The Michael Moroney trained Bonnie Mac (NZ) (Thorn Park) continued her rise to prominence, securing valuable black-type at her first attempt at stakes level, winning the Listed Proud Miss Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday.

NZ Windsor Park Stud's Gr1-winning stallion Thorn Park (Spinning World-Joy, by Bluebird) added a further black-type success in Australia at the weekend when 4YO mare Bonnie Mac (Thorn Park-Gold Class, by Gold Brose) notched her 5th successive win with a 1.5-lengths victory in the $100,000 Listed Proud Miss Stakes (1200m) for fillies & mares at Morphettville.

Veyron (NZ)(Thorn Park) and rider Rogan Norvall sealed a popular and emotion-charged win in Saturday's Group One Manco Easter Handicap (1600m), writes Waikato Times racing editor Aidan Rodley.

Inspired by his second placing in yesterday’s Rosehill Guineas, trainer Gary Hennessy has confirmed that Ocean Park will be a late entry for the ATC Australian Derby.

Mike Moroney is considering an Australian Derby start for Flashy Fella (NZ) (Thorn Park) following his tough effort to win narrowly at Caulfield on Saturday.

Glen Boss made a long, sustained run from the 800m in the De la Salle Centenary Plate (2000m) and the Thorn Park gelding battled on gamely to score by a short half-head from Kukri (Commands) with the filly Thy (NZ) (O’Reilly) a long neck away third.

THE GROSVENOR AWARD As provided by Arion Pedigrees, 26 February 2012
STALLION	NZ$ EARNINGS
Thorn Park	1,013,275
O’Reilly	1,005,756
Pins	915,597
Pentire	784,723
Fastnet Rock	627,800

Sometimes success in racing is about being in the right place at the right time. The ability to manoeuvre into that spot can be the difference between triumph and defeat - especially if you are a jockey.

It was scripted as a race between eight-time Group One winner Mufhasa and last-start Telegraph Handicap winner Guiseppina, but nobody told Veyron.

If any further proof was needed of Veyron’s spectacular ability, or that of his trainer Linda Laing, it was provided at Te Rapa on Saturday where the son of Thorn Park recorded his 11th win from just 18 starts and his second victory at Gr.1 level.

Returning from running second in Gr.1 company over 2000m, Veyron confirmed his position among NZ’s best gallopers when winning the 1400m Gr.1 Waikato Draught Sprint while recording 1.20.99 for the distance - just over half a second outside the track record of 1.20.42.

Veyron defeated a high class field that included last-start Gr.1 winners Mufhasa, Guiseppina and Sangster to maintain his unbeaten record of five wins in five starts over the trip.

Veyron is raced by his breeders Isabel and Alistaire Barker and his success helped propel Thorn Park into second position on the current NZ Sire’s list where he sits just $21,693 behind O’Reilly, in a close fought battle for premiership honours.

NZ’s Champion Sire last season, Thorn Park also enjoyed success further afield at Awapuni where his 3YO daughter Itsmycall won on debut while in Sydney his topclass son Centennial Park resumed from a spell to finish a gallant second in the Gr.2 ATC Expressway Stakes, a race he was successful in last year.

Thorn Park, who also has current NZ Derby co-favourite Ocean Park representing him, recently completed a successful sales series at NZ Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sales at Karaka where his progeny sold up to $350,000 and averaged $132,737 in the Premier Session.

The three-year-old son of Thorn Park, Ocean Park (NZ), showed that he is a colt with a big future when he lead an NZB trifecta with a stunning four-and-a-half-length victory in the Group 3 $70,000 Phil Cataldo Bloodstock Wellington Stakes (1600m) at Trentham on Saturday.

 Alberton Park (NZ) (Thorn Park) had the perfect introduction to Sydney racing for her new stable with a convincing victory in the opening race at Rosehill on Saturday.

The five-year-old joined John O'Shea's team three months ago and the Randwick trainer was expecting a big showing in the Australian Turf Club Handicap (1200m) based on what the mare had shown him on the training tracks. 

Ocean Park powered his way to clear favouritism for the Gr.1 Telecom New Zealand with a commanding performance at Trentham today that left his rivals chasing a memory in the home straight. 

Kontiki Park (NZ) stormed home in the $200,000 Korean Air Magic Millions Stayers Cup 1800m to give Nash Rawiller a happy ending to a day filled with highs and lows, and Gai Waterhouse her second win for the day.

Playaction piloted by Jason Taylor crossed the line two and three quarter lengths back to claim second followed by Racing Heart (Jim Byrne) another one and three quarter lengths away in third.

Gai Waterhouse couldn’t have been happier with Kontiki Park’s (G6Thorn Park-Pretty Special) win describing him as a big horse with a big heart.

“He was bred in New Zealand and sold at Magic Millions a few years back,” Gai said. “He is the most versatile horse.

“He can race on the speed or he can come from the back of the field. He has really broken through.

“He won the Bernborough two weeks ago (December 31, 2011) and now he has won the Magic Millions Cup. He is a horse that is really going places.”

Waterhouse thought the gelding’s run in the Villiers was outstanding as well, saying he is a joy to watch.

“Kontiki Park is the most improved horse in the stables and also one of the favourites,” Waterhouse said.

“Talk about only coming to it later in life; he only just got into Black Type racing as a five-year-old. He has really hit his hobbles.”

Kontiki Park’s owners have followed him all the way, flying in from New Zealand, amongst other places, to watch their horse win.

Jockey Nash Rawiller believes Kontiki Park put his hand up in the Villiers and performed even better today.

“For an old horse he is going in the right direction. I don’t think I have ever felt him better than today and that’s a good sign,” Rawiller said.

“I’m sure Gai can find a nice race for him somewhere and place him with an advantage to win.

“He carried the weight very well. He is twice as big as everyone else out there so we just took advantage of that.

“Once he got there he really relaxed, I was just waiting for someone to pick me up.”

Kontiki has now had 25 starts for seven wins taking his prizemoney total to $489,900

Ocean Park was unlucky to lose his perfect record last time out and he gets an ideal opportunity to return to his winning ways in tomorrow’s Gr.3 Cataldo Bloodstock Wellington Stakes at Trentham.

The Thorn Park colt shared victory on debut when he dead-heated at Gisborne and then gave serious notice of his talent when defeating the capable Joy’s Choice in an age-group event at Ellerslie.

He returned to headquarters for the Gr.2 Great Northern Guineas on Boxing Day, but his luck ran dry when he got clear galloping room too late and dashed home to go down by a head to the highly regarded Knight’s Tour.

“That was one that got away on us and he didn’t get the gaps soon enough,” Matamata trainer and part-owner Gary Hennessy said. “What he ran his last 200 metres in I don’t know because they ran 34 seconds off the front for the last 600.”

Ocean Park, who will again be ridden by Chad Ormsby, should be right at home on the roomy Trentham track and the left-handed circuit is of no concern to Hennessy.

“He’s trained that way and I don’t think there’s any bias either way,” he said. “It’s the logical race for him to run in and then he’s most likely to go to the Waikato Guineas.”

The Gr.1 Telecom New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie on March 3 will be Ocean Park’s grand final and Hennessy has no concerns about the son of Thorn Park seeing out the 2400 metres of the classic.

“He relaxes and doesn’t do anything until you ask him. He looks the ideal sort to get the Derby distance,” he said.

He is out of the Zabeel mare Sayyida, who showed great promise as a three-year-old and was on a classic path herself until she suffered a serious leg injury in the Avondale Guineas and never raced again.

Ocean Park has made impressive progress since he trialled as a two-year-old. “He ran last in his first two trials but he was a gangly horse and he needed a bit of education and they were on wet ground,” Hennessy said. “He was a little disappointing, but I wasn’t looking to make him a two-year-old and he was a growing colt. He would have come up sooner this spring had the ground been firmer.”

Quality Sydney raider Kontiki Park will boost the strong Gai Waterhouse team at the Magic Millions meeting on January 14 after he produced an outstanding effort to win the $200,000 Bernborough Handicap at Doomben on Saturday.

Despite being caught deep for much of the race, the son of Thorn Park found plenty when asked by crack Sydney rider Tommy Berry to get up in the final stride and beat Fillydelphia and Emvoss.

Unlucky at his most recent run in the Villiers Stakes at Randwick in Sydney, Kontiki Park put in the perfect trial for the $4.3 million Magic Millions raceday where his target will be the $200,000 MM Stayers Cup over 1800m.

The win completed a feature race double at Doomben for Waterhouse and Berry following the outstanding win of Driefontein in the BJ McLachlan Stakes.

Berry completed the Doomben meeting with four winners after also winning races on Nuptse and Demanding Miss.

"He's a lovely big horse who tries his heart out every time," Waterhouse's foreman Neville Auld said of Kontiki Park.

"He likes to settle and relax in his races and the extra 200 metres at the Gold Coast will be perfect for him."

A $150,000 purchase for Waterhouse at the 2007 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Kontiki Park was bred in New Zealand but sold in Queensland through the draft of Oakwood Farm.

Now a six time winner, Kontiki Park has earned his connections $A369,900 from 24 starts.

Clear topweight and ground softer than he prefers, failed to get in the way of class act Veyron as he strolled to victory at Te Rapa today.

The big chestnut made light of 60.5 kilograms - three kilos more than the next in the handicap - as first-time rider Leith Innes gave him a cosy run behind the pace and got away with a single cursory flick of the whip at the 200-metre pole. The race was only for the minor placings as Veyron won easing down from late finisher Roi d’jeu and Allegrio.

Innes was taking the place of Veyron’s badly injured regular jockey Rogan Norvall, who suffered concussion as well as breaks to an ankle and collar-bone in a fall at the Cambridge trials on Tuesday. Norvall, who had ridden Veyron in all but one of his nine wins, was released from Waikato Hospital yesterday after an operation to put a plate in his multiple collar-bone fracture.

“I really feel for Rogan, this horse means so much to him and he’s the person who has made him,” commented Veyron’s trainer Linda Laing.

“Leith did the job well though, he said he was just playing with them.”

Today’s win, his third from six starts over 1600 metres, sets Veyron up for the Gr. 1 Zabeel Classic over 2000 metres at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. He has raced just once over a middle-distance, that as an immature four-year-old having just his fifth start when he finished sixth of nine after sharing the pace and racing greenly.

Zabeel Classic contender Veyron will require a change of jockey after his regular rider Rogan Norvall suffered concussion and a broken ankle in a fall at the Cambridge trials today.

John Bary had visions of a repeat of Jimmy Choux’s wide Cox Plate alley during the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile barrier draw at Sha Tin today.

Bary was given the task of pulling out the right barrier number at the lavish ceremony in the Sha Tin parade ring, but the dice were not falling his way when the process had got down to the last four and three of the remaining gates were 11, 13 and 14.

The two outside spots went to the hapless connections of Sichuan Success and Dubawi Gold, and when Jimmy Choux’s name finally came up, Bary stepped forward knowing that he could pull out either gate 11 or the one all of the final quartet had wanted, two.

Unlike at the Monee Valley draw for the Cox Plate when he drew by far the worst of the two remaining gates - 10 - this time luck was in his corner and he drew the coveted spot one out from the inside rail.

