Pins Makes His Mark in Listed Sprint

25 November 2012

The WS-bred mare Shandream became Pins’ 47th individual stakes winner when she won the Listed Counties Bowl at Pukekohe on Saturday. The WS stallion was the dominant force in the sprint feature with his son Antonio Lombardo taking second money.

A $280,000 purchase by trainer Richard Collett from the Matamata farm’s 2009 Karaka draft, Shandream is raced by Bruce and Gerald Shand. The five-year-old was first-up for what was her fifth career victory and looks set for a profitable summer campaign.

“The pattern of the race was tailor-made for the mare and she got a lovely trip behind a breakneck speed,” Collett said. “We’ve jumped the first hurdle with her winning a Listed race so we’ll work something out for her now. She’s matured into a really nice horse this year and is the best she’s ever been. Everything is in front of her now.”

Shandream is out of the Centaine mare Pyjamas and is a half-sister to four winners, including the stakes performer Doubly Sure (O’Reilly). It is also the family of the Gr 3 Thompson Handicap winner Fercertain (Centaine).

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.