No Excuse Needed Colt Chasing Black-Type

20 August 2011

No Excuse Needed will have a genuine early season black-type contender in Taurus, who broke his maiden in fine fashion at New Plymouth on Saturday. The colt delivered on his two-year-old potential with a commanding front-running performance to win on his return from a six month break.

“He’s got a lot of ability and we’re looking at the Wanganui Guineas for him,” Wanganui co-trainer Evan Rayner said. “He’s not as forward as I would usually have had him so he’s going to improve a lot and the three kilo claim certainly helped him.”

Taurus, who finished runner-up in all three of his starts last season, was partnered by Amy Taylor and they bounced to the lead and were coasting on the home turn. With a minimum of encouragement the three-year-old drew clear in the straight to score by a length and three-quarters. “He’s come up well after we had to put him aside after he jarred up on the hard tracks and had a little operation on a joint but he’s over all that now,” Rayner said.

A brother to the WS-bred and sold winner First Date, Taurus is out of the Jetball mare Stars In Her Eyes who won five races and is a sister to the Listed Castletown Stakes winner Kinetic. It is also the Gr 1 family of The Pooka (New Zealand 2000 Guineas) and Rubiscent (Underwood Stakes).

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.