“I knew it was really out of my control and I just had to go along with the process, but I was getting a bit anxious towards the end knowing what draws were left,” Bary said afterwards. “It was huge relief when 13 and 14 were pulled out, but then it came my turn I still knew it would be a 50-50 call between a perfect draw and a disastrous one.

“What a relief to get two, I would have been gutted to have come all this way and ended up drawing wide. What I’ve seen of racing here, horses can come from the back but you’ve got so much more of a chance if you can get the right trip.”

It was a case of back-slaps all round from owners Richard and Liz Wood and other supporters in the camp, except for Jimmy Choux’s rider Jonathan Riddell who had sat back and tried to ignore the significance of what was unfolding.

“Yes that JB is a genius,” he said later with a wry grin. “It does make my job that much easier.”

Riddell’s first mission was to touch base with former jockey Lance O’Sullivan, who is in Hong Kong during International week, and walk the track to put the final touches on his big-race plan.

His other mission was to fine-tune his own body, most likely in his Wan Chai hotel fitness centre rather than risk getting lost jogging the streets of downtown Hong Kong.

Riddell has limbered up by riding Jimmy Choux in trackwork Wednesday and Thursday mornings, both times being satisfied that the New Zealand Horse of the Year is in the right shape to put his best forward in Sunday’s big event.

“We had been a bit worried about the reports we were getting back home that he wasn’t that happy being by himself, but I think he’s turned the corner.

“It was good work when he galloped yesterday and he felt nice and free paceworking this morning.”

A tilt at the Gr. 1 Blandford Lodge Railway Stakes will be a key discussion topic for trainers Ken and Bev Kelso after tomorrow’s Listed Ag and Turf Sprint at Te Rapa.

The Matamata couple have entered their talented mare Magic Briar in the New Year’s Day Ellerslie feature and have also nominated her for the Gr. 1 Telegraph Handicap at Trentham later the same month.

“But where we go after this one on Saturday I’m not sure,” said Ken Kelso. “Maybe we freshen her for the Railway. I’m not totally convinced she can get a lot further than 1400 metres, even though she did last season. Maybe we’ve got to look at the sprints.”

Magic Briar won three of her first five starts then two runs later she stepped up to 1600 metres and was second past the post in the Gr. 1 New Zealand Bloodstock 1000 Guineas, only to be controversially relegated to fifth.

She again came up quickly in late summer when winning her first two runs, both over 1200 metres, and though she hasn’t won in three outings this campaign she has run solid races.

First-up she was fourth at Matamata and afterwards was found to have swallowed a clod of dirt. She was then beaten a mere head when storming home behind the exciting Durham Town at Ellerslie and at her last start she ran eighth in the Gr. 2 NRM/Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes at Pukekohe after a rocky run in the home straight.

“She got squeezed the last 200 at Pukekohe and she got galloped on a bit but she’s come right,” said Kelso. “Her work on Tuesday was excellent.”

Kelso entered Magic Briar for both the Rating 85 Lowe Schollum and Jones Premier and the Ag and Turf Sprint at Te Rapa tomorrow. “We decided to go for the open sprint because of the weight relief,” said Kelso. “She’s not very big and the 53kg will be better for her.”

Tomorrow Kelso will be looking for a change of luck with another of his team, Wisecrack, who will contest the Dunstan Feeds Championship Premier. Wisecrack was a beaten favourite at Ellerslie last start when blocked in the running then checked badly.

“He stumbled out of the barrier and from then on everything went wrong,” said Kelso. “You have to forget the run.”

Miss Sharapova, another of the Kelso squad, will resume at Ellerslie on Sunday. But obviously the biggest target for the weekend is the Ag and Turf Sprint, in which Magic Briar will be ridden by Craig Grylls.

Magic Briar’s opposition is headed by the topweight Run Like Al, who didn’t get much racing room when resuming at Ellerslie last weekend. It’s a quick turnaround for a horse which hadn’t raced for more than 15 months, but he has a touch of class on his side and did win this race two years ago.

My Astron is also second-up after being sidelined with injury and will be an interesting runner, while also in the same category is All In Tempo, who resumed after 11 months with a third at Tauherenikau and could be a quick improver.

Worthing has a good record at Te Rapa and showed his readiness for tomorrow’s mission when winning at the recent Cambridge trials. Siem Reap has picked up three of his four wins at Te Rapa and rates a genuine lightweight chance after two recent trials placings.

Appiel has the form on the board, having run an eye-catching third behind Fazzle in the Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes, but is likely to instead contest the Group II Cal Isuzu Stakes. Mydiamond Bracelet was a useful seventh to Fazzle at Pukekohe.

Riomoral has saved his best races for Te Rapa and Joku is better than his recent form suggests. Kaptain Kirkup and Fairway Wish earned tilts at this race with a third and a fourth respectively behind Guiseppina in the Listed Chainey’s Panasonic Levin Stakes.

Mygoodgrace won the Listed Valachi Downs Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes at Riccarton two starts ago and faces the same distance here. Singapore Sling won her first start at Te Rapa and has gone on to two further wins.

Revolt (NZ) was stepping out to record a fourth straight win in the $70,000, Blackwoods MSA Handicap Bm 80 (2000m) at Rosehill on Saturday, and he did not disappoint, with a little help from a well judged ride by Jay Ford.

Revolt and Jay Ford sprints clear in the Blackwoods MSA Handicap, picture sportpix.com.au

Plans for Group One winner Veyron (NZ) (Thorn Park) to contest the Railway Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 1 have been discarded in favour of a tilt at the Zabeel Classic (2000m) at the same track on Boxing Day.

Star New Zealand galloper Jimmy Choux (NZ) has thrived in Victoria ahead of his departure to Hong Kong.

The multiple Group One winner and W.S. Cox Plate runner-up will be Australasia’s only representative at the Hong Kong International meeting on Sunday week when he runs in the Hong Kong Mile (1600m).

“I moved him into a lovely rural setting (in Victoria after the Emirates Stakes) and he’s been doing fantastically well,” trainer John Bary told Sydney’s Sky Sports Radio.

“He has had a paddock in the afternoon which is a huge factor for Kiwi horses. He had a nice gallop last Tuesday and he’s just thrived. He’s put a bit of weight on and is looking magnificent.”

The reigning New Zealand horse of the year, Jimmy Choux (NZ) has won five Group One races including the Rosehill Guineas in Australia in March.

He was a brave second in the A$3 million W.S. Cox Plate (2040m) last month before his fourth with 58kg topweight in the Group One Emirates Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on November 5.

Bary believes the five weeks between runs from the Emirates to the Hong Kong Mile would work out perfectly.

“That was the reason for running in the Emirates over the mile, albeit carrying topweight,” Bary said.

“Otherwise it would have been seven weeks (between the Cox Plate and Hong Kong Mile). It’s actually worked out perfectly with the travelling and just getting over the two hard runs in Australia. You couldn’t have asked for a better preparation.”

Bary and jockey Jonathan Riddell will link with Jimmy Choux (NZ) in Hong Kong next Tuesday.

“We’ll give him a nice gallop on Wednesday, then we’ll just see from there whether we need another 600 metre (gallop) or not,” Bary said.

Yesterday it was Distill (Volksraad) in the Levin Classic and today it was the turn of Ocean Park (Thorn Park) to make his New Zealand Derby bid on behalf of Hong Kong connections.

The $20,000 special conditions 1500-metre event that Ocean Park contested at Ellerslie was some way down the scale from Distill’s Group One assignment at Otaki, but on face value his performance still held a lot of merit.

The Garry Hennessy-trained colt was unfazed stepping up from a debut maiden dead-heat at Gisborne three weeks ago, coming from last to easily account for his more experienced opposition, including the highly rated hat-trick seeker Joy’s Choice. That filly looked set to justify her favouritism when she took over with a solid challenge 300 metres from home, but she was unable to quicken when Ocean Park sidled up and raced away to score by a widening length.

The Telecom New Zealand Derby is now firmly in Hennessy’s sights with the good looking son of Jimmy Choux’s sire Thorn Park and the Zabeel mare Sayyida. The best was never seen of Sayyida, who was touted for the top only to suffer a spiral fracture of a foreleg cannon-bone when running as favourite in the 2003 Avondale Guineas.

After the evidence of his charge’s first experience of the Ellerslie track today under Chad Ormsby, Hennessy confirmed the 1600-metre Gr. 2 Great Northern Guineas back at Ellerslie on Boxing Day as Ocean Park’s immediate target.

“He was here today for an eye-opener and I’m thrilled at how he managed it,” said Hennessy, who shares in the ownership of Ocean Park with Hong Kong residents Andrew Wong and Steve Yang after bidding $150,000 for him from the Select catalogue at last year’s Karaka yearling sales.

“I’m heading up to Hong Kong next week so I’ll be able to give Andrew and Steve a blow-by-blow description. Like a lot of my horses he was bought to eventually end up in Hong Kong and his long term goal is the (2013) Hong Kong Derby.”

Jimmy Choux will be the only New Zealand or Australian-trained runner at next month’s Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International meeting, but he will have solid back-up from several Kiwi-bred horses already domiciled in Hong Kong.

Being the only horse on the 10-hour flight to Hong Kong and then alone in his wing of the Sha Tin quarantine centre will be no hindrance to Jimmy Choux emulating champion mare Sunline’s victory in the 2000 Hong Kong Mile.

Champion sire Thorn Park scored a raceday double in Sydney on Saturday when his sons Revolt and Kontiki Park were both successful.

The well-related Revolt (NZ) continued his good form at the Australian Turf Club’s meeting at Warwick Farm on Saturday taking out the $70,000, ATC Foundation Membership Handicap BM80 (1600m) with no hint of having to cause a revolution.

 

DEPOSED Cox Plate favourite Jimmy Choux (Thorn Park) had early morning regulars at Flemington on Thursday checking their stopwatches after the Kiwi champ burnt turf.

Race favourite and Caulfield Guineas winner Helmet was the first on to the track at about 4am and pleased trainer Peter Snowden, but it was Jimmy Choux which stunned those present when working a couple of hours later.

''I'm very well and he bounced off the track,'' trainer John Bary said.

Under race rider and former jumps jockey Jonathan Riddell, Jimmy Choux was let roll from the 800-metre mark on the inside grass and clocker Darryl Sherer timed him to run the last 600m in 34.87 seconds, the final 400m in 23.24s.

''That cannot be right,'' Sherer said, while checking times with trainer Michael Moroney, who will start Glass Harmonium in the Cox Plate. ''He is deceptive that horse, he doesn't look to be going that hard. He is not going to lose on the score of fitness.''

Bary reckons Riddell ''had a big hold of Jimmy'' and said ''it was a normal 600 for the horse''.

''That's just Jimmy Choux, he is fit and well,'' Bary said. ''You talk to guys that had real champions, they tell you those horses run time without trying, that is what distinguishes them from the good horses. That's why it is important to have Jonathan on him, he knows the horse, knows the speed he is going, I'm just thrilled.''

Asked about winning Australasian racing's championship event, Bary was direct.

''We're not here to have a haircut, enjoy the lunches we're having, I think I can,'' he said. ''I've got a very good horse. We'll need luck in running, that's racing, but I know he is the best I've ever had him and have a look at the record.''

