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Easter Handicap
The Easter Handicap or Easter Stakes is a major horse race held at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand. It is raced over a distance of 1,600 metres (approximately 1 mile) by three-year-old and upwards thoroughbreds. Race history Although previously a Group 1 race, from 2017 it was reclassified to Group 2 and from 2022 to Group 3 level. In 2016, the conditions of the race changed from a handicap to set weight and penalties, but reverted back to handicap conditions in 2018. The race has been won by many of New Zealand's greatest milers, including Kindergarten (horse), Kindergarten (twice), Sleepy Fox (four times) and Grey Way. The Easter Handicap is now raced in late April on the same date as the Championship Stakes. Winners Since 1965 Previous winners *1964 - Tasman Sea *1963 - Final Command *1962 - Otematata *1961 - Waipari *1960 - Waipari *1959 - Marie Brizard *1958 - Japonica *1957 - Solepic *1956 - Coleridge *1955 - Fair Chance *1954 - Tesla *1953 - Misprint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ellerslie Racecourse
Ellerslie Racecourse is the main racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand, for thoroughbred racehorses. It is an undulating, grass circuit in the suburb of Ellerslie, New Zealand, Ellerslie, with a circumference of just under 1,900 metres. Racing is conducted in a clockwise (right-handed) direction. History Horses have raced at Ellerslie since 1857 when Robert Graham hosted a race meeting on his property, on the site which is now Ellerslie Racecourse. The Auckland Racing club then purchased thirty-six hectares of land from Graham in 1872 on which the course is situated. The first race meeting of the Auckland Racing Club was held at Ellerslie on 25 May 1874. At this time the racecourse was a considerable distance outside the city and it took Aucklanders up to several hours to get to the course by carriage. A "platform" station, Ellerslie Racecourse Platform was opened in January 1874. Many went by train, although with the demand created by the event, as late as in 1910 they of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stravinsky (horse)
Stravinsky (1 March 1996 – 21 November 2023) was an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career from August 1998 until November 1999, he ran eight times and won three races. He showed promising form as a two-year-old and was regarded as a serious contender for the British Classic Races. However, he ran disappointingly over distances of seven furlongs and one mile in early 1999. He reverted to sprint distances to record impressive wins in the July Cup and the Nunthorpe Stakes, earning the title of European Champion Sprinter. At the end of the season, he retired to stud where he had some success as a sire of winners. Background Stravinsky was a powerfully built bay horse standing 15.3 hands high, with a white star and a white sock on his near foreleg. He was sired by the disqualified 2000 Guineas winner Nureyev out of the mare Fire The Groom. Apart from Stravinsky, Nureyev was the sire of the winners of at least forty-five Group One/Grade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Even Stevens (horse)
Even Stevens (1957–1975) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that won both the Caulfield and Melbourne cups in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ... in 1962. He was ridden in both cups by his regular rider Les Coles. Career Even Stevens won 8 races in total, including the 1962 Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and Werribee Cup, and £43,895 in prize money. He was leased to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, but prior to sailing for England, suffered an accident in training which necessitated his retirement from racing. He was retired to stud in New Zealand in 1963 where he sired two Group 1 winners, Master John and Evenstead. He died in 1975. Namesake Australian rail operator CFCL Australia named locomotive CF4403 after the horse.Motive Power R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Skelton (jockey)
