Pins Adds Centaine Award To HK Honours

1 August 2011

Prolific WS stallion Pins enjoyed a stellar season in 2010-2011 with the son of Snippets adding the Centaine Award to his premiership honours in Hong Kong. He lifted the title for leading world-wide earnings from New Zealand conceived progeny with $11,461,636 to hold the challenges of High Chaparral ($10,902,699) and Zabeel ($10,362,548) at bay with O’Reilly ($8,759,266) taking fourth spot.

Pins claimed the Hong Kong Sires’ Premiership with progeny earnings of $HK31 million from nine winners with Ambitious Dragon his flagship performer. The Hong Kong Classic, Derby and QE II winner was the star of the Hong Kong season. He was named the Horse of the Year, Champion Middle Distance Horse, Most Popular Horse and his seven wins on the turn equalled the record for the most victories in a Hong Kong season.

Pins, who has produced nine individual Group One winners and 41 stakes winners, was also a dominant force on the home front with 10 stakes winners and was the leading New Zealand sire in that category with five.

He was represented by Icepin (Gr 2 Avondale Guineas), Katie Lee (Gr 3 Traderack Stakes), Antonio Lombardo (Gr 3 Taranaki Classic, Listed Wellesley Stakes), Bespoke (Listed Welcome Stakes) and Undisclosed (Listed Canterbury Stakes). In Australia Pins enjoyed black type success with Legsman (Listed Winter Cup), Lucha Libre (Listed South Pacific) and Almodovar (Listed Galilee Final) while in the United States Pins’ son Our Nautique claimed the Gr 2 San Francisco Mile.

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.

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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.