''All is good, two days to go,'' Snowden said in regard to Helmet. ''Whether the goalposts are a bit high, we'll find out on Saturday.''

Moroney was impressed by Jimmy Choux's workout. ''He looked to work well, looks nice and bright, on his toes,'' Moroney said.

Imported from Britain earlier this year to run in the Cox Plate, Glass Harmonium has thrived throughout this preparation.

Moroney is mindful of Glass Harmonium being an entire, due to the horse's penchant for stirring up in the parade ring, even as two handlers walk the grey around.

The barriers are also a worry but Moroney said Glass Harmonium would be blindfolded, a stallion chain used to lead him into his gate and two-time Cox Plate-winning jockey Damien Oliver would dismount behind the stalls. ''This is the race we aimed him at, bought him for, it is not an afterthought,'' he said. ''It is an intriguing race.''

Made even more so with Gai Waterhouse scratching her 2010 Caulfield Cup winner and last-start Caulfield Stakes victor Descarado due to a leg injury.

It was hoped that natural frontrunner Descarado would apply pressure to Helmet, which is expected to lead being the only three-year-old in the race and with just 49.5 kilograms to carry.

The absence of Descarado is a worry for other trainers, too, as most want a solid pace to ensure a true staying contest over the 2040 metres around the Valley.

Bary-trainee sights Cox Plate course

The racing focus is firmly at Caulfield today with the running of the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) on Saturday but there were some interesting visitors to Moonee Valley yesterday morning, writes Darryl Sherer.

Jimmy Choux’s dominant win in the Gr.1 NZ Bloodstock Insurance Spring Classic (2040m) at Hastings at the weekend has propelled last season’s Champion Sire Thorn Park to an early lead in the race for this season’s Sire Premiership honours.

Jonathan Riddell's faith in Jimmy Choux is unwavering.

NEW Zealander Jimmy Choux will try to do what no horse has done in the modern era and win the Cox Plate without racing for five weeks before the race.

Jimmy Choux sent a warning to Australian race followers and credited jockey Jonathan Riddell with a perfect birthday present with an awesome return to winning form in yesterday's Windsor Park Plate at Hastings.

Telecom New Zealand Derby winner, Jimmy Choux, was crowned Horse of the Year at New Zealand’s 2011 Thoroughbred Racing Awards, held at the Opera House in Hastings, Hawke’s Bay, last night. Winner of 10 of his 18 starts and over $2.6m, including the Derby, New Zealand 2,000 Guineas and the Rosehill Guineas in Sydney

Handicapper Dean Nowell says Jimmy Choux deserves every gram of the 62.5kg he has assessed him at for this year's free handicaps.

Thorn Park’s brilliant classic winning son Jimmy Choux has been officially rated at the top of the New Zealand Free Handicaps, the annual handicapping assessment of the best two and three year old racehorses by the NZTR handicapper.

Thorn Park completed an outstanding season at the weekend with a treble of winners in both New Zealand and Australia, to secure the coveted Grosvenor Award for New Zealand’s champion sire for 2010/11.

Thorn Park is a stud showing his wares and producing winning progeny. Waikato Times racing editor Aidan Rodley talks with Windsor Park Stud manager Rodney Shick about Thorn Park and his development.

It's as though Thorn Park is fully aware of the modern digital era.

It's nothing new for a newspaper to be running an article on a stallion clinching premiership honours for the first time.

But in the digital era, newspapers are now becoming more reliant on online video content to complement the traditional newsprint product to stimulate a new age of technology-savvy young readers.

To satisfy that demand, Racing Times brought in staff videographer Mike Scott to shoot footage for an online article on the stallion.

And didn't Thorn Park know it.

He was the star of this show and he was instantly ready to strut his stuff.

Windsor Park Stud manager Rodney Schick and stallion handler Sam Roberts had the chestnut stallion glistening for our arrival and with the interview and parades done, he knew exactly what would appeal to the online viewer -  a splash and a roll in the mud.

Schick and Roberts winced but Scott's grin couldn't have been any wider.

Schick says Thorn Park the performer is all part of a personality that has made him a favourite at the stud.

''He's very easy to have around,'' Schick says.

''He's personality is much like Star Way's. He's a cheeky bugger. We love having him around. He's a great breeder. He's just an easy horse to manage.''

But merely having an endearing personality is not enough for a stallion to ensure a future at stud.

Especially in a trying economic climate, a stallion needs to become a successful sire, a paternal influence breeders want to utilise to advance their own breed or simply to produce a fast racehorse.

Thorn Park is showing he has what it takes.

This season, his three-year-old son Jimmy Choux has been the dominant Classic-age performer.

Nothing says proven stallion like a Derby or Guineas winner, and this season Jimmy Choux has given his sire's profile a priceless boost with success in both, and on both sides of the Tasman.

Thorn Park has also been represented by the likes of Australian Gr I-placed Centennial Park and New Zealand Gr I winners The Party Stand, in the New Zealand Stakes, and Veyron, in the Easter Handicap.

''It's huge really. It's a great achievement for him and the stud. We're absolutely rapt,'' Schick says.

''It was absolutely fantastic to see Jimmy win the 2000 Guineas, then our Derby and then to go on to Australia and win the Rosehill Guineas was the icing on the cake.

''He's had two other Gr I winners [in The Party Stand and Veyron]. He's had three individual Gr I wins this season. He's the only sire to do that in the southern hemisphere this year.''

Thorn Park has also broken Volksraad's season-earnings record, with his progeny bankrolling $2.97 million with a month still to run.

Unbeaten in two starts at two, the Spinning World stallion advanced to dual Gr II winner and Gr I Australian Guineas-placegetter at three, before adding to his three Group wins as a four-year-old to a career-defining win in the Gr I Stradbroke Handicap at his final start.

The Stradbroke triumph was an incredible boost for Windsor Park, which had bought him prior to the race, believing he already had enough appeal to stand at stud without a Gr I success to his name.

''The big thing we loved about him as a racehorse was he had a huge turn of foot,'' Schick says.

''He could reel off some great sectionals. He could come from the back of the field and then win his races well.

''He's a magnificent looking horse. I remember myself and Mike [Moran, stud marketing manager] going to see him. He only had to stick his head over the box and we knew he was the horse we had to buy.

''Thorn Park was an easy decision for us to buy as a stallion. He was a very good two-year-old, a good three-year-old, a Gr I-winning four-year-old headlined with his win in the Stradbroke after we bought him.

''He was an exciting racehorse and it was really that sheer brilliance that we like to see in him and he's thrown that in his progeny.

''He couldn't handle the wet but obviously his progeny can handle both firm tracks and off tracks, which those good horses have shown.''

A rising 12-year-old, Thorn Park's oldest progeny are rising six-year-olds and Schick is confident his best years at stud are ahead.

''He's got some good horses with Jimmy Choux going on and Veyron is really only just getting started. And then you've got the likes of Magic Briar coming out and she's a really exciting filly, and Centennial Park in Australia. He ran second in a Gr I in Australia as well.

''He's got some really exciting horses and I think next season should be another good one for him.

''He's been well sought after. By having Jimmy go to Australia and win a Gr I there, and with Centennial Park being over there and being Gr I-placed, we've got mares coming from Australia this year so he'll serve a lovely book as well.''

Hastings trainer John Bary has revealed A$3 million aims for Jimmy Choux, himself a great stallion prospect now and likely to be the highest-rated three-year-old in Australasia this season.

Schick has also been buoyed by Thorn Park's success in Hong Kong, only last weekend his sons Delish and Gift As Gift combining to credit the stallion with a winning double at Sha Tin.

Windsor Park has set Thorn Park's service fee for next season at $20,000 plus GST, a sharp rise from the $13,500 plus GST fee he commanded last year.

But Schick says the horse has truly justified the price increase and the move hasn't put off breeders, who have been quick to book their mares to the hottest sire commodity of the moment.

''We've been fortunate over the years. We've had some really successful stallions,'' Schick says.

''Our relationship with Coolmore has allowed us to have some nice international flavour come in. We've had the likes of Star Way, Kaapstad, Montjeu, Volksraad, Tale Of The Cat, High Chaparral and now Thorn Park - it's been a great ride. We've had some really nice stallions here and hopefully we've got some nice ones coming up.''

THE GROSVENOR AWARD

As provided by Arion Pedigrees,   June 28, 2011:

 STALLION           EARNINGS           BEST PERFORMER

Thorn Park          $2,971,912           Jimmy Choux - $2,106,500

Pins                      $1,432,260           Antonio Lombardo - $290,315

Pentire                 $1,368,794             Mufhasa - $727,000

Keeper                $1,338,152           Keep the Peace - $308,750

Montjeu              $930,150              Wall Street - $399,250

Lord Ballina        $856,863             Titch - $701,488

Volksraad            $848,513              Veloce Bella - $66,775

Stravinsky           $748,075             El Chico - $110,950

O'Reilly                $738,577              Annie Higgins - $80,825

Charge Forward $687,149             Fort Lincoln - $597,587

Promising three-year-old Gift Is Gift (NZ) (Thorn Park) carried in excess of 60 kgs to keep his unbeaten record intact with a hard fought victory in the Gallop Handicap (1200m) for trainer Almond Lee.

Thorn Park, already assured of winning the 2010-11 New Zealand General Sires Premiership, needs only $28,488, to break the NZ$3 million barrier.

Thorn Park colt Gift Is Gift maintained his unbeaten record in Hong Kong when carrying a 60.5kg impost to victory at Sha Tin last night over 1200m.

Thorn Park’s record-breaking season continued at Ellerslie on Saturday where his exciting son Veyron registered a smashing 3 length victory in the Gr.1 Land Pride Easter Handicap over 1,600m.

Sires of Gr.1 winners Australia & New Zealand (to 18/04/11) Thorn Park (AUS), 1999, by Spinning World	NZ	3
High Chaparral (IRE), 1999, by Sadler's Wells	AUS	2
Redoute's Choice (AUS), 1996, by Danehill	AUS	2
Zabeel (NZ), 1986, by Sir Tristram	NZ	2
More Than Ready (USA), 1997, by Southern Halo	AUS	2
Anabaa (USA), 1992, by Danzig	AUS	2
Pentire (GB), 1992, by Be My Guest	NZ	2
Keeper (AUS), 1997, by Danehill	NZ	2
Starcraft (NZ), 2000, by Soviet Star	AUS	2

One of the first things Rogan Norvall said to Cambridge trainer Linda Laing after scoring his first group one win on Veyron in Saturday's $200,000 Land Pride Easter at Ellerslie was: "I'll see you at the track in the morning."

The fact that level of loyalty can still exist in such a tough, big-money industry as the thoroughbred racing is so magnificent.

Raceday jockeys at training tracks on Sunday morning are harder to find than field mushrooms have been this year.

Rogan Norvall won't mind us saying this - he is not generally considered a group one jockey.

He won on Veyron because he is Cambridge's most dedicated trackwork rider and Linda Laing, and her recently retired father Royce Dowling, engage his raceday services totally.

He rides all the stable's raceday horses.

"Regardless of anything, Rogan will always be at the track to ride your horses, seven days a week," said Laing.

