Smart filly on stakes trail

11 February 2014

The well-named Sports Illustrated showed her style on the big stage at Te Rapa on Saturday when she won on the Group One undercard. The Garry Chittick-bred and raced filly gave ample evidence she was a black type filly in waiting with a powerful performance to claim her second victory in four career starts.

“She’s a big, rangy horse for a three-year-old and we might look at something like the Breeders’ Stakes at Te Aroha and give her a race or two beforehand,” said Andrew Forsman, who prepares her at Cambridge with Murray Baker.

A daughter of Fast ‘n’ Famous and the Pins mare Pin Up, Sports Illustrated was a winner at her New Plymouth debut and was unplaced before she finished third at Ellerslie after a wide trip. She was dropped back in the field today by Mark Du Plessis and came with a sustained finish from last at the 600 metre mark to win with authority.

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.