New training partners Guy Lowry and Leah Zydenbos with It’s Amelia, one of five runners the pair lined up at Wednesday’s Hawke’s Bay meeting.
By John Jenkins
A new thoroughbred training partnership in Hastings was off to a flying start when Candle scored a deserved win at Wednesday’s Hawke’s Bay twilight race meeting.
Successful trainer Guy Lowry has been joined by Leah Zydenbos at Game Lodge Stables.
The pair had their first runner together when Love Letter contested the final event at Trentham last Saturday and then saddled up five runners on their home track on Wednesday for a win and a third.
Candle was one of the most impressive winners on the day, aided by a tremendous ride from talented apprentice Lily Sutherland.
The Super Easy mare settled last of the 11 runners in the early stages of the 1200m Rating 75 event and was still giving the leaders a big start when Sutherland started to improve her position from the 600m, inside other runners.
While most of the field fanned wide rounding the home bend, Sutherland hugged the running rail and quickly improved to be just behind the leading division at the top of the home straight.
It looked likely that Candle would be denied a rails run for a few strides but Sutherland persevered and when the gap did open, the mare accelerated through and quickly put the issue beyond doubt, crossing the line a decisive 1-1/4 length winner.
It was Candle’s third win from eight starts and she has also recorded two seconds and two thirds.
Her record should read even better as she had been plagued by bad luck in four previous starts this season. She was caught wide throughout when a fresh up ninth over 1200m at Hastings in September and was late getting clear when flashing home for a close third over the same distance at Woodville.
She then finished sixth over 1200m at Hastings in October, where she suffered severe interference 250m from the finish, when mounting a likely run, and was then hampered twice in the home straight when third over 1200m at Trentham last month.
The five-year-old is owned by Guy Lowry and his wife, Brigid, and was bred by Guy’s father, Pat, from the No Excuse Needed mare Flare.
Zydenbos, 22, has been working for the Lowry stable since 2020 and has been a leading amateur jockey in New Zealand in the past couple of seasons, with four wins to her credit.
She has a wealth of horse experience as she attended pony club as a youngster before progressing to success in the show jumping arena and then competing on the international stage in mounted games.
Leah travelled with Wewillrock and Herself when they campaigned in New South Wales earlier this year and had six months of work experience in the stable of top Sydney trainer John O’Shea.
Guy Lowry has had a trainer’s licence for 27 years and has prepared more than 300 winners, 15 of them at Group and Listed level.
He had a successful training partnership with Grant Cullen for several years with their list of black-type wins including the Group 1 Telegraph Sprint (1200m) at Trentham twice (with Irish Fling in 2014 and Adventador in 2016) as well as the 2017 Group 1 Livamol Classic (2100m) at Hastings with Wait A Sec.
Supplementary gates banned
The use of supplementary gates will be halted nationwide pending concerns over their use to ensure there won’t be a repeat of the false start debacle at Trentham last Saturday.
The Group 1 $400,000 TAB Classic (1600m) saw a false start when the supplementary, or clip-on, gates failed to open, trapping three horses while the other 14 jumped and galloped up to 600m before being pulled up.
When the race was restarted minutes later, the three horses who didn’t waste any energy in the false start finished first, second and fourth, with Desert Lightning winning the race.
The false start was put down to a malfunction in the cables connecting the additional four extra starting gates to the 14 gates accommodated by the standard starting gates, with even stipendiary stewards saying they didn’t favour the use of the extra gates.
New Zealand Thoroughbred chief executive Bruce Sharrock announced this week that the use of supplementary gates will be halted nationwide until any concerns over their use can be allayed.
Sharrock also stated the three major North Island racetracks outside of Auckland, which has their own starting gates, will now get their own permanent gates, to be based at Te Rapa, Awapuni and Trentham.
Ellerslie track gets the green light
Auckland Thoroughbred Racing (ATR) has confirmed racing will resume at Ellerslie Racecourse on 14th January 2024 following a successful fourth and final phase of testing on its course proper last Monday.
The Auckland track has been undergoing a gradual “return to racing” testing plan in conjunction with New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) over the past month, with Monday’s set of trials being the final phase.
