Classic Dye aboard Needlly

14 April 2013

WS graduate Needlly proved a willing partner for Shane Dye to showcase his riding talent at Ellerslie on Saturday. The O’Reilly five-year-old recorded the third win of her current preparation and trainer Lance Noble was quick to put all the credit on his jockey.

“It was an outstanding ride and the Shane Dye of old,” he said. “She drew wide and was on the fence after 200 metres, got the split and he drove her through.” Dye had also been successful aboard the mare on the track two starts back before finishing fourth at Tauranga after she had reared at barrier rise. “Give me the chance and I’ll ride winners, it’s as simple as that,” he said.

Bred by Mary Chittick, Needlly was purchased by Noble for $40,000 out of WS’s 2009 Select Sale consignment to Karaka. She is out of the winning Pins mare Needled who is a sister to Rhysess (Gr 3 Cuddle Stakes.

The Matamata stud also claimed victory in the main event at Trentham where Pins’ son Jack’s Point successfully resumed his career. He returned after a three month break to win the Final Touch Cup and the eighth win of his career.

A $140,000 yearling purchase in 2008, Jack’s Point is out of the multiple winner Activate. The Kinjite mare is a three-quarter sister to the Gr 2 Sha Tin Vase winner Astimonti and the Gr 3 Summer Cup winner Zanetta.

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.