I Do on target for second Rotorua Stakes

3 May 2014

Smart mare I Do completed a perfect dress rehearsal for an upcoming black type start when she won at Friday’s Otaki meeting. The versatile daughter of No Excuse Needed coped well with the Slow8 track conditions to post a short neck victory over the well-performed duo of Taurus and Civics Rock.

“Up until the Merial Metric Mile last year I wouldn’t have run her on a wet track and she ran second in that then won in a bog and now we have another string in our bow,” trainer Allan Sharrock said. I Do won the Rotorua Stakes last year and he is confident the grey can go back-to-back in the event.

“She will tighten for next Saturday and that’s where I want her,” he said.

Sharrock and WS bred and race I Do together and the six-year-old has now won 11 races, including the Gr 3 Manawatu Challenge Stakes.

Pure Alpha delivers again as Ardrossan continues to rise

Ardrossan gelding Pure Alpha led throughout to win by 1.29 lengths at Eagle Farm for owner Ozzie Kheir, taking his earnings past $300,000. The result caps a stellar run for sire Ardrossan, whose yearlings fetched up to $450,000 this year on strong Hong Kong form.

28 August 2026

The Corner with Garry Chittick

It is difficult to maintain momentum when sitting in judgment of racing’s governance. After all, I get no pleasure in searching for non-credible decisions, but one is perpetually bewildered by the rationale behind many of the positions that make little sense.