Bonny Lass pictured here winning the Group 1 BCD Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa last season. She won eight races and just under $750,000 in stake money.
John Jenkins is a longtime racing journalist based in Hawke’s Bay.
After a formidable career competing at the highest level, Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall’s star mare Bonny Lass has been retired from racing.
A daughter of Super Easy, Bonny Lass made an immediate impression when winning her first start as a juvenile, followed by the first of five group victories in the Group 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m). Her 2-year-old campaign was completed by placings in the Group 1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) and Group 1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1200m).
At 3, she won the Group 3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m), a trend she continued into her 4-year-old preparation when picking up the Group 3 Sweynesse Stakes (1200m).
Like fine wine, Bonny Lass flourished with age and came desperately close to her elite-level breakthrough in the Group 1 Railway (1200m) and Group 1 Telegraph (1200m) last season, but that wait came to a triumphant end in the Group 1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m), where she downed class galloper Crocetti to snatch top honours.
Opening her final season with a bang, Bonny Lass returned to Te Rapa and won the Group 2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) and, after finishing eighth in the Group 1 Railway (1200m) last Saturday, the curtain came down on a phenomenal 28-start career.
She earned just shy of $750,000 with eight wins, seven of those in the hands of her regular rider Craig Grylls.
For Richardson, few horses in his career compared to Bonny Lass.
“She was a natural from day one,” he said. “She won her first trial, she only had one, then she won her first start, and went straight into the Breeders’ Stakes and won that too.
“The only two horses to have won group races at 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are her and Melody Belle. I couldn’t be prouder.
“The BCD Sprint was absolutely the highlight, but her entire career was a highlight, she was just an unbelievable horse. She wasn’t always easy to ride, not nasty, but just very competitive and tried very hard.”
Out of a Le Bec Fin mare Posh Bec, Bonny Lass was never short of admirers on course, being the leading light for Brent and Wendy Cooper’s Social Racing Starting Gates Syndicate, who raced her alongside breeder Sandy Moore.
“Brent Cooper is a good friend, but he was also very good to deal with and we used to plan the horse’s programme together, which he loved doing,” Richardson said. “She’s going to be really missed.
“I don’t know what the plan of attack is now, but she’ll go back to Hallmark Stud, then Sandy Moore, who owns her, will decide that. Whether he will sell her or breed from her, I’m not sure, it’s all up in the air, but she’ll be looked after, which she deserves.”
Awapuni races still two months away
The Awapuni racetrack will continue to be out of action until at least the end of April following months of reconstruction.
Race, the organisation that governs the Awapuni racecourse operations, released a statement this week saying that since the completion of the final stage of the physical work on the track in December, the prime objective has been to ensure the new sand slits have a good covering of grass.
Once this is achieved, horses will be able to use the course for trot and canter work and the NZ Thoroughbred Racing “return to racing” protocols initiated. With the “grow in” period being closely monitored by the NZ Sports Turf Institute there is good progress being made.
However, NZTR and Race representatives agree that it is unlikely the track will be ready for horse traffic next month, as there are still areas of the sand slits that have not taken with the initial seeding. These have required some further seeding work in the past week.
Other than this the track is in good condition, with recent subsoiling work proving to be particularly fruitful. However, as past experience has shown, trying to fast-track the turf and the racing surface only causes issues later on.
Taking a conservative approach is the only option and officials are determined racing will not recommence until the track is ready for it.
And while further delays to the reopening of Awapuni are a tough ask for its valued sponsors, members and other stakeholders, making an early decision to move the March 2 and March 29 meetings to Trentham allows trainers to adequately plan their campaigns for the 2-year-old and 3-year-old horses that are the features of these two racedays.
Programming changes are as follows:
Sunday, March 2: Little Avondale Stud Lowland Stakes Day to Race Trentham.
Saturday, March 29: Courtesy Ford Manawatū Sires' Produce Stakes Day to Race Trentham.
