CHAMPION New Zealand jockey Danielle Johnson suffered a broken leg when her mount Gold Watch broke down at the 200 metre mark of the Group 2 Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie on Saturday.

The same fate befell Gold Watch who had to be euthanised.

“The year has started out pretty badly but it’s only a broken leg,” said Johnson on Monday.

“My heart goes out to Cliff Goss and the team that had Gold Watch. He was the first thing on my mind after I had fallen. It’s just so awful, the story around it. It makes my voice tremble just talking about it.

“I’ve got one more night here in hospital. I had my operation on Sunday morning and, speaking with my doctor, he said the X-ray has come up really well and he’s happy with what he’s done. I’ve got a rod down my tibia and my fibula has a plate down the outside of it and a screw right through the fibula. I’ve got multiple breaks but he’s happy with the result of the operation.”

Devastated

Trained by 90-year-old Cliff Goss, Gold Watch had been sent out a $1.90 favourite and was aiming for his seventh straight win; his death has devastated Goss.

“To go down there and see the box empty was bloody hard,” said Goss, though he has been buoyed by the support he has received.

“So many people have reached out to me because he really was a horse people loved. I have had phone calls and texts from Hong Kong, Singapore, lots from Australia and even one from Switzerland.

“I even had Mark Purdon (champion harness trainer) ring me to tell me how sorry he was to see it and we talked about the horse and racing for 10 minutes.

“I had never spoken to him in my life so when people like that reach out it means a lot.”

Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic (Group 1)

THE Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall-trained eight-year-old Tiptronic recaptured his best form of two years earlier to claim a second Group 1, taking out the Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic on St Stephen’s Day.

A consistent performer in group races, Tiptronic had been knocking at the door recently before putting it all together over Ellerslie’s 2,400 metres. Sent forward by apprentice Ashvin Goindasamy, Tiptronic led throughout and pinched a break on the home turn.

Refusing to yield, Tiptronic denied the O’Reilly gelding Vernanne to win by two lengths as the Jimmy Choux mare Two Illicit filled third.

“This horse deserves that as he is a real trooper and tries so hard every time,” said Richardson. “He is a real warhorse. I said to Ashvin to take him to the front and try and stack them up, then take off at the 600 metres as he is one-paced, even though it is a very fast pace.

“This is as big a thrill as anything and it really hasn’t sunk in yet. He has a large bunch of owners and it is incredible for them as this is what they are in it for.”

A NZ$100,000 O’Reilly yearling, Tiptronic has now won eight of his 45 starts, making it a maiden Group 1 win for his jockey who returned to scale, tears running down his face.

“This just means everything, the best Christmas ever,” said Goindasamy. “He just kept giving and did it well. My dad always wanted to be a jockey and couldn’t make it, so this is very special for me. It’s something I have dreamed about and today I made it happen.”

Sistema Railway (Group 1)

SWINGING abruptly five-wide as the field swung into the straight, the Jamie Richards-trained Entriviere was far too strong in the Railway Stakes for two-year-olds at Ellerslie, winning by two lengths as an even-money favourite on New Year’s Day.

Consigning the Proisir mare Levante to second ahead of the All Too Hard mare Babylon Berlin in the nine-horse field, the win added a Group 1 to the New Zealander’s September Group 2 win in Australia.

“She’s come back so well this time in,” said Richards of the five-year-old Tavistock mare. “Opie was confident that there would be a genuine tempo up front today, so he was keen to ride her back. That’s probably the best way to ride her, because she can tend to overdo things a little bit when she’s left exposed too early.

“When Opie asked her to quicken in the straight, she really exploded and won like the quality horse we know she is. It was a little bit tricky to get a saddle on her out the back before the race, so I was briefly a bit worried that I’d left her a run short for this.”

Win rate

Despite being a five-year-old, Entriviere has started only 11 times for seven wins.

“She’ll head to the Telegraph (1,200 metres) at Trentham on January 15th, and then the Waikato Sprint (1,400 metres) at Te Rapa,” said Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis.

“We could look at getting her back over to Australia in the latter part of the Sydney autumn, but there’s too many good races in New Zealand to think about first.”

FOR the first time in six months crowds were allowed back at Ellerslie for New Year’s Day.

Since Auckland went into lockdown at the start of August as a response to a Delta outbreak, there had been no crowds nor any racing at Ellerslie until St Stephen’s Day.

Looking forward

Hospitality and general admittance were operating with fans and they will now be able to look forward to the Karaka Million meeting at Ellerslie on January 22nd.