Elsdon Park

Elsdon Park Established in 2022 by Lib and Katrina Petagna, Elsdon Park is a private thoroughbred breeding farm. The main farm was previously known as Valachi Downs.

Elsdon Park is a private thoroughbred breeding operation dedicated to the development of elite racehorses. Established in 2022 by Lib and Katrina Petagna, Elsdon Park is based in the heartland of New Zealandโ€™s renowned horse country and embodies 650 acres of pristine rolling and flat Waikato pasture across two farms. Kevin and Joanna Hickman originally purchased this property as a dairy farm in 20

05 and thanks to their vision and attention to detail, it has been developed to an exceptional standard, with modern, purpose-built thoroughbred facilities. It was a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the Petagna family to acquire the farm and itโ€™s a privilege to continue to develop and build the Elsdon Park brand from our new home.

๐Œ๐ž๐ž๐ญ ๐„๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐š๐ซ๐ค'๐ฌ ๐…๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐…๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐…๐จ๐š๐ฅ๐ฌThe wait is over and our class of 2026 is growing by the day. Here's a glimpse of our...
30/08/2026

๐Œ๐ž๐ž๐ญ ๐„๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐š๐ซ๐ค'๐ฌ ๐…๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐…๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐…๐จ๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ
The wait is over and our class of 2026 is growing by the day. Here's a glimpse of our first four foals to have made their way into the world ...๐Ÿฅฐ

๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐€๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ก๐š ๐„๐ฑ๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ž๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซโ€™๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‘๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ซ๐The Tony Gollan-trained Pure Alpha added another chapter to the promisi...
29/08/2026

๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐€๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ก๐š ๐„๐ฑ๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ž๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซโ€™๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‘๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ซ๐

The Tony Gollan-trained Pure Alpha added another chapter to the promising record of his dam, Bridgewater, with a dominant victory at Eagle Farm today.

Sent straight to the front by jockey Ben Thompson, Pure Alpha produced an impressive pillar-to-post performance to claim career victory number three over 1600 metres.

The six-year-old gelding began his career in the care of Chris Waller before transferring to Tony Gollanโ€™s stable in February. He arrived in Queensland with two wins and seven placings already to his name for his owners, Mrs Z A Daly, Ozzie Kheir, M Gopperth, A C Bates and S M George.

Bred by Elsdon Park, Pure Alpha is by Ardrossan and is a full brother to the tough as teak, triple Group Three winner, Ardalio.

Now a five-year-old in the care of trainer Stephen Marsh, Ardalio appears to have fully matured this time in and the stable has high hopes for her this season.

Marsh also trains the three-year-old full brother Raymond, who had just one start as a two-year-old last season, finishing a promising second at Te Aroha and is certainly one to keep your eye on.

With her first two foals both talented winners and her third showing encouraging signs, there is plenty to be optimistic about from Bridgewater's unraced progeny.
Bridgewater's stunning fourth foal, an unnamed Per Incanto c**t, was purchased by Upper Bloodstock at this year's Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.

In 2025, Bridgewater produced another striking c**t, this time by Sword of State (see parade video taken two days ago).

Bridgewater is currently in foal to Per Incanto. Due to this being a later foaling, she will remain empty this year before a likely trip to Australia for the 2027 breeding season.

๐Ž๐ซ๐๐ž๐ซ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐๐ข๐œ๐ฌ/๐•๐ข๐๐ฌ
1: Pure Alpha prelim
2: Pure Alpha video winning at Eagle Farm today
3: Ardalio
4: Unnamed Per Incanto 2YO
5: Sword of State yearling video
6: Bridgewater as a yearling

๐†๐š๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐๐ฎ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐Ž๐ ๐ฎ๐ง ๐ซ๐ž๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐š๐ญ ๐‘๐ข๐œ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐จ๐งOur March Gavelhouse graduate Ogun (Alabama Express - War Goddess) was sent...
05/08/2026

๐†๐š๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐๐ฎ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐Ž๐ ๐ฎ๐ง ๐ซ๐ž๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐š๐ญ ๐‘๐ข๐œ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐จ๐ง

Our March Gavelhouse graduate Ogun (Alabama Express - War Goddess) was sent out favourite today at the Riccarton Synthetic track and duly rewarded the support for his new connections, the South Island Racing Enthusiasts Syndicate, winning by 2.5 lengths.