He rides more trackwork than just about anyone, but often loses the raceday mounts to a number of other riders considered more fashionable jockeys.

That must at times greatly disappoint the South African, but his cheerful and often wickedly humorous personality masks it well.

You can really only guess how satisfying it must have felt to be on Veyron's back three lengths clear of the opposition on Saturday.

"It's wonderful, it's like your first win," was his way of describing it.

The depth of Norvall's loyalty became obvious last year when he received several job offers in Australia, one a particularly lucrative management position with one of Australia's leading stables.

"I sat Rogan down and told him he had to take it because it was a lifetime opportunity," said Laing.

"And apart from the money I told him the lifestyle in Australia was much more attractive.

"He said, No, he thought a lot of Jethro [Veyron] and wanted to stay with him."

It was good judgment because Veyron was only just starting out at that point on his current amazing run of form that has seen him win seven of his past eight races.

Veyron has been big and more than a little slabby and has matured through each of his winning runs to front up better the next time.

The progression has been remarkable.

"He's still six months away yet," says Linda Laing, in which case he will be an awesome racehorse late this year.

"He's so big he barely fits into the starting gates at Ellerslie.

"He looks more like a 2400m horse, but he's got so much natural speed."

Veyron won stylishly at Te Aroha the previous Saturday and even though making a giant step up to run in the Easter, Laing knew she had the right horse for the job.

"I swear he grew another leg during the week, which is amazing because I've asked him to peak three times in this preparation, which is very tough on any horse and he just keeps stepping up."

Norvall is in awe of the horse.

"He runs such effortless sectionals."

That was so evident on Saturday. Veyron sat outside the speed and on the home bend looked as though he'd just joined in while the others were well off the bit.

At that point you would have taken $1.20 about his chances.

"I was worried about the ground, but he handled it beautifully," said Laing.

It was the Cambridge horsewoman's first group one victory on her own account, the previous one being the Brisbane Cup in partnership with her father Royce with Limitless, appropriately Veyron's grand-dam.

Laing says Saturday was a blur. "I had something like 27 missed calls on my cellphone and 55 text messages."

Uppermost in her thoughts were her husband Martin (Lumpy) Laing, who recently died suddenly and didn't get to see his favourite racehorse win his group one on Saturday.

"This is a marvellous game you know," said Laing yesterday. "It can be very tough, but there are some wonderful people in it. No matter what happens you've always got mates."

Well-backed Foxton visitor Fears Nothing from the back fought bravely for second ahead of the marvellous oldtimer Sir Slick, who simply gritted his way to the finish to take third in the last stride.

The last thing Linda Laing said to Rogan Norvall before she left Ellerslie on Saturday was: "Don't bother coming to the track in the morning, I'm giving the horses a day off".

He went anyway.

The tears on the victory dais weren't just an emotional reaction to Linda Laing winning her first Group I race.

When Veyron dealt a hiding to his rivals in the $200,000 Land Pride Easter Handicap at Ellerslie yesterday, it opened a painful door for the Cambridge trainer, whose husband "Lumpy" died suddenly little more than three months ago.

"As far as he was concerned Veyron was the only horse in New Zealand," Laing said. "He loved him to bits, he called him Jethro and he was his mate.

"This is very emotional for me, but we've done it." Lumpy Laing, who used to work at the Cambridge training track, whose facilities Laing says were instrumental in Veyron's win, had another admirer, jockey Rogan Norvall.

And Norvall, also notching his first Group I win, was one of the first Laing thanked.

"Not many know Rogy turned down a lucrative job in Sydney to stay and ride here for us." Norvall, a battler admired for his rare work ethic, said he actually turned down several offers.

"I changed my mind about going when this horse started to show what he had."

Norvall, 35, who started riding at the age of 18 in Zimbabwe, and has been here eight years, said he was grateful Laing and the horse's owners, Isabel and Alistaire Barker, had not replaced him with a higher-profile jockey when Veyron started to string together the wins. "It's tough getting taken off horses all the time."

Norvall might not have the winning rate of his peers, but he turns up for work every morning of the week at Laing's stable, and rides trackwork on up to 20 horses a day.

"My dad always told me you have to put in the work to get the results." And there has been plenty of work on Veyron – Norvall handling him as a difficult youngster when no one else was volunteering.

The Thorn Park five-year-old has only one leg not scarred.

Isabel Barker said Veyron was so accident-prone as a youngster he didn't race until he was four.

"In the stables he didn't seem to know where his feet were and he was always opening up his legs. He's certainly had a few dings. Nothing serious, just lacerations. Linda wouldn't put him in a box for a while until he sorted himself out."

Barker said she was comforted by the fact Veyron's grand-dam, Brisbane Cup winner Limitless, was also accident-prone.

The quest for Jimmy Choux (NZ) to become the first New Zealand Derby winner to complete the $1.5m, Group 1, David Jones 150th, AJC Australian Derby (2400m) double since Bonecrusher (NZ) in 1986, took another step on Tuesday with the John Barry trained colt drawing barrier one at the Inglis Sale complex on Tuesday. Jimmy Choux is also going for his sixth successive group victory, and a remarkable third successive Group 1 victory after winning the Flinders Lane Rosehill Guineas (2000m) at Rosehill on March 26th, and the New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie on March 5th. Autumn rain delivered 11mm to Randwick on Tuesday morning and a shower or two is predicted throughout the week, but Bary is not worried as his remarkable Thorn Park colt has won at the highest level on all types of going. On Boxing Day Jimmy Choux won the Group 2 Northern Guineas over 1600m on a Good track in the smart time of 1.33.53, and then the versatile colt won the New Zealand Derby over 2400m by 2L on a Heavy track going away from his opposition. The barrier draw at the Inglis Sale complex before the 2011 Easter Yearling Sale commenced had Jimmy Choux drawn as the last of the field of 14 with the number one barrier the only barrier not previously chosen by connections. Bary was not concerned about starting against the rails with his confidence in his colt at an all time high. “It does not worry me but I would have actually preferred to be out a little bit so that we could take a posse one out, and two or three back, but it is what it is, and we will just roll with the punches and it is up to Jonathon now to put him in the race where he wants him,” said Bary. “I am really happy with him to be honest, and I actually thought he was a little bit better when I turned up on Sunday night than going into Rosehill. “His work today was great and he was having a good play, and even a little buck going out to the tracks. We cannot fault him and there will be no excuses from our camp,” he said. Bary said that he does not have to give Jimmy Choux too much work between runs. “He is race fit, and has been most of the year, and it is just about getting him there. He will probably do another 600m on Thursday at this stage for his wind, but he is there and ready to go, and he is match fit,” he said. “His racing has been spaced, racing once a month and he is not a horse that spells well as he likes company and being in the thick of it. He has really done well in Sydney and I am amazed. “Mentally he has grown up and he is ready to rumble we are quietly confident,” he said, TAB Sportsbet had the New Zealand galloper at $2.00 as favourite before the barrier draw, and he remains at $2.00 post draw. Darley’s Retrieve, with barrier 12, is the second favourite at $7.00 and the Melbourne filly Shamrocker (NZ), with barrier eight, is third favourite at $9.00.

The order at the top of the three-year-old ratings changed last weekend in dramatic fashion, writes Darryl Sherer. Jimmy Choux (Thorn Park) came to Australia and continued his Group 1 form from New Zealand in emphatic style.

If the weight of expectation lay heavily on the shoulders of Jimmy Choux (NZ) (Thorn Park) going into Saturday’s Gr. 1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) , it certainly didn’t show as he served up a good old fashioned hiding to his rivals in the A$500,000 Sydney classic.

Dual classic winner too good in Rosehill Guineas

When the review of the 2010/11 season is written, yesterday’s Rosehill Guineas (Gr 1, 2000m) is likely to be seen as pivotal in assessing the three-year-olds. For this was the race when New Zealand’s best male put Australia’s best to the sword. Never mind that the spring form has failed to translate to the autumn, Jimmy Choux (Thorn Park) looked a bit special yesterday.

As trainer John Bary said on TVN later, “We knew he was good back home, we have run times, to perform over here is just great. We have the whole country behind us. It is just awesome.”

In the run yesterday Jimmy Choux travelled sweetly in fifth and sixth place, one off the rail with some cover to the home turn. Darley-homebred Retrieve (Rahy) had set a solid pace and was first for home with Jonathan Riddell biding his time. Once balanced up in the straight it was Jimmy Choux that was able to produce a turn of foot, coming down the centre of the track to first reel in Retrieve and then go clear under hands and heels.

At the line Jimmy Choux had a widening half a length to spare, having turned for home some five lengths off the lead, with Shamrocker (O’Reilly) staying on gamely in the straight for third a length further back. Light Brigade (Redoute’s Choice) took fourth with Masquerader (Lucky Owners) in fifth but all honours rest clearly with Jimmy Choux.

A smiling Bary was quick to praise the ride. “I thought Jonathon rode him absolutely perfectly, I didn’t give him any instructions, I said ‘you know the horse’, he has won that many Group races on him, he just did a great job, Jimmy has a great turn of foot like I said he has, he has a big heart and he doesn’t know how to lie down.”

For winning jockey Jonathan Riddell, better known to Australian punters as a jumps jockey, the victory was sweet. “About the 1000m he was travelling a bit too good for himself so I had to wait till the top of the straight,” he told TVN. “I thought the one in front kicked away from us a little bit, I gave him a couple behind the saddle and I just knew he was going to pick them up.

“(Winning) is a bit more of a relief really. There was a little bit of pressure because they didn’t have to bring me over and put me on but to their credit they have stuck with me. You just don’t want to let those sort of people down. It’s pretty emotional stuff.

“Of course he is (the best I have ever ridden). I don’t get the opportunity to ride horses half this good. He is my champion anyway, it might be a little early to start calling him that, but that is what I think of him anyway,” he said.

Having arguably established himself as the best of his age still racing in Australia or New Zealand, Jimmy Choux will bid for further classic glory. Having already won the New Zealand Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) and 2000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), the Thorn Park colt will now go for the AJC Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) according to his trainer. “We will focus on the AJC Derby, this is our opposition that we have seen today with probably a couple more to come out of the woodwork, against our own age and we can keep our jockey on. I will talk to the owners after this but if he pulls up well, at this stage it is the AJC Derby.”

After his win in the New Zealand Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) Bary had indicated that he was eyeing up the Doncaster Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) as the most likely option for Jimmy Choux but as a Group 1 winner now at 1600 and 2400 metres his options would appear to be many. “He can get (2400m) on class alone, I still think he is a sprinter-miler but at the end of the day it is a Group 1 and I don’t care if it is three miles or one mile or a hundred yards, but we got it,” he said.

Jimmy Choux (3 c Thorn Park – Cierzo, by Centaine) has now won 10 of his 17 starts and earned the equivalent of $2,031,970.

The New Zealand Derby winner Jimmy Choux (NZ) gave an outstanding display at Rosehill on Saturday to win the Australian Turf Club’s $500,000, Group 1, Flinders Lane Rosehill Guineas (2000m).

 Jimmy Choux, trained by John Bary at Hastings and ridden by Jonathan Riddell, was well-positioned throughout the race in fifth one off the rails as Retrieve and Kerrin McEvoy took the field down the back straight after coming over from barrier 11.

