Floria Makes Her Mark At Stakes Level

27 November 2011

Lightly-raced mare Floria became Savabeel’s latest black-type performer when she finished a courageous third in Saturday’s Gr 3 Eagle Technology Stakes. The four-year-old jumped several grades to take her place and she gave a fine sight at Ellerslie to kick on valiantly after making all the play in front.

The winner of two of her previous nine starts, she is trained at Ardmore by Stephen McKee and is out of the Centaine mare Aria. She won four times and is a half-sister to the Listed Matamata Cup winner Agamemnon.

Floria’s fourth dam is the former crack filly Solveig who won the Gr 1 New Zealand Oaks at three and later the Gr 1 Thorndon Mile and the Gr 1 Avondale Cup. She left the Gr 3 Stan Fox Stakes winner Greig and it is also the family of the Gr 1 Sydney Cup winner Gallic.

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.