Haunui Farm stallion Elusive City (USA) (Elusive Quality) continues to make an impression on Australasian racetracks with three new winners added to his growing tally this past weekend.

Haunui Farm graduates Jungle Rocket (NZ) (Jungle Pocket) and Norse Affair (NZ) (Viking Ruler) will contest the Listed Sunline Vase (2100m) for three-year-old fillies at Ellerslie on Auckland Cup day and with good form leading into the race, both have every chance of claiming some black type success.

Jungle Rocket comes into tomorrow's race with two starts under her belt including an impressive victory on debut and a narrow second placing at Matamata over 2000m on the 21st of February.  Norse Affair will face the starter for the fifth time tomorrow after winning over 2000m at Avondale at her last start on the back of two seconds and a third in her previous starts.

Both fillies are graduates of Haunui's 2006 Weanling Draft, Jungle Rocket fetching $21,500 to the bid of New Zealand Bloodstock on behalf of Australian-based owners Louise Betts and David Pleasance whilst Norse Affair was a $15,000 purchase for Ruakaka trainer Donna Logan.

"Tomorrow will undoubtedly be a big step up in class for both fillies but I'm sure their respective trainers wouldn't be lining them up if they didn't think they were capable," said Haunui Farm General Manager Mark Chitty.  "From our perspective it is great to see two graduates from our weanling draft lining up in stakes company," he said.  "They are fillies that have only had a handful of starts between them and both have won and been placed leading into tomorrow's race," said Mark. "With the weanling sale just aroung the corner I hope that buyers are taking note," he said.  "Both of these fillies were well grown, nice, tidy weanlings and have gone on to develop into winning racehorses," said Mark.  "We only have the capacity to prepare around 50 yearlings each year so common sense tells us we have to dispurse of surplus numbers.  Of course some of our weanlings are in the sale for obvious reasons, there are others that are there merely because shear weight of numbers doesn't allow us to take these horses through to the next stage so any prospective buyers should be taking a good look at our 2009 weanling draft," he said.  "There have also been some very nice results for pinhookers from our weanling draft, in recent times Blyth Tait purchased a Van Nistelrooy colt from us for$27,000 and on sold him at the yearling sales for $70,000 - a good result in anyone's view," said Mark.

Haunui Farm is in the process of finalising our weanling draft for 2009 but should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Mark Chitty - 021 663 995 - or Shannon Taylor - 0212 855 513 at any stage.

Gooree Park Stud's homebred filly Autumn Ember (Aus) (Don Eduardo) impressed connections so much with her win at Warwick Farm yesterday that the three-year-old filly will be given every opportunity to stake her claim for the Group One AJC Oaks (2400m).

Trained by Gai Waterhouse, Autumn Ember made it two from two yesterday and ridden by leading jockey Blake Shinn, the filly was nicely positioned in the trail for most of the race.  Coming to the turn she was eased off the fence and went up to challenge the leader and race favourite Messenger (Aus) (Choisir) and after doing battle, Autumn Ember got the better of her opponent easing down to the line to win by just under a length with four lengths to third.

It wasn't the fact that Autumn Ember won the race, it was the manner in which she did it that has Andrew Baddock of Gooree Park Stud and Gai Waterhouse looking at some bigger fish to fry.  "With Samantha Miss out of the Autumn the three-year-old fillies ranks are blown wide open and while there is still a bit to do before we could really label Autumn Ember a contender for the Oaks, we're going to give her every opportunity," said Andrew Baddock.

Autumn Ember will line up next over a mile at Warwick Farm on the 9th of March and will then target a Listed three-year-old fillies race at Kembla Grange before hopefully lining up in the Arrowfield Stakes and then the AJC Oaks.  Out of stakes winning mare Blab (Aus) (Flying Spur), Autumn Ember has the pedigree to suggest she would be well at home in an oaks field having a pedigree which already features Champion Filly and AJC Oaks-winner Bounding Away (Aus) (Biscay).

