Hastings trainer John Bary’s name was back in the limelight after a lengthy absence when he produced a brace of winners at Tauherenikau on Wednesday of last week.
Bary took out a $25,000 Rating 75 race over 1600m with Psyclone and, one race later, he won a $25,000 Rating 65 race over 1400m with the exciting mare Afternoon Siesta.
It was the first time a John Bary-trained horse had graced the winner’s stall since Pacific Princess won a 1400m maiden race at Trentham on September 20.
Bary has been one of Hawke’s Bay’s leading thoroughbred trainers for more than 25 years but has wound down his operation in recent times, mainly due to a recurring back injury but also because he has become generally disillusioned with the New Zealand racing industry.
“I’ve only got 16 horses in work and there is just me and two Indian boys doing all the work,” Bary said this week.
Bary has rarely been seen at race meetings in recent months as his back problem restricts his travel movements.
“The back is okay if I just go short distances but not when I have to travel long distances,” Bary added.
“The two boys I have working for me are good and are keen to take the horses to the races.”
Psyclone is owned by Hawke’s Bay couple Greg and Donna Miller and was recording her third win. She has also chalked up seven minor placings from her 23 starts.
The five-year-old mare is by Rageese out of the Savabeel mare Sensibility and was a $1600 purchase from the online auction site Gavelhouse.
Psyclone finished an unlucky fourth on debut over 1200m at Woodville in September 2023 and then won impressively at her second start, against race winners, in a 1215m three-year-old event at Rotorua.
Her second victory came in a Rating 65 race over 1600m in February of this year and then she was first past the post over 1600m at Wanganui on November 22 but relegated to second for veering outwards over the final stages and hampering the progress of eventual race winner Blue Jeanie.
In-form woman jockey Kelly Myers rode both of the John Bary-trained winners at Tauherenikau last week.
Psyclone drew the extreme outside barrier in a 12-horse field and Myers restrained her back to third-last in the early stages to get some cover. She then sent her on a forward move, three-wide, starting the last half of the race and they were four-wide when challenging the leaders rounding the home turn.
Psyclone hit the front soon after and kept up a strong run to the line to win by 1-1/2 lengths.
Bary said Psyclone is likely to start next in a Rating 75 race over 1600m at Otaki on January 9 and, if she were to win again, he could look at lining her up in the Listed $80,000 Wairarapa Breeders Stakes. That 600m weight-for-age race will be run at Tauherenikau on February 6.
Afternoon Siesta was having her first start from Bary’s stable and was having just her third start, after recording a second and a win last season.
She was trained then by the Awapuni husband and wife combination of Sean and Hazel Fannin and had shown plenty of ability by winning a 1360m maiden race by 8-1/4 lengths on a heavy track at Wanganui back in May.
Bary said the Shamus Award five-year-old was transferred to his stable about four months ago and is owned by Graeme Stewart, who was formerly based in Hawke’s Bay but now lives in Paraparaumu.
“Graeme is a painter and has raced a lot of horses in Singapore and has still got some with Roydon Bergerson at Awapuni,” Bary said.
“I haven’t actually met him yet but I’ve spoken to him on the phone and he just asked me if I could I take a horse for him.”
Afternoon Siesta showed she was ready to strike fresh up when finishing a close second in a 1200m Woodville trial on December 2.
Kelly Myers bounced the mare out well from the barrier and quickly had her in a trailing position outside the leader Colour Chart. They took over rounding the home turn and Afternoon Siesta showed a dazzling turn of foot to race away from her rivals in the straight to win by 3-1/2 lengths.
“She won very well and looks a really good horse,” Bary said.
“She won a maiden on a heavy track in May and has now won on top of the ground.”
Bary said the immediate plan for Afternoon Siesta is to line her up in a $60,000 Rating 75 race over 1400m at Trentham on January 3.
Dee back home for Christmas
Expat jockey Mick Dee is set to return to one of his happiest hunting grounds, Ellerslie, with a full book of rides on Boxing Day headed by El Vencedor in the Group 1 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic (2000m).
Melbourne-based Dee has had tremendous success since relocating to Victoria a decade ago.
The 29-year-old’s 15 Group One wins include the Caulfield Cup, the Victoria Derby and two editions of the Australian Guineas including New Zealand filly Legarto in 2023.
