Group One for O’Dianne

6 March 2015

O’Dianne will move back up in grade following her maiden success at Ellerslie on Wednesday.

Fourth in the Listed Karaka Million, the youngster led all the way to be rewarded for four previous placings and trainer Stephen McKee is now keen on Gr.1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes start.

“I think she’s a touch better left-handed,” he said. “She deserves a crack and she’s maturing all the time.”

O’Dianne was ridden by her regular partner Sam Spratt, who said it was a straightforward victory.

“She was just cruising all the way, hugged the rail and did it nicely. She’s a big, strong girl.”

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.

9 July 2026

WS graduate Honour Roll out to add stakes success at Otaki

Waikato Stud will be cheering on one of its promising graduates on Friday when Honour Roll contests the Listed John Turkington Forestry Castletown Stakes (1200m) at Otaki. The WS-bred son of the late Champion sire …