"The Autumn could be a flagship time in Don Eduardo's career as a sire," said Mark Chitty, General Manager of Haunui Farm where Don Eduardo resides on behalf of his owner Mr Cojuangco of Gooree Park Stud.  "He has Vickezzchardonnay lining up in the Auckland Cup on Wednesday and she is a very real contender," he said.  "He also has Autumn Ember in Australia who can hopefully add to her tally and he has a lot of horses lining up in the next few days such as Booming, Cadonna and Don Julia who have all shown a lot of promise and will hopefully go on to bigger things and, his good sprinter in Australia Swift Alliance is back in pre-training and headed toward a Queensland campaign," said Mark.  "There are a few to keep an eye on!"

Haunui Farm will be announcing Don Eduardo's 2009 service fee in the near future with all Haunui stallions set to serve a restricted book of mares in 2009.

After breaking his maiden status just under two weeks ago, Haunui Farm graduate Definitive (Aus) (Redoute's Choice) took a giant step-up in class at Moonee Valley on Saturday to contest the Group Two Alister Clark Stakes (1600m).

Having never raced at black type level, it was a step into the unknown for all concerned however trainer Peter Moody's opinion of the horse was well and truly franked with a fast finishing third to the Group Three-winner and Group One-placed Pre Eminence (Aus) (Encosta de Lago) on the tight-turning Moonee Valley track.

"It was certainly a big ask and was definitely going to show us if the horse was up to that level but Peter has always held him in high regard and has given the colt the time he has needed," said Mark Chitty of Haunui Farm.  "You could see that the tight turning track wasn't 100% to his liking as he's such a big striding horse and he got a little unbalanced on the home turn but once he was balanced, he came home very strongly," he said.

"I couldn't have been happier with his effort in what was a pretty big ask for the horse," said trainer Peter Moody.  "He has come through the race well and all going well we will look towards the Autumn Stakes a Caulfield in a couple of weeks time," he said.

Definitive was a $1.3 million purchase by Peter Moody from Haunui's Karaka 2007 Premier Draft.

After being so close, but yet so far, on a number of occasions in black type events, four-year-old mare Vickezzchardonnay (NZ) (Don Eduardo) finally broke through for that all important black type win at Taranaki on Saturday and in doing so, became the first stakes winner for her sire, Don Eduardo (NZ) (Zabeel).

Third in the Group Two New Zealand Cup (3200m) and a luckless fourth in the Wellington Cup (2400m) after rider Craig Grylls dropped his whip in the run home, Vickezzchardonnay has been a stand out performer from her sire’s first crop with five wins and eight placings to her credit from a 22 start career.  Saturday’s victory in the Group Three Taranaki Cup (2000m) is certainly well deserved.

“Until Saturday, Don Eduardo had had three horses beaten by less than half a length in Group races,” said Mark Chitty, General Manager of Haunui Farm, referring also to the placings of Il Divo in the Group Two Great Northern Guineas (2100m) and the Group Three Waikato Guineas (2000m) and, Dashing Donna’s placings in the Group Two Concorde Stakes (1200m) and the Group One Railway Stakes (1200m).  Don Eduardo also has a stakes performer in Australia in the form of three-year-old filly Lara’s Glitter, runner-up in the Listed Hobart Guineas (2100m) “His progeny have been knocking on the door for a while and it is nice to finally have his first Group win in the bag,” says Mark.

With 33 individual winners to date, this season has seen the emergence of some exciting prospects for Don Eduardo with the likes of Booming, Cadonna, Don Julio and Divine Rebel all starting to build reputations as promising stayers whilst across the Tasman has seen the emergence of promising sprinter Swift Alliance highlighting Don Eduardo’s versatility as a sire.

“Whilst Don Eduardo was a Derby winner and bred to stay, he is proving very versatile producing sprinters and stayers,” said Mark.  “His dam, Diamond Lover, won the Railway over 1200m so there is definitely some speed in the his pedigree and he seems to be passing this on,” he said.

Don Eduardo will serve a restricted book of mares in 2009 and his service fee, along with the fees of Elusive City (USA) (Elusive Quality) and Iffraaj (GB) (Zafonic) will be announced shortly.

