Briefs for 5th December 2014

Trendsetter one to follow; Shampoo source of problem; Holland funeral on Saturday; McDonald booked for Kiwi.

Trendsetter one to follow

A promising middle distance career in Australia has been tipped for the recent maiden graduate Trendsetter.

A New Zealand-bred son of Keeper, he was successful this week over 1400 metres at Sale for Flemington trainer Michael Moroney.

“He is a real stayer in the making,” rider Vlad Duric said. “I probably rode him two to three lengths too close from the awkward draw, but he had a beautiful run.”

Out of a Zabeel mare, Trendsetter is from the family of the Group One stallion Pentire and last year’s Mackinnon Stakes winner Side Glance.

Shampoo source of problem

Criterion’s Hong Kong venture was all but derailed by an apparent allergic reaction to shampoo.

Hayes said the New Zealand-bred and owned four-year-old had displayed colic-like symptoms ahead of the trip, but the vet had been puzzled by the amount of pain.

Criterion was eventually cleared to board the plane and it now appears a reaction to a shampoo was the problem.

The son of Sebring is to run in the Gr.1 Hong Kong Cup (2000m) on December 14 and has undertaken light work ahead of the feature event at Sha Tin.

Holland funeral on Saturday

The funeral of the former champion jockey Norm Holland will be held at Ellerslie on Saturday (December 6) with the service to begin at 9am.

His family has asked that donations, in lieu of flowers, be made to the General Trust Fund: ‘NZTR GTF’ account number 01-0517-0063944-003.

Holland won three jockeys’ premierships and rode more than 900 winners and continued to be heavily involved in the industry following his retirement.

In 1977 his service to racing was acknowledged with an OBE, he was made a life member of the ARC in 2005, was an inaugural Ellerslie Legends inductee and in 2010 he was also honoured with New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s outstanding contribution to racing award.

McDonald booked for Kiwi

James McDonald will team up with the New Zealand-bred Beauty’s Beast at Rosehill on Saturday.

He has been booked for the former Windsor Park Stud-owned son of Guillotine in a $A85,000 handicap over 1400 metres.

Beauty's Beast was purchased by clients of Danny O’Brien’s stable after he had won five races, including the Listed South Pacific Classic at Randwick, from David Greene’s Te Rapa stable.

The four-year-old has finished in behind the dividend payers in four Victorian starts for O’Brien, who is hoping a return to the right-handed way of going will bring out the best in the horse.