Robert James Skelton (28 December 1934 – 19 August 2016) was a New Zealand jockey who competed from the 1950s through the 1980s. In total he won 2129 races. Among his many major race wins, Skelton rode Great Sensation to three victories in the Wellington Cup in 1961-63 and won the Auckland Cup on Rose Mellay in 1974 and again in 1977 on Royal Cadenza. In 1976, he rode Van der Hum to victory in Australia's most prestigious race, the Melbourne Cup, and ten years later rode Rising Fear into second place in the 1986 Cup. He was also successful in completing a double in the Perth Cup on Magistrate in 1980 and 1981. Overall winning 20 3200m and two mile races. In the 1978 Queen's Birthday Honours, Skelton was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to horse racing as a jockey. Overall he won 9 New Zealand Riding Premierships. Including the Melbourne & Perth Cups he also won numerous major races in Australia such as the Toorak Handicap, The George A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave O'Sullivan (horse Trainer)
David John O'Sullivan (5 October 1933 – 26 April 2024) was a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He is notable for having trained Horlicks to win the 1989 Japan Cup and many Group One races in New Zealand and Australia as well as being inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame. Early life and riding career O'Sullivan was born on 5 October 1933. He started as an apprentice jockey and had 125 wins over a decade of riding. He won the 1953 Railway Stakes on Te Awa, and would go on to win the race six times as a trainer. Training career In February 1961, O'Sullivan became a licensed trainer. His first ever black-type win was Oopik ridden by then stable apprentice Peter Johnson in the 1973 Hawke's Bay Guineas. Oopik later won the 1976 Sydney Cup, ridden by O'Sullivan's first apprentice Roger Lang. The O’Sullivan/Lang combination also won with Shivaree in the 1979 Tancred Stakes and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (ATC) at Sydney. During his training career, O'Sulliva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul O'Sullivan (horseman)
Paul David O'Sullivan (born 6 December 1959) is a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. O'Sullivan trained in partnership with his father, Dave O’Sullivan, for 17 years in New Zealand, and was the champion trainer in New Zealand on 11 occasions. He is the brother of New Zealand premiership-winning jockey Lance O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan moved to Hong Kong to train in 2004. In 2010/11, O'Sullivan brought up his double century of winners in Hong Kong. In 2022, he finished there with 516 wins and total earnings of HK$525,837,109. Significant horses * Aerovelocity (Naisoso Warrior), winner of the 2014 and 2016 Hong Kong Sprint, 2015 KrisFlyer International Sprint and Takamatsunomiya Kinen, 2016 Centenary Sprint Cup * Coogee Walk, winner of the 1998 Railway Stakes * Ensign Ewart, winner of the 1994 Railway Stakes * Fellowship, winner of the 2010 Hong Kong Stewards' Cup * High Regards, winner of the 1985 Telegraph Handicap * Horlicks, winner of the 1989 Japan Cup * Milta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waverley Star
Waverley Star (foaled 1982) was a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse who is best remembered for finishing second to Bonecrusher in the 1986 Cox Plate – widely referred to as the 'race of the century'. Waverley Star, who was known as Our Waverley Star in Australia to distinguish him from a 1976 foaling of the same name, won his maiden race as a three-year-old on 30 November 1985 at Pukekohe. Prior to his first visit to Australia, for the Cox Plate, he had 13 starts for 10 wins and 2 placings in New Zealand. This included: * 2nd in the Castlemaine XXXX Easter Stakes (Group One 1600m) behind Cosmetique, with Infinite Secret third. * 1st in the Television New Zealand Stakes (Group Two 2000m WFA) beating Solveig and Santanea * 1st in the Admiralty Handicap (1200m) at Ellerslie on 23 August 1986 when he beat Matthew Ryan with Bonecrusher third. In the Cox Plate, he was installed 3/1 second-favourite behind fellow New Zealander Bonecrusher, who was 6/4-on. With 800 metres to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger James (horse Trainer)
Roger James is a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He is notable for having trained six New Zealand Derby winners, which is more than any other trainer in New Zealand and for having won many Group One races in New Zealand and Australia. He has trained in excess of 1,200 winners. Roger James has trained on his own account but also in partnership with: * Jim Gibbs * Lance Noble * Paul Mirabelli * Ron Taylor * Robert Wellwood Notable horses and victories Roger James has trained or co-trained a large number of high-class horses, including: * Concert Hall, winner of the 2020 Zabeel Classic. * Foxwood, winner of the 1998 Captain Cook Stakes. * Hades, winner of the 1999 New Zealand Derby. * He's Remarkable, first past the post in the 2011 Railway Stakes at Ascot but demoted on protest by Perth stewards. * Orchestral, winner of the 2024 New Zealand Derby and 2024 Vinery Stud Stakes * Pinarello, winner of the 2022 Championship Stakes and Queensland Derby. * Prowe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Moroney (horseman)
