Huge racing announcement due at Ellerslie this morning

The racing industry’s biggest players have called a press conference for Ellerslie today.

Expect more huge news for the New Zealand racing industry today.

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) bosses and some of the industry’s biggest players have called a press conference for Ellerslie at 10.30am today, with the Herald understanding it will cover two or three subjects pertaining to next season.

It was only a few years ago any sort of announcement from racing bosses was met with dread and involved phrases like “tough economic headwinds” but today won’t be that.

While NZTR bosses are staying tight-lipped, the fact the press conference is at Ellerslie suggests it will in some way involve our premier track, while it is believed Minister of Racing Winston Peters will be there.

They are all pointers to positive news for industry participants to digest, which has become New Zealand racing’s new diet since the Entain/TAB deal was struck.

The announcement will be shown live on weekly thoroughbred TV show Weigh In (Trackside 1) and livestreamed by LoveRacing.nz.

Jockey Warren Kennedy stood down

There was a shock update out of Pukekohe yesterday: champion jockey Warren Kennedy is human after all.

Kennedy was stood down from riding after winning Race 2 on Pour The Wine because of dehydration.

It is one of the first signs since Kennedy moved to New Zealand 16 months ago that he is not actually a race-winning robot, because while he is very personable, his work ethic has fellow jockeys shaking their heads.

Kennedy rode at the Tauranga trials last Tuesday, Te Rapa races on Wednesday, flew to Riccarton to ride two winners on Thursday, was at Ellerslie for trackwork at 7am on Friday morning, off to Trentham for Wellington Cup day on Saturday and back to Pukekohe yesterday.

“I got a stomach bug a few days ago and it has really knocked me,” he told the Herald.

“I only weigh 52kgs normally and I have lost 2.5kgs in two days so I am walking around under 50kgs and just can’t rehydrate. I will miss the trials on Tuesday, get myself right and be back riding on Wednesday.”

That means punters need not worry about the recent New Zealand record-setter, with seven wins at Pukekohe on New Year’s Day, missing Saturday’s TAB Karaka Millions mega-meeting.

“I will be there for sure and I can’t wait, like everybody else.”

Kennedy is confirmed to ride Bellatrix Star in the 2-year-old race and defending KM champ Tokyo Tycoon in the $1.5 million 3-year-old race, with Te Akau stable No 1 Opie Bosson to partner Talisker.

He will also reunite with his 2000 Guineas winner Crocetti, who is unbeaten but hasn’t raced since his Riccarton triumph in November.

“I rode him in his exhibition gallop at Ellerslie last week and he felt great,” says Kennedy. “If anything, I think he has grown length-wise and he has an amazing stride now.”

Crocetti is set to be the hottest favourite of KM night and will be the anchor in many multi bets in the $225,000 Cambridge Stud Almanzor Trophy.

Advantage Legarto

One of the big winners out of Saturday’s Group 1 Thorndon Mile wasn’t even there — because without even racing on Saturday, Legarto’s odds of winning the $500,000 Summer Bonus look to have improved.

The Thorndon was the first leg of the new $650,000 summer bonus for elite horses, with a first prize of $500,000 for the one who accrues the most points over four races.

Horses have to start in either the Thorndon or this Saturday’s $1m Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic to be eligible with the next two points-bearing races being the Herbie Dyke (Te Rapa, February 10) and Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (Ellerslie, March 9), with the latter two legs being over 2000m.

The Thorndon was won by Puntura, who won’t head to the latter two legs so he can’t be in contention to win the bonus. Second placed El Vencedor will go to the Herbie Dyke and, depending on how he goes there, could also feature at the Bonecrusher — with trainer Stephen Marsh saying the bonus scheme makes it worthwhile stepping up to 2000m for the first time.

The two 1600m races carry less points than the 2000m races so El Vencedor (seven points) and Thorndon third-place getter Lady Talena (five) lead the table over One Bold Cat.

Campionessa, who only got two points on Saturday, will be better suited by the Herbie Dyke and Bonecrusher, trainer Mark Walker confirming they are her next aims.

So Legarto, who is $1.60 for the Aotearoa on Saturday where she should get big points, could go to the second half of the summer bonus series a long way in front of many of her key rivals, with a similar opportunity for Sharp N Smart — who races in the Aotearoa Classic with “an international jockey,” according to trainer Graeme Rogerson.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.