Friday Flash – 2nd September 2022

Headline News;

ROCKY, the Fortuna Racing 4yo, wins at Maiden level in Singapore, bringing up 15 wins in 2022 to date for the Fortuna Team

Fortuna’s Singapore Trainer, Donna Logan, scores another double in Singapore and goes to a clear lead in the Trainer’s Premiership

Auckland Thoroughbred Racing announces prizemoney figures for the 2022/23 season – including $20,000 minimums for Maiden Races
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Fortuna has five runners this weekend –  three in NZ and two in Singapore
 
RUBICON CROSSING makes her race day debut in the first 2yo event of the season at Wanganui – Race 1 @ 12.20pm. Lisa Allpress to ride from a good draw – she is a very interesting runner – a graduate of the Magic Millions January Sale, she boasts a lovely pedigree (Rubick-Miss Foxwood) – has had no public trials but her jumpouts have been very strong. Debut runners in 2yo events can be tricky, but if she handles herself well, she can be right in the finish of this

MALBOROUGH BAY races at Riccarton Saturday 3^rd in the 3yo Set Weights and Penalties 1000m event – Race 3 @ 1.52pm – Current Champion Jockey, Michael McNab takes the mount. A winner on debut as a 2yo in May, he ran a bold resuming race at Taupo for 2^nd behind the smart stablemate Fellini. On a path toward the 2000 Guineas in November, he is right up to this and represents a top three chance

DANCARINA races at Riccarton Saturday 3^rd in the R65 1000m event down the Riccarton Chute – Race 4 @ 2.26pm. A winner at Ruakaka in February and a good 3^rd at Ellerslie at her next start, she has more than her share of ability – trialed nicely at Avondale recently. She looks to be a top four chance in this

ROCKY contests the Novice 1100m Polytrack event for S$75k Saturday 3^rd  – Race 5 @ 2pm Singapore Time (6pm NZT) with Jake Bayliss to ride from a nice draw. A strong winning performance Sunday 28^th August and a nice recovery since sees him back up into this race. Up in grade, he meets a couple of smart ones here, but is progressive and will run well. Top 3 chance

DECEPTION contests the same race. A stylish Restricted Maiden Grade winner back in May, he has run twice at Group level without luck. Apprentice Simon Kok takes 1kg off his back. A talented galloper, his recent form may have him under the radar – can feature in the finish at odds

Here is what the STC tipsters have to say about this race:

Fortuna Track work – Matamata
 
Tuesday  29th August

Malborough Bay (T Harris) worked over 1000 metres at three quarter pace in 1.12.32, home in 42.89.
Dancarina (R Sheehan) worked over 1000 metres at three quarter pace in 1.15.6, home in 43.1.

Tuesday  29th August

Rubicon Crossing (C Grylls) worked over an easy 800 metres, home in 38.23.

Thursday 31st August

No timed Fortuna trackwork today

Fortuna Track work – Singapore

Saturday  27^th August

Briggs (Aslam) – 1000/600 37.5; Trident (Aiman) – 800/600 37; Our Final Offer (Aslam) – Steady 40;

Wednesday  30th August

Deception (Simon Kok) – 800/600 40

Other News
 
ROCKY, the Fortuna Racing 4yo, wins at Maiden level in Singapore, bringing up 15 wins in 2022 to date for the Fortuna Team – read all about the ROCKY win below

ROCKY delivers a knock out blow in winning for the first time in Singapore Sunday 28th August

Click HERE to see race replay

 Rocky – 1st win in Singapore – 28th August 2022 – Jake Bayliss in the saddle

Te Akau Racing’s Singapore Trainer, Donna Logan, who scored a brace of wins on the day and is now two wins clear of Tim Fitzsimmons on the Trainers table with 45 wins, was a contented individual post race. “That was great to watch, ROCKY is a talented individual, who has not done himself all favours by being a bit immature in his races and even today he was lugging in badly in the run home, but he got the job done and I think he has a bright future here. Congrats to John Galvin and his Fortuna Team, I love training winners for them.”

Rider Jake Bayliss, who was battling a stomach bug during the day’s racing, was effusive in his praise for ROCKY “He got away well, finished up in a nice spot, relaxed nicely in the run, did a bit wrong in the run home, but was too good – still learning the game but is going to be as nice horse going forward.”

Fortuna Director, John Galvin, watching from his home in Hamilton New Zealand, was also a happy man “That was a great effort by ROCKY and a very nice result – he has always shown plenty of ability, but has also been very green in his racing and clearly has a bit of maturity to come – when it does, he will deliver some nice results for his ownership group. Well done to Donna Logan, she is the ultimate professional – it is showing in her results and well done to Jake Bayliss as well who made a great job of a tricky ride. And kudos to Mark Walker, who recommended this horse to me after seeing him run a nice trial at Avondale in May 2021”

Donna Logan with Rocky, stable staff, Syndicate Member Derek Soh and Derek’s friend Jennifer

ROCKY’s win was the 15th win for the Fortuna Racing Stable in Singapore for the 2022 season, putting the Stable in 2nd place on the Owners table, 3 behind Lim’s Stable.

ROCKY was purchased by John Galvin for NZ$50,000 from the October 2021 Gavelhouse Sale, on the recommendation of the former Singapore Trainer, Mark Walker

ROCKY is raced by the Fortuna Rocky Syndicate, an ownership Group consisting of 44 individuals from New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore

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Fortuna’s Singapore Trainer, Donna Logan, scores another double in Singapore and goes to a clear lead in the Trainer’s Premiership

Donna Logan, with two wins in Singapore Sunday 28 September, has clearly stamped her intention to be a genuine contender for the Singapore training premiership in her first season as the Te Akau head trainer. Her first winner on Saturday was God’s Gift, a horse which Donna actually owns herself, with the Fortuna Racing four-year-old Rocky being the second – amazingly she could have had four winners in total on the card with Diamond Ring (Race 10) after Aftermath (Race 12) both getting nabbed on the line in the final stride. Fellow Singapore Trainer, Tim Fitzsimmons, who has led the Trainer’s Premiership for most of the season, went away empty handed on the day.

