Christmas (Palace Episode) has come early for Australian trainer Paul Preusker after his horse, which bears the same name, took out the Ben & Ryan Foote Racing Great New Zealand Steeplechase (6200m) at Te Aroha on Sunday.

Preusker bought the now 10-year-old gelding out of France several years ago with a jumping future in mind, but it wasn’t until this year that he made his debut over fences, and he has proven to be a dab hand at the caper.

He had six jumping starts in Australia this year, winning the Casterton Chase (3800m), before finishing fourth in the Grand National Steeplechase (4500m) at Ballarat last month.

In search of further targets and more distance, Preusker set his sights towards New Zealand and identified the Great New Zealand Steeplechase as the perfect assignment. It didn’t take much for him to convince regular rider, Darryl Horner Jnr, to cross the Tasman to ride him, with Horner having ridden in New Zealand as a teenager.

Horner took a conservative approach aboard Christmas in the marathon feature, settling him at the back of the pack, well off the pace, where he remained for the first two laps of the race. With 800m to go, Christmas had all but one ahead of him, but that quickly changed as Horner asked him to improve around his rivals.

The son of Palace Episode began to steadily improve and found himself just outside frontrunners Smug and Captains Run at the top of the home straight. Christmas’ staying qualities came to the fore in the concluding stages when he was able to fight off Captains Run to win by 1-1/4 lengths, with Smug a further 3-1/2 lengths back in third.

Horner showed his emotion when standing high in the irons to celebrate the win as he crossed the finish line.

“It is absolutely unreal,” he said. “I am a confident sort of guy, but I wasn’t overly confident coming into it. With a race that is over that distance, everything needs to go your way, and it certainly didn’t the first two laps.

“It took us a long time to get into a rhythm jumping. He is a funny little horse, he is hard to work out, you don’t know whether to ride him into his jumps or sit quiet. I did a bit of everything and not much worked.

“The further we went the better we got. It wasn’t until we got to about the half mile that I actually gave myself a solid chance, and he is such a grinder.

“Big hats off to Paul and his team, everyone knows Paul is an astute horseman, and he showed that again today. That horse hasn’t raced since our Grand National in Australia and he looked absolutely great in the yard today, I have never seen him look like that before.”

Horner was glad to be back riding a winner in New Zealand, something he last experienced 18 years ago as a fresh-faced teenager.

“I haven’t been back to New Zealand since I was a 15-year-old kid,” he said. “I rode a double at Avondale and I was too homesick, so I got on a plane and went home. This is the first time I have been back since with another winner, and it feels good.

“I love New Zealand and New Zealand racing, it is embedded in history. It is not very often that the Aussies come over here, but after this one today Paul might start a new trend.”

Preusker was rapt to get the win and he is hoping it will be the first of many in New Zealand.

“Words can’t describe how I am feeling at the moment,” he said. “It is a good achievement and a good first season (jumping) for the horse, and I look forward to next year.

“We bought him from France for a jumper, but it just took a while to get him to work with me and be tough enough for it. It has been a patient game and a good effort by the owners for sticking with him, and they have been well rewarded.

“He is not a fast horse but the more jumping the better and a little bit of extra ground today really helped him.

“Everyone here has been great, the hospitality has been second to none. Hopefully I am back next year.” - Joshua Smith LOVERACING.NZ News Desk

Blind Raise builds towards Caulfield Guineas tilt

Blind Raise (NZ) (Ace High) will head into the Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) as one of the leading contenders after strengthening his claims with an emphatic victory in Saturday’s Gr.3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m).

The New Zealand-bred three-year-old will go straight into the October 10 feature, with trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young confident he has the racing pattern and further improvement to make his presence felt at Group One level.

“The plan was always to go third-up into the Caulfield Guineas,” Busuttin said.

“His ability to put himself on the speed is certainly a great advantage.”

Blind Raise has tasted defeat only once in five starts, with his two spring appearances producing victories in the Listed McKenzie Stakes (1200m) at Sandown and the Caulfield Guineas Prelude.

Busuttin believes the gelding has continued to improve throughout his preparation.

“We thought he could do that, but you always want to see them go out there and do it,” he said.

“He has certainly improved from that first run and second run.”

Busuttin was particularly pleased with Blind Raise’s Prelude performance given the work he was required to do early in the race.

“He had to work up the hill,” he said.

“They all talk about the Caulfield hill from the mile to the 1400m, and he did some serious work getting up and across.

“Those horses made the mid-race move, but if they don’t, he just sits outside the leader and wins anyway. I don’t think Blake used the stick on him at all.”

