Snow Excuse makes up for lost time

10 July 2013

Snow Excuse returned to the winners’ list with a vengeance at Pukekohe this afternoon with a runaway victory over 1200 metres. The Ralph Manning-trained four-year-old gave his Rating 75 rivals an emphatic five and three-quarter length drubbing under the country’s top apprentice Rory Hutchings.

The son of No Excuse Needed had been a dual winner as a two-year-old, but his defeat of Testa Secret in the Listed Ryder Stakes nearly two years ago was his last taste of success. “He’s a big horse and improved with each run after a long time off,” he said. “He’s got major joint issues so we gave him a long break to decide if we would even run him again.”

Raced by Manning with his parents Bob and Kathleen and Ivan Julian, Snow Excuse was a $4500 weanling buy from WS’s 2009 draft to Karaka. He is a half-brother to four winners with their dam the former smart Australian juvenile and Listed Maribyrnong Trial Stakes winner Kirkberg.

Porcia Catonis powers home as Super Seth’s rise continues

Super Seth’s strong run continues with Porcia Catonis, who delivered a dominant win at Riccarton for Fortuna Racing. The lightly raced filly is now a two-time winner and adds to a stellar season for her sire, who boasts three Group 1 winners and a 4.34% G1 winners-to-runners strike rate.

28 May 2025

Gutsy bebut win for Ardrossan’s Macallan

Ardrossan’s son Macallan impressed on debut in Thursday’s opener at Tauranga, overcoming Heavy10 conditions to win the Tierra Maiden 3YO (1200m) by 1.3 lengths. Trained by Wexford Stables and racing for JML Bloodstock, the gelding showed toughness and class to finish strongly before the meeting was abandoned due to weather.