American trainer Wesley Ward has assembled a formidable team of up to six juveniles as he bids to add to his tally of three Royal Ascot winners. Ward became the first US-based handler to saddle a winner at the summer showpiece meeting in 2009, recording a landmark double with Strike… Read More »
Jockey Pat Cosgrave is free to ride after British authorities decided not to uphold a four-month ban handed down in Dubai. The Emirates Racing Authority has requested written reasons and a transcript of Cosgrave’s appeal to the British Horseracing Authority. Cosgrave, 32, was initially handed a six-month suspension by the… Read More »
Champion racehorse and outstanding sire Canny Lad has been put down at Woodlands Stud at the age of 26. Darley Australia said Canny Lad, who was retired from active duty in 2011, had spent the past few years in a paddock with another champion, Octagonal, and would be buried at… Read More »
The Tatt’s Tiara remains the target for Commanding Jewel’s comeback but trainer Leon Corstens will have no hesitation in pulling the pin if he is not happy with the mare’s progress. The 1400m race for fillies and mares at Eagle Farm on Saturday week is the final Group One race… Read More »
A recent barrier trial win has given Merlin Mustang’s new trainer David Vandyke optimism ahead of the five-year-old’s race return at Rosehill. The winner of seven races for his previous trainers Mick Tubman and Michael Murphy, who is also a part-owner, Merlin Mustang has settled into life at his new… Read More »
Word Of Mouth’s last-start third behind Sonntag has taken on extra significance after the latter’s win in the Queensland Derby. But for Word of Mouth’s trainer Leon Corstens, the Derby result was also bittersweet with Pinstripe Lane, trained by his son Troy, beaten a head in Saturday’s Group One race…. Read More »
The enigmatic Phelan Ready is back on track to tackle late winter carnival races after passing a barrier test. Trainer Jason McLachlan has nominated Phelan Ready for both the Eye Liner Stakes (1350m) at Ipswich on Saturday and the W J Healy Stakes (1200m) at Eagle Farm a week later…. Read More »
Puzzle was a well-named filly when she arrived at Heath Conners’ stable. She had shown talent in barrier trials in Sydney but had not lived up to that promise in three starts for her previous trainer, Heath’s father Clarry Conners. The two-year-old’s owners sent her to the younger Conners whose… Read More »
Craig Carmody has a dilemma over where to race Single this weekend but no such concerns about Tickertape who goes to Canterbury on the back of a wet track win. The prospect of further rain in Sydney has prompted the trainer to enter Single for a 1400m race at Flemington… Read More »
American sprinter Undrafted is being prepared for a tilt at the July Cup at Newmarket. Trainer Wesley Ward, who has enjoyed success at Royal Ascot in recent years, saw his charge run out the winner of a Grade Three race at Belmont Park in New York on Saturday and is… Read More »
An economic study has found thoroughbred racing could contribute an additional $172 million to the NSW economy if it achieves parity with other states on wagering tax. Racing NSW, which has been lobbying the state government for a reduction of the wagering tax it pays, says $48 million could be… Read More »
Patience staves off the need for hefty vet bills, according to trainer Pat Hyland. Shanghai Warrior bowed a tendon in March last year and the former champion jockey shunned the modern stem cell treatment in favour of traditional methods of treating the horse’s injury. Hyland gave Shanghai Warrior time in… Read More »
The Ramornie Handicap is back on the agenda for Brisbane sprinter Vintage Moss after his return to form at the Gold Coast. Vintage Moss ($5) dispelled the notion he needed to lead to win when he came from off the pace to beat Mr Favulous ($9) by a length in… Read More »
The Ipswich Cup has emerged as a surprise option for veteran stayer Ironstein who is also entered for a 2000m race at Rosehill on Saturday. Trainer Gerald Ryan said at first glance the Queensland feature looked a winnable race for the eight-year-old at his fourth start of a campaign which… Read More »
A week spent acclimatising to the Queensland sun has Victorian filly Griante primed for Saturday’s Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic at Ipswich. Griante will shoot for her first stakes win in the Waterhouse Classic (1350m) after posting three straight wins in Melbourne. Co-trainers David Brideoake and David Feek considered spelling Griante… Read More »
Cox Plate-winning jockey Chad Schofield is almost certain to avoid surgery on neck fractures suffered in a fall at Cranbourne. Schofield fractured his C3 vertebra after falling from Made Of Ice in the Procon Developments Handicap. Made Of Ice was euthanised after crashing into the fallen Donarchie, ridden by apprentice… Read More »
One-time Magic Millions favourite Sheer Style has put on a classy display to leave a group of less experienced two-year-olds in her wake at Randwick. The Garry Frazer-trained filly jumped straight to the front and was never threatened in Monday’s TAB Rewards (1000m), justifying her odds-on starting price on the… Read More »
Robbie Laing has a simple assessment for the progress of smart sprinter Lord Of The Sky. Laing has set the colt for the Group Three Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on July 5 and the three-year-old has thrilled the Cranbourne horseman with his recent work. “Flying, he’s flying,”… Read More »
Former champion Queensland jockey Russell Maddock, who rode for the Queen during his illustrious career, has died aged 96. Maddock was a trail blazer for Australian jockeys in the United Kingdom and France and rode with some of the immortals of the Australian turf such Neville Sellwood, George Moore, Scobie… Read More »
Chad Schofield is being assessed to determine whether he needs surgery on two fractures in his neck suffered in a three-horse fall at Cranbourne on Sunday. Schofield, who won the Queensland Derby aboard Sonntag a day earlier, was one of three jockeys taken to Dandenong Hospital after the fall. Apprentice… Read More »
