Donna Logan returns to New Zealand to resume training career after seven years in Singapore

Donna Logan will resume her training career in New Zealand at Ruakākā on Tuesday. Photo / Trish Dunell

Donna Logan will return to her old stomping ground of Ruakākā on Tuesday to resume her training career in New Zealand after plying her trade in Singapore for the last seven years.

Racing ceased in Singapore following their last race meeting on October 5 and Logan elected to return to New Zealand, but opted to base her training operation at Byerley Park in South Auckland rather than return to her former base at Ruakākā.

“It’s absolutely amazing to be back,” Logan said. “I love it at Byerley Park – the horses are so happy, and we are happy.”

“Byerley Park was a very good option. Ellerslie isn’t far and that is where the money is, and the airport is close, so if we are good enough, we can go overseas. They were big attractions.”

While Logan would have loved to have returned to Ruakākā, she said the amount of travel involved in operating from the Northland township was too much of a hurdle.

“I loved Ruakākā, I had a wonderful time training there, but once you are based in a place like Singapore and you race and train in one place – I was quite despondent to think that I [was] going to have to do all of that travel again,” she said.

“I have done a lot of it [travel]. I missed a lot of kids’ sports; I sacrificed a lot for that travel, so Byerley Park seemed a sensible option.”

Logan said she is also appreciating the greenery of her homeland after living in a city-state for the best part of the last decade.

“We probably didn’t appreciate how much we missed the green paddocks and the lawns and trees. We really appreciate it now after being away from it,” she said.

While Logan hasn’t returned to train at Ruakākā, she is rapt she is having her first runners at the Northland venue on Tuesday.

“It is funny that it has panned out that I am kicking off in Ruakākā,” she said. “It just fitted in, and it wasn’t until we did the noms that I thought, ‘Oh my God, I am going back to my old turf!’”

Logan is set to line up debutants Likava and White Mask for Westbury Stud principal Gerry Harvey, who Logan said has been a big supporter of hers on her New Zealand return.

“Gerry is amazing. He supports a lot of people in New Zealand, and I am very grateful to have his support. He is a great man for our industry,” Logan said.

Four-year-old mare Likava will line up in the Northland Business Systems (1200m), while Logan is weighing up between the Wangaripo Valley Free Range Egg Cup Race (1400m) and Lion Red (1400m) with White Mask.

“White Mask is a very nice 3-year-old that is going to get up over ground,” Logan said. “Whatever she does tomorrow, she is going to take a tonne of improvement, and as she steps up in distance, she is only going to get better and better.

“Likava is older, a 4-year-old now, but she has shown me enough to think that she will go a reasonable race. She is a first-starter, so they have been very patient with her.

“Both horses were pre-trained for me before I got here, and I am grateful to the people who pre-trained them for me. It has given me the opportunity to kick off the mark a lot quicker than I would have otherwise.”

Meanwhile, Logan was pleased to be reunited with her Singapore stakes-performed mare Istataba last month. The Argentinian-bred daughter of Treasure Beach placed in the Singapore 3YO Classic (1400m) and two editions of the Singapore Gold Cup for Logan, and earned more than S$536,000 in prize money.

Logan is excited to have her bolster her New Zealand team, and she is already eyeing some stakes targets with her mare.

“Istataba arrived in New Zealand on December 20. She is the only horse from Singapore,” Logan said. “She ran third in the Singapore Gold Cup for two years running for me, and she will be set for our Cups staying races.”

– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk