Waikato Stud News

The Corner with Garry Chittick

It would appear I now have to continue my weekly Corner with the amount of rumblings at the start of our new racing season. I have been around long enough to know we can never please all; my tenure as Chairman of the Racing Board was subjected to as much vitriol as subsequent Boards have had to bear, so what’s different this time, or is it different.

First foal for Waikato’s Group 1 winner Skew Wiff

Group 1-winning Savabeel mare Skew Wiff (ex Starvoia), known affectionately as ‘Wiffy’, foaled a filly by Super Seth in the early hours of Wednesday, 5 August.

A Season to remember: Waikato Stud’s 2025/26 track stars

The 2025/26 season will be remembered as another outstanding chapter for Waikato Stud, with the farm’s stallions, graduates and homebreds delivering black-type success on both sides of the Tasman. From Group 1 glory in Sydney to Classic triumphs at home, the results are a testament to the quality of the roster and, above all, to the breeders and owners who continue to support it.

Noverre opens new season in winning fashion

Noverre’s three-year-old Spill It (ex Ivy’s Court) opened the new season with a win at Riccarton, flying home over 1200m for Anna Furlong and the Lines family. A $32,500 Karaka yearling, he’s now banked $26,600 from just two starts.

Ardrossan’s De Armas now with Chris Waller

Ardrossan’s unbeaten daughter De Armas, formerly raced in New Zealand, now races in the colours of OTI Racing under master trainer Chris Waller. Bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo rates her the best two-year-old filly prospect, tipping her for Sydney’s Princess Series this spring.

The Corner with Garry Chittick

Are there any benefits in growing older. Well, so long as your memory has not yet failed, then there is the knowledge accumulated from past experience. Like me, many as we age, develop a strong sense of cynicism; you know, we’ve seen it all before. 

Jess Greenfield awarded 2026 Mary-Lynne Ryan Young Achiever Award

On Saturday night, Jess Greenfield was awarded the loveracing.nz Mary-Lynne Ryan Young Achiever Award at the Property Brokers National Breeding Awards at Karapiro. When asked by Steve Davis what the future looked like for Jess, Greenfield humbly replied: “Just keep working away at Waikato Stud and see where we end up.”

Ocean Park Trans-Tasman Double

With Andrew Forsman’s 3yo Ocean Park filly Pine Leaf breaking her maiden by a widening four and a quarter-lengths in the last at Cambridge on Wednesday, celebrations continued as just ten minutes later it was the Chirs Waller trained Velaris who saluted at Canterbury with fellow Ocean Park runner I Park finishing a gallant third.

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.

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.

WS graduate Honour Roll out to add stakes success at Otaki

Waikato Stud will be cheering on one of its promising graduates on Friday when Honour Roll contests the Listed John Turkington Forestry Castletown Stakes (1200m) at Otaki. The WS-bred son of the late Champion sire …

Savabeel, from furthering a legacy to creating his own – The Straight

A true Australasian success story on the track and in the breeding shed, the influence of Savabeel, who died last week aged 24, will be felt for years to come on both sides of the …