The horse forced to switch stables in the week of his spring grand final went within a bound of winning the Cox Plate. And his jockey says it was the 9.5kg weight difference with three-year-old Shamus Award that cost him victory. Happy Trails was transferred to trainer Byron Cozamanis on… Read More »
The race that has everything has gone to a horse which had nothing. Shamus Award, a colt whose place until Saturday had been on racing’s lowest rung, won arguably Australia’s greatest race, the $3 million Cox Plate. It doing so, he defied the country’s best horses and some of the… Read More »
Melbourne Cup plans for one-time favourite Puissance de Lune are in doubt after he pulled up lame following his run in the Cox Plate. The six-year-old entire endured a torrid run in the Moonee Valley classic and his trainer Darren Weir was lost for words after the race. The big… Read More »
What the jockeys said after the running of the Group One $3 million Cox Plate on Saturday. Chad Schofield (Shamus Award) 1st: “I was confident the horse would run well. I had a couple of looks in the last hundred metres and I could see Happy Trails flying. I wasn’t… Read More »
Glyn Schofield says everything he has done in an international career as a jockey pales in comparison to watching his son Chad win the Cox Plate. An excited Schofield led the cheering in the Rosehill jockeys’ room on Saturday as 19-year-old Chad steered three-year-old Shamus Award to an all-the-way win… Read More »
Three-year-old Shamus Award has made all the running to win the $3 million Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on Saturday. A maiden going into the weight-for-age race, the Danny O’Brien-trained Shamus Award staved off a desperate lunge from Happy Trails to score by a half head. Fiorente was a long… Read More »
Chris Waller will consider pitting Catkins against the stable’s star mare Red Tracer in next Saturday’s Group One Myer Classic after her strong victory at Moonee Valley on Saturday. The tenacious and talented Catkins handled her first 1600m test with aplomb to take out the Group Three Eliza Park International… Read More »
The most expensive and best-bred horse racing in Australia on Saturday was not in a feature at Moonee Valley but Zephyron’s win in a restricted race at Rosehill was almost as good. A $2 million yearling by Zabeel out of Diamond Like, the five-year-old did his early racing with Mark… Read More »
An Epsom Handicap replay between two of Australia’s best “milers” is on the cards for the final day of the Flemington carnival following Toydini’s win in the Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley. Toydini finished a close third to Boban in the Epsom earlier this month and will now go to… Read More »
Leading trainer Matt Dunn is under pressure to give QFighter his chance in feature races after the gelding burst into open company at Eagle Farm on Saturday. QFighter, backed from $4.40 to $3.90, charged home to beat the favourite Morning Captain ($2.80) by a half length with a length to… Read More »
“Extraordinary! He’s back!” That’s how one punter summed it up as Bart Cummings’ last hope for a Melbourne Cup start, Precedence, powered home to win the Group Two Moonee Valley Gold Cup on Saturday. The race was a “last chance saloon” for three other horses in the race – Tanby,… Read More »
Quayside has earned her place in the VRC Oaks with a Rosehill victory that suggests she will have no trouble handling the 2500 metres of the fillies Classic. In what could be a portent to Group One success, the David Payne-trained three-year-old won a similar race to that which preceded… Read More »
Stewards will question ailing jockey Chris Munce about his unplaced ride on two-year-old Runway Angel at Eagle Farm on Saturday. Munce stood down from riding after finishing fourth on Runway Angel in the Driver Recruitment Handicap (1000m). He complained of seeing stars and feeling dizzy when he was weighing in… Read More »
Savvy Nature has thrown out the challenge to Spring Champion Stakes winner Complacent ahead of the Victoria Derby with a classy victory in Saturday’s Group Two Vase at Moonee Valley. The John O’Shea-trained Savvy Nature started $1.80 favourite in the 2040m traditional Derby lead-up and rounded the field from last… Read More »
An astonishing run of outs for Melbourne’s premier trainer Peter Moody ended with the win of a horse who had also been on an extensive search for a city win. Moody had sent out 73 successive losers in town before Thermal Current amended the record for both himself and his… Read More »
Chris Munce had to be stood down from riding at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The leading jockey returned to scale after the first race feeling sick and almost fainted before he was examined by the club doctor. He missed the remainder of the meeting when he was sent home to… Read More »
Former Carlton star Greg Williams was among the owners celebrating the success of four-year-old stallion Hvasstan, which hung on gamely to win the Drummond Golf Handicap at Moonee Valley on Saturday. Williams bought Hvasstan for $200,000 as a yearling and has enjoyed the ride since, as the son of Fastnet… Read More »
Having been forced to abandon the remainder of Royal Descent’s spring campaign, the Chris Waller stable has taken heart from her little sister’s win at Rosehill on Saturday. Royal Descent was officially taken out of the Melbourne Cup this week after her fifth in the Caulfield Cup, a performance her… Read More »
Jockey Clare Lindop felt it was “slightly unfair” she was denied a dead heat on Nearest To Pin in Saturday’s City Jeep Handicap at Moonee Valley. But for the winning connections of Vibrant Rouge a decent wait for the judge’s decision was worth it. Lindop burst through along the inside… Read More »
David Payne thought so much of Bold Circle as a yearling the trainer shelled $100,000 of his own money to buy him. Some time later many others decided to join in and the large group was on hand to see the colt win at Rosehill on Saturday with the promise… Read More »
