High Hopes for Blueblood

1 May 2011

Star Continues To Shine

Powerful three-year-old Aldebaran Star has made an encouraging start to his career and the strapping chestnut added another notch to his belt at Woodville. He was comfortably downed his Rating 70 sprint rivals to take his record to two wins and five placings from eight appearances.

He is trained at Awapuni by Trina Marshall whose partner Jonathon Riddell not only rode Aldebaran Star but also purchased him at the 2009 Festival Sale at Karaka after the gelding had originally been sold through WS’s weanling draft the previous year for $14,000. A half-brother to the stakes winner Tootsie (Pins), he is out of the O’Reilly mare Hyades who is a half-sister to the Listed winner La Rose Noir and the Centaine mare is in turn the dam of Espurante (Listed AJC Bell Handicap).

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.