I Do on target for Group One challenge

4 November 2013

Grand racemare I Do showed she was on target for a crack at Group One company with a dominant sprint win at Awapuni on Saturday. The genuine daughter of No Excuse Needed had no trouble posting her eighth career victory when successful in the Redcraze Bowl.

Raced by WS with their co-breeder Allan Sharrock, who prepares the six-year-old with his son Kane, I Do has been set for the Captain Cook Stakes on December 7. Already the Listed winner of the Rotorua Stakes, a strong showing in the Trentham feature would significantly boost her future breeding value.

I Do was ridden today by apprentice Dylan Turner and he angled her widest on the turn before the mare let down strongly in the straight to account for fellow WS-bred Aldebaran Star. “She didn’t jump all that flash, but we got three back and one off the fence and she came home really well,” Turner said. “She’s got a good turn of foot.”

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.