Light Brigade and Nash Rawiller came up and kept in touch with the leader with 100m to run and with 800m to ride Rawiller was sitting in Retrieve’s flank trying to ensure that McEvoy was not going to steal a march on the field. Shamrocker (NZ) and Damien Oliver were next. Jimmy Choux was still in fifth and travelling well.

Entering the main straight McEvoy did indeed steal a march on the field and they went to a 2L lead at the 300m. Most of the field were flat, but Riddell was bringing Jimmy Choux wider down the track.

Riddell waited until he passed the 300m and then he put the pedal down and Jimmy Choux displayed a brilliant turn of foot to chase down Retrieve who was 5L away. Jimmy Choux was in another gear to the rest of the field in this remarkable burst of speed and he caught Retrieve with 100m to run, and then went away for a half-length win.

Retrieve (Rahy) kept second over Shamrocker (O’Reilly) who was brave in third, the margin 1L, Light Brigade was fourth and Masquerader fifth. The time was 2.05.33 on the Dead (5) track with the final 600m in 34.70.

 Jimmy Choux paid $4.20 on NSW TAB as favourite. The colt  immediately firmed as favourite in TAB Sportsbet’s market for the Group 1 David Jones 150^th Australian Derby (2400m) on April 9^th.

“We knew he was good back home, we have run times, to perform over here is just great, we have the whole country behind us, it is just awesome,” Bary said.

“I thought Jonathon rode him absolutely perfectly, I didn’t give him any instructions, I said ‘you know the horse’, he has won that many group races on him, he just did a great job, (Jimmy Choux) has a great turn of foot like I said he has, he has a big heart and he doesn’t know how to lie down.

“We will focus on the AJC Derby, this is our opposition that we have seen today with probably a couple more to come out of the woodwork, against our own age and we can keep our jockey on; I will talk to the owners after this but if he pulls up well , at this stage it is the AJC Derby.

“He can get (2400m) on class alone, I still think he is a sprinter-miler but at the end of the day it is a group one and I don’t care if it is three miles or one mile or a hundred yards, but we got it,” he said.

 “About the 1000m he was travelling a bit too good for himself so I had to wait til the top of the straight, I thought the one in front kicked away from us a little bit, I gave him a couple behind the saddle and I just knew he was going to pick them up,” Riddell said.

“(Winning) is a bit more of a relief really, there was a little bit of pressure because they didn’t have to bring me over and put me on but to their credit they have stuck with me; you just don’t want to let those sort of people down, it’s pretty emotional stuff.

“Of course he is (the best I have ever ridden), I don’t get the opportunity to ride horses half this good; he is my champion anyway, it might be a little early to start calling him that, but that is what I think of him anyway,” he said.

 Jimmy Choux is a now valuable colt by New Zealand's leading stallion Thorn Park out of the Centaine mare Cierzo, and he is owned by Chouxmaani Investments Ltd.

This was the colts fifth win in succession including the Northern Guineas over 1600m at Ellerslie, Wellington Stakes over 1600m at Trentham, Waikato Guineas over 2000m at Te Rapa and the New Zealand Derby over 2400m at Ellerslie with the sequence beginning on December 26^th. Stakes are now $2,029,470.

The transition from the playgrounds of the rich and famous to the daily rigours of training racehorses has been a smooth one for New Zealander John Bary.

He travelled the world as a professional polo player for almost a decade before deciding to return with his wife Laura and two young children.

"I lived in Argentina and then America for six years," Bary said.

"It was great but eventually it was time to settle down and be with the family."

Bary bought a sheep farm but horses were in his blood and thoroughbreds presented a new challenge.

His great-grandfather Wilfred "WG" Stead was a prolific owner of racehorses and the 1916 Melbourne Cup won by Sasanof had pride of place on the mantelpiece above the fireplace in Bary's boyhood home.

With that inspiration to spur him on, Bary appointed a manager for the sheep farm a couple of years ago and focused on training full-time.

Success came quickly and Bary made his first foray to Australia in May 2010 and claimed the Group Three Rough Habit Plate with The Hombre.

As the saying goes, there's a better one at home and in Bary's case it was true. Jimmy Choux has won two Group One races and is favourite to make it three in Saturday's Rosehill Guineas.

"He's a freak," Bary said.

"He runs on any sort of ground, he can go back or go forward and just loves competition.

"He has always been good but now he has really matured.

"The turning point seemed to come on Boxing Day when he won the Great Northern Guineas. He changed from that day on and has just kept going."

Jimmy Choux has won his three starts since including the New Zealand Derby after which Bary boldly declared he would never run over 2400 metres again.

A study of the weights for the Doncaster Mile prompted a rethink and after deciding the task for a three-year-old against seasoned campaigners such as More Joyous and Danleigh was too hard, Bary opted for the Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and the AJC Australian Derby (2400m).

"The three-year-olds are not well weighted against the older horses," he said.

"We will take him to the Derby and then look at a race like the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot.

"I'm keen to travel him because he is a colt and it will enhance his future at stud."

If Jimmy Choux can win the Derby, the trophy will be a companion for that won by Kilboy in 1916 in what was a stellar year for Bary's ancestor.

If he doesn't win the Derby, Bary has still had a stellar year with the promise of more to come.

"The Hombre will run in the Group One Easter Cup at home," Bary said.

"And then I plan to bring him back to Queensland for the Doomben Cup.

"I've got good staff at home so that means I still get to travel."

After opening equal favourite with Absolutelyawesome, Jimmy Choux displaced him on Thursday at the head of the Guineas market at $3.40.

When a horse starts improving as we saw recently with dual Group one winner Booming, there is no knowing just where that improvement will halt. If I had been told a month ago that the Roger James trained THE PARTY STAND would win a Group One race within the next month, I, and I’m sure many others, would have laughed out loud. Mind you, one doesn’t have to look very far to find why she had appealed to Roger, who had picked up her up for a modest sum at the 2008 Select Sale at Karaka. The Cambridge trainer has a real feel for the Thorn Parks especially his fillies like La Etoile and Glamorous Girl, but the clincher must surely have been the presence of his New Zealand Derby winner Zonda back in the third dam.

THORN PARK (AUS) Ch. 1999 GW 9 wins f:223 r:170 w:104 SW:11	Spinning World Ch. 1993 GW 8 wins f:923 r:777 w:504 SW:41	Nureyev	Northern Dancer	Nearctic
				Natalma
			Special	Forli
				Thong
		Imperfect Circle	Riverman	Never Bend
				River Lady
			Aviance	Northfields
				Minnie Hauk
	Joy B. 1993 NR f:5 r:5 w:4 SW:1	Bluebird	Storm Bird	Northern Dancer
				South Ocean
			Ivory Dawn	Sir Ivor
				Dusky Evening
		Christmas Spirit	Bletchingly	Biscay
				Coogee
			Joy and Fun	Showdown
				Denise's Joy
CREMISI (AUS) B. 1995 NR f:6 r:6 w:3 SW:1	Royal Academy B. 1987 GW 4 wins f:2401 r:1992 w:1354 SW:158	Nijinsky	Northern Dancer	Nearctic
				Natalma
			Flaming Page	Bull Page
				Flaring Top
		Crimson Saint	Crimson Satan	Spy Song
				Papila
			Bolero Rose	Bolero
				First Rose
	Redaria Ch. 1986 NR f:8 r:5 w:5	Red Anchor	Sea Anchor	Alcide
				Anchor
			Decoy Girl	Decoy Boy
				Red Robe
		Hot Rhythm	Sostenuto	Never Say Die
				Arietta
			Star of Peace	Pipe of Peace
				Sunshine Express

The final day of the Auckland Racing Club’s 2011 Cup Carnival will be one that Margaret Trotter will not forget, as not only did she breed the group one Nicolas Feuillatte New Zealand Stakes winner The Party Stand (Thorn Park – Cremisi), but another winner on the card Better Together (Volksraad-Morangie) from her former good race mare Morangie.

“Normally I can’t watch when they are racing because I get so nervous, but last Saturday I had a good feeling about both of them so I really enjoyed watching them win,” she told the NZTBA.

“I was so excited when Better Together won, Morangie lives on – and then when The Party Stand, won that was really exciting, such a thrill.”

Morangie (Cache of Gold – Whisky Lass) was one of a number of good horses that Margaret has raced and bred over the years. She won nine races including the listed Rotorua Stakes and Matamata Cup, and also ran second in the group two Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes. Her full brother Sir Kingi won the Wanganui Cup and ten other races, and was group placed in Victoria.

Morangie died in 2009 and about the same time Margaret and her late husband Sir Ron Trotter scaled down their thoroughbred interests and sold most of their mares including Cremisi.

Windsor Park’s general Manager Steve Till purchased Cremisi (Royal Academy – Redaria) for Margaret Trotter from a small sale in Melbourne for under $20,000.

According to Steve she was an impressive type of mare from a good Australian family descending from one of the original mares bred by Sir Tristan Antico of Baramul Stud ,Hot Rhythm.

Cremisi was unraced, but she was a half sister to five winners. Her dam Redaria (Red Anchor – Hot Rhythm) was also unraced but was a half sister to the stakes winners
Shannar (dam of Clayton’s Bid), Hot Diggity, and Verdi, dam of the stakes winning sire Rigoletto, as well as the stakes placed Dancealot, the dam of the stakes winners Take Your Partner, Imperial Baron and Kenvain.

The Party Stand is the sixth foal from Cremisi and the best performed. It was back-to-back wins for the Roger James-trained Thorn Park mare who has now won six races. At her previous start she won the listed Stanley Group TRAC Stakes also over 2000 metres making it four for the season.

Thorn Park had a notable weekend picking up a treble of winners at Ellerslie including the group one Nicholas Feuillatte New Zealand Stakes with The Party Stand, the listed Starcraft@Arrowfield Mr Tiz Trophy with Magic Briar while promising galloper Veyron collected a double for the meeting in the rating 90 Cathay Pacific Airways 1400.

The Party Stand became Thorn Park’s second group one winner in the space of a week, while Magic Briar became his 11th stakes winner, and Veyron, who has now won five races from six starts this season, looks likely to go on and get black type.

The Telecom Derby winner Jimmy Choux has pushed Thorn Park into a clear lead on the New Zealand sires premiership. The Windsor Park-based stallion is shaping up to be very versatile. He can now boast stakes winners at two, three and older, and over a variety of distances.

The Party Stand is a half sister to two winners - Raadisi (volksraad) and Madam Joan (Montjeu) - and three other placed runners. Raadisi won three races and showed enough ability to be added to Windsor Park’s broodmare band. Her oldest foal is now three.

Following The Party Stand, Cremisi has left a three year old colt by Falkirk, who is with Shaune Ritchie, a two year-old filly by Volksraad who was purchased by Paul Moroney, before being sold in foal to King’s Chapel in 2009. That mating also produced a colt.

These days Margaret has a 25% share in the mare Angel Dreamer (Street Cry – L’Extra Honor) with the Alchemy Family Trust and Windsor Park. She has a High Chaparral filly at foot and is in foal to Mastercraftsman.

She also has a 25% share with some friends in a King’s Chapel three-year-old gelding in work with Jeff Lynds.