Haunui Farm graduate Definitive (Aus) (Redoute's Choice) broke his maiden hoodoo in impressive fashion today at Ballarat over 1600m.

Jumping from barrier three, the big, strong three-year-old showed nice gate speed for jockey Luke Nolen to settle just behind the speed on the rails.  Whilst perhaps not the preferred position to be in, the colt settled nicely and travelled well.

With the home turn looming, Nolan found a gap to move to the outside and once balanced, Definitive turned on the gas and within three or four strides put the race beyong doubt being eased down toward the line.

"It was nice to see the colt get some racing room - the first time he has - and his excelleration was fantastic," said Mark Chitty of Haunui Farm.  "Whilst it might be an inauspicious start, the fashion in which he won was very pleasing and hopefully it will be onwards and upwards from here," he said.

A $1.3 million yearling at Karaka 2007, Definitive is trained in Melbourne by Peter Moody who has always had a high opinion of the colt.  "It is nice to finally get the monkey of his back after some luckless runs since his debut as a two-year-old," said Peter.  "The more ground he goes over, the better he is and this race should hopefully set him well for what will hopefully be a nice autumn campaign," he said.

Haunui Farm stallion Elusive City (USA) (Elusive Quality) made quite an impression on buyers at the New Zealand Bloodstock Festival Sale with the sale topper, the second highest price and two other colts in the top ten - all four colts were in the Haunui Farm Draft.

"I have said all along that we had some colts in the Festival Sale that could have held their own in any sale on type and the results prove I was right," said Mark Chitty, General Manager of Haunui Farm.  "The colts created an impression with buyers and we heard that there was a lot of good talk about them on the sale ground and the results came in the ring," he said.

The top price of $77,500 was paid by David Cole for Lot 1636, the Elusive City colt out of Contemplate (NZ) (Dream Well).  The second top price of the sale came on the first day with Queensland Bloodstock agent John Foote paying $75,000 for the Elusive City colt out of Outstripping (NZ) (Centaine).  "There was a lot of interest in both colts but given the market, we weren't too sure what buyers were valuing them at," said Mark. 

The other two Elusive City colts in Haunui's draft both fetched $40,000 with Lot 1476, the colt out of Sunshine Gold (NZ) (Zabeel) being purchased by John and Wayne Hawkes, whilst Lot 1534 out of Zazonali (NZ), also by Zabeel (NZ) (Sir Tristram), was purchased by Bruce Wallace.

With solid sales results such as this, Elusive City ended the Festival Sale as the leading sire by aggregate and average with figures of $263, 750 and $37,679 respectively from seven lots sold.  Haunui Farm was also the leading vendor by average selling nine yearlings for an average of $38,056.

"It was a very pleasing sale results wise but also for Elusive City," said Mark.  "As a stallion who stands at a fee of $8,000, these results can give breeders the confidence that even in a difficult market a solid return can be made," he said.  "However, I also think that the presentation of yearlings at this level has an impact on results as well and this is something that breeders need to keep in mind when looking to sell," said Mark. 

Recently crowned Chanpion First Season Sire of Europe, Haunui Farm stallion Elusive City (USA) (Elusive Quality) continued his run of recent success with two stakes performers in New Zealand this weekend.

Three-year-old filly Metropolitan (NZ) (Eluisve City) added to her black type tally running third in the Listed Gore Guineas (1355m).  The winner of the Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m), Metropolitan was the first stakes performer for her sire when third as a two-year-old in the Avondale JC 2YO Fillies Stakes (1200m).  Trained by John and Karen Parsons, Metropolitan is quickly carving out a reputation as the South Islands leading 3YO filly.

Further black type success came Elusive City's way at Trentham on Saturday through the deeds of two-year-old Spirit of Unicorn (NZ) (Eluisve City) when running third in the Group Two Wakefield Challenge Stakes (1200m) at only his third start.

"To get two stakes performers in one weekend is a great achievement," said Haunui Farm's General Manager, Mark Chitty.  "Metropolitan is shaping up to be a very smart filly and to get a Group Two performing two-year-old from his second crop is very pleasing," he said.  "With the yearling sales about to get underway in a week's time, results like this will certainly be beneficial for the Elusive City's in the sale," he said.

