Mallee Park

Looking forward to tomorrows races at Riccarton Park where we have Rothacker racing. It's good to see him back at the races, we have a big opinion of him and expect him to run well.

Great win at Warwick Farm today by Love's A Fantasy (Street Sense), a daughter of our beautiful mare Love The Feeling. Racing in a Benchmark 83 event for Fillies and Mares, Love's A Fantasy ran right up to her recent form, to record an outstanding win. Love The Feeling is due to foal to Epaulette in the Spring.

Our two year He's Remarkable-Fur Elise gelding doing lots of ground work at Rabbit Island, Nelson this morning. He is loving his work and always ready for something new. Looking forward to getting him into full work in the Spring.

Our beautiful mare American Maid getting in some muscle building work at her Bridge Valley winter base.

Feelin The Love (white bridle inside) goes down in a very tight finish at Rosehill on Saturday. Her past two runs in city grade have been outstanding and we have much to look forward to next season with her. She goes for a well earned break now and should come back better than ever.

Oh so close. Tata Madiba, a two year old that we have a share in, was beaten less than an inch yesterday at Mornington. He was in front a stride before the line and a stride after the line, but right on the line....aaaaargh !! He's a very promising horse who will be much better as his races get longer in distance. Definitely one to keep following.

What better way to enjoy a 15 degree day in Nelson than to take the horses to the beach at Rabbit Island. To say they are enjoying their Nelson winter base would be an understatement.

Had a great week with our Savabeel mare Feelin The Love putting in a huge effort for 3rd from the outside barrier at Randwick, beaten less than a length. She could not have gone any better and we were very proud of her. 4 starts for top trainer Kris Lees and drawn outside barrier every time !! Our luck will change !! This was followed by our very promising Nicconi two year old Tata Madiba winning by a big margin at the Geelong trials. He looks much above average and we are very much looking forward to his three year old career and beyond, but look for him to start at Bendigo in about two weeks, where he will be very hard to beat. Then we were very fortunate to purchase the beautiful mare Love The Feeling at the Gold Coast sales. Sale prices were very strong and we had to wait until the very last day to get the one we wanted, in foal to Epaulette, a stallion we rate very highly. We love the pedigree of this mare, and her daughter Love's A Fantasy races this Wednesday in Sydney and looks a very good chance of winning. The local team are enjoying the winter at their Nelson base and doing lots of prep work to ready them for an assault in the Spring. Pictured is our beautiful mare American Maid getting some leg work in, under the Nelson sun. We have much to look forward to in the coming months.

Sad to hear of the passing of top Canterbury horseman Austin Williams this week. Austin broke in a number of our Standardbred yearlings over the years and was always the ultimate professional. He will be sorely missed by the Canterbury and wider harness racing community. Deepest sympathy to Sue and all of the family.

Austin Williams Obituary - 20 September 2016

Austin Williams left an indelible mark on the harness racing industry that looks set to remain for many years. The popular Canterbury horseman passed away late last week surrounded by his family. A respected trainer, driver and conditioner of a standardbred, Williams was rarely without a handy horse of his own. Introduced to the game by his father Phil, Williams set about making the best of his skills as a horseman from the property owned by himself and his wife, Sue, on the legendary “Golden Mile” just South of Christchurch in Templeton that is officially known as Trents Road. The stretch of bitumen has played host to some of New Zealand’s greatest trainers including Jack Smolenski, who owned the property Austin and Sue purchased, the Nyhan Families Globe Lodge and Derek Jones’ Soangetaha Lodge.

Along the way, Williams produced some strong, consistent performers who showcased his talents. Falconair, who won 11 races in New Zealand before being sold to America, was the best of them - driven in all of her wins by daughter Karen. Others to produce great results were; Lucky Rebel (8 wins), Lucky W***y (7), Datmymulligan (7) and Two Clouds (7). All totalled he won 40 races a trainer from minimal starters. A dab hand in the sulky, Williams desciribed driving Alias Charm to six wins for his father as one of his greatest memories of his time in the sulky. Austin and Sue had four children, all girls, and three of them have continued down the harness racing path - on one way or another. Karen is still training and driving but also runs a successful breaking in and agistment set up from her Rolleston base while her husband Greg is the face of harness racing on Trackside. Andrea is married to champion trainer Tim Butt who continue to produce outstanding results from his West Melton stable and Bronwyn is married to the Racing Integrity Unit’s Nigel McIntyre.

Very pleased to secure this beautiful race mare AMERICAN MAID (Big Brown - Capozzene). She had 6 starts in Victoria for 2 wins and 2 placings, so we are looking forward to her arriving in NZ and having her in training. Although she has won at 1100m, she does have a stout stayng pedigree, with her 5th dam being the great mare MONARCHY, ancestress of super sire Pulpit (sire of Tapit) and Tale of the Cat etc etc. American Maid has a world class pedigree and we are very excited to have her in our team. (Pictured as a yearling)

Very excited to have this beautiful O'Reilly filly, Christine Louise, join our stable this week. She has a staying pedigree and is built like a stayer, so she will be given every chance to gain a nice race record before going to stud. She has a wonderful temperament, a beautiful physique and from a very strong maternal line.

GRETA VALLEY has a leisurely stroll around Riccarton on Wednesday morning with Terry Moseley aboard. She is in great shape and will have a trial Tuesday to fit her for a race at Riccarton on Saturday 16th April.