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.

Hutchings confirmed for NZB Kiwi on Sought After

Australian-based, Kiwi-born jockey Rory Hutchings will ride Waikato Stud’s Sought After (Tivaci ex Popular), trained by Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott, in the southern hemisphere’s richest race at Ellerslie on 8 March. A last-start winner, Sought After is a Matamata nursery product with a pedigree tied to Sacred Falls.

20 January 2025

Super Seth 3YO strikes again in Hong Kong

Patch Of Cosmo (ex Thee) continues to showcase Super Seth’s potential in Hong Kong. Bred and sold by Waikato Stud, the three-year-old has claimed three victories under trainer Manfred Man, including a recent 1400m Class 3 win at Sha Tin. His pedigree traces back to stakes-winning Savabeel mare Thee.