Flamingo in black type contention

14 April 2017

Outstanding debutante Flamingo might be in line for an early opportunity to add black type to her record. The well-named Pins three-year-old – she is a daughter of the stakes winner Bird – is in contention for a start in the Gr.3 Inglis Sales Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes at Te Rapa later this month if the filly races up to expectations at Hastings on Saturday.

Untested to win at Tauherenikau last month, the Mark Chittick-bred and raced Flamingo will again take on the older horses in the New Zealand Bloodstock National Weanling, Broodmare & Mixed Bloodstock Sale 8-9 May Handicap. “She was pretty impressive in her first start. We hadn’t asked much of her in her three trials, we knew how good she was from her work,” said Emma Haworth, who prepares the Waikato Stud-bred and owned Flamingo with her father David. “She might not have beaten a lot, but she just cantered past them. We’re looking forward to Saturday and then maybe Te Rapa.”

Flamingo’s dam Bird, a daughter of Danasinga who won the Listed Warstep Stakes, is a half-sister to the Listed winner Happy Gilmour. It is also the family of the Group One performer’s Seraphic, Chintz and Irlanda.

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.