There has been a good mix of wintry weather mixed with some lovely
sunny days in West Otago this June. With plenty of green grass, Central Otago lucerne, West Otago oats, home grown meadow hay, and Prydes Easifeed the horses cope well with the cooler weather.
* Arden bred four year old Lieutenant Arden (Sweet Lou- Young Tegan) had his first win at Cambridge in the Masterlink Mobile Pace for non-winners on 3 June. He is trained at Pukekohe by James Stormont for owners
MA Barker, AJ Proust and JP Stormont.
*First Choice Arden made her first appearance on the track in a workout at Pukekohe on 9 June and has followed it up with a qualifying run at the same track on 17th June. The two year old Bettor's Delight filly out of Arden's Choice (Panspacificflight/WinterRose) is trained at the Barry Purdon/ Scott Phelan stable. At the trial she was driven by Junior driver CJ Hackett and she ran third of five runners, making up good ground at the finish.
The link to her qualifying video is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fffy0hnrRss
*Arden bred Spirit of Arden went to trials on 25th May and 10th June and raced on June 19th at Addington. The well bred Somebeachsomewhere gelding out of Winter Rose had not been seen on the track since his maiden win on 28 March 2021 at Waimate. Having had only one start as a three year old and two at four the now five year old has been training at the beach with Todd Racing Ltd. Starting at Addington as favourite it was frustrating that he had nowhere to go in the run home when he was full of running. He finished fourth and his owner Mrs D Gillies will be looking forward to his next start. To view the race click here:
*Bettor's Delight fillies Stellar Arden (out of Ardenart) and Arden's Delight (out of Rocknroll Arden) are both at Arden Lodge spelling for the winter.
*Arden Messi (Bettor's Delight/ Tosca Hanover) pleased his trainer Kevin Pizzuto in a recent Group 2 run.
Here is an extract from Amanda Rando's Harnesslink report on 14 June:
Defeat impressed Pizzuto in $50,000 feature When defeated in a major race there is usually disappointment but that was not the case for harness racing trainer Kevin Pizzuto. Yes his Roll With Joe gelding Loorrim Lake won Monday’s $50,000 Treuer Memorial at Bankstown, however, Pizzuto was equally impressed by the performance of his other pacer Arden Messi (Bettors Delight) in the Group 2.
After facing the breeze in a slick pace, Arden Messi finished fifth, beaten just over 13m in a rate of 1:58.7 for the 2540m test.
“We thought we could find the lead with him and if he did, he probably wins the race,” said Pizzuto.
“He went massive, he did a power of work and was entitled to get tired and in the end wasn’t beaten that far.
“He led in last year’s race when they broke the track record and just has had no luck in his runs.”
Pizzuto is hoping the luck will change for Arden Messi as he contemplates a trip to Queensland with the gelding to aim at the $350,000 Blacks A Fake Championship next month.
*Young fillies Pride of Arden (Captaintreacherous/ Southwind Arden) and Arden's Memory (Bettor's Delight/ Venus Serena) have been furthering their education at Arden Lodge. They have been part of the jog-team along with three year old Captaintreacherous filly Arden's Treasure.
Here are Pride of Arden and Arden's Memory jogging in sync!
From left: Pride of Arden, Arden's Memory and Arden's Treasure
Photo gallery of around the farm