The successful Magic Millions Classic team of trainer Darryl Hansen and apprentice jockey Luke Tarrant has continued its winning run, this time with a veteran at Ipswich. Hansen has been great form winning six races in the past three weeks with Le Chef’s victory in the $2 million Classic for… Read More »
Working at one of Australia’s most revered thoroughbred farms as a teenager helped shape Sam Kavanagh’s approach to racing and life. A decade later, Widden Stud could also have a profound influence on Kavanagh’s ambition to establish himself as one of the leading trainers in Sydney. Widden’s Antony Thompson honoured… Read More »
Improving two-year-old Taillevent’s easy win at Ipswich is unlikely to save him from the surgeon’s knife. Trainer Bruce Hill has a big opinion of Taillevent but says the plan is still to geld him. The colt finished second last, beaten 12 lengths, at his previous start at Doomben in December…. Read More »
Two former Australian Turf Club officials have had their disqualifications for betting offences considerably reduced on appeal. Shaun Lyall was originally outed for two years but will now serve nine months while Murray Conallin had an 18-month ban reduced to six. Lyall and Conallin both lost their permanent jobs with… Read More »
Winona Costin will continue her apprenticeship with Gai Waterhouse as the leading junior rider prepares to make a return to the races at Randwick on Saturday. Costin’s booking for six rides ends speculation over the 19-year-old’s immediate future after her role at Tulloch Lodge was placed in doubt when she… Read More »
The apprentice who has partnered Lord Of The Sky to his biggest winning margin has been recalled in the Chester Manifold Stakes. Patrick Moloney will be in search of his first stakes victory on the Robbie Laing-trained sprinter in Saturday’s Listed feature at Flemington. Moloney has not been aboard Lord… Read More »
Victoria’s chief steward Terry Bailey says there is no time frame on investigations into elevated cobalt levels detected in horses from three prominent Melbourne stables. Trainers Peter Moody, Mark Kavanagh and Danny O’Brien have all been named as having horses which returned high levels to the banned substance during the… Read More »
Real Good’s form behind Magic Millions winner Le Chef and a pleasing workout in blinkers have boosted trainer Trevor Miller’s confidence ahead of the two-year-old’s next start at the Sunshine Coast. Runner-up at his two starts including a midweek Gold Coast race won by Le Chef, Real Good missed a… Read More »
Danny O’Brien is the third prominent Melbourne trainer under investigation for elevated levels of cobalt returned in swabs on horses which raced during the spring carnival. On Monday, Peter Moody revealed Turnbull Stakes runner-up Lidari had returned a level higher than the allowable 200 micrograms per litre of urine, a… Read More »
Less than 24 hours after Peter Moody revealed he was under investigation for a positive test returned by one of his horses, fellow trainers Mark Kavanagh and Danny O’Brien finds themselves in a similar position. A post-race sample taken from the Moody-trained Lidari after he ran second in the Turnbull… Read More »
Nigel Blackiston believes rain in Melbourne could be a bonus as he prepares to start three-year-old Mossara Lad for the first time at Sandown. Mossara Lad has shown the Flemington trainer enough in his jump-outs to be convinced he is capable of figuring on debut in Wednesday’s Appelles Maiden Plate… Read More »
Leading trainer Peter Moody is facing a stewards investigation after one of his horses returned a high level of cobalt in a Group One race during the spring carnival. A post-race urine sample taken from Lidari after his second placing in the Turnbull Stakes in October contained cobalt at a… Read More »
Sam Kavanagh reluctantly has numbers on his side as he bids to continue his stable’s impressive start to the year at Randwick on Saturday. Since January 1, Kavanagh’s two Sydney winners have been complemented by imported stayer Midsummer Sun making it back-to-back Gosford Gold Cup victories. The go-ahead Rosehill trainer… Read More »
The autumn program for Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist isn’t locked in but trainer Kris Lees says it’s likely he will kick off his campaign in Melbourne. Owned by Australian Bloodstock, Protectionist was transferred to Lees’ stable in Newcastle from German trainer Andreas Wohler after the galloper’s Melbourne Cup triumph in… Read More »
It took John MacMillan years to break through for his first stakes win as a trainer but he is hoping it is only a short wait for another. South Australian-based MacMillan will bring last-start Adelaide Listed winner Boristar to Flemington for Saturday’s Chester Manifold Stakes, adamant the gelding deserves another… Read More »
John Sadler is more than happy to be putting his son Tom on his runners at Sandown and believes the apprentice is an asset now he has matured as a rider. The father-and-son combination link in two races on Wednesday with Sadler planning to start Gallant Harmony and Marli Magic,… Read More »
A solid gallop at Randwick on Tuesday has vastly experienced trackwork rider Allan Russell convinced Hardline is a top chance in one of New Zealand’s biggest juvenile races. The Brisbane-trained Hardline impressed in winning at Doomben at his first start but was well-beaten into seventh behind Giulietta at Rosehill. Hardline… Read More »
Perth’s leading apprentice Lucy Warwick is looking forward to riding in Melbourne but her parents are a little less enthusiastic. The 17-year-old daughter of Perth trainer Justin Warwick joins the stables of Leon and Troy Corstens next week for a three-month stint. She is in second place behind Willie Pike… Read More »
Training a one-two result has its obvious rewards but it doesn’t have the same appeal to trainer Tony Newing as getting the chance to win his second city race within the space of a week. That’s why Newing sacrificed a potential quinella finish when he scratched one runner at Randwick… Read More »
Group One-winning jockey Ben Melham is ready for his return from an enforced lay-off and keen to start building momentum with feature races just around the corner. Melham has not ridden for a month after surgery on an abscess which developed from a saddle sore and required time to heal…. Read More »
