Wanganui Cup Win for Glory Days

Media Release - Saturday December 1

Waverley mare Glory Days maintained her picket fence form-line with a dominant victory in the Listed Cambridge Thoroughbred Lodge Wanganui Cup (2040m) on Saturday.

Glory Days - RAce ImagesIt was the fourth victory in succession for the six-year-old mare, who is quickly becoming one of New Zealand's most promising stayers.

The daughter of Red Giant relished the solid tempo set by China Star, coming from well off the pace to win with plenty in hand under a composed Lisa Allpress ride.

"It was a very, very good win," trainer Bill Thurlow said.

"I just said to Lisa before she went out there, take all of the luck out of the equation. I said just get her out in the middle of the track and I had a lot of faith in her and she did it perfectly."

Thurlow has made no secret that he believes Glory Days, now the winner of eight races from 20 starts, could potentially be the best horse he has trained.

"It has been common knowledge in the press that once we get over ground, I think she is a very good horse and she proved it today," he said.

The farmer and part-time horse trainer has previously prepared Referred to finish second in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m), while Yours won eight races and ran fourth in the Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m).

Glory Days is on a path towards the Gr.3 City of Auckland Cup (2400m) at Ellerslie on New Year's Day and also holds early nominations for the Gr.3 NZ Campus For Innovation & Sport Wellington Cup (3200m) on January 19 and the Gr.1 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup (3200m) in March.

Advertisement

"I am not one hundred percent sure where we are going to go, we just need to map out the right plan for her," Thurlow said.

"She's a horse that doesn't need a lot of work and she's better with her races spaced."

Glory Days has been patiently handled by Thurlow and did not race until she was four.

"She's a mare that's taken a long time to mature," he said. "There's not a lot of her and in her younger days she probably wasn't 100 percent right mentally either.

"We let her develop and tell us when she was ready to go over further, and she was sort of telling us that after her second start this season."

Glory Days is one of twelve horses in training at the Thurlow family's Stainley Park in Waverley, which they operate alongside their farming business.

The winner of more than $160,000 in prizemoney, Glory Days is raced by Thurlow's brother Grant, his wife Patricia, and his neighbours and fellow farmers Brent and Sue McAree. – NZ Racing Desk

Advertisment
More Reading...
Melbourne Cup on Radar for Sons and Lovers
Joseph O’Brien knows what it takes to win a Melbourne Cup and that was mentioned as a possible goal for progressive young stayer Sons and Lovers, who won the Group III Ballyroan Stakes (1m4f) at Leopardstown overnight.
Day of Glory for Thurlow at Ellerslie
The residents of small rural township Waverley look set to rock and roll for the next few days as resident trainer Bill Thurlow and his gallant mare Glory Days did them proud when bolting home in the Gr.
Wootton Bassett Set to Blast Out of Winter
Many people may have anticipated Wootton Bassett (GB) would have been our Champion Australian First Season Sire last season and while that didn’t quite eventuate, he did finish the season with a wealth of horses holding spring potential and several were in action at the trials this morning.
Racing’s Night of Champions August 28
45 of the top horses in Australia will be recognised for outstanding performances during the 2024/2025 racing season at Racing’s Night of Champions.
Sires With Winners - Wednesday August 6
Here is the full list of 49 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Star Emperor Soars to Jumbo Jet Win
Star Emperor (NZ) (Red Giant) could have been bought for $10,000 at the 2015 Select Sale at Karaka, and on Sunday he scored a brilliant victory in the S$175,000 Jumbo Jet Trophy (1400m) at Kranji.
Breeding To Win – Crystal Ball – New Season 3YOs to Follow
Who are we highlighting this week? - Analysis of the G1 winning 3YO’s for last season has made us realise how many horses on this list took giant strides from two to three, so we are looking into the crystal ball to find some juveniles we believe could end this season as G1 performers if not G1 winners.
Sires With Winners - Thursday August 7
Here is the full list of 36 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Extremely Good Week!
It’s been a memorable week for Star Thoroughbreds having sold their multiple Group winning mare Olentia for $2.6million and then the purple and white stars were back in the winner’s circle at Canterbury on Wednesday carried by 3YO Extreme Choice colt Estremo.
Zoustar Entering the Zenith
The dictionary tells us Zenith is an astronomical term —describing the highest point in an arc travelled by a star, planet or another celestial body- and in the case of this story it’s planet Zoustar!