“He is a big chestnut not unlike Sir Kingi, and Jeff tells us he is a stayer in the making and to be patient, and patience is certainly something you need to enjoy this game.”

Windsor Park Stud stallion Thorn Park is closing in on the New Zealand prize money record for a domestic season.

With the conclusion of the Auckland Cup Carnival last Saturday, Windsor Park Stud-based sire Thorn Park emerged as the top sire. 

A winning treble at the weekend concluded an outstanding Auckland Racing Club carnival for leading sire Thorn Park, further extending his lead on the stallion premiership. Thorn Park’s season progeny earnings now total close to $2.7 million with the all-time prizemoney record of $2.88 million, established by eight-time champion sire Volksraad last season, now firmly in his sights.

A large and talented field for the $45,000 Listed Starcraft at Arrowfield Mr Tiz Trophy (1200m) was not enough to stop the brilliant filly Magic Briar from notching up her first black-type win at Ellierslie on Saturday.

A last minute change of plans by trainer Roger James has proven a smart move as The Party Stand raced away to her first Group 1 victory in the $200,000 Nicolas Feuillatte New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.

Four Group One races took place across New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong last weekend with New Zealand-breds securing three of the four prestige events and coming close in the other.

Jimmy Choux's trainer may not think he's a true stayer, but he still managed to outstay most of the country's best male three-year-olds in the New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie.

A weekend of international success has swept Thorn Park to an almost unassailable lead in the race for New Zealand sire premiership honours.

SHORT-PRICED favourite Jimmy Choux (John Bary/ Jonathan Riddell) lived up to his reputation as he followed up his victory in the NZ Guineas to capture the $NZ2.2 million (about £1m) New Zealand Derby at a rain-sodden Ellerslie in Auckland.

Last week we looked at the growing number of horses being bred carrying duplications of stallions descending from Stolen Hour and her daughter Best In Show.

Centennial Park Photo by Racing and Sports

Centennial Park upstaged his more glamorous rivals in a stellar return to racing when taking the Group 2 Expressway Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.

The quiet achiever, by Thorn Park from Trephina, was passed in for $140,000 at the 2007 Inglis Australian Easter Sale.

HASTINGS TRAINER John Bary is toying with the idea of another start for the country's top three-year-old, Jimmy Choux, before the $2.2 million Telecom New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie next month.

David Payne-trained Centennial Park (Thorn Park) has upstaged the likes of Hot Danish and Love Conquers All to win the $200,000 Group 2 Expressway Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill this afternoon.

The March 5th Gr.1 New Zealand Derby mission set for the outstanding Thorn Park colt Jimmy Choux (NZ) received further black-type endorsement via the Gr.3 Phill Cataldo Bloodstock Wellington Stakes (3YO, 1600m) on Saturday.

Hastings trainer John Bary has already fielded plenty of opinion that Jimmy Choux might struggle when he gets beyond 1600m.

On the same day last year, Jimmy Choux (Thorn Park) defeated Cellarmaster (Dubawi) to take the Wakefield Challenge Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m). Yesterday the son of Thorn Park dominated his rivals in the Wellington Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m), coming clear over the final stages under hands and heels from Jonathan Riddell.

Jetset Lad (Elusive City) stayed on gamely for second, one and a quarter lengths away with He’s Remarkable (Pentire) running on for a closing third.

The Hastings trainer was the toast of Riccarton on Saturday when his outstanding three-year-old, Jimmy Choux, reigned supreme in the $1 million 2000 Guineas.

Backed into warm favouritism after the late scratching due to track conditions of early favourite We Can Say It Now, the pressure was on the Bary camp, but they pulled through for their faithful and produced one the best training efforts.

Having missed a key lead-up race at Trentham last month, Bary had his concerns heading into the race that they might have been just slightly vulnerable.

"I was genuinely worried about missing the Wellington Guineas, which meant it was five weeks in between his races, but you just can't underestimate the size of his heart, it's massive," Bary said.

"I actually can't believe this has all happened; it might take me quite a while to come down from this one."

Bary's rise to fame in the training ranks has been a whirlwind affair since the 40-year-old took out his training licence just over two years ago, following his retirement as a professional polo player.

His first winner came at Gisborne with the then maiden Neversaynever, and there has been no looking back.

"It's all been a bit surreal, to be honest. It has been great, but at the same time I have been very lucky to have achieved what I have in such a short space of time.

"I wouldn't say we were confident going into it but we knew we had a good show.

"They don't give you Group Ones in New Zealand. We knew we had a good draw and we knew we had some rain.

"We also knew from what he's done in the past that if he gets into a heads up, heads down finish you know he is going to be there for you right until the end."

In the saddle on Saturday was Jimmy Choux's regular hoop Jonathan Riddell, who never missed a beat the whole way and had his charge settled beautifully just off the leaders throughout.

Turning for home he angled Jimmy Choux into the clear and sent him for home with the colt travelling beautifully.

There were some tense moments when first Twilight Savings arrived to press the issue before He's Remarkable came with a flying late finish, but Jimmy Choux was always travelling comfortably and produced a strong fight to win by a long neck.

"When that horse came up to him halfway down the straight I thought we had blown out, but he dug deep.

"He's always had a big heart and he is a pro and I have always said that.

"Jonathan said when one came up to challenge he (Jimmy Choux) turned his head, looked and saw it, dug in again and kicked on.

"It's great having Jonathan aboard as well. He won my first race as a trainer, he won my first Group Two race, and now he's won my first Group One. I am starting to think he is all right."

A Thorn Park colt out the Centaine mare Cierzo, Jimmy Choux races under the ownership of Chouxmaani Investments Ltd for owners and breeders Liz and Richard Wood of Hawke's Bay.

Bary was grateful to the Woods, who he said had been with him from early on in his training career and he was thrilled to deliver a Group One to them. "I am rapt about it to be honest; they are great people and were some of the first owners to join me when I started out training. It just makes the occasion that much more enjoyable."

Both He's Remarkable and Twilight Savings will have lost no admirers following their gallant performances.

Adding to He's Remarkable's effort was that for the last 250 metres jockey Matthew Cameron had no whip after it broke.

Bary said he would take some time to come down to earth before making any choices on where to head to next with Jimmy Choux although he did indicate a crack at the Derby wasn't out of the question, as was a possible trip across the Tasman.

Jimmy Choux beats He's Remarkable (11) and Twilight Savings and Rememba Howe (obscured inner) Colin Berry Race Images Christchurch 

Backed as if unbeatable, Court In The Park (4 Br. M. Thorn Park – Frizzle, by Pompeii Court), a half-brother to the talented galloper Danacourt (Danasinga), justified her short quote ($1.90 & $1.30) with a comprehensive victory in the Solid Gold 94.3FM Maiden over 1400-metres at Otaki on Thursday.

Brilliant Thorn Park filly Magic Briar confirmed that she is a serious contender for the NZ One Thousand Guineas with win a runaway win at Te Rapa on October 1,

Ridden by leading jockey Opie Bosson, Magic Briar spaced her rivals in a field that included last season's Group One performer Charma who finished second.

Magic Briar, currently on the second line of betting for the 1000 Guineas at Riccarton on November 13, will next race in the Sarten Memorial at Te Rapa on October 25.

This result took her five start career tally to three wins, a third3 and an unlucky 5th in the G3 Gold Trail Stakes, after being galloped on in running.

Meanwhile, on Saturday Jimmy Choux, a leading two year old of last season, continued his fine form with an impressive win in the Gr.2 NZB Insurance Hawkes Bay Guineas on the weekend.

The Thorn Park gelding commenced his three year season in the Wanganui Guineas finishing a nose second to Fiddler, with last season's highest rated 2YO Cellarmaster third.

Jimmy Choux (3 B. C. Thorn Park – Cierzo, Centaine) provided locals with plenty to shout about as he stormed through along the rail to record his second group two success, in the Group 2, New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Hawkes Bay Guineas over 1400-metres at Hastings on Saturday.

Smart filly - The Party Stands beats Tivoli and Mr Scud. Kenton Wrightwww.raceimages.co.nz

The Party Stand (3 B. F. Thorn Park – Cremisi, by Royal Academy) gave her socially practised owners plenty of reasons to be upstanding when coming off a spell with an impressive victory at Te Rapa on Thursday.

Breeders are bombarded with statistical information every day of the week; but some trends do not need analysing - they are plain to see.  This is certainly the case for Windsor Park Stud's cracking young sire, Thorn Park.  He's performing right up to his outstanding looks in the early part of his stud career and breeders haven't missed it. 
 
The 'book full' sign has been out before the end of July, not surprising when you take a look at the many highlights of his second season of results.

Thorn Park has had five individual black type winners this season - Te Akau Rose (Matamata Breeders' Stakes-Gr.2), Glamorous Girl (WRC Desert Gold Stakes-Gr.3), Hollows (WRC Wellesley Stakes-LR), Centennial Park (STC Darby Munro Handicap-LR) and Pricked (SAJC H C Nitschke Stakes-LR).
 
His tally from two crops of racing age (oldest 3YOs) is now six, with Te Akau Coup winning the Matamata Breeders' Stakes-Gr.2 from his initial crop.  Thorn Park also has five other stakes-placed performers - Walk in the Park, La Etoile, Reuben Thorn, Flying In and Mr Thorpedo.
 
Walk in the Park looked a little unlucky not to claim a black type win this season.  She was fourth in the ARC Eight Carat Classic-Gr.2, 2nd in the ARC Royal Stakes-Gr.2, 3rd in the Queensland Oaks-Gr.1 (becoming Thorn Park's first Group One performer) and 2nd in the Sunshine Coast Guineas-LR.
 
La Etoile was another 3YO filly looking every bit a stakes winner this term, but didn't quite manage it.  She was fourth in Daffodil's NZ 1000 Guineas-Gr.1, fourth in the BATC Doomben Roses-Gr.3 and third in the Queensland Guineas-Gr.2.
 
Thorn Park is currently in second position on the New Zealand Second Season Sires Premiership behind Lucky Owners, the sire of the Karaka Million winner, The Heckler.  In New Zealand alone, Thorn Park has had 51 runners this season for 24 winners.  Collectively they've won 35 races for earnings of NZ$634,605.

Thorn Park fact sheet...
5 individual SW this season
First Group One performer with Walk in the Park (3rd Queensland Oaks)
41 winners from 82 runners worldwide
Winners in NZ, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong & Korea
Provided winner of Matamata Breeders' Stakes-Gr.2 in consecutive years
Oldest progeny 3YOs
2nd on the NZ Second Season Sires Premiership

Following on from listed Australian success by Pricked (NZ) in the SAJC Nitschke Stakes at Cheltenham, and the NZ stakes-winners Te Akau Rose (NZ), Hollows (NZ) and Glamorous Girl (NZ), the stellar season being enjoyed by Windsor Park Stud’s exciting young sire Thorn Park continued at Rosehill on Saturday, courtesy of the win by Centennial Park (NZ) in the listed Veolia Environmental Services Darby Munro Stakes (1200m).

Diving right on the line to claim the third win of his career, Centennial Park (NZ) broke through for black-type reward at the expense of fellow NZ-bred galloper Ahdashim (NZ) (Elusive City), running out the 1200m sprint in a smart time of 1.09.