Blind Raise’s pedigree also gives connections confidence that he can continue to progress as he steps up in distance.

The gelding is by Rich Hill Stud stallion Ace High, who won both the Gr.1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) and Gr.1 VRC Derby (2500m) while his granddam is seven-time Group One winner and dual New Zealand Horse of the Year Seachange.

“I think Ace High was a bit underrated,” Busuttin said.

“They win the Derby and get labelled as a plugger or the like, but I think he retired a bit prematurely and could have gone on to be a really top weight-for-age horse if he had raced on.

“Blind Raise’s granddam was Seachange and she was a very good Group One mare in New Zealand over 1200m and 1400m, so she certainly brings a bit of speed into him.”

Blind Raise was bred by The Oaks Stud and purchased by Busuttin Young Racing for $70,000 from the stud’s Book 1 draft at Karaka in 2025.

His early success has already delivered a significant return, with his five starts producing four wins and A$440,475 in prizemoney.

“It’s good when horses like him come out and prove to be good horses when you’re not paying a fortune for them,” Busuttin said.

“It shows everyone can get involved and there is a chance of finding a good horse.”

While the immediate focus is firmly on the Caulfield Guineas, Blind Raise remains nominated for the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m), which will be run as a one-off at Flemington on October 24 with The Valley under construction.

Busuttin said the weight-for-age feature would only become a serious consideration if Blind Raise performs up to expectations in the Guineas.

“When you think you have a Guineas horse, you keep him in the Cox Plate,” he said.

“If he can win the Guineas, which he looks a live chance of doing, three-year-olds have a good record in the Cox Plate.

“It’s a bit ambitious, but if we get through the Guineas and he has another win against his name, we will certainly look at it.

“I would have loved to have seen him in a Cox Plate at The Valley with his racing pattern, but he has won at Flemington, so if we end up in that race we will be very happy.” - NZ Racing News

Waller reconsidering Cup tilt with Aeliana

Champion trainer Chris Waller has revealed he is revisiting whether to send his star mare Aeliana (NZ) (Castelvecchio) to this year’s Gr.1 Melbourne Cup, following the release of weights on Thursday.

With the triple-Group 1 winner and natural topweight Sir Delius not being nominated for this year’s Melbourne Cup, reigning champion Half Yours has been allocated 59kg topweight for this year’s race.

Light Infantry Man has 58.5kg, while Aeliana – a three-time Group 1 winner, and Birdman have 58kg.

Horses in the Melbourne Cup have been allocated 1.5kg more to meet the requirement of a minimum 59kg topweight due to Sir Delius’ absence.

Speaking on RSN’s Correct Weight on Sunday, Waller said 58kg for Aeliana is a significant impost and he is questioning whether she can win the race with that weight.

“I’ll be honest, I couldn’t believe she got 58kg in the Melbourne Cup. I’m not whinging, but holy heck, it makes it hard for a horse like Aeliana to win a Melbourne Cup with 58kg, she’s a mare. That’s equivalent of 60kg for a colt or a gelding. Yeah, she’s a good horse, but she’s won a Derby, a Ranvet and a Tancred, and she’s got 58kg or a 60kg equivalent for a male.

“Makybe Diva, she was a pretty good horse, she won her third Melbourne Cup with 58.5kg (she was allocated 58kg). Poor old Aeliana… I just can’t get my head around it, to tell you the truth.”

Prior to the 2025 Cups, the minimum topweight was lifted from 58kg to 59kg and the minimum increased from 50kg to 51kg to ensure owners and trainers have a broad cross section of jockeys to choose from.

Waller was asked for his thoughts on the new rules.

“I’ve got multiple horses so it’s not going to affect me, but I think the owners of Aeliana deserve a chance to be running in a Melbourne Cup, like the horses before her, with a fair weight,” said Waller.

“I don’t know where we’re heading, it’s as simple as that.

“I’m not whinging, but she can’t win a Melbourne Cup with 58kg, can she?

“I don’t want to cause a debate or get political at all; all I’m saying is I’m not very happy that Aeliana has got 58kg.”

Waller said he is mindful of the toll carrying 58kg over two miles could have on Aeliana, who ran second to stablemate Autumn Glow in Saturday’s G2 Seven Sunrise Stakes (1600m) at Randwick.

“We’ve got to patch them up after the race. It breaks their heart, it’s a tough race,” he said.

Aeliana currently shares the third line of Melbourne Cup betting at $13 alongside Saturday’s G3 Naturalism Stakes winner Zahrann. Half Yours heads the market at $9, with the Joseph O’Brien-trained Defiantly next at $11. - Racing.com