Photographs of Haunui Farm's Karaka 2009 Yearling Draft have been uploaded and can be viewed by visiting the SALES section of the website.

This year we have introduced a new innovation by adding head shots and front leg shots for each of the yearlings as well as the normal posed photograph.

Please feel free to contact us should you require any further information in regard to the yearlings we have in our 2009 draft.

Don Eduardo (NZ) (Zabeel) enjoyed another day of success on the tracks of New Zealand and Australia with a treble of winners.

Booming (NZ) (Don Eduardo) started the ball rolling with an impressive victory over 2100m at Awapuni when starting as favourite for trainer Jeff Lynds and jockey Darryl Bradley.  Settled one off-the rail just behind the leaders, the race was never in doubt when Booming challenged for the lead with the four-year-old gelding easing down to win by one and a quarter lengths.

Vickezzchardonnay (NZ) (Don Eduardo) followed suit over the same distance but this time at the home of the Auckland Racing Club, Ellerslie.  Settled in a handy position by jockey Troy Harris, she was caught in a head-to-head battle with Casa de Campo (NZ) (Generous) and jockey Michael Walker over the last 250m but proved the stronger nabbing victory just on the line.

Across the Tasman it was the Gai Waterhouse-trained Moti (NZ) (Don Eduardo) who notched up her third win this campaign over the 1500m at Rosehill.

With 22 individual winners so far this season, both Dashing Donna (NZ) (Don Eduardo) and Vickezzchardonnay have been incredibly unlucky not to have become stakes winners for their sire – Dashing Donna missing out by a nose in the Group One Railway Handicap (1200m) and Vickezzchardonnay going down less than a length in the Group Two New Zealand Cup (3200m).  “He could easily have had three stakes winners in the bag rather than three stakes performers but that’s racing,” said Haunui Farm’s General Manager, Mark Chitty.  “The good thing is that he has got some quality horses out there and people recognise that,” said Mark.

Karaka 2009 is just on two-weeks away with 20 Don Eduardo yearlings catalogued in the sale.  “We have already had some interest from Australia in the Don Eduardo’s that we have in the sale and I’m sure buyers will have them on their radar at the sales,” said Mark. 

2009 couldn’t have got off to a better start for Haunui Farm’s young stallion Elusive City (USA) (Elusive Quality).  The start of the New Year saw Elusive City officially crowned Champion First Season Sire of Europe, a first for any stallion with New Zealand ownership and undoubtedly, one of the most significant achievements for any young stallion in the Southern Hemisphere. 

“It’s a remarkable achievement, Elusive City couldn’t have got his career off to a better start in the Northern Hemisphere and the results are starting to roll in on this side of the world as well,” said Mark Chitty, General Manager of Haunui Farm.  “To have six stakes performers from his first Northern Hemisphere crop was outstanding and when you consider his service fee level and possibly the quality of mare he received in the Northern Hemisphere in comparison to some of his counterparts I think his results are even more remarkable,” he said.  “It’s a great result for Haunui and our partners in Elusive City, Fairdale Stud and Trelawney Stud,” said Mark. 

The only first season sire in the Northern Hemisphere to produce two Group winning two-year-olds, Elusive City ended the season with a total of nineteen individual winners among them, Group Three and Goffs Million-winner Soul City (Ire), Group Three winner and Group One performer Elusive Wave (Ire), and the stakes performers Connie Mac (Ire), Nashmiah (Ire), Able Master (Ire) and The Legal Blonde (Ire). 

The first four days of January also provided some excellent results in the Southern Hemisphere for Elusive City’s first crop with four winners in the space of the four days including two in one of New Zealand’s most important export environments, Hong Kong. 

Blaze King (NZ) (Elusive City) who raced in New Zealand as Discretion, made it two from two for trainer Tony Millard with another win at Sha Tin on Sunday whilst True Intelligence, also from the stable of Millard also proved successful three days previous. 

