RaceForm Blog: 2000 Guineas & New Zealand Cup, Riccarton
Richard Edmunds • November 14th, 2026 11:01 AM
12:35: Fillies attempt rare feat
Two well-credentialled fillies in today’s New Zealand 2000 Guineas field – Dashing Dixie and Sword Of Stars – will attempt to join an exclusive club as only the sixth filly to win the classic in its 54-year history.
The five fillies to win the 2000 Guineas are Persuasian (1974), Facing The Music (1993), Foxwood (1997), Clean Sweep (2004) and Katie Lee (2009). The most recent of those, Katie Lee, completed an extraordinary double by winning both races. That achievement had never been achieved before or since. The 2000 Guineas was run on the first day for most of that period, but the two classics have traded places in 2025 and 2026, which might make backing up more of a tempting proposition. One other filly who has backed up successfully was Platinum Witness in 2014. She ran fourth in the 2000 Guineas on the first day before winning the 1000 Guineas a week later.
Dashing Dixie’s co-trainer Andrew Scott, who also co-trained Clean Sweep to beat the boys in 2004, told RaceForm this week that he saw no reason not to back his filly up today.
“We’ve been looking for an excuse not to back her up, but she hasn’t given us one,” Scott said.
“She couldn’t have performed much better in the 1000 Guineas. She just didn’t quite get the fortune in the run.
“She’s pulled up really well and is as bright as a button. Everyone who’s looking after her at Riccarton is delighted with her condition.
“We know now that she runs the mile out strongly, and we also feel that she’s better left-handed than right-handed. This might be her last Group One opportunity left-handed for the season.”
12:30: Allpress thrilled to secure Dashing Dixie mount in Guineas
Until a few days ago, star jockey Lisa Allpress didn’t have a mount in today’s Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas. Now she’s a few hours away from being legged aboard the favourite.
Having recently returned to riding after more than 18 months on the sidelines with a broken leg, Allpress was called up to ride Dashing Dixie once trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott decided to back the filly up following her outstanding second in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas seven days ago.
This is not the first time O’Sullivan, Scott and Allpress have joined forces at Group One level – they teamed up to win the Tarzino Trophy at Hastings with Dark Destroyer in September of 2022.
“Her run in the 1000 Guineas on the first day was sensational,” Allpress told Trackside’s Greg O’Connor. “I was very, very happy when I got the phone call to ride her.
“She ran the mile out strongly on the first day and didn’t have all favours after getting a bit of a squeeze coming out of the barriers.
“It’s always nice to ride for Lance and Andrew, they give me really great instructions.
“A good barrier, a good horse – it feels like everything has fallen into place.”
After opening at $7.50, Dashing Dixie has moved all the way to the top of the market at $4.40. Excite and Coniston, who opened as joint favourites, now share the second line at $5.50.
12:20: Royal Sovereigns storms home in the second
Two races down, and two winners have launched powerful finishes down the middle of the home straight.
This time it was the $7 chance Royal Sovereigns, who was backing up after an eye-catching second behind Giggly Gal in the very first race of the carnival last Saturday.
The five-year-old dropped out to the tail of the 16-horse field in today's $30,000 Scenic Matavai Resort Niue Premier, then charged home down the outside and swept to a commanding win for jockey Triston Moodley.
It was a particularly memorable result for the father-daughter team of Russell McKay and Ashley Harrington. Their training partnership is about to come to an end, with Harrington moving across the Tasman to join her husband Jack in Queensland.
“It’s really special,” Harrington said.
“And I’m happy for the horse, who’s backed up well after running on the first day. She’s been bouncing around all week and her work was super, so we thought, ‘Why not give it a go?’
“Going back was the only option from draw (gate 16). Triston rode her beautifully, got her going at the right time, and she was too good for them.”
Moodley believes the middle of the home straight will continue to be the place to be as the day progresses.
“There’s a bit and wear and tear after the first two days, so it’s a bit slower down on the inside,” he said. “The better going is towards the middle and outside.”
11:55: Moseley gives tick of approval to the track
Fresh from his win aboard Rollins in today’s opener, Terry Moseley has given an enthusiastic report on the Riccarton surface.