Bred by Windsor Park Stud, Centennial Park (NZ) was sold in 2007 for A$150,000 to his trainer David Payne, and is now raced by John Cordina and Sandy Ward. From seven starts he has returned over A$163,000 in stakes earnings.

Thorn Park, by Spinning World, is a well-credentialed sire who made a name for himself with his brilliant win in the 2004 Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m).

With his oldest progeny now three-year-old's Thorn Park has had just the 17 starters in Australia this season to return an impressive 11 winners. Thorn Park’s current statistics are significant; 9.1% stakes winners to runners and 15.2% stakes horses to runners.

The Cheltenham meeting in Adelaide on Saturday featured a couple of Black Type events won by promising three year-olds in Pricked, owned by Patinack Farm and Cardinal Virtue, owned by Darley.

The Patinack Farm owned gelding Pricked, kicked another goal for young sire Thorn Park when he won the Listed SAJC Nitschke Stakes over 1450 metres, having been somewhat unlucky at his previous start when seventh at Moonee Valley last Saturday.

Trained by Mick Price, Pricked scored by the best part of a length and has the overall record of three wins and four placings from eight starts with prizemoney of $83,093.

A $50,000 purchase from the draft of Summerveld Stables at the 2007 NZB Ready to Run Sale, Pricked is by Aussie Group One winner Thorn Park from an Aussie bred Magic Ring (IRE) mare in Quack, a daughter of former brilliant speedster Mother Duck.

Pricked is the first stakes-winner for Quack, although she has been knocking on the door with stakes-placed runners Acupuncture, Fluffy Duck and Anna Bek, who was also acquired by Patinack Farm.

Windsor Park based Thorn Park (pictured)had a stakes double on the weekend with two year-old filly Te Akau Rose taking the Group Two Duke of Bedford Breeders Stakes at Matamata.

Young Windsor Park Stud based sire Thorn Park is stamping himself as one of Australasia's finest emerging sires, capping a week of six winners with a Group 2 victory at Matamata over the weekend for his daughter Te Akau Rose, and a Listed sprint victory in Australia for his son Pricked.

The $125,000 Group 2 Robin, Duke of Bedford Matamata Stakes (1200m) is New Zealand's premier juvenile event for fillies, and Thorn Park has sired consecutive winners of the race from his only crops of racing age. Last year it was Mark Walker's Te Akau Coup (Thorn Park - Beyond the Sunset, by Gone West), and this year it was the same stable with Te Akau Rose (Thorn Park - Straussbridge, by Straussbrook).

Te Akau Rose started favourite in the event after a solid second to Seven Schillings at her previous start in the Group 3 Taranaki 2YO Classic (1200m) where she beat all of the colts home. This time, against her own sex, Te Akau Rose took the short cut home, sticking close to the fence in the hands of Troy Harris, who kicked the filly home to score victory by a neck from St Germaine (Keeper).

The filly is from an outstanding two-year-old family developed by Evan and Bruce Kerr-Taylor, which has left no less than six stakes performed two-year-old fillies in her first two dams. These are all daughters or grand-daughters of Alberton Lass (Adios), and include Alberton Star (Stylish Century) and her daughter Lady Alberton (Golan), along with Straussbridge (Straussbrook), and her daughters Dancing Bridges (Danske), Alberton Princess (Golan), and Te Akau Rose.

Te Akau Rose was bought by prominent New Zealand buyer David Ellis at Karaka Premier 2008 for $52,500 from Windsor Park Stud, and she is now raced by Brent Hill (Te Akau), Craig and Pip Forsyth (Blenheim), Sam Yates (Hong Kong), Colin Hunt (Gisborne), Grant Allen (Auckland),  Malcolm Keys (Hong Kong), and Daniel Pitt (Australia).

Fellow Thorn Park, and Karaka graduate, Pricked (Thorn Park - Quack, by Magic Ring), a $50,000 2007 Ready to Run Sale purchase from Summerveld Stables, won the Listed SAJC HC Nitschke Stakes (1450m) at Cheltenham on Saturday.

The three-year-old son of Thorn Park who is raced by Nathan Tinkler's Patinack Farm, scored victory by just under a length in the three-year-old event, with second home being another Karaka graduate in Bondarchuck (Soviet Star - South Carolina, by Southern Halo).

The win took the impressive colt's tally to three victories and three seconds from eight starts from the stable of Mick Price.

Hailing from the speedy Mother Duck (Luskin Star) family, Pricked is out of her daughter Quack, the dam of stakes performed sprinters Fluffy Duck (Tale of the Cat), Acupuncture (Pins), and Anna Bek (Ustinov).

These two feature victories were the 'cherry on top' for Thorn Park who sired a further four winners last week, giving the son of Spinning World six winners in the past four days.

Thorn Lake (ex Nimue, by Star Way) started the wave of winners, scoring by six-lengths on debut for trainer Robbie Griffiths at Ballarat last Thursday. Group 1 race day at Otaki on Friday saw two winners for the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap winner in Reflection (ex Mirror the Magic, by Barathea) for trainer Janelle Caskey, and The Democrat (ex Blanc De Chine, by Volksraad) for trainer John Wheeler.

Finally on Saturday, Hyde Park (ex Of Value, by Danzatore) joined Te Akau Rose and Pricked as winners for their sire when he won at the Sunshine Coast meeting for trainer Mark Webb.

Thorn Park, a representative of the outstanding Denise's Joy family, has two crops of racing age, fifty-nine of those progeny have started, twenty nine have won (49% winners to runners), and five have won stakes races, giving the young sire an outstanding 8.33% stakes winners to runners.

Owners, trainers and bloodstock agents did not miss these impressive figures, with Thorn Park's twenty-two progeny at Karaka 2009 averaging $72,182, around 4.8 times his 2008 service fee. A top price of $390,000 was paid by Gary Hennessy for a colt out of Trephina (Last Tycoon) from the Windsor Park draft. He is a full brother to David Payne's Centennial Park (Thorn Park) who is being aimed at the Group 1 Randwick Guineas on 14 March.

Mike Moran of Windsor Park Stud comments on their sire's sensational week.

'Thorn Park has been going terrific, he really is doing a great job and is proving extremely versatile. His colts are winning, his fillies are winning, and he has left stakes-performers from Northern Dancer, Mr Prospector, Sir Tristram, and Star Kingdom line mares.'

'To go with that, he has left early coming juveniles, as well as classic or classic bound three year olds like Glamorous Girl, La Etoile, Centennial Park, Walk in the Park, and Robbie Griffith's ultra impressive Thorn Lake, who we look forward to seeing step out again soon.'

Thorn Park's barn mate at Windsor Park Stud, King's Chapel (King of Kings) jumped to the lead in the first season sires table when his strapping son, King's Ransom (ex Joan, by Colonel Collins), powered home in the Listed Fairview Ford Slipper Stakes (1200m), in an NZB trifecta including Joey Massino (O'Reilly - Rationable, by Housebuster) and Kaaptan (Kaapstad - Venus Was Her Name, by Spectacular Love).

Another outstanding Te Akau two-year-old trained by Mark Walker, King's Ransom added the stakes race to his repertoire, which includes smashing his rivals by over two lengths in the Group 3 WRC Wakefield Challenge Stakes at Trentham on 17 January.

The chestnut in the mould of his sire was purchased for $75,000 from the draft of Windsor Park Stud at Karaka 2008 by David Ellis. He has won $113,400 in prizemoney in five starts thus far for owners Dave and Nicky Hurst (Te Puke), Lance and Lee Perry (Cambridge),  Bill and Jim Gartshore (Tauranga), Tom and Sue Roper (Tauranga) and the KT Syndicate managed by Jan Kerr (Wanganui).

The New Zealand sire Thorn Park launched another very promising galloper on Thursday when his three-year-old gelding Thorn Lake (NZ) blasted away the opposition in the $15,000, Seymours On Lydiard Maiden Plate (1000m) at Ballarat.

Thorn Lake, trained by Robbie Griffiths at Cranbourne and ridden by Brad Rawiller, was facing the starter for the first time and he drew the outside barrier. He then raced greenly lengths away from the rail, was nearly 10 wide negotiating the turn into the main straight, joined the leaders with ease, and then when Rawiller gave him a quick reminder to extend, he showed an impressive turn of foot.

The three-year-old will run in a two metropolitan win race over 1500 metres and goes into the race off a first-up win on February 7.

'He has to perform to warrant taking him to Melbourne but the way he went last time suggests he will,' Payne said.

'The Guineas might not be the strongest field this year and it looks like a nice race for him.'

The Australian Guineas (1600m) is at Flemington on March 7 with the classy Whobegotyou still in doubt for the race, opening it up for others.

Centennial Park is raced by John Cordina and his partner Sandy Ward who are also hoping to snare the feature race, the Apollo Stakes (1400m) with Gallant Tess.

The consistent stakes performer and three times Group One placegetter will be joined in the race by stablemate Hurried Choice.

Both mares ran in the Expressway Stakes (1200m) last Saturday week and Payne is counting on a fitness edge over some of the stayers resuming such as Melbourne Cup winner Viewed, his stablemate Moatize and Tuesday Joy.

The strategy worked at Randwick on Saturday when the Payne-trained Rock Me Baby held off star filly Samantha Miss by a half head to win the Light Fingers Stakes.

'It's going to be wet which suits both horses and they will both go around,' Payne said.

'The Expressway was probably too short for Gallant Tess, she has lost that dash.

'Hurried Choice is also going over more ground now and they have both got fitness on their side and the prospect of a bog track.

'I thought Hurried Choice should have finished second in the Expressway and would love to see both of them go well.

'It's possibly the last campaign for both of them before they go to stud.'

The mare finished third in the race won by Burdekin Blues from Gold Trail after getting tightened up at a vital time while Gallant Tess was fifth after a slow start.

Speedy mare Hairy will back up in the Triscay Stakes after an unlucky fifth in Saturday's Clissold Stakes.

'She never got a crack at them on Saturday and never really had a run,' Payne said.

'She will definitely back up but we will save Sequinella for something a bit easier.'

There were 22 fillies and mares entered for the Listed race including Absolutelyfabulous and Ugly Betty from the Kris Lees yard.

The Listed Parramatta Cup (2000m) attracted 11 entries headed by the in-form Vision And Power who has three wins and a second from his past four starts.

The David Payne trained Centennial Park (NZ) put himself straight into Group I contention after winning the $70,000, Group One Club Handicap (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

The exciting Thorn Park gelding was resuming after a short first preparation that included a win and fourth in the listed Ming Dynasty over 1400m in September, and under a good ride by apprentice Jamie Quinnell, claiming 3kg off the allotted 57kg, he powered home to win first up.

Quinnell raced in fourth with patience as the leaders tried to cut a break and he did not attempt to close until the start of the final bend with 500m to run. He then angled out into the middle of the track and went after the lead.

By the 100m mark Centennial Park was flying and he went past Tobique (Redoute’s Choice) and Guderian (Untouchable), running out to a 1 1/4L win with 3/4L between second and third. The time was 1.10.76 and the final 600m was covered in 34.36 on the good track.

