I Do sets record

23 June 2014

I Do broke a long-standing Waikato Stud record yesterday when she triumphed in the Listed Tauranga Classic. It was the 13th win of the No Excuse Needed mare’s career and the most ever by a horse raced by the Matamata farm.

“Lady Aloof held the record with 12,” said trainer Allan Sharrock, who co-bred and part-owns the mare with the stud.

“She is getting better and better and Mark (Chittick) said to me do you want to breed from her and I said I think we’ll earn more from her foals than racing.”

She will be served in the spring and Sharrock is keen to give the rising seven-year-old one more crack at a top-flight race.

“I’d love to have another go at a Group One with her – she would be very competitive in a race like the Captain Cook,”he said.

I Do was sent out a dominant favourite at Tauranga and she never looked in any trouble. She raced behind the leaders before rider Jonathan Riddell asked her for a serious effort on straightening and they drew out for a comfortable win.

“She’s a class act and a beautiful horse to ride,” Riddell said.

“She’s got a great temperament and she’s not just a wet-tracker and I won a race (the Gr.3 Manawatu Challenge Stakes) on her on a good track.”

Friendships, fate and a first winner

Ocean Park filly Bridie delivered apprentice Tom Wingram his first career winner at New Plymouth today — a moment made possible by three decades of friendship and the racing gods aligning perfectly.

9 June 2026

Archibald Racing open Noverre’s account with debut winner

The next chapter in Noverre’s journey as a sire has begun, with the Waikato Stud-bred stallion’s WS-bred son, Hailstones (ex Cool Storm), becoming the first winner for the Group 1-winning son of Savabeel.