WATCH: Winter Weigh In on Opunake Cup, Group 1s and more
Trackside.co.nz • July 23rd, 2025 10:20 AM • 4 min read
On this week’s Winter Weigh In, the team relived Saturday’s Opunake Cup, chatted to NZTR COO Darin Balcombe about where the Group 1 races in the spring are being relocated to, celebrated jockeys who have reached significant milestones.
Emily Murphy was joined by newly-engaged jockey Sam Weatherley to review the racing from the weekend, chat about industry news and to find a next race winner for punters.
The weekend’s racing was highlighted by Joshua Brown’s victory in the Opunake Cup from New Plymouth. (Click here to watch the full replay of the race)
In post-race interviews, Lynsey Satherley noted that Joshua Brown is often a difficult horse to ride. She said: “He’d be one of the hardest I’ve ever dealt with.”
The win on Saturday was trainer Lance Gussey’s first ever Stakes runner, so to claim the Cup was a great effort.
In self-depreciating fashion, Gussey claimed after the race; “We don’t know what we’re doing” but most would agree with the winning photographs on the wall they clearly know what they’re doing.
Royal Valour’s victory in Sunday’s Oamaru Cup was another highlight from the weekend and the 5YO gelding will next head to the Winter Cup at Riccarton in a fortnight’s time.
We heard Sam’s views about the Winter Cup and which horses could be favoured. As a previous winner (aboard Major Tom in 2020) his views are definitely worth taking note of.
One of the highlights of the weekend was trainer Leonard Stewart quinella-ing Race 4 from Oamaru. This was a fairytale result because Leonard is 92. It was lovely to hear how Emily hopes she will be training horses at age 92.
As well as reviewing the weekend’s races, Sam and Emily chatted to the COO of NZTB, Darin Balcombe, primarily about the transfer of the three Group 1 races at the start of spring, away from Awapuni. Darin also provides an update on when racing could return to Hastings.
Emily and Sam wrapped up the show by sharing their Winter Whispers – where both of them were trying to choose the same horse as a next-race winner.
Watch the full episode of this week's Winter Weigh In below:
Winter Weigh In, July 21