Donna, who had trained successfully for many years in New Zealand from her Ruakaka base, had trained on her own account in Singapore from 2018 until the end of 2021, but with Mark Walker relocating to New Zealand, she took up the opportunity to step into the role of Head Trainer for Te Akau Racing.

Donna is supported by her husband Peter Woods, who provides amazing back up support to her with stable administration, staff liaison and client communications.

As readers would be aware, I have had two recent trips to Singapore in recent times to attend race meetings and trackwork and have observed at first hand just how meticulous Donna is with her approach to training and stable management. Training in Asian countries is never easy when it comes to staff management, with cultural and language differences providing significant challenges, however I have sat with Donna and Peter in staff meetings and discussions with their riders and it is clear to see that Donna and Peter are clearly in charge while at the same time providing a friendly and supportive environment for their staff members. It is no coincidence that the two leading apprentices in Singapore for 2022, Fadzli Yusoff and Jerlyn Seow are both indentured to Donna with another Stable apprentice, Kamaruddin Hakim, in 4th place on the apprentice table.

Fingers crossed that Donna can maintain the momentum and pull off what would be an amazing achievement in becoming the 2022 Singapore Champion Trainer

MEDIA RELEASE | Auckland Thoroughbred Racing to offer $20,000 minimum stakes in 2022/23 season

Auckland Thoroughbred Racing (ATR) has today confirmed that a $20,000 stake minimum will apply across all its race meetings in the 2022/23 season as part of its annual stakes announcement.

The amount is up $5,000 on ATR’s minimum of last season and is the highest minimum to have been offered by the Club.

As part of its announcement, ATR has also confirmed it will be contributing $1,421,000 of its own monies into stakes for the season, bringing the total stakes on offer for the Club’s season at Pukekohe Park to $9,570,000.

ATR chief executive Paul Wilcox says that early success with the Club’s new business model has been key to this outcome in commenting that “following last year’s merger and stakes announcement we alluded to the fact that as we continued to implement ournew business model, we hoped to be able to announce further stake increases in the future.

“I am thus delighted to say the work done over the past year in terms of beginning to bring that model to life – particularly with regards to gains made with our property portfolio – has already started to pay off, and that despite challenges posed by the pandemic, we’re still here today announcing what are sustainable, increased returns to our industry.”

While on paper ATR’s contribution to stakes is less than that which it contributed last season and not yet at the levels the Club hopes to achieve, Wilcox says the contribution is nevertheless substantial.
“As part of the merger, we made a commitment to increase returns to the industry and by that we did not just mean those at the top of the game.” Paul Wilcox, ATR chief executive, “Considering we are holding fewer race meetings this season – including less feature meetings such as Derby Day and the New Year’s Day Races; this season’s stakes contribution is still significant, particularly as stake money for all races on an ATR industry day will be $20,000 – $6,000 above the industry minimum of $14,000,” he says.

While the Club’s $1.421m contribution will see each of ATR’s black type races be lifted above NZTR’s minimums, Wilcox adds that the $20,000 minimums are just as important to the Club. “Whenever you hear about sustainability, you often hear about the ‘wider ecosystem’ – something that is important to us as a club when putting that into the context of stakeholders.  As part of the merger, we made a commitment to increase returns to the industry and by that we did not just mean those at the top of the game.
“We recently announced plans to develop additional stabling facilities at Pukekohe Park to accommodate an increased training population in our region and hopefully help those who may not have access to their own land.  Announcements such as that, coupled with today’s regarding the $20,000 minimums, is testament to our commitment to reward all those who choose to race with ATR.”

ATR plans to conduct 14 race meetings over the 2022/23 season

Guest Selector – Des Coppins

Des’ pick last week delivered for us once again, labelling the Imperatriz/Butler Quinella at a nice return of $3.60 – Here is what Des has to say this week:

We grabbed the quinella with our top two in last week’s epic Imperatriz’s win in the Foxbridge Plate. Her dominance was a scary reminder to her opposition heading into the group one Tarzino next week. I said it last week and I’ll say it again, she’s the Golden Eagle tip at the end of October.

Let’s see if we can continue with our winning ways at Wanganui this weekend.

Last week it was all about the biggest race on the day but on Saturday I’m heading to maiden company, race 7, the Happy 40th Craig McMillan Maiden.

I quite like El Attitude, TAB number 9. It’s all based on its trial at Foxton behind race rival on Saturday, Fabian Hawk and it’s run against the same horse at Woodville about 3 weeks ago. I mention Fabian Hawk because that horse is definitely the main threat. In fact I’ll take a straight quinella with the pair but my main bet is El Attitude. At Woodville she was out of her ground for much of the race but she hit the line with real purpose. Her sectionals over the 200m were around a quarter second quicker than anything and on a heavy track that equates to just over one length. Had the race been 1600m at Woodville she would have tested the winner instead of finishing 2 lengths in arrears. Wet tracks suit. Waikato jockey Ellen Nicholas is venturing down to ride her. She was also on board at Woodville.

I was hoping for double figures but I see the bookies are on to her, around the $5.50 mark.  I reckon on the day we will cash in on $6.50 and $2.30 with a bit of luck. My bet will one unit over 3 and the quinella.

Good punting!

Des runs  his very popular phone tipping line (you can access this by calling 0900 45459 – note this incurs a charge of $2.99 per minute) – this service has been active for over 25 years and covers all NZ gallops from 8am each race day).
 

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