Mare Makes Her Mark In Australia

15 December 2011

Mink showed enough in a brief New Zealand career for Guy Lowry to recommend the Scaredee Cat mare be given her chance in Sydney. With his Hastings training partner Grant Cullen, he prepared her to win one of her three starts before she joined the leading stable of John O’Shea.

Racing in Australia as Think Mink, the four-year-old was successful at Kembla Grange yesterday to round off a consistent run of form. “It was really on the advice of Guy, he and I own her together, to give her to John and have a go,” Mark Chittick said. “She had a bit of a freshen up and hopefully she can carry on with it now.”

Think Mink had her first start for O’Shea, whose wife Isabel has a leased interest in the mare, in August and ran second at Canterbury. She finished in the money in three of her next four starts before a break and a successful resumption to her career over 1200 metres at Kembla.

She is out of the Rhythm mare Zazu who is a half-sister to the Gr 1 Queensland Oaks runner-up Zink-Zumanity (AUS). Think Mink is a direct female descendant of the former top-class staying mare Princess Mellay (NZ Cup-twice, NZ Oaks) and the dam of Prince Majestic (Tancred Stakes, Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Spring Champion Stakes). The Bandette and King Johny are other Gr 1 performed members of the family.

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.