Bonneval set for honours board
The strength of the current threeyear-old crop is emphasised in the first release of finalists for the 2016-17 New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards.
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) has announced the finalists for five of the six racehorse categories.
The list of finalists for the Jumper of the Year will be released later in the month.
The five finalists for three-yearold of the year have all been classic winners this season and Bonneval and Gingernuts were Group I winners on both sides of the Tasman.
Jon Snow was a dual Group I placegetter in New Zealand and a Group I and Group II winner in Australia, while La Diosa was a Group I winner in New Zealand and a Group II winner in Australia.
Bonneval, Gingernuts and Jon Snow are also finalists in the stayers’ category and three-yearold Saracino is a finalist for Sprinter of the Year.
All finalists are also eligible for the Horse of the Year award.
The winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Auckland, at
the Langham Hotel, on Sunday, September 10.
❚ Falcons Reach might be shy of a gallop but she is still expected to give a solid account of herself at Wanganui today.
The Road To Rock mare will be making her first appearance since March when she runs in the New Zealand Bloodstock Pearl Series Race.
‘‘After she won her last start at Tauherenikau she knocked herself and got a haematoma, which then got infected so she had to have a month off,” Opaki owner-trainer Roger Allen said.
“She’s all good now and she galloped well yesterday morning, she doesn’t mind sticky tracks.
“She might need a run, but I think she’ll be up for the fight.”
The winner of three of her 18 starts, Falcons Reach will be ridden by the in-form three kilo claiming apprentice Kate Cowan.
Another fresh runner from the stable at Wanganui will be Zip Zap, who will return to racing in the New Zealand Bloodstock Pearl Series Race for the maiden gallopers.
“Some friends bought her off gavelhouse, she was with Te Akau,” Allen said.
“They bought her as a broodmare, but she’s only a three-yearold so I said why not have a go with her.”
A half-sister by Stravinsky to two winners, Zip Zap is from the family of the multiple Australian Group One winner Grand Armee.
“She’s a big, strong filly, but she can be very nervy,” Allen said.
“I’ve only had her six or eight weeks so we’re still getting to know her and we’ll just see how she goes.”