over 1400m at Newcastle for trainer Tom Charlton.

9 July 2026

Oilman’s stud stake could change course of NZ breeding

Eighteen months ago, Texas oilman Nelson Bunker Hunt walked through the lush Waikato pasture of Matamata’s Balcarres Stud and announced he wanted some just like it for his own.

Today he has-360 acres about a mile down the road which has been transformed from a dairy farm to one of New Zealand’s leading horse and cattle breeding establishments.