Saturday, April 5: Manawatū Breeders' Stakes Day to Wanganui.
At this stage the Anzac Day meeting is still programmed for Awapuni and, if the weather is favourable, then this could be achievable.
Te Akau’s eighth win in classic
It wouldn’t be Karaka Millions night if the familiar tangerine and blue colours of Te Akau Racing were not front and centre in the finish of last Saturday’s Listed TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) at Ellerslie.
The 2025 edition of the contest proved no different with promising filly La Dorada extending the Matamata stable’s outstanding record in the race to eight victories with a gritty on-pace effort.
Leading Victorian rider Craig Williams made the trip across the Tasman to partner the Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-prepared daughter of Waikato Stud stallion Super Seth and produced an absolute gem to guide her home.
Williams made good use of her handy barrier draw (5) to head forward at the start, disputing the pace with Aussie raider Hello Romeo before easing to a clear lead with 300m to run.
Hard up against the fence, La Dorada produced a powerful kick and shot two lengths clear before gamely holding out the late charge of outsiders Vega For Luck and South Island visitor Miss Ziggy who stormed home from second last on the home turn.
Williams was his usual calm and collected self after picking up his third win in the race, noting the addition of visor blinkers and a tongue tie had been crucial to the performance.
“The gear change today meant I had the right filly and she was very good,” Williams said.
“She had a lovely run throughout although the instructions weren’t that specific.
“It was all about her and they knew the horse they had.”
Williams had previously taken out the contest aboard Ruud Awakening in 2013 and with Ockham’s Razor a year earlier
Te Akau Racing boss David Ellis purchased La Dorada for $190,000 out of the Waikato Stud draft during the Book 1 sale at Karaka in 2024. She is raced by the Te Akau Solid Gold Racing Partnership, with Waipukurau’s Michael Ormsby having a small shareholding in the syndicate.
Sethito chosen for Kiwi slot
Waikato Stud and Wexford Stables have furthered their representation in the NZB Kiwi (1500m), with slot holder Waikato Thoroughbred Racing announcing its filly Sethito as its contender for the $3.5 million feature.
Bred and raced by leading thoroughbred nursery Waikato Stud, Sethito has made an impact on the track for Wexford trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott this term, winning two and placing in two of her five starts, including victory in the Group 3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) and runner-up in the Group 2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m), both run at Ellerslie.
The Matamata operations were already represented in the NZB Kiwi by Sought After, who fills Waikato Stud’s slot, while Wexford’s NZB Kiwi contingent now sits at three, with stablemate Checkmate recently announced as its contender.
Waikato Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Andrew Castles said it is great to be associated with two high-class operations, and to have secured a quality filly in Sethito as its NZB Kiwi representative.
Castles said Waikato Thoroughbred Racing took an analytical approach in making its slot decision, and it is hoping Sethito’s liking for Ellerslie continues, with the race set to be staged at the Auckland venue on March 8.
“She has raced well, and the application of blinkers have made a huge difference,” he said. “We have had a form analyst, Gary Cossey, helping us, and her performances have been first-rate. Her form around Ellerslie was certainly a big determinant in our decision.”
Sethito is set to have one more run ahead of the NZB Kiwi, with Waikato Thoroughbred Racing planning to put on a function for its members in the lead-up to the race.
“She will have one more run and I suspect, like many of the NZB Kiwi protagonists, that will be in that 1400m race for 3-year-olds [Listed Trevor & Coralie Eagle Uncle Remus Stakes] at Ellerslie on February 22,” Castles said.
“We are planning a members’ function on the Thursday before the race here at Te Rapa. We will do a preview and focus on Sethito and her pathway towards the NZB Kiwi. We will have those involved with her joining us and we are going to get our members along for the ride.
“It is going to be exciting, and it is going to be a fantastic day’s racing, not just the NZB Kiwi, but all the other wonderful racing on the card, and we are just delighted to be a small part of it.”
Two marquee semifinals of footy looming this weekend.