The full house signs have gone up on two more Ontrack Racing Tours for 2019.
This year’s Royal Ascot Tour in June was fully sold and now the Hunter Valley Horse and Wine Tour in October and the New Zealand Tour in November are fully subscribed. “It’s fantastic to have such a great response to our tours and the only tour with vacancies is the Hong Kong International Tour in December,” said Ontrack Thoroughbreds Managing Director Grant Morgan. “Tours are a great part of our business as they provide the opportunity to showcase the amazing thoroughbred industry to many of our existing clients as well as the opportunity to meet new clients and show them the amazing sights the Hunter Valley, New Zealand and Hong Kong has to offer. “This will be the 13th tour for the Hunter Valley and 12th for New Zealand so we’ve got them all pretty much sorted but we try and add new features and opportunities each year to constantly improve the experience for our customers. “For instance, this year we added a local guide to Royal Ascot to give extra insight and information and we will be doing the same on the Hong Kong trip in December. “It adds another dimension to the tour to have a ‘local’ with inside knowledge of the racing industry in Hong Kong able to share their experiences and knowledge with our guests,” said Grant Morgan. Ontrack’s New Zealand Horse and Wine Tour is promising to be one of the most interesting with news that a major development at the world famous Cambridge Stud is nearing completion. Cambridge Stud is always one of the highlights of the Ontrack New Zealand tour each November and it became famous around the world for the success Sir Patrick Hogan achieved with champion stallions Sir Tristam and Zabeel. Sir Patrick sold the stud to fellow Kiwis Brendan and Jo Lindsay late in 2017 and the change of ownership sparked a major project to rejuvenate the farm. “Brendan and Jo are passionate Kiwis and passionate racing people and they wanted to give new life to the farm while preserving the legacy Sir Patrick established,” said Ontrack Managing Director Grant Morgan. “When our tour was there last November work was just starting on replacing virtually every building on the farm. “All the work was planned with input from Sir Patrick and it will be fantastic to get back in November and see what’s been achieved. “The Lindsays are perfectionists and I’m pretty certain that the end result will be spectacular. “It’s also going to be interesting to inspect the latest addition to the farm’s stallion roster in well performed Roaring Lion. “He was the best three-year-old in the world according to Cartier ratings in 2018 and the winner of four consecutive Group One races and his book for his first spring has been closed,” said Grant Morgan. View progress at Cambridge Stud World renowned Cambridge Stud is always one of the special venues on the Ontrack New Zealand Horse and Wine Tour but this year it offered some truly mouth-watering prospects.
Cambridge Stud was founded by Sir Patrick Hogan and through the deeds of Sir Tristram and Zabeel it became one of the world’s great thoroughbred nurseries. For a year it’s been in the new ownership of Brendan and Jo Lindsay and when Ontrack heads there in November there will be some major changes to take in. “The Lindsay’s have undertaken a massive redevelopment of the farm and when we arrive this year virtually all the buildings on the property will have been replaced,” said Ontrack Thoroughbreds Grant Morgan. “It’s an exciting development and one which was undertaken with the blessing and involvement of Sir Patrick. “There’s a new office and hospitality centre while all the stallion barns, yearling barns and serving barn have been replaced. It was a timely development but one that’s been careful to respect the fantastic history that Sir Patrick and Lady Justine built up during their time at Cambridge. “When Ontrack was there last year the work had just started so it’s going to be very interesting to turn up this November and witness the changes. “Knowing how passionate and meticulous the Lindsay’s are with anything they take on, the result is sure to be breath-taking.” Another interesting development will be the addition to the stallion roster at Cambridge of champion European three-year-old Roaring Lion. “Brendan and Jo are determined to continue Cambridge Stud’s role as a leading thoroughbred nursery and they know that requires the addition of more firepower to the stallion roster. “Roaring Lion sure does that as he won four Group One races as a three-year-old, starting with the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown and culminating with the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Champions Day at Ascot. “A striking grey stallion, Roaring Lion received a Timeform rating of 130 and that places him in the top echelon of horses anywhere in the world. “Brendan and Jo already have a very good French horse in Almanzor standing his second season at Cambridge and Tavistock, so it’s going to be great having a close up look at these sorts of stallions in November,” said Grant Morgan. |
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