Bambry Welcomes Home Retired Favourite

Media Release - Thursday September 6

Anyone who knows Chrissy Bambry knows she is passionate about her horses.

Lord Turbo and Chrissy Bambry - Race ImagesThe effervescent 31-year-old horse-woman from Manawatu is the daughter of Foxton trainer Tony Bambry, and she has devoted her life to the animal she loves.

This week Bambry, who works alongside her father training a small team of horses and preparing horses for sale, has welcomed back stable-favourite Lord Turbo from Hong Kong, with the now eight-year-old set to retire to Bambry's property.

Like so many in the industry, Bambry grew up with horses and has no intention of doing anything else.

"I always loved working for Mum and Dad growing up and used to muck out paddocks for a dollar an hour," Bambry said.

"When I was 14 I did a yearling preparation for Gordon Cunningham at Curraghmore and have worked at every yearling sale for him since.

"I have also worked for a season in England and I have a close association with the Liston family at Three Bridges in Victoria, who I work for at the Australian sales.

"But my day-job is working with Mum and Dad, we're a family operation. We breed about 8 mares a year and we try to sell some at the yearling sales and we retain some to race and for the Ready to Run Sale. We generally race the fillies.

Bambry, who these days owns a property of her own at Rongotea near Palmerston North, credits Lord Turbo as the horse who inspired her to delve further into thoroughbred breeding.

"He is out of a mare called Sitting On A Hill that Mum and Dad raced," Bambry said.

"She ran third in the Eulogy and when she retired I bought fifty per cent of her to go into partnership to breed and Lord Turbo was her first foal.

"He won his first three starts for us including the Wanganui Guineas with our good friend Rosie Myers riding him. He ran fourth in both the Hawke's Bay and Wellington Guineas and was unlucky on both occasions.

"When I was working at the Ready to Run Sales I approached (Hong Kong trainer) Ricky Yiu and (bloodstock advisor) Dean Hawkes, who we had sold a horse to at that sale about five years earlier, to see if they would be interested in buying him.

"Within the week he was heading up to Hong Kong."

Advertisement

Under Yiu's care Lord Turbo won four races and was placed on a further six occasions over the ensuing four seasons on the ultra-competitive Hong Kong circuit.

"He got right up to Class 2, which is pretty good in Hong Kong and before he left he compared favourably with a horse like Salamanca, but the money was too good to keep him here," Bambry said.

"It (the sale) definitely paid a few bills and probably fuelled an obsession with breeding horses.

"People say that breeding is a mug's game, but there is nothing like breeding your own winners and he definitely changed my life and the enthusiasm I have for breeding."

Bambry followed Lord Turbo's career closely during his time in Hong Kong and kept in regular contact with Yiu and Hawkes.

"They're both super, genuine, nice people and I would always annoy them whenever I saw them at each sale and have a chat to them about Turbo.

"At Karaka earlier this year, Ricky said he would probably be retired at the end of the season and I said I would give him a home.

"He was a bit of a favourite in the stable from what I gather and when he was retired they spoke to his owner and he was happy for him to come back to me."

Bambry was delighted to welcome the Perfectly Ready gelding home this week and it was like he never left.

"He can have a few months out in the paddock, just being a horse," Bambry said. "He went down to the paddock today like he had never been gone.

"In the new year, I will probably try and find someone who wants to do something with him as a sport horse, but he will always have a retirement paddock back at the farm."

There were 102 horses exported from New Zealand to Hong Kong last season, but more than 200 horses retired from Hong Kong to New Zealand last season, which has become one of the preferred retirement destinations for horses. – NZ Racing Desk

Advertisment
More Reading...
Blueblood Lonhro Colt Wins G1 Spring Champion
At the start of August we ran a story about the 3YO’s that were entered for this year Cox Plate and aside from the usual suspects there were some ‘Cox Plate dreamers’ and one of them was unraced Lonhro colt Attica, who capped his meteoric rise to fame with a thrilling victory in the $2million Group I ATC Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on Saturday.
First Winner for Home Affairs
Exciting young sire Home Affairs opened his account with his first winner in New Zealand on Saturday with a dominant debut victory for race favourite Harvey Wallbanger at Ellerslie.
Early Return Home for Cogburn
Group I winning Not This Time son Cogburn (USA) will return to WinStar Farm in Kentucky earlier than planned after disappointing fertility results during his first Australian covering season at Widden Stud.
2025 Cox Plate Result - Fastnet Rock and Waller Quinella
A genuine champion sire should be able to produce the horses that win the very best races in the country in which they stand and the late great Fastnet Rock have us a demonstration of that when his high class Northern Hemisphere bred offspring Via Sistina (IRE) and Buckaroo (GB) fought out an epic finish to the $6million Group I MVRC WS Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
G2 McEwen Stakes To Jigsaw - Fifth Black Type Victory
A previous Group 2 winner at Moonee Valley a few years back, Jigsaw’s connections would’ve headed into Saturday’s Group 2 MVRC McEwen Stakes (1200m) with a level of confidence despite tackling last start Group 1 MVRC Manikato Stakes winner Charm Stone.
Good News Week for Geisel Park
Geisel Park’s black-type mare Laced Up Heels is in foal off a maiden cover to Champion Australian Sire Zoustar and an orphan foal has found a new mum.
VRC Derby Favourite Strengthens His Chances With G2 Vase Win
When breaking his maiden by five lengths at just his second start last season, Ghaiyyath's colt Observer looked to have above average ability, but it was his third last start in the Group 1 MRC Caulfield Guineas (1600m) that had everybody talking about the exciting prospect.
Invincible Colt Wins $1million G2 Callander Presnell for Godolphin
Progressive I Am Invincible colt Ohope won the $1million ATC Tapp Craig (1400m) at his previous start, however was not rewarded officially with Black Type for that result, but he did achieve stakes-winner status at Randwick on Saturday when scoring a determined win over quality colt Rivellino in the $1million ATC Callander Presnell (1600m).
A Century of NZB National Yearling Sales Success: Cox Plate
Moonee Valley’s A$6m Group One WS Cox Plate (2040m) is known as the weight-for-age championship of Australasia and has been won by many of Australia and New Zealand’s greatest thoroughbreds.
Lindermann Cracks $4million in Earnings
Gelded after losing form following his tenacious victory in the 2023 Group I ATC Rosehill Guineas, the Chris Waller trained Lindemann has embraced life as a gelding and has been on fire this spring racking up a series of lucrative wins including the $750,000 Group III ATC Craven Plate (1800m) at Randwick on Saturday.