Snowdrop all the way again

11 December 2014

The impressive development of Snowdrop continued this afternoon with another dominant victory. The lightly-tried three-year-old broke her maiden in effortless fashion at Te Aroha last month and she used front-running tactics to her advantage again at Ellerslie to post a Rating 65 success.

Trained at Cambridge by Tony Pike for WS, the daughter of Pins is the first foal of the dual Group One winner Daffodil (AJC Oaks, Windsor Park Plate). It is also the top-flight family of Good Faith (Ellerslie Sires’ Produce Stakes).

Snowdrop bounded to the front at barrier rise for rider Leith Innes, who was able to dictate terms and kicked the filly clear into the straight. She held a strong gallop to score by a length and three-quarters with another WS representative Panna Cotta (Pins) turning in an eye-catching late finish for fourth.

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.