Counties Cup Day has become a very familiar fixture for Sacred Satono, who will make his fourth appearance at the meeting when he defends his title in the Gr.3 Haunui Farm Counties Bowl (1100m) at Pukekohe on Saturday.

Lance Noble will attempt to add to a strong run of spring form for Cambridge Stud when he sends out five well-credentialled runners in Brendan and Jo Lindsay’s black and gold colours at Pukekohe on Saturday.

The connections of the talented and patiently handled mare Imprevu are aiming high this preparation with their pride and joy.

Matamata trainer Pam Gerard will head to Pukekohe on Saturday to tackle a couple of feature targets with her emerging mares Shoes and Reputation, and she is under no illusion about the size of the task ahead of them.

The Waikato Thoroughbred Racing (WTR) board has announced that members have agreed to undertake further work towards securing a single fit-for-purpose site for racing and training in the Waikato.

Progressive sprinter Twain added another victory to his burgeoning record when he dominated his rivals in the Tauranga Hardware & Plumbing (1200m) at Tauranga on Saturday.

Riccarton racegoers could be in for a treat on Saturday when they get to witness one of the burgeoning rivalries in New Zealand racing come to a head.

Andrew Forsman has won every Group One race for three-year-olds in New Zealand apart from the Barneswood Farm New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m), and the Cambridge trainer hopes Kitty Flash might be the filly to give him his missing piece at Riccarton on Saturday.

Well-bred filly Love Poem will take on some of the best of her generation for the second time in a week when she lines up in Saturday’s Gr.1 Barneswood Farm 52nd New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton.

Timaru gelding Richard Stomper will head north to Riccarton on Wednesday where he will get a deserved crack at stakes level for the first time in the Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m).

Te Rapa has brought the best out of Dusty Road with a career-high run of form in recent months, and owner-trainer Graeme Cameron is hoping to extend that sequence with another bold performance in Saturday’s Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m).

Love Poem’s progress this preparation earned the gifted filly an earlier than anticipated flight to Christchurch to bolster Stephen Marsh’s hand in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton.

Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott are not short of sprinting talent in their Matamata stable, with four runners set to contest Saturday’s Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m) at Te Rapa.

Cambridge gelding Witz End booked his plane ticket south to Christchurch later this week following victory in the Powerturf 1500 at Ellerslie on Tuesday.