Ontrack’s 2017 New Zealand Racing Tour will have a moment of sadness with the loss of one of the most successful and versatile stallions with the death on Monday of Rich Hill Stud's Pentire.

The Ontrack horse racing tour leaves Australia on Thursday and visits Rich Hill as part of the tour’s stud visits.

The English-bred Pentire was the Walton farm's foundation sire and subsequently made his mark from his base near Matamata at the elite level throughout Australasia and further afield.

"He was 25, but I thought he was going to live forever - he was still serving and so healthy and well," Rich Hill studmaster John Thompson said.

"We noticed after lunch on Monday he looked a bit uncomfortable and I got a bad feeling about it, in 20 years we'd only had the vet to him twice.

"We got him to the clinic and he went into surgery, but sadly he didn't wake up."

Ontrack Managing Director Grant Morgan said Pentire looked in magnificent order during the Ontrack Racing Tour last year.

“He really looked magnificent and belied his years. It was always a pleasure to visit Rich Hill and see Pentire and this year will certainly be tinged with a bit of sadness at the loss of a great horse,” said Grant Morgan.

“Rich Hill is a highlight of our annual racing tour and Pentire was certainly a great ambassador for the stud when paraded for our annual racing tour members.”

Pentire has left 16 individual Group One winners, nine of them in Australia. His progeny won 33 Group One's, 13 across the Tasman, from 1200 to 3200m with his son Mufhasa a 10-time winner at the highest level, and Xcellent was another outstanding representative with multiple Group One victories and a Melbourne Cup placing while Prince Of Penzance sparked Rich Hill celebrations three years ago when he won the Flemington feature.

Pentire's Group One roll of honour also features Xtravagant, Zarita, Rangirangdoo, Pantani, Art Success, Penny Gem, Pentane, Recurring, Markus Maximus, Say No More, Chenille, Volatile Mix and Ferlax.

Pentire shuttled between Japan and New Zealand in the early years and, following two shuttle seasons to Germany, he was permanently repatriated to Rich Hill in 2005. He was represented by stakes winners in both Japan and Germany and winners in 24 other countries.
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Pentire was laid to rest at Rich Hill on Tuesday.

Cambridge Stud, the epicentre of New Zealand’s legendary horse breeding industry, enjoyed another fabulous weekend with major race successes in New Zealand and Hong Kong.

Tavistock, Cambridge Stud’s headline stallion was represented by Gobstopper in the New Zealand Cup at Riccarton on Saturday while the next day his full-brother Werther won the Group 2 Jockey Club Cup at Sha Tin.

Participants on Ontrack Racing’s New Zealand Horse and Wine Tour know Cambridge Stud well and it will come as no surprise that Tavistock is leaving stakes winner after stakes winner. Cambridge Stud supremo Sir Patrick Hogan is a great ambassador  for our racing tours and Tavistock is yet another champion stallion for his stud.

Cambridge is home to New Zealand’s leading thoroughbred studs including Cambridge Stud, Windsor Park Stud, The Oaks and Trelawney – all of them on the Ontrack New Zealand tour and guests also get the chance to explore the beautiful town during a lunch stop.

Ontrack runs horse racing tours in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and England.
Cambridge is home to New Zealand’s leading thoroughbred studs including Cambridge Stud, Windsor Park Stud, The Oaks and Trelawney – all of them on the Ontrack New Zealand tour and guests also get the chance to explore the beautiful town during a lunch stop.

The New Zealand horse racing tour leaves on Thursday while last Ontrack tour for 2017 is in December for the Longines Hong Kong International Races while in 2018 it runs horse racing tours in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

Sydney’s Hugh Bowman will be defending his title when the world's best jockeys compete for the Longines International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wednesday 6 December.

A HK$800,000 prize fund makes the annual four-race showcase at Hong Kong's iconic city track the richest jockey challenge in the world and Ontrack’s Hong Kong racing tour 2017 will be trackside to cheer Hugh on.

The Ontrack tour leaves December 5 to take in everything offered during the Longines Hong Kong international races in 2017 including the Jockey Championship on the Wednesday night and the International Race Day at Sha Tin on the Sunday.

Four Hong Kong-based riders and eight of the very best of their overseas counterparts will form a brilliant line-up, with each rider competing for the HK$500,000 winner's prize.

Hugh Bowman won the title last year and Australia’s ambassador will have to be at his best to head off a star-studded line up this year including local champ Joao Moreira, two times IJC winner Ryan Moore, Brazilian sensation Leandro Henrique and UK champion Silvestre de Sousa.

The Hong Kong jockeys will be selected from the leading local riders but it’s almost certain Australian expat Zac Purton will be one of the four locals to compete.