Midway through the year Dee spent several weeks in Japan, where his 81 rides produced five wins and 10 second placings.
Dee, who has farming interests in Hawke’s Bay in partnership with his parents Richard and Jo, has made frequent trips back home, most recently to win the Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) on Willydoit and the Group 3 Sunline Vase (2100m) on Island Life at Ellerslie’s inaugural Champions Day in March.
“I had planned to come home for Christmas and spend time with the family, so it works for me to ride at Ellerslie on Boxing Day,” Dee said.
“I’ve already got a full book with what looks like some good chances. El Vencedor is one of several I’m riding for Stephen Marsh, plus I’m riding Affirmative Action in the Auckland Guineas for Pam Gerard, so I’m also looking forward to getting on him.”
Dee’s book includes last-start winner Dance The Night for Roger James and Robert Wellwood in the Group 2 Hallmark Stud Eight Carat Classic (1600m) and recent impressive trial winner Pounce (Lance O’Sullivan/Andrew Scott) in the two-year-old race.
“We heard Mick was coming home for Christmas and there was a chance he would be riding at Ellerslie, so we had a team talk and decided it would be a good idea to book him for El Vencedor in the Zabeel Classic,” Marsh said.
“He’s a top Australian hoop and if we did consider taking the horse to Aussie, he would be able to give us some indication of how he might measure up against their good horses.”
Dee’s Marsh-trained mounts also include Sneak Peek in the Dunstan Horsefeeds Stayers Championship Final, Miss Fladgate in the Rating 75 1200m, High Emotion in the Rating 65 1400m and one of the stable runners in the Stella Artois Championship Final.
McDonald crowned World’s best again
For the second consecutive year and third time overall, James McDonald has claimed the Longines World’s Best Jockey title.
The New Zealand-born, Australia-based jockey was recognised for his accomplishments during the Longines Hong Kong International Races Gala Dinner on December 12, 2025.
After dominating the competition throughout the year, James McDonald was honoured last Friday with the 2025 Longines World’s Best Jockey Award. He first took the title in 2022 and was also celebrated last year.
McDonald accumulated 184 points throughout the 2025 competition. He won 12 of the world’s Top 100 Group or Grade 1 races, with his qualifying victories coming in the Longines Hong Kong Cup (Romantic Warrior), Longines Hong Kong Mile (Voyage Bubble), Stewards' Cup (Voyage Bubble), Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (Voyage Bubble), TAB Verry Elleegant Stakes (Via Sistina), Ranvet Stakes (Via Sistina), Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Via Sistina), Ladbrokes Doomben 10,000 (Sunshine in Paris), Eva Air Kingsford‐Smith Cup (Joliestar), Winx Stakes (Via Sistina), Ladbrokes Cox Plate (Via Sistina), and TAB Champions Stakes (Via Sistina).
Aussie raider chasing NZ Group 1 win
Cranbourne trainer Gavin Bedggood will spend Christmas on this side of the Tasman as he prepares his Group 3 winner Kingswood for Group 1 action at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.
With a view towards Kingswood’s prospective stallion career, Bedggood is heading to New Zealand in the hope of securing an all-important elite-level scalp to enhance his credentials prior to transitioning to stud duties.
The British-bred six-year-old hails from a rich pedigree, being by ill-fated Group 1-producing stallion Roaring Lion and out of multiple stakes winner All At Sea, a daughter of three-time Group 1 winner Albanova.
“He is a stallion and he has got a great pedigree,” Bedggood said. “He is probably not commercial in Australia but if he were able to win a couple of good races over in New Zealand, he might be able to find a future home over there when he is finished.”
Kingswood has already accrued a solid record, placing in the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes (2011m) at the Curragh in Ireland as a three-year-old before continuing his racing career in Australia last year where he had two starts for Maddie Raymond before joining Bedggood’s barn.
He won his first two starts for the Cranbourne horseman last spring, including the Group 3 Coongy Cup (2000m) at Caulfield, before a near 12-month hiatus from racing after he underwent surgery earlier this year for a hairline leg fracture.
Kingswood resumed with a runner-up effort behind subsequent Group 1 performer Golden Path over 1700m at Flemington in September and returned to the iconic track on Melbourne Cup Day to win the Listed Kirin Ichiban Plate (1800m)