Patience and perseverance were rewarded when Hastings-trained Sol De Otono broke through for a well deserved maiden win at Wanganui last Monday.

The five-year-old daughter of boom Australian sire The Autumn Sun has always looked capable of winning races but her connections have had to endure a frustrating run of minor placings with the mare with five seconds and two thirds from her previous 13 starts.

Sol De Otono is prepared by the Hastings partnership of Guy Lowry and Leah Zydenbos and is owned by her Cambridge breeder Tony Rider.

Rider has retained a major racing share in the mare with Guy Lowry also leasing a racing share.

There are several other Hawke’s Bay people involved in the syndicate, with the new Chairman of Hawke’s Bay Racing, Fred Coates, having a share along with the brothers Paul and Mark Apatu, Bruce Lewis, Jim Small, Darrel Cook and George and Karen Bullard.

The other syndicate members are Sundi Destounis, Diana Dobson and Gavin Duckworth from Gisborne and Matthew and Karma McCallum, Steve and Cathie McCallum and Ryan and Catriona McFarlane from Wellington.

Most have been loyal clients of Guy Lowry’s Game Lodge Stables for many years and been involved in several other horses trained from that base.

A number of them were part of a syndicate that raced Sol De Otono’s dam, the Savabeel mare Savvy Dreams. Guy Lowry also trained her, back when he was in partnership with Grant Cullen.

Although Savvy Dreams only won two races from 14 starts, she filled a top four placing nine times and was Group 1 placed in both New Zealand and Australia.

Savvy Dreams finished second behind Bonneval in the Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m) at Hastings in March 2021 before finishing third behind that same filly in the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham later that month.

She was then campaigned in South Australia, where she finished a game fourth in the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) before returning to New Zealand where she was fourth in both the Group 1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) and Group 1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) the following year.

Sol De Otono was the first foal out of Savvy Dreams to race but the mare has since left Savour The Dream (by Super Seth), who has won three races in Australia. Tony Rider’s Milan Park Stud will offer a filly by Sword Of State out of Savvy Dreams at the upcoming Karaka yearling sales.

Sol De Otono has been in Game Lodge Stables since she was a two-year-old but lacked strength back then and never commenced racing until she was three.

She finished fifth on debut over 1200m at Hastings and has since been plagued by wide draws, unlucky runs and a few questionable rides that have meant that she was still a maiden when lining up for her 14th start at Wanganui on Monday.

Jockey Kelly Myers has been aboard Sol De Otono in her last three starts and has got to know her well. She jumped the mare out quickly from a wide draw at Wanganui and managed to get her across to sit one off the fence in sixth place going down the back-straight.

Myers then sent her forward, three-wide, coming to the home turn and they took the lead soon after rounding the home turn.

Sol De Otono shot clear soon after and managed to stave off a couple of late challengers to win by half a neck.

Guy Lowry said this week Sol De Otono has come through her winning run well and is likely to start next in a Rating 65 race over 1600m at Otaki on February 8.

He added that blinkers will be added to the mare’s gear for that race as Kelly Myers said she wanted to switch off after taking a clear lead in the final stages at Wanganui and it is thought that a set of blinkers might help her stay focused.

Double success for Hastings-trained mare

Anushka Shesastar made it two wins in a row and continued a successful run being enjoyed by John Bary’s Hastings stable with a dominant performance in a Rating 75 race over 1340m at Wanganui last Monday.

The Proisir mare was following on from a Rating 65 race win over the same distance, and at the same venue, nine days before.

Her latest win also brought up Bary’s seventh training success since December 10 and he is now on eight wins for the season, only one behind the partnership of Guy Lowry and Leah Zydenbos as the leading Hawke’s Bay trainer for this term.

Anushka Shesaster was ridden in her latest victory by apprentice Jim Chung, who let her settled back third last in the eight horse field until the home turn.

The mare momentarily looked under pressure early in the home straight but once Chung angled her to the outside she rocketed home in the final 200 metres to win by a length.

