An imperious performance by Rise Companions to waltz away with the prestigious Stella Artois 1500m Championship Final (1500m) has pundits questioning just where his ceiling could be.

Stakes targets are in the offing for consistent gelding Maldini after he scored the biggest win of his career when taking out the Dunstan Horsefeeds Stayers’ Championship Final (2400m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

Nerves are a rare feeling for Stephen Marsh on raceday, but he was certainly feeling them at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

Features wins in Australia and New Zealand make for a properly festive season for Gavin Bedggood.

Nearly a decade after taking up the mantle as private trainer to Cambridge Stud owners Sir Brendan and Jo Lady Lindsay, Lance Noble has delivered results that he hopes to embellish at one of New Zealand’s racing’s biggest events, Boxing Day at Ellerslie.

Darryn and Briar Weatherley are under no illusions about the holiday task ahead of Bulgari but are confident the three-year-old is up to making a strong impression.

Chris Wood acknowledges his emerging three-year-old That’s Gold will have a fight on his hands in the Gr. 2 Jimmy Schick Shaw’s Auckland Guineas (1400m), but he’s still taking a positive approach to the Boxing Day challenge.

Promising two-year-old Ka Ron was unfortunate not to have made the perfect start to his career and will have the opportunity on Boxing Day to make amends.

Trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson are hoping a return to the right-handed way of going will help Qali Al Farrasha bounce back to winning form at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

A jump-out is planned for Jigsaw on Christmas Eve at Caulfield Heath. 

Top class have won the Boxing Day feature in the Zabeel Classic run at Ellerslie on Friday.

Kelvin Tyler is excited about the future with Freddie Time after he came within a nose of victory in last Saturday’s Gr.3 Manawatu Cup (2300m) at Trentham.

No-one knows better than Lance O’Sullivan what it takes to win the Gr.1 TAB Telegraph (1200m), which is as good a recommendation as any around the engagement of James McDonald for Tomodachi in the Trentham Group One sprint.

Kingswood will try to enhance his stallion prospects by chasing a Group 1 win in New Zealand.