A crucial barrier trial at Warwick Farm on Friday will determine whether Steps In Time gets the chance to double her tally of Group One wins. Trainer Joe Pride is keen to take the mare to Queensland for the Tatt’s Tiara on Saturday week but insists she won’t make the… Read More »
A drop in grade could provide the impetus for Express Power to rediscover some of her early promise, starting at Rosehill on Saturday. Trained by Kris Lees, Express Power showed ability over middle distances during her autumn three-year-old campaign when she finished runner-up to Royal Descent in the Adrian Knox… Read More »
Wayne Wilson has been remembered as a great race broadcaster, charity worker and family man by about 1000 mourners at his funeral on Thursday. Wilson died last Friday aged 66 after a 15-year battle with cancer. He was the voice of Queensland thoroughbred and harness racing for five decades, first… Read More »
Comparisons are already being made between English import Excess Knowledge and Melbourne Cup winner Fiorente, not least of all by the pair’s trainer Gai Waterhouse. Sourced from England as an ideal candidate to develop into a future Cups horse, Excess Knowledge shares the same sire as Fiorente in Monsun. Waterhouse… Read More »
The season’s end always creates opportunities in the Peter Moody stable. Mares head off to stud with the jobs done on the track but retirements leave Moody with the task of finding his next crop of top stakes performers. Moody’s four-year reign at the top of the Melbourne trainers’ premiership… Read More »
Adelaide trainer John Hyam has warned punters to completely ignore his mare Stella Lante’s last-start flop in Brisbane. Stella Lante will be having her second start the Queensland way of going when she runs in the Listed Ipswich Cup (2100m) on Saturday. The mare had her first run in Brisbane… Read More »
A favourable barrier for Into The Red has boosted the confidence of trainer Kelso Wood ahead of Saturday’s Listed Eye Liner Stakes at Ipswich. Wood had entered Into The Red for both the Eye Liner (1350m) and the three-year-old Cooney Handicap over the same distance but elected to take on… Read More »
Michael Rodd is happy to come off the bench to partner speedy filly Maroon Bay in Saturday’s AR Creswick Series Heat at Flemington. Dwayne Dunn was aboard the three-year-old when she finished third when resuming at Mornington on May 28 but he will ride at the Ipswich Cup meeting on… Read More »
Sole Power and Shea Shea are set to do battle again in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday after being separated by just a neck 12 months ago. Edward Lynam’s Irish raider Sole Power got the better of the South African challenger thanks to a brilliant ride… Read More »
The thirty-nine jockeys involved in the false start to the Grand National have escaped with cautions despite being found to have broken the rules. It was an outcome that raised as many questions as it did answers, with the jockeys feeling they were able to salvage something of a minor… Read More »
Enormous Honour lacks the precocity of his Group One winning half-brother but trainer Chris Waller believes he has the scope to carve out a reputation in his own right. Lining up for just his sixth start, the three-year-old posted his second successive win at Canterbury with a professional performance in… Read More »
Apprentice Courtney Van Der Werf was rewarded for two months of persistence when she posted her first Brisbane winner on Wednesday. Van Der Werf produced a rail-hugging ride to score on Widow’s Walk ($3.30) who beat In Full View ($4.20) by a short neck in the Wayne Wilson Hcp (1200m)… Read More »
Trainer Steve Richards is relying on extra distance to bridge the gap between Justaway and his debut conqueror in Saturday’s Eugene Gorman Handicap at Flemington. The Mark Kavanagh-trained Callahan finished 2-1/2 lengths ahead of Justaway when the pair met over 1100m at Seymour on May 26. But the two-year-olds will… Read More »
Full Of Spirit is a confirmed starter at Rosehill on Saturday after trainer Peter Moody decided against a trip to Queensland for the Ipswich Cup. The consistent mare was an acceptor for both venues and Moody’s decision to run her in the Freshmark Handicap (2000m) over the Listed Queensland feature… Read More »
The talent of Shooting To Win and Felines shone through at Canterbury on Wednesday with the youngsters running one-two in the opening race despite their wayward performances. In a dramatic start to the meeting, odds-on favourite Felines threw away her winning chances when she ran off the track in the… Read More »
English tried horse sales don’t just spawn Melbourne Cup dreams, they can also provide the setting for the start of productive relationships. Caulfield trainer Robert Smerdon met David Redvers, the racing manager for Qatari Sheikh Fahad Al Thani, in England and the friendship began at the right time for both… Read More »
Imported English stayer Refectory had to survive a protest before scoring his first Australian win at Doomben on Wednesday. Refectory ($2.40) held on to beat Dubai Gee Eye ($6.50) by 1-1/4 lengths in the Drumbeats @ Lyndhurst Plate (2140m) after a daring front-running ride from Chris Munce. However, Cyril Small… Read More »
The horse rated the world’s best and three stars from Hong Kong trainer John Moore’s stable headline an outstanding first round list of 10 overseas invitees for the Cox Plate. In a bid to continue the push to make the $3 million weight-for-age race an international event, the Moonee Valley… Read More »
Leading Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan admits his former NSW connection of Alma’s Fury and Brave Ali will need luck to give him the Ipswich feature double on Saturday. Alma’s Fury who was previously trained by Paul Murray at Kembla Grange, will be having his second start for Gollan in the… Read More »
Stradbroke Handicap winning jockey Chad Schofield is hoping to return in time for the spring carnival after learning he won’t require surgery for a fractured vertebra. The star rider was injured in a three-horse fall at Cranbourne on Sunday, a day after he celebrated his fourth Group One win aboard… Read More »