It was Anushka Shesaster’s third success from 18 starts and took her stake earnings to $75,755 for her Auckland-based owner Narendra Balia.

Balia, who has raced a number of horses from the Bary stable, outlayed $130,000 to purchase Anusha Shesaster from a two-year-old Ready To Run sale.

She is out of the Savabeel mare Blitzabeel, who won two 800m trials as a two-year-old but only raced three times for a third, a fifth and a sixth.

Half million bonus to keep horses in NZ

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing has confirmed a lucrative new $500,000 Group 1 4YO Bonus that will be paid to the connections of the first horse that wins a New Zealand-based Group 1 race in its four-year-old season, providing it runs in the 2026 $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m).

The initiative, designed to strengthen the domestic pathway from elite three-year-old racing into top-level four-year-old performance, will apply to the entire 2026 NZB Kiwi field, with the first eligible NZB Kiwi runner to win a New Zealand Group 1 as a four-year-old claiming the $500,000 Bonus. 

NZTR General Manager - Racing, Mitch Lamb, commented on the new initiative.

“The NZB Kiwi has quickly become one of the headline acts for our best three-year-old sprinter/milers, and now we’re putting a very real incentive on keeping those standout horses here and targeting our best races as four-year-olds,” Lamb said.

“If we want our premier weight-for-age races in New Zealand to have the highest-quality fields and drive optimal wagering outcomes - both domestically and abroad, one piece of the puzzle is incentivising our best young gallopers to stay on home soil for longer.”

To be eligible for the $500,000 Group 1 4YO Bonus, a horse must be NZB Kiwi eligible as a three-year-old and be a nominated slot horse that starts in the 2026 NZB Kiwi.

The $500,000 Bonus will be shared between the key connections, with 50% paid to the current NZB Kiwi Slot Holder (or lessee) for the 2026 year and 50% paid to the horse’s registered ownership group at the time of the four-year-old Group 1 win. Where the current Slot Holder owns the horse outright, they will receive 100% of the Bonus as both Slot Holder and Owner.

NZTR will also allocate a 10% share of the Bonus to the Trainer responsible for preparing the horse at the time of the Group 1 win in its four-year-old season.

“We want The NZB Kiwi to be more than a single raceday moment, we want it to be a genuine launching pad,” Lamb said.

“By making the entire NZB Kiwi field eligible, we’re sending a clear signal that we want these horses to progress to Group 1 level at four, and in turn, reward the teams who commit to that plan in New Zealand.”

To be eligible for the $500,000 Group 1 4YO Bonus the horse must: 

• Be NZB Kiwi eligible and a three-year-old 
• Be a nominated slot horse that runs in the 2026 NZB Kiwi 
• Then, in its four-year-old season (2026-27), become the first 2026 NZB Kiwi runner to win any New Zealand-based Group 1 race 

Ka Ying Rising rated best in the World

New Zealand-bred sprinting sensation Ka Ying Rising has been crowned Timeform’s Horse of the Year following his unbeaten streak of eight victories in 2025, five of those at elite-level, and earning a world-leading rating of 135.

The son of Shamexpress reached that rating when victorious in the Chief Executive’s Cup (1200m) in September, his final run in Hong Kong before heading to Australia where he took out the A$20 million The Everest (1200m) at Randwick.

He returned to Hong Kong where he continued his winning ways in the Group 2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) before defending his crown in the Group 1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), 12 months on from recording his first elite-level win in the race.

Receiving the award, trainer David Hayes said it was an honour to have a horse of Ka Ying Rising’s quality in his care.

“It is such a great honour to have a horse that could be rated this high,” he said.

"It's been the perfect season really. He keeps stepping up and probably this win (in the Hong Kong Sprint) was his best, it was against the best and was his most dominant win. He just absorbs so much pressure so easily and then puts the race away - he's a freak.”

Ka Ying Rising’s rating is just one point shy of Australia’s Black Caviar, who was undefeated in her 25-start career, 15 of those at Group 1 level, including her memorable Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1200m) victory at Royal Ascot.