In New Zealand, Elusive Memories (NZ) (Elusive City) proved too strong at Tauranga over 1400m with co-trainer Roger James eyeing a start in the Group Three Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) at Trentham toward the end of January whilst stakes winner Metropolitan backed up her last start win with another triumph and will now head for more black type in the Listed Gore Guineas (1355m) on the 17th of January. 

“Obviously these results are very timely with the yearling sales just around the corner,” said Mark.  “As types, the Elusive City’s have made an impression on buyers as yearlings with multiple six figure yearlings from his first two crops so far,” he said.  “He’s had six winners from eleven starters in Australia so far this season with two unbeaten horses in Ahdashim and Marne and he now has two from two in Hong Kong so that bodes well for our two largest export markets,” says Mark.   

Elusive City has 27 yearlings catalogued for Karaka 2009 with Haunui offering seven yearlings by the sire. 

Following the win on debut of Blaze King (NZ) (Elusive City), True Intelligence (NZ) (Elusive City) made it two from two for his sire in Hong Kong with a strong performance at Sha Tin over night. 

It was a case of close but yet so far at Ellerslie on New Year's Day with four-year-old mare Dashing Donna (NZ) (Don Eduardo) when finishing second by just a long neck in the Group One Railway Handicap (1200m).

Two starts ago, Dashing Donna finished third in the Group Two Concorde Stakes (1200m) at Avondale and 250m from home yesterday, it looked unlikely she would finish in the money until sprouting wings for jockey Noel Harris at the 200m mark to storm home down the outer of the Ellerslie straight.

The leading light in her sire's first crop, Dashing Donna was stakes placed at two and has continued to add to her credentials with four wins, four seconds and three thirds from seventeen starts.

"Two strides past the post she was in front and it would have been huge for Don Eduardo," said Mark Chitty of Haunui Farm.  "She is certainly proving that she is a first class mare and just shows the versatility of Don Eduardo being a sprinting type," he said.

With Karaka 2009 just around the corner, a Group One win would have timely for the progeny of Don Eduardo who will be represented by 20 yearlings at Karaka 2009.  "I'm sure there will be plenty of interest in the Don Eduardo's as he has been getting some very good results over the last six weeks  and has 22 winners for the season so far," said Mark.  "Dashing Donna and Vickezzchardonnay have been incredibly unlucky not to have won major black type events and I'm sure buyers will be keeping this in mind come sale time," he said.

Haunui will offer eight yearlings by Don Eduardo at Karaka 2009 including a half brother to Group One-winner Gallic (NZ) (Zabeel). 

Three-year-old filly Metropolitan (NZ) (Elusive City) made a winning return to the track today after a short let-up by trainers John and Karen Parsons.

Racing over 1100m at Central Otago, the filly was settled off the pace with the lead being hotly contested and ran home down the middle of the track to roll over the top of her opposition and score in comfortable fashion.

The first stakes performer for her sire in either hemisphere when stakes placed at two, Metropolitan came out at three to become her sire's first Southern Hemisphere stakes winner when taking out the Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m) toward the end of September and then finished a very close second to New Zealand Derby aspirant Moveovr (NZ) (Postponed) in her next start.  A stone bruise resulted in a brief let-up before returning to the track today where after an impressive win, the filly will undoubtedly have further black type aspirations on her agenda.

Three-year-old colt Blaze King (NZ) (Elusive City) - formerly raced in New Zealand as Discretion - made the best possible start to his racing career in Hong Kong with an impressive victory on debut over 1000m on Saturday.

Sold to Hong Kong after an impressive win at Ellerslie in June, Blaze King is in the stable of Tony Millard.  "He showed a lot of promise in New Zealand and it is great to see that the horse has obviously settled well in the Hong Kong environment," said Mark Chitty of Haunui Farm.  "Hong Kong is obviously a very lucrative market for New Zealand horses so it is important for stallions to perform up there," he said.

Blaze King's victory followed two very impressive place-getters in Australia for Elusive City with the Danny O'Brien-trained Full Moon (NZ) finishing second at Moonee Valley on Friday night over 2040m and the Brian Jenkins-trained Subashi (NZ) finishing third over 1000m at Flemington.

