Pencarrow Stud have welcomed the first foals of the new season, with a colt and a filly arriving safely to signal the start of the busy foaling period.
The colt, by the late, great sire Savabeel, was born Tuesday 25 August, and is out of Invincible Queen (NZ) (I Am Invincible), thus hailing from one of Pencarrow’s most proven families.
Progressive Pencarrow galloper Empirical (NZ) (Eminent) recorded his second win from only a four-race career when he made a winning start to his new season in Sunday’s $17,000 Charyn – World Champion Miler (1200m) at Taupo.
The super-consistent Altiplano (NZ) (Ace High) capped a sequence of placings with a deserved breakthrough victory in the $27,500 Saddlery Warehouse MAAT Final (1550m) at Cambridge on Wednesday.
The four-year-old Pencarrow homebred went into the race as a maiden, but had been a six-time placegetter from his 12 previous starts. Wednesday’s success means he has now had 13 starts for one win, six seconds, a fourth and a fifth, earning $39,277.
Lightly raced three-year-old Rebel Moon (Lope De Vega), who was bred by Haras d'Étreham and Pencarrow principal Sir Peter Vela, stamped herself as a high-class filly with a black-type success in the Group Three Al Shira'aa Racing Irish EBF Jannah Rose Stakes (2100m) at Naas late last month.
Trained by Joseph O’Brien, Rebel Moon now has a perfect two-start, two-win record. She has earned €55,200 in stakes for her owners Al Shira'aa Racing Limited, who sponsored the Group Three feature.
Pencarrow graduate Churchillian (NZ) (Churchill) added another black-type win to her record with an impressive performance in the $80,000 Listed Team Wealleans Tauranga Classic (1600m) on Saturday.
Churchillian was bred by Pencarrow and offered in their draft for Book 1 of Karaka 2021, where Paul Willetts bought her for $100,000. She has now had 27 starts for 11 wins, a placing and $406,890 in stakes.
Previously a five-time placegetter, consistent Pencarrow mare Romanin (NZ) (Eminent) broke through for a richly deserved first win in the $17,000 George Shannon Livestock (1700m) on Awapuni’s synthetic track on Sunday.
Trained by Steven Ramsay and Julia Ritchie, the half-sister to Group Two winner Too Sweet (NZ) (Satono Aladdin) went into Sunday’s race with second or third placings under her belt at Matamata (twice), Ruakaka, Tauranga at Pukekohe. In her first visit to Awapuni, she cleared maiden ranks in style.
The A$60,000 Kia Western Region Dealer of the Year Handicap (1800m) was the second win of a five-start career for Chispa, who has finished second, third and fourth in her other three appearances. She has earned A$63,700 in stakes for her owner and breeder Sir Peter Vela.
Trainer Chris Waller has nominated Chispa for the Group One Queensland Oaks (2200m) at Eagle Farm on June 6, and Wednesday’s performance more than justified continuing in that direction.
Chispa was ridden by James McDonald.
With a seven-figure price tag and superb bloodlines, exciting prospect Condone (Justify) opened his winning account at Warwick Farm on Wednesday for a Coolmore syndicate that includes Pencarrow principal Sir Peter Vela.
More than three months after starting her career with a pair of promising summer placings, Pencarrow filly Biding My Time (NZ) (Circus Maximus) made a bold return to racing in the $25,000 Trackside.co.nz 1200 at Ellerslie on Monday.
The David Greene-trained three-year-old made her debut with a second at Taupo on December 28, then filled the same placing again at Te Rapa on January 16.
The Pencarrow brand was carried to victory in one of the South Island’s richest races when Toa Haka (NZ) (Iffraaj) took out the $350,000 TAB Southern Alps Challenge (1600m) at Riccarton on Saturday.
Toa Haka was bred by Pencarrow Thoroughbreds Ltd and offered in the Pencarrow draft in Book 1 of Karaka 2021, where he was bought by Greene Racing for $40,000
Wailea (NZ) (Darci Brahma) got within a nose of victory when she visited Waverley for her last start on March 18, and a return to the same venue on Friday marked another big step forward for the fast-improving filly.
The Pencarrow homebred began her career in Victoria. Back in her homeland and now a member of Steven Ramsay and Julia Ritchie’s Matamata stable, the three-year-old made her New Zealand debut with a big run for second in a photo finish at Waverley last month.
A career-best season for Pencarrow gelding Sunset Boulevard (NZ) (Eminent) continued in the $50,000 JR & N Berkett (2100m) at Trentham on Sunday.
The open handicap was the ninth win of a 23-start career for Sunset Boulevard, who has placed on another four occasions and has earned $233,555.
While Pencarrow principal Sir Peter Vela has been part-owner of countless Chris Waller-trained winners up to Group One level, the maiden victory by Chispa (NZ) (Savabeel) in the A$42,000 The Man Walk Australia Maiden Plate (1300m) at Kembla Grange last week was something a little different.