Trained by Michael & Matthew Pitman, Ogun had warranted favouritism with his last start third, but had to draw on his fighting qualities for jockey Matt Cartwright from the draw, landing back in the field and wide.

With 100m to go, the talented four-year-old gelding had the race comfortably at his mercy and was able to ease down in the final stages.

Congratulations to all of his connections. We can't wait to follow him in his starts ahead for you!

๐๐Œ๐– ๐‡๐จ๐ง๐  ๐Š๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ƒ๐ž๐ซ๐›๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐š๐ญ๐ก ๐š๐ก๐ž๐š๐ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐•๐ข๐œ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐’๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฆ๐žA statement 4.5 length win under Vincent Ho at Sha Tin last night has C...
05/07/2026

๐๐Œ๐– ๐‡๐จ๐ง๐  ๐Š๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ƒ๐ž๐ซ๐›๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐š๐ญ๐ก ๐š๐ก๐ž๐š๐ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐•๐ข๐œ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐’๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž

A statement 4.5 length win under Vincent Ho at Sha Tin last night has Champion trainer Ricky Yiu plotting an exciting BMW Hong Kong Derby path ahead for farm grad, Victor Supreme.

The talented Super Seth 3YO entered the Ip Jug Hcp (1800m) with a narrow last start second to his name and thrived at his first start beyond 1600m, winning for owner Law Hing Cheung in sublime fashion.

According to the HKJC, Victor Supreme would be aimed at the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which features the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m), Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) and the 150th BMW Hong Kong Derby.

โ€œHe won by reasonable margin โ€“ I thought he was a winning chance by maybe a length or two, but not in this style,โ€ said Yiu, Hong Kong Champion Trainer in 2019/20.

โ€œHeโ€™s an up-and-coming long-distance horse, even a mile is a bit sharp. Heโ€™ll be one of the Derby candidates. When the first stage Derby entries open, Iโ€™ll put him in. The way he looks, heโ€™ll be a decent stayer.โ€

Yiu, who enjoyed three other training victories on the night with Rising Force, Lucrative Eight and Chill Easy, bought Victor Supreme at the 2024 NZB Book One Yearling Sale.

Bred and sold by Elsdon Park, Victor Supreme is out of the winning Makfi mare Collay, who is a noted half-sister to the Champion NZ 2YO and now black-type producer, Ruud Van Slaats.

๐˜๐š๐ฅ๐๐ข ๐„๐ฑ๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐…๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐„๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐ข๐ž ๐‘๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ซ๐The Andrew Forsman-trained Yaldi extended his fine record at Ellerslie with a bold ou...
20/06/2026

๐˜๐š๐ฅ๐๐ข ๐„๐ฑ๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐…๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐„๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐ข๐ž ๐‘๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ซ๐

The Andrew Forsman-trained Yaldi extended his fine record at Ellerslie with a bold out-wide win under Matt Cartwright today.

Bred by Max Brown and raced with David and Nicki Wilson, Yaldi has now competed 9 times at Ellerslie for three wins and three placings.

Following a season that has yielded two wins and four placings from 11 starts, Yaldi is now likely to head to the spelling paddock, before returning in the Spring.

๐„๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐š๐ซ๐ค ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐๐™๐ ๐–๐ž๐š๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐’๐š๐ฅ๐ž ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญElsdon Park will present seven quality fillies at next week's NZB Weanling...
18/06/2026

๐„๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐š๐ซ๐ค ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐๐™๐ ๐–๐ž๐š๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐’๐š๐ฅ๐ž ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ

Elsdon Park will present seven quality fillies at next week's NZB Weanling Sale, with parades commencing at 9am on Tuesday.

Our 2026 consignment comprises:

Lot 21 Ardrossan - Queen of Pop filly
Lot 40 Almanzor - Spring Success filly
Lot 67 Ardrossan - Ziggyzou filly
Lot 85 Banquo - Cassiopeia filly
Lot 92 State of Rest - Costa Rica filly
Lot 106 Ardrossan - Felicity Then filly
Lot 118 Noverre - Helena Cristina filly

Hope to see you there!

๐„๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐š๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ ๐‰๐จ๐› ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒAn exciting opportunity has become available for an experienced Broodmare M...
10/06/2026

๐„๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐š๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ ๐‰๐จ๐› ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ

An exciting opportunity has become available for an experienced Broodmare Manager to join our team and oversee the care & development of our special 80-strong broodmare band and their foals.