Michael Denis Moroney (6 June 1958 – 27 February 2025) was a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He was notable for having trained Brew to win the 2000 Melbourne Cup and many other Group One races in New Zealand and Australia. Life and career Moroney's mother was the daughter of Charlie and Ellie Casey, the breeders of 1960 Melbourne Cup winner Hi Jinx. Michael's father, Denny, was also involved in the racing industry and he continued to assist Michael. Michael Moroney trained from the early 1980s on his own account but also in partnership with trainers including Dave and Paul O’Sullivan. His first Group 1 win was with Imperial Angel in the 1985 New Zealand 1000 Guineas at Riccarton ridden by Jim Collett. While based at Matamata, New Zealand, he twice won the New Zealand training premiership. He moved to Morphettville, Adelaide, Australia in 1999 and then three years later he transferred to Flemington, Victoria. Moroney’s first Group 1 win in Australia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Allan (jockey)
Tony Allan (born in Pukekohe, Auckland Region) is a New Zealand jockey He started his apprenticeship at age 16 to Grant Searle in Levin. He said he was inspired to become a jockey by his late father who would frequently take him to the Levin racecourse. He is best known for riding Empire Rose to victory in the 1988 Melbourne Cup. Over the course of his racing career Tony accomplished 12 Group 1 wins. Notable wins The following are some of the major races Tony has won in his career. Career In 2003, Allan admitted to using methamphetamine. However, he has subsequently worked hard to change his lifestyle and become clean. Tony retired in 2005 and moved to Japan for a break, riding trackwork for around 10 years in Hokkaido before a job with Sydney trainers Peter and Paul Snowden. On 27 May 2017 Tony made a comeback to race day riding in New Zealand. His first winner back in New Zealand was on Thursday 28 June 2017 at Waverley on My Cool Boy. On Friday 16 March 2018 Tony ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Jillings
Colin Maurice Jillings (11 March 1931 – 23 December 2022) was a New Zealand Thoroughbred horse racing trainer from the early 1950s until his retirement in September 2005. He is considered as one of the greatest trainers in thoroughbred horse racing in NZ. He was inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in 2008. Early life and career Jillings was born in Auckland on 11 March 1931. He became an apprentice jockey at Ellerslie Racecourse at the age of 12 in 1943. After riding track work at Ellerslie each morning, he would catch the train to school at St Peter's College as one of the "Ellerslie Boys" who commuted there daily. He was a successful apprentice jockey. His biggest success as an apprentice was the 1946 Railway Stakes aboard Royal Scot, a race he would later win three times as a trainer. Increasing weight brought a premature end to a promising Jockey career. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opie Bosson
Owen Patrick "Opie" Bosson (born 24 July 1980) is a jockey in Thoroughbred racing in New Zealand. Riding career Bosson started as an apprentice for Stephen Autridge, his godfather. He began his race-day riding career as a 15 year old on 25 October 1995 with Comette at Dargaville and soon after had his first win on Fairlie Airlie at Gisborne. In the 1997 season he was the McBeath Apprentice of the Year at the BMW New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Awards and was eighth on the New Zealand Premiership, behind Lance O'Sullivan, with 75 wins from 703 starts.New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Annual 1997 (26th edition). Dillon, Mike, Editor. Mike Dillon's Racing Enterprises Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand. The next apprentice was Mark Sweeney on 53 wins. On 2 September 1998 Bosson rode the first Australian winner for Chris Waller, Party Belle, in a 2100m maiden race at Wyong. His first Group 1 victory was Jezabeel in the 1998 Auckland Cup, aged 17. In March 2019 Bosson surpassed the rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