Payne declared the $500,000, Group I, Royal Randwick Guineas (1600m) at Randwick on March 14^th as the aim, with the reservation that Centennial Park has the undercarriage to cope with the tracks.

“He is a very good horse,” said Payne, “We have not hammered him as he is a horse you have to look after.”

Payne commented that he felt that Thorn Park was on his way to being a ‘very good sire’ and that his progeny might well stay.

“There are some lovely fillies by him,” he said.

Centennial Park is owned by John Cordina and partner Sandy Ward and they enjoy their racing with gusto. The gelding was cheered on as he progressed down the straight with Cordina thinking immediately after the race that perhaps he should have gone an extra bid for the full brother at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ltd Premier Yearling Sale a week ago. He had already gone over his budget as he traded bids with Matamata's Gary Hennessy, but discretion eventually prevailed at $390,000, and that yearling will race for Hennessy and one of his Asian clients.

However, they have the Windsor Park bred Centennial Park to look forward to on the track and after just four races he has earned stakes of $95,150. Out of the Last Tycoon mare Trephina the gelding has ability to take him to the top level.

 Centennial Park in full flight at Rosehill

The promising young Windsor Park Stud sire Thorn Park added his first Australian metropolitan winner (and his second Australian 2YO winner in 3 days) to his growing tally of winners on Saturday, when the well-named Centennial Park (NZ) won the $70,000, Galilee Handicap (1400m) at the Australian Jockey Club’s meeting at Rosehill.

Centennial Park, trained by David Payne on the course, had started once before for a notable closing second on the Kensington course at Randwick on June 9^th, and since that race long-time Payne stable supports John Cordina and Sue Ward had taken over the ownership of the gelding from his breeders, Windsor Park Stud Ltd. in NZ.

Success for Cordina and Ward was immediate and even though Centennial Park is still green, and raced accordingly, he had too much ability on Saturday and went away to a clear 3/4L victory that suggests a lot more with some maturity.

The race was a slowly run affair with Huamulan and Matthew Palmer taking the lead followed by Purple and Josh Parr. Jeff Lloyd on Centennial Park watched from fifth until the 500m when he decided that the pace was too slow and he moved Centennial Park three wide as they entered the corner.

Once into the main straight Lloyd had to keep Centennial Park straight as they were racing in the middle of the track and they were in front with 300m to run, but they were able to repeal the favourite Purple and the closing Altered Boy.

Altered Boy (Danehill Dancer) and Nash Rawiller came into second, with Purple (Commands) third, the margin 3/4L. The time was 1.26.65, and the final 600m in 35.09 on the slow (6) track. Centennial Park paid $3.90 on NSW TAB.

“David recommended (that we) buy him, as he has an opinion of him,” said a happy Cordina.

“He is a racehorse, a very good horse,” said Payne.

“He had to go wide and he is still just a baby and very immature,” he added.

Payne said that Centennial Park will now have a short spell, and that he expected that he will cover additional ground next season.

“It was a very good effort,” said Lloyd.

“He over raced a little bit and I had to use him up and he raced a little awkwardly. He did not really want to go around as he is really a baby, but there was no way we were going to make up the ground at that pace so we took a gamble and it paid off.

“If he was not going to handle it them so be it, but you have to be there when they jump at that speed,” he said.

Lloyd leaves on Sunday for a week back in South Africa and a ride in the Group I July Cup.

Centennial Park will meet stronger fields than Saturday, but the talent is there, and under the careful guidance of Payne it will surely be allowed to flourish. He is out of the Last Tycoon mare Trephina and the stake of $42,000 on Saturday will go some way to the purchase of a tried horse with considerable promise.

Thorn Park, by Spinning World, is a well-credentialed sire to come off Australia's tracks who is commencing to make a name for himself with his first crop on the race track. The 2004 Group I Stradbroke Handicap winner stands for a modest, by Australian standards, $NZ15,000, plus gst, at Windsor Park.

Already, from an equine influenza interrupted 2007/8 season, he has sired 7 winners including the Group II winner in Te Akau Coup, the group and stakes placed Reuben Thorn, Bolero winning in Hong Kong, and now his first Australian metropolitan winner.

The promise shown by the first crop runners of ‘crack’ Aussie sprinter Thorn Park gained further momentum at the weekend when he was represented by his first Group race winner, Te Akau Coup.

Maintaining her unbeaten record, Te Akau Coup, scored a strong win against her own age group in the prestigious Gr.2 Robin, Duke of Bedford Matamata Breeders’ Stakes and she will now be spelled before being prepared for next season’s classic races.

Te Akau Coup (NZ) was purchased by David Ellis for $150,000 at the 2007 Premier Yearling Sale and is raced by Princess Coup’s part-owner Ray Coupland and is from the stable of New Zealand's leading trainer Mark Walker.

Bred by Peter and Philip Vela at Pencarrow Stud, Te Akau Coup (NZ) is out of the Gone West mare Beyond the Sunset (USA), a daughter of Group One placed Bineyah from the family of champion racehorse and sire Seattle Slew.

The sire of nine trials winners, Thorn Park was also represented recently by Reuben Thorn, an unlucky runner-up in the Gr.2 Wakefield Stakes at Trentham - another from the Mark Walker stable.

An impressively built chestnut, Thorn Park stands alongside 6-times champion sire Volksraad at Windsor Park Stud near Cambridge, New Zealand.

Windsor Park Stud’s freshman sire Thorn Park (AUS) (Spinning World) was rewarded with his first stakes winner on Saturday, after his daughter Te Akau Coup (NZ) (ex Beyond The Sunset by Gone West) came up trumps in the Gr.2 Robin, Duke of Bedford Matamata Breeders Stakes (2YOF, 1200m).

Denied by a nose after Reuben Thorn’s (NZ) narrow miss in the Gr.2 WRC Gr.2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes, it was up to another member of the Mark Walker stable to provide the Gr.1 sprinter with this honour and with one start for one win under her belt, this is exactly what Te Akau Coup (NZ) did.

Tactically ridden by Jason Waddell, Te Akau Coup (NZ) gave slip to the field with an inside rails run turning for home, and after a sustained sprint to the line was able to repel the fast finishing Ill Quello Veloce (NZ) (Captain Rio x Nishaani by Gold Brose) by ¾’s of a length.

Remarkably the win also provided a first for her trainer Mark Walker, with victory previously eluding the premiership winning trainer in the event.

Ironically Walker, who registered another two-year-old black-type victory on the Matamata racecard with Minstrel Court (Danehill Dancer), was unable to be on hand for the hometrack win as was in Melbourne to witness Princess Coup’s triumph in the Gr.2 St George Stakes at Caulfield.

Te Akau Coup (NZ) was purchased by David Ellis for $150,000 at the 2007 Premier Yearling Sale and is raced by Princess Coup’s part-owner Ray Coupland.

Bred by Peter and Philip Vela at Pencarrow Stud, Te Akau Coup (NZ) is out of the Gone West mare Beyond the Sunset (USA), a daughter of Group One placed Bineyah from the family of champion racehorse and sire Seattle Slew.

To date Beyond The Sunset has had two foals to race, with the second of these being the Listed WRC Wellesley Stakes winner, Don Garcia (NZ) (Danehill).

Te Akau Coup (NZ) is just one of eight runners to date for the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) winning sire, Thorn Park.

By Spinning World, Thorn Park's family traces back to the great Tommy Smith-trained mare Denise's Joy, who was successful four times at Gr. 1 level and her daughter, Joie Denise, won the Gr. 1 Queensland Oaks before producing Sunday Joy, winner of the 2003 AJC Australian Oaks.

The result of the Gr.2 $120,000 Robin, Duke of Bedford Matamata Breeders Stakes (1200m).

Windsor Park freshman sire, and former top Australian Group I winning galloper, Thorn Park, received a timely boost ahead of this month’s Karaka Yearling Sales with Reuben Thorn (NZ) (Thorn Park x Our Sportsgirl by Desert Sun) providing him with his first raceday winner with a victory in the Brixton Thoroughbred Grazing 2YO (1000m) at New Plymouth.

Reuben Thorn (NZ) had won two trials prior to his debut at Trentham where he was runner-up, and with the benefit of that experience was able to score by a half length over first starter Fire Singer (NZ) (Danasinga).

Thorn Park had just six starters in Australasia for two placegetters before Reuben Thorn (NZ) arrived at New Plymouth.

Reuben Thorn (NZ) is raced by his breeder Rodney Schick and Windsor Park Stud and is trained by Mark Walker.

“He was well-placed to win today and he did the job well,' Walker said after the race.

'I'll just see how he comes through this before deciding where to go next.”

'Maybe he could go down to Trentham for the Wakefield Challenge Stakes.'

Buyers at this month's New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sales will have plenty of opportunity to buy their own Thorn Park with the sire represented by 18 yearlings in the Premier Session and 25 and two respectively in the Select and Festival Sessions.

Reuben Thorn gave his sire Thorn Park his first winner when he scored at New Plymouth yesterday. Reuben Thorn is part-owned by Rodney Schick and Thorn Park stands at Windsor Park Stud.

R1: BRIXTON T'BRED GRAZING 2YO HCP (R70), $8,000, 1000m.

1. REUBEN THORN (b c 2 Thorn Park (Aus) - Our Sportsgirl (NZ).

T: M W Walker J: T Harris

Margins: 1/2 len, nose. Time: 58.59. 

Windsor Park’s freshman sire Thorn Park has certainly made a great start to his stud career in more ways than one. Firstly he has been extremely popular with breeders averaging over 120 mares in his first 4 seasons at stud.

He followed this with his yearlings also making a big impact at the major sales around Australasia earlier this year selling over 20 yearlings for an impressive average of $136,000.

The heady opinions that have followed Thorn Park and his progeny appear to be entirely justified with the boom young stallion dominating New Zealand’s early season two-year-old trials.

Windsor Park Stud's exciting freshman sire Thorn Park (AUS) (Spinning World) has been making waves at New Zealand's Trials scene recently, with two winners and two placegetters resulting from four individuals to step out.

Winning her 650m Catchweight trial in a time of 0.41.3 the Graeme Rogerson and Garry Newham trained filly ex Zahra (NZ) (Zabeel) (dam of Gr.3 winner, Mr Ubiquitous) was the first to stamp her class, racing home for success by half-a-length at Cambridge Jockey Club on August 14.

The Spinning World (USA) sire was to the fore again three weeks later with a second filly crossing for a two length win at Te Teko on September 4.

Trained by Roger James, the filly ex J Lo (NZ) (Unbridled's Song) raced home over 600m in a time of 0.34.38.

Unbeaten at two, Thorn Park (AUS) won nine of his 22 starts for trainer Bob Thomsen and bowed out of racing in the best possible way when winning the Gr.1 QTC Stradbroke Hcp (1400m) in Brisbane.

Thorn Park (AUS) was victorious in five additional Australian Group races at distances ranging from 1200m-1500m and has proved popular with breeders, who have supported him with an average of 120 mares in his first three seasons at stud.

With 20 yearlings selling for an average of NZ$136,000 earlier this year, the sire has similarly proved popular with buyers at Australasia's majors sale arenas.

Thorn Park (AUS) will stand at Windsor Park Stud this season for a fee of NZ$15,000 plus GST.