Elusive City has completed his fifth Southern Hemisphere book covering 92 mares in 2008.  He is set to return to the Northern Hemisphere on the 11th of January where as Champion First Season Sire, he will stand at an elevated service fee of 12,000 euro and will undoubtedly be a popular choice with Irish breeders once again.

Haunui Farm stallions Don Eduardo (NZ) (Zabeel) and Elusive City (USA) (Elusive Quality) are beginning the make their presence felt on Australasian Sire's Tables with Elusive City equal third on the second season sires list and Don Eduardo starting to make an impression on the third crop sire's list moving to 11th spot.

With nine individual winners and a stakes winner in the Southern Hemisphere so far this season, Elusive City is headed on the second season sires list by Australian-based duo Reset (Aus) (Zabeel) and Exceed And Excel (Aus) (Danehill). 

Set to be crowned Champion First Season Sire of Europe, Elusive City has a number of promising types to have emerged over recent weeks including the Danny O'Brien-trained Full Moon (NZ) who lines up at Moonee Valley this weekend and Elusive Memories (NZ) who finished an impressive second on debut at Counties earlier this week in a head-bobbing finish.  The Mark Walker-trained Elusive Fortune (NZ) is on the Derby trail and Gerald Ryan has the unbeaten Ahdashim (NZ) back in work.

Resident sire Don Eduardo is really starting to build some momentum with twenty individual winners to date - 13 of these coming in the last three weeks.  Four-year-old mares Dashing Donna (NZ) and Vickezzchardonnay (NZ) continue to be standout performers for their sire both adding further black type to their pedigrees so far this season.  These mares also highlight the versatility of their sire with Dashing Donna winning up to 1400m whilst Vickezzchardonnay was placed in the two-mile New Zealand Cup.

"It is certainly pleasing to see both horses notching up the winners on the track and there are some exciting horses emerging for both stallions," said Mark Chitty of Haunui Farm.  "Don Eduardo also has the likes of Don Julio and Don Domingo who will be contesting the Dunstan Stayers Series over the Summer and last start-winner Diplomatic looks to be hitting his stride at the right time," he said.  "We have some cracking yearlings to offer by both stallions at the sales in January and they will fit into every level of the market," said Mark.  "I'm sure there will be a lot of interest in them," he said.

The result of the Listed Christmas Cup (2400m) in Sydney on Saturday was a pleasing one for Haunui with the winner, Ready To Lift (Aus) (More Than Ready) yet another stakes winner for the Haunui foundation family with the second placed Zazabeau (NZ) (Zabeel), bred, raised and sold by Haunui.

Ready To Lift is out of the Haunui bred and raced mare On The Rise (NZ) (Crested Wave) who was sold by Haunui Farm in the late ninties and spent the remainder of her breeding career in Australia. Haunui Farm continues to breed from this foundation family with Octapussy (NZ) (Octagonal) and Riesling (NZ) (Last Tycoon) - both grand-daughters of On The Rise - two current members of the Haunui Farm broodmare band.  Riesling has already produced the Group Three-winner Valpolicella (NZ) (Red Ransom) and in 2009, Haunui farm will offer a Zabeel (NZ) (Sir Tristram) filly out of Riesling through the yearling sale ring whilst Octapussy's first foal, a colt by Exceed And Excel (Aus) (Danehill), will be offered in the Premier Sale at Karaka 2009.

Second place-getter Zazabeau is out of the stakes winner and stakes producing mare The Perfume Garden (NZ) (Tights).  Sold by Haunui at the 2006 Karaka Premier Sale, Zazabeau was purchased by Duncan Rammage under his DGR Thoroughbreds banner for trainer Bart Cummings.

The Perfume Garden has an O'Reilly (NZ) (Last Tycoon) filly at foot that will be retained for racing and is in foal to first season sire Iffraaj (GB) (Zafonic). 