๐€๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ
- Previous Broodmare Management experience is essential
- Highly organised with good communication skills
- Ability to lead, motivate and support a small team
- Excellent attention to detail
- Calm and effective in high-pressure situations
- High level of horsemanship

๐Š๐ž๐ฒ ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ
- Coordinate breeding activities, including vet exams, coverings and reproductive management
- Oversee and assist with all processes in the foaling unit, including difficult foalings
- Manage broodmare and foal health and nutrition
- Lead and support a small team
- Manage the foal handling and weaning process
- High level of knowledge and experience with health-related issues and treatments
- Maintain accurate and comprehensive records
- Ensure high standards of animal welfare, biosecurity and workplace health and safety

๐–๐ž ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ซ
- Supportive, professional and enjoyable team environment
- Attractive salary package
- Executive 4-bedroom house on farm
- Ongoing professional development opportunities
- Opportunity to work with top-quality bloodstock
- Great location โ€“ 10 mins to town and 45 mins to the beach
- Well-maintained farm with excellent infrastructure and facilities

If this sounds like you, weโ€™d love to hear from you!
Please email your CV to Kerrie Cox at [email protected]
Applications close: 19 June, 5:00 pm

30/05/2026

From Elsdon Park's inaugural Book 1 draft, Hezdarnhottoo (NZ) (Too Darn Hot) recorded his third career victory with success at Caulfield. Purchased by Bjorn Baker Racing and Clarke Bloodstock for $170,000 at Karaka 2023, the gelding is out of the stakes-performed Savabeel mare Rosa Carolina and is one of three winners from three foals to race from the mare.

https://www.racingnews.co.nz/daring-tactics-secure-victory-for-hezdarnhottoo/

๐ƒ๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐‡๐ž๐ณ๐๐š๐ซ๐ง๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐ญ๐จ๐จ A daring ride from Jett Stanley has seen the Bjorn Baker-trained 4YO Hezedarnhottoo dominat...
30/05/2026

๐ƒ๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐‡๐ž๐ณ๐๐š๐ซ๐ง๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐ญ๐จ๐จ

A daring ride from Jett Stanley has seen the Bjorn Baker-trained 4YO Hezedarnhottoo dominate the Darren Gauci Hcp at Caulfield today.

Boldly defying the pattern of the day, Stanley guided Hezdarnhottoo home along the inside rail, accounting for rivals who had gone out wide by 1 3/4 lengths at the line.

Bred by Elsdon Park, Hezdarnhottoo is by Too Darn Hot and is from the Savabeel mare Rosa Carolina, herself a daughter of the multiple stakes winner Ombre Rose.

Hezdarnhot was successfully purchased by his trainer and Jim Clarke Bloodstock at the 2023 NZB Book One Yearling Sale.

Since this time, he was registered three wins and five placings from 13 career starts for owners: Bjorn Baker Racing, Mr B E Risetto, Mr W E Preston, Mr K Salagic, Mr M T Mathews, Mr S B Dixon, Mr M M Raftery, Mr H I Myers, Mrs C M Myers, Mr D J Armstrong, Mr R J Chilcott, Mr B M Dowling, Mr A D Mathews, Mr M McKelvie, Mr A P Proctor, Mr P Power, Mr M Small, Mr A Shelley, Mr S J Pickworth and Elsdon Park.

Photos: Reg Ryan/Racing Photos
Video: Racing.com

๐–๐ž'๐ฏ๐ž ๐›๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ ๐š๐ ๐š๐ข๐ง...We've been at it again at the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale and welcomed the Lindsay Park-train...
28/05/2026

๐–๐ž'๐ฏ๐ž ๐›๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ ๐š๐ ๐š๐ข๐ง...

We've been at it again at the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale and welcomed the Lindsay Park-trained Gr.2 Blamey Stakes winner Marble Arch into our Broodmare Band.

Bred by Goodwood Stud. Marble Arch is by the proven Gr.1 damsire Per Incanto and is from the well-related Sakhee's Secret mare, Jonquil

This is the Gr.1 family of Daffodil, Atishu, Orchestral, Savaglee, Good Faith, Sepals and Aegon.

Address

165b Buckland Road
Matamata
3472

Telephone

+6421433517

Website

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