On Monday, 60 horses trialled on the new StrathAyr surface across 12 heats, with senior jockeys Opie Bosson, Craig Grylls and Joe Doyle on course for the first time since the development.
“It’s a really quality track that was so needed here,” Joe Doyle said. “It rides brilliantly and the horses stay so balanced. It’s really good. I like it.”
Opie Bosson also had favourable things to say about the track.
“It feels beautiful. It’s nice and smooth and it’s a privilege to ride on it,” he said.
“There’s not one fault in the track at all and I’m looking forward to getting back here in January.”
Auckland Thoroughbred Racing Chief Executive Officer Paul Wilcox was pleased with the feedback he has received and is looking forward to racing returning to inner-city Auckland next month.
“To say we are delighted is an understatement,” he said.
“This moment has been much anticipated by not only us here at ATR, but by the entire industry and I’m thrilled at the feedback we’ve received.”
With the testing now complete, racing will commence at Ellerslie Racecourse on Sunday, January 14, with Summer Raceday ahead of the highly popular TAB Karaka Millions on Saturday, January 27.
Extra boost to Karaka Millions
The TAB Karaka Millions meeting at Ellerslie is set to receive another major boost, with New Zealand Bloodstock (NZB) joining forces with Entain to introduce an additional $400,000 in available bonuses for horses offered at the 2024 National Yearling Sales Series at Karaka.
The $200,000 New Owners Bonus will be won by the first horse across the finish line in the $1 million TAB Karaka Millions Two-year-old (1200m) that has 50 per cent or more of the ownership being held by first-time owners.
“We’ve been hugely encouraged by the surge in interest in racing and horse ownership since we entered the New Zealand racing scene earlier this year,” Entain Managing Director – New Zealand Cameron Rodger said.
“The New Owners Bonus is a tremendous chance for Kiwis who haven’t owned a horse before to join in on the thrills of racing a thoroughbred and enjoy even more success if their yearling sales purchase performs well in the 2025 TAB Karaka Millions 2YO.”
An additional $200,000 Book 2 Bonus will be won by the first horse across the finish line in the $1.5 million TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) that was offered in NZB’s Book 2 Sale in January 2024.
This bonus will start with the 2026 edition of the TAB Karaka Millions 3YO when the 2024 yearlings are three-year-olds.
Both bonuses will be introduced for horses offered at Karaka 2024, giving buyers an opportunity to target these bonuses when buying at Karaka in January next year.
Three leading jockeys sidelined
Three of the top five on the national jockeys’ premiership will be out of action next week.
Warren Kennedy, Joe Doyle and Opie Bosson have all been suspended from the completion of today’s racing and won’t return until after Christmas.
Kennedy and Doyle were put out at last Sunday’s Rotorua meeting after they admitted a charge of careless riding in separate races. Both have been suspended from Saturday, December 16, up to and including racing on Sunday, December 24 (five riding days).
Opie Bosson was suspended following the running of race seven at last Saturday’s Trentham meeting in that he permitted his mount Insatiable to shift inwards inside the last 200 metres when not sufficiently clear of Rusty Lane, which was checked.
He too was suspended from the conclusion of racing on December 16 until the conclusion of racing on Sunday, December 24.
Kennedy currently leads the national jockeys’ premiership, with Joe Doyle second and Opie Bosson fourth equal.
New star two-year-old emerges
Captured By Love indicated she could be the next star two-year-old in the country with a dominant win in last Saturday’s Group 2 $175,000 Wakefield Challenge Stakes (1100m) at Trentham.
Ridden by Opie Bosson, the daughter bounced from barrier three and descended strongly down the Trentham chute to take up the pace-making role alongside Hard Attack.
As the challengers began to loom at the 400m, Bosson had barely moved on the filly and she drew away comfortably to score by a dominant three-length margin.
“She’s a beautiful filly,” co-trainer Mark Walker said.
“She’s got size and strength which will count for a lot later on. She’s got a good future.”
Captured By Love was a A$525,000 purchase by Te Akau principal David Ellis at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling sale.
She is owned by the Te Akau 2023 Magic Fillies’ Breeding Syndicate, with one of the members being Waipukurau’s Michael Ormsby.
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