Haunui Farm stallion Don Eduardo (NZ) (Zabeel) has enjoyed a stellar run of success over the past week through the performances of Dashing Donna (NZ), Cadonna (NZ), Don Julio (NZ), Diplomatic (NZ) and All In Black (NZ) - his latest winner in a tally of nine so far this season.

Dashing Donna started the ball rolling with her third placing in the Group Two Concorde Stakes (1200m) on Avondale Cup-day last week and this was followed up with impressive wins by Cadonna and Don Julio over the weekend.

Last night at Ellerslie's Twilight race meeting, Diplomatic who is part owned by Haunui, was ridden to a tee by jockey Gavin McKeon and downed a promising field to break maiden ranks and today, All In Black came from the rear of the field to overpower her opposition over 1200m for rider Troy Harris and trainer John Wheeler.

"He has had some very impressive winners over the last week and Dashing Donna only missed winning the Concorde by the narrowest of margins," said Mark Chitty of Don Eduardo.  "His versatility as a sire is really starting to come through with horses like Swift Alliance, Dashing Donna and Moti all favouring the sprint distances whilst he has some very nice milers and staying types," he said. 

Horses to watch this weekend are recent winner Reposado (NZ) from the stable of Jamie Graham with Noel Harris aboard in the Dunstan Feeds Championship Qualifier (2400m) whilst the Andrew Scott stable will saddle Verdasco (NZ) for the first time on a raceday with the debutant lining up in the Listed Fairview Ford Stakes (1100m) for two-year-olds.

Haunui Farm stallion Elusive City (USA) (Elusive Quality) is set to make history at the end of the Northern Hemisphere racing season when he will become the first stallion under New Zealand ownership to be crowned Champion First Season Sire of Europe. Possibly an even greater achievement is the fact Elusive City is placed second on the General Two-Year-Old Sires table behind Danehill Dancer (Ire) (Danehill).

Don Eduardo (NZ) (Zabeel) three-year-old Swift Alliance (Aus) has tounge's wagging in Sydney as the racing foe try to figure out how the son of a Derby-winner can have so much brilliance.  Bred and raced by Gooree Park Stud, Swift Alliance made it two from two on Saturday at Rosehill backing up after an impressive five-and-a-half length first-up victory at Canterbury two weeks ago.

"They are trying to get Gai to compare him with Northern Meteor," said Andrew Baddock of Gooree Park Stud, referring to trainer Gai Waterhouse and Gooree's Group One-winning three-year-old by Encosta De Lago (Aus) (Fairy King).  "He has got a lot of speed which is something people don't expect from Don Eduardo's but they seem to forget there is a fair amount of speed in his pedigree, especially on the dam's side," he said. 

With two wins under his belt, it is highly likely Swift Alliance will have one more start this campaign before having a short spell for an Autumn campaign that will more than likely include a number of black type events.  "We really think a lot of this horse and he will get every chance to prove himself," said Andrew.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, the Jamie Graham-trained Reposado (NZ) (Don Eduardo) posted his second victory from eight starts when winning over 2170m at Tauranga on the same day. 

With a majority of the field in front of him swinging for home, Reposado was the widest in the run home and was brought down the outside for a comfortable win by jockey Corey Parish.  With two wins, a second and a third from eight starts, Reposado looks to be a horse to watch as he makes his way through the grades.

Riccarton was the scene of a stellar raceday yesterday with the running of the million dollar Group One 2000 Guineas (1600m) as well as the Group Two New Zealand Cup (3200m).  It was in this event that four-year-old mare Vickezzchardonnay (NZ) (Don Eduardo) collected more black-type finishing a close third after setting the pace for the majority of the race. 

Trained by Murray and Bjorn Baker, Vickezzchardonnay has had a fruitful Spring campaign with two wins and a second and will undoubtedly feature in some of the major staying races of the Autumn.

"It was certainly a very good day for Don Eduardo," said Mark Chitty of Haunui Farm.  "Swift Alliance looks to be a very exciting prospect in Sydney as well as Divine Rebel in Melbourne for the Moroney's," said Mark.  "A winner on each side of the Tasman and a stakes placing isn't a bad days work really," he said.