Travis Trifecta For WS

29 April 2013

The Gr 2 Travis Stakes at Te Rapa on Saturday proved to be a bonanza for Waikato Stud stallions. Pimms Time (Pins) won the mares’ feature from the favourite O’Fille (O’Reilly) with Quinetssential (Fast ‘N’ Famous) taking third money.

Trained at Hastings by Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen, Pimms Time stamped herself as one of the most improved horses in commission after following up a previous Rating 85 benchmark win on her home track seven days ago. “It was a very good effort and she had trained on well since last week and it was always planned to come here for the Travis,” Lowry said.

It was also Pimms Time’s first run beyond 1600 metres, but she did have a staying pedigree to draw on as her dam Brampton Legs is a sister to the Gr.1 Caulfield Cup winner Railings. “If ever you’re going to go over 2000 metres for the first time in Group company then to do it on the back-up is best, that’s my theory anyway,” Lowry said. “We bought her from Waikato Stud and she’s taken a bit of time and I still think she is six months or a year away from her best.”

Pimms Time came with a solid finishing run down the centre of the track to win for the fifth time in her 12-start career. “I think she’s getting better and better all the time,” said winning jockey Mark Sweeney, who retained the ride after his flawless display aboard at the mare at Hastings. “I was much handier and she got there very easily and wanted to lay out a bit, but she won with a bit in hand. The query might have been the distance, but she might yet get a couple of hundred metres more.”

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.

9 July 2026

WS graduate Honour Roll out to add stakes success at Otaki

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