“The track’s very good, especially considering we’ve had two days on it already,” he said. “It’s in the 5 or 6 range now. It might get a bit firmer as the day goes on, but it’s got a good bit of moisture in it at the moment and should race really fairly.”
11:50: Rollins takes the opener
A pair of long-time South Island jockey-room colleagues have teamed up to take out the first race of the day at Riccarton today.
Rollins, trained by retired jockey Lance Robinson and ridden by 59-year-old stalwart Terry Moseley, produced an irresistible finish out wide to take out the $30,000 The Ned Fashion in the Field Premier. Revision, Belardo Ace and Taimate Staar filled the minor placings in a highly competitive finish.
“It’s a big thrill to win a race today with Terry on,” Robinson said. “He’s getting to the end of his riding career now, and we’re great mates. It really is a big thrill.”
Rollins, a five-year-old gelding by Super Seth out of the Australian Oaks winner Sofia Rosa, was bought for $9,000 off Gavelhouse.com last year. He was a six-start maiden at that stage and has now had 19 starts for two wins, four placings and $51,115 in stakes.
“We’ve always thought he was capable of winning on big days like this,” Robinson said. “He does a lot of things wrong in his races. He can pull and make it hard on himself.
“But he got a beautiful run with Terry today and everything fell into place.”
11:30: Weather and track conditions
We have a fine day in Christchurch this time around, with some high cloud that looks likely to break up, and the track was officially rated a Soft6 earlier this morning but is set to be upgraded.
“It was very close to a Soft5 this morning, but we had to call it what it was at that stage, so it was a Soft6 at 6.30 this morning,” track manager Alan Chapman said. “I’d say it definitely will be upgraded.”
Chapman also said that, purely because of the huge number of horses that had raced on the track throughout this week, the inside has “a bit of wear and tear” and the best ground is likely to be down the middle.
11:15: Remember last year?
Last year’s Cup and 2000 Guineas gave us a sudden change of weather unlike anything I’d ever seen on a racetrack before.
The day began in sunshine, but then some ominous-looking crowds started brewing. Suddenly Riccarton was hit by a severe hail and thunderstorm, sending the sell-out crowd rushing to find shelter.
The incredible deluge forced the races to be delayed by more than half an hour, and when they finally resumed, the track was a gruelling Heavy9.
But the races still had to be run and won, and it was Romanoff and Affirmative Action in a Pam Gerard-trained New Zealand 2000 Guineas quinella, while Bozo won the New Zealand Cup and Inflamed took out the Stewards’ Stakes.
11:10: Sell-out crowd descends on Riccarton
Cup and 2000 Guineas Day at Riccarton is a mix of history – the Cup will be run for the 163rd time this afternoon, and the Guineas for the 54th – prestige and a social and sporting occasion that more and more people want to be a part of every year.
Riccarton Park announced yesterday that the event is a sell-out once again.
“Thank you everyone – our 15,000 capacity has been reached,” they said on Facebook.
11:00 Welcome
Good morning, and welcome to trackside.co.nz’s live coverage of the 2026 New Zealand Cup Carnival’s grand finale – a 12-race card at Riccarton park headed by the $700,000 Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas and the $450,000 Gr.3 Martin Collins New Zealand Cup.
Richard Edmunds here, editor of RaceForm, looking forward to bringing you all the latest as the big day unfolds.
As always, it’s been another phenomenal week of racing in Christchurch. Since this time last Saturday, we’ve seen 47 high-class races run in front of thousands of people at both Riccarton and Addington.
Angels Halo got the week off to a spectacular start with her $31 upset in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas last Saturday, and then Leap To Fame confirmed his place among the legends of Australasian harness racing with his New Zealand Cup triumph at a rain-soaked Addington. The other superb Group One winners on that same day were Gus in the Dominion, Faith Not Fear in the Sires’ Stakes Final and Cherish Me in the Nevele R Fillies Series Final.
Coulthard captured the $250,000 TAB Mile back at Riccarton on Wednesday, and then we returned to Addington on Friday and saw an extraordinary performance by Captains Mistress in the New Zealand Free-For-All. In a repeat of their epic Inter Dominion clash earlier in the year, the emerging superstar upstaged the proven great.
Now attention shifts back to Riccarton for what is shaping up to be another very special day.
