Lockdown extended
New Zealand will remain at Alert Level 4 until at least midnight on Friday with Auckland locked down until midnight next Tuesday.
There were 35 new cases of COVID-19 in the community on Monday with 33 in Auckland, two in Wellington and 107 cases in total.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also suspended Parliament for a week on the advice of Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield as the Delta outbreak continues to infect more people.
The extended lockdown continues to rule out all race meetings and trials.
The intention is to run meetings outside of Auckland from Saturday August 28 with meetings scheduled for Te Rapa, Awapuni and Ashburton on Saturday. The G3 Northland Breeders’ S., initially scheduled to be held at Ruakaka last Saturday, will be run at Te Rapa.
Dalasan doing well
A revised spring program has been outlined for Dalasan (Dalakhani {Ire}), who suffered superficial injuries when he got loose before the G3 Spring S. and forced his late scratching.
"He will have a relatively light week again and we have now had a think about what his program may look like moving forward," co-trainer Andrew Gluyas told Racing.com.
Dalasan
"If he continues to improve and please, we have pencilled in the Bobbie Lewis at Flemington on Saturday, September 11, as his launch pad.
"From there we could easily back him up the following Saturday in the Sir Rupert Clarke S. at Caulfield.
"We would then wait another three weeks and go to the Toorak H. on October 9."
Melham booked
Ben Melham will partner Beau Rossa (Unencumbered) in Saturday’s G1 Memsie S. at Caulfield.
Ben Melham
He has secured the mount after the 4-year-old’s regular rider Todd Pannell decided against travelling to Victoria from South Australia.
"I was hoping Todd (Pannell) would go and maybe even had stayed on in Melbourne for a five to six-week stint," Clarken said. "Naturally, I respect his reasons behind declining the ride and electing to stay home.”
Debut eagerly awaited
High-priced colt Profondo (Deep Impact {Jpn}) will make his debut on the Kensington track at Randwick on September 1.
He has won both of his most recent trials at Warwick Farm where he is trained by Richard Litt for the Galletta family.
"We will just get that run over and done with and come up with a plan where we are at from there," Litt told Racing.com. "For him to be doing what he does in trials shows he's got some ability and we just have to wait and see what he can do raceday and give him the benefit of the doubt.
"He's got the weight of Australia on his shoulders. All I can say is he is ticking every box.”
Profondo was bought out of Arrowfield Stud’s draft for $1.9 million at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and is the first foal of the G3 Widden S. winner Honesty Prevails (Redoute’s Choice).
French recruit
A quiet spring campaign is planned for French black-type winner Normandy Bridge (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), who has completed his quarantine stay at the Mickleham facility in Victoria.
The G3 Prix Thomas Bryon winner has joined the stable of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace after two victories in six appearances from Stephanie Nigge’s stable.
"He had a month on the walker (in quarantine) and hasn't run since the Prix du Jockey Club and didn't come down here with massive spring aspirations," Eustace told Racing.com.
"He's a lovely looking horse, he's big and scopey and still has a bit of his frame to fill. There's no doubt he will physically improve over the next six to 12 months.”
On target for summer start
With the deluge of positive feedback from the recently completed synthetic tracks at both Cambridge and Riccarton, Central Districts trainers are looking forward to being able to race on the surface on their own backyard next year.
As part of a NZ$72.5 million emergency support package from the Government last year, the racing industry received up to NZ$20 million in funding from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) to contribute toward the construction of three synthetic tracks at Cambridge, Riccarton and Awapuni.
“We are just going through the tendering process at the moment. That will close in mid-September and we are looking to start construction in early November,” Awapuni Racing Centre General Manager Kim Treweek said.
While PGF funding has partially paid for the construction of the synthetic track, Treweek said the club has had to fund the remainder.
Vale Norman Crawford
The Matamata and wider racing community is mourning the death of one its most respected and admired members, former trainer Norman Crawford, who has passed away at age 92.
Crawford, the father of current licence-holder Karen Fursdon, grew up in the Depression and dairy farmed with family in his formative years before gradually becoming more involved in racing.
With the purchase of a five-acre block on the southern town boundary in 1954, he established Willow Stables, where he and his wife Kathleen raised a family and continued to live for the remainder of their lives.
“Over the years Dad was hardly ever without a good horse,” said his daughter Karen. “The first of them that he enjoyed talking about was Lavish Countess, who lowered the colours of the great Picaroon when she won the (1962) Awapuni Gold Cup.”
Breeders’ Cup target
Shadwell Stable's Malathaat (USA) (Curlin {USA}), winner of Saturday's GI Alabama S., has the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff on her program.
“Right now, we're focused on the Distaff, so we'll zero in on that and take things from there. That's the most likely scenario,” Pletcher said. “Nothing's etched in stone, but that's sort of the plan that we discussed with (Shadwell’s) Rick Nichols a while ago.”
Malathaat won the GI Ashland S. and GI Kentucky Oaks before suffering her first career defeat when second in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks. She rebounded to take the Alabama, despite stumbling at the break.
New Breeze-Up Sale
The new Dubai World Cup Breeze-Up Sale in association with Goffs will be conducted by the Irish sales company on March 24, 2022, the Dubai Racing Club (DRC) has announced.
Held during Dubai World Cup week, the Sale will have a maximum size of 69 2-year-olds that will be sourced from vendors by Goffs which will appeal to both local and international buyers. All lots will undergo a full veterinary examination prior to departure to ensure full transparency and buyer confidence.
“The UAE, Dubai and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum have long been great supporters of the sport. Therefore, we are excited to host the Middle East's first breeze-up sale, and also the first ever online sale to be conducted in the Gulf and Middle East region to enhance our owners' exposure to high-quality horses,” Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Racing Club said.