Unlike all those previous wins that were shared with Coolmore syndicates, Chispa races in the blue and white hooped colours of Pencarrow and has Sir Peter Vela listed as the sole owner. The three-year-old filly was bred by Pencarrow Thoroughbreds.
Pencarrow mare Sesimbra (NZ) (U S Navy Flag) led all the way for an impressive victory in the $18,500 Water Services NZ Taupo (1100m) at Taupo on Sunday.
Ridden by apprentice jockey Jack Taplin for trainers Steven Ramsay and Julia Ritchie, the four-year-old broke well from gate two and charged forward to take the lead inside the first 100 metres.
Lightly raced Pencarrow mare Sattriya (NZ) (Super Seth) scored a lucrative maiden win at New Plymouth on Friday, taking out the $25,000 Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series Race (1400m) along with its $20,000 Pearl Series bonus for the winner.
Sattriya is trained locally at New Plymouth by Allan Sharrock and had shown promising signs in her first two starts. It was third time lucky on Friday as Sattriya produced an even more powerful come-from-behind performance.
Sattriya blew past her opposition in the final 200 metres, charging into the lead and racing away to win by two and a quarter lengths.
The Book 1 and Book 2 sessions of NZB’s 100th National Yearling Sale at Karaka were a successful few days for Pencarrow Stud.
Pencarrow offered 22 horses across Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and sold 20 of them for a clearance rate of 91%.
The horses sold for a total of $2.97m and an average price of $148,250, including a Book 1 aggregate of $2.71 million and average of $169,375.
Pencarrow Stud’s quality draft for Karaka 2026 has been boosted by a series of pedigree updates over the last few weeks.
The most significant updates are for Lot 465, the colt by U S Navy Flag out of Group One-winning mare Guiseppina (NZ) (Johar).
Karaka 2026 will take place at the Karaka Sales Centre from January 25 to 29, with Book 1 on January 25 and 26, Book 2 on January 27 and the new Karaka Summer Sale on January 29.
Group One glory in Australia last season was the latest chapter in a long success story for Pencarrow Stud at New Zealand’s National Yearling Sale – one that spans about a third of the sale’s 100-year history.
The quality of those Pencarrow bloodlines was quickly recognised by the buyers’ bench at Karaka. The stud made its first impact in 1992 with a third placing on the list of leading vendors by average. Pencarrow went on to be the leading vendor by average in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Pencarrow Stud has 18 yearlings in the catalogue for Book 1 and six in Book 2 for the 100th edition of the NZB National Yearling Sale.
Beautifully bred Pencarrow gelding Sarti (NZ) (Snitzel) launched his racing career in style on Thursday with an impressive come-from-behind victory in the $25,000 Keith Stringer Maiden (1200m) at Tauranga.
Sarti showed an explosive turn of foot and powered past six rivals in the straight, hitting the front less than 30 metres from the finish but pulling away to be almost a length in front at the line.
Pencarrow Stud will offer a half-brother to Sarti and Tavi Time during Karaka 2026 later this month. The colt by US Navy Flag out of Guiseppina will go through the ring as Lot 465 in Book 1.
A breakthrough season for Pencarrow’s Sunset Boulevard (NZ) (Eminent) continued on Sunday with his third consecutive win, this time in the $40,000 Recreation Hotel Greymouth Cup (2000m).
After beginning the season with four wins to his name from a 14-race career, the gelding has added another four victories from only six starts as a five-year-old.
Pencarrow mare Bonifleur (NZ) (Burgundy) added a third win to her record with a hard-fought victory in the $18,500 New World Mount Maunganui (1400m) at Tauranga on Friday.
Now a winner at the ages of three, four and five, Bonifleur has had 15 starts for three wins, three placings and $51,275 in stakes. She is trained by Paul Richards at Matamata.
Last season’s Group One winners Feroce (NZ) (Super Seth) and Maison Louis (NZ) (Super Seth) added their names to a long list of top-class colts and geldings carrying the Pencarrow Stud brand, and buyers will have exclusive access to another beautifully bred crop of colts during Karaka 2026.
Pencarrow will offer a total of 18 colts at New Zealand’s 100th National Yearling Sale, with 13 in Book 1 and five in Book 2.
The Kris Lees-trained Tavi Time recorded the first black-type win of his career in the A$250,000 Group Three Summer Cup (2000m) at Randwick on Boxing Day 2024, and he returned 12 months later to successfully defend that title on Friday.
Pencarrow will offer a colt by U S Navy Flag out of Guiseppina as Lot 465 during Book 1 of Karaka 2026 in late January.
Pencarrow’s blue and white hooped colours featured prominently at black-type level last season thanks to Island Life (NZ) (Vadamos), and a strong victory in Saturday’s $40,000 Barry Illsley Building and Joinery (1600m) at Trentham suggested there could be more to come this season.
Island Life has now had 12 starts for three wins, three placings and $247,850 in stakes.