Madam Makes It Two

28 May 2013

Lightly-raced mare Excuse Me Madam picked up the second win of her career at Rotorua this afternoon in her first outing beyond a metric mile. The six-year-old daughter of WS resident No Excuse Needed proved too good for stablemate Vitali to present Matamata trainer Andrew Scott with a stable quinella.

Bred by Mark Chittick, Excuse Me Madam had won her previous race over 1200 metres and has been genuine throughout her career with nine further placings. Scott had expected a bold showing today after a lead-up sixth placing on Rotorua Cup day when she made ground in the worst part of the track after a tardy beginning.

A daughter of the Listed Wairarapa Stakes winner Rampage Queen, who was also runner-up in the Gr 1 New Zealand Oaks, she is a half-sister to four winners. Excuse Me Madam was a $42,500 Karaka purchase from WS’s 2008 draft for former champion jockey Lance O’Sullivan and is raced by a syndicate including his father Dave.

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.