Prince rules again

21 December 2013

Celtic Prince’s run of form has come as no surprise to trainer Bjorn Baker, who expects the four-year-old to make his mark in top staying company. The O’Reilly gelding won for the third time on his current preparation when successful over 2400 metres on the Kensington track at Randwick yesterday.

“He is a horse I bought at the Ready To Run sale in New Zealand and is a full-brother to Said Com,” Baker said. “I liked him for a long time, he didn’t quite live up to that early but he is starting to hopefully deliver.”

A WS graduate, Celtic Prince was passed in as a yearling in 2011 and is out of the Centaine mare Centa Belt, who is a half-sister to the Gr 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas winner Master Belt and the stakes winners Buckle Your Belt and Minnie Belt. The dam’s third foal is the Chris Waller-trained Said Com, a $290,000 Karaka purchase out of WS’s 2010 Premier draft, who has won four times and finished runner-up in the Gr 1 Royal Randwick Guineas.

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.