Former shuttle stallion Almanzor’s flying days are now behind him, with Cambridge Stud announcing their Group One-producing sire will remain a permanent resident of New Zealand.A deal has been brokered with their northern hemisphere partners Haras d'Etreham to secure the full breeding rights of the son of Wootton Bassett, with the French stud farm agreeing his future best lay in the southern hemisphere.�After six seasons of shuttling it is logical for us to accept the offer from Cambridge Stud, which will allow the stallion to remain in the hemisphere where he is the most successful,” Haras d'Etreham's executive director Nicholas de Chambure said.Cambridge Stud are delighted to have secured Almanzor, who was one of the first acquisitions for the new iteration of the farm under the ownership of Brendan and Jo Lindsay.“We are really happy to have certainty on his future in New Zealand,” Cambridge Stud sales and nominations manager Scott Calder said. “He has been shuttling now for seven seasons to New Zealand. He couldn’t keep shuttling forever and the way he is going in New Zealand we were really keen to secure him long-term.“He is a very important horse here at Cambridge Stud and I think he has got a big part to play in the New Zealand breeding industry for the foreseeable future. He is the youngest stallion in the top 10 and he has come off a really good season last year. I think it is just the beginning for him considering he has got some really well-bred and big crops coming through the pipeline in the coming years.“We have to thank Etreham for allowing us to be involved with him. We approached them in 2018 when he had already started breeding up there. They put their faith in us and it has been a really good relationship on both sides. Hello Youmzain has been the follow on from that. “He has been a good source of positive news for us from the get-go. He had a full book in his first year and his first crop of yearlings sold so well at the yearling sales. The momentum has been building and every step of the way he keeps getting stronger. “He had Dynastic (Karaka Millions 2YO winner and Group One performer) in his first crop and that put him on the board early. Manzoice came out the next spring and got his first Group One (Victoria Derby, 2500m), and now we are seeing a wide range of winners over various distances. “He has been a really big part of the new Cambridge Stud and I think it is fantastic to have him locked in for the future.”Calder said interest continues to remain strong in Almanzor from New Zealand breeders, which was further enhanced over the weekend when his progeny, Rise At Dawn and Positivity, quinellaed the Listed Heatherlie Stakes (1700m) at Caulfield.“He is just getting better and better as he goes along,” Calder said.“He has got a nice book of mares. He has been our most popular horse on bookings right from the start. His fee ($30,000 + GST) combined with the results that he has had really made him look like good value in the proven sire ranks. Having a quinella at Caulfield on Saturday has kept the ball rolling and the phone is continuing to ring. “Breeders have latched onto the value he presents this season.” By Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk

Lux Libertas overcame plenty of adversity early in her life, but the four-year-old left unfortunate beginnings behind her when completing a winning hattrick at Matamata on Wednesday.A daughter of Almanzor, Lux Libertas had a pair of starts early in her three-year-old season before being put aside by trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott and returned to break maidens in July. Heading into the new term, the mare continued her upward trajectory, claiming a Rating 65 contest at Te Rapa, with a step up to Rating 75 level perceived as no issue for punters who backed her into $3.20 favouritism in the Waharoa Industrial Park 1200 on Wednesday.In the hands of Warren Kennedy, Lux Libertas jumped away positively from the inside draw and settled one back on the fence, while the 12-horse field stayed in close quarters throughout the running. Nearing the home turn, Kennedy moved off the rail and hit the lead soon after straightening, with the mare game in fighting off a strong late surge from Baronet to score by a long neck.Kennedy has been aboard Lux Libertas at each of her three successes and indicated she is deserving of higher targets. “I thought it was a very good win, especially on a testing track like it was today,” he said. “She’s run on heavy tracks and handled it well, she’s big and strong and it was a good win. “Although the margin wasn’t big, it was better than what it looked like. She’s a filly that we’ve been settling and the way the track was running today, it looked like it would be on-speed. “I didn’t want to be caught not getting a run and switching ground looking for runs, so I went for the trail and she never really switched off. She travelled up really hard and found a good kick off that, Opie’s loomed up to me but she’s found extra gears. “Three in a row is not easy to do, she’s been placed really well by Lance and Andrew and when I first won on her, I said she was a stakes filly. “Hopefully they’ll step her up now to that level and see how she competes there.”Kylie Bax, who co-owns the mare bred by her parents, Graham and Helen-Gaye Bax, alongside JML Bloodstock, revealed that after the birth of Lux Libertas was far from smooth sailing. “She’s a very special girl, she’s got a big heart and is a lovely filly,” Bax said. “She had a rough start to life, her mother didn’t want to know her, so I think she just relishes all the love and attention she gets from Wexford, she wants to be here. “The mother died after a while, but we had another mare that needed a foal at Blandford and there you go, she was adopted out. “I pre-train her and broke her in, and I think she’s got a lot of class. I don’t think a better track will be any problem at all, she’s got a lot of heart.” Out of a Makfi mare, Lux Libertas has won three of her five starts and more than $55,000 in stakes earnings. By Jess de Lautour, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk

A change of environment has agreed with Fang It who produced a storming performance for a first-up victory at Benalla.Formerly with Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman, the four-year-old son of Embellish was making his first start from Craig Widdison’s stable and won for the second time in eight appearances.Fang It drew a wide barrier in the 1412 metre contest and drifted well back in the running before cutting loose down the outside in the straight to mow down his rivals under rider Nick Souquet.“He came to me in great order and that makes my job easy, I just had to find the right race,” Widdison said.“He drew wide so we had to ride him a bit negatively and they ran along at a good tempo and there was nothing wrong with the track out wider.”Fang It was a $70,000 purchase for syndicator Dalziel Bloodstock, Moody Racing and John White Bloodstock at Karaka where he was offered by Wentwood Grange. He is a half-brother to the G3 Taranaki 2YO Classic winner Bonnie Aurelia with their dam the Red Clubs mare Cassie May, who was successful on three occasions.