Veteran galloper High Cost continued to make a mockery of predictions he would never race with his ninth win at Doomben. High Cost ($19) charged through late to beat Sister Kitty Mac ($51) by a head with a long head The Wild One ($2.10) in the Membership@BRC Handicap (1110m). Sheree… Read More »
Talented filly Lady Banff was the cheapest buy among trainer Matt Dunn’s yearlings this year but she could turn out to be one of his best. Lady Banff ($2.80) jumped straight to the lead and was too good in beating Mary Valley ($3.70) by a length with 2-3/4 lengths to… Read More »
Irish mare True Self missed out on a Melbourne Cup start but is a short-priced favourite to claim a consolation in the Group Three Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Flemington. The Willie Mullins-trained True Self went close to chasing down subsequent Melbourne Cup runner-up Prince Of Arran in the Group Three… Read More »
During his days as a sports and racing journalist Brian Burke often wrote stories about battlers making good but he never thought he would be the subject of one. Burke bred and part-owns Soxagon who is aiming for his third straight win in a 1600m-race at Doomben on Saturday. Soxagon… Read More »
Co-trainer Ben Hayes cannot split So Si Bon and Fifty Stars as the stable’s best chances of ending the Melbourne Cup carnival with a Group One win. The pair will be one half of a quartet of Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) runners for Lindsay Park on Saturday, along with Caulfield Stakes… Read More »
Hartnell may be attracting most of the Godolphin attention ahead of his final race but his trainer is also looking forward to Knickpoint racing at Flemington. Unbeaten in two starts on the NSW provincial circuit, Knickpoint runs for the first time at stakes level on Saturday in the Springtime Stakes…. Read More »
Star jockey Kerrin McEvoy only needs to cast his mind back to April to gain confidence about Japanese horse Kluger’s ability to run well in the Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington. McEvoy rides Kluger in a race for the first time in Saturday’s weight-for-age Group One $2 million Mackinnon Stakes (2000m)… Read More »
Effects from the bushfires ravaging the NSW mid-north coast have forced racing officials to postpone the final four races at Kempsey. The decision to abandon the back-end of Friday’s meeting, including the $40,000 Kempsey Cup (1450m), was made because of the amount of smoke and ash in the air. Officials… Read More »
As retirement looms for Stephen Baster his final rides have a personal connection. Baster has two rides to finish the Melbourne Cup carnival on Saturday while his final meeting comes the following week at Sandown. He rides Boxachocolates for Stephen Brown in Saturday’s Melbourne Cup Week Radio Trophy while his… Read More »
Lindsay Park has made a great start to the juvenile season and it will get even better if Itzhot can upset the locals in the $1 million Golden Gift at Rosehill. Training partners David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig have had a Melbourne Cup carnival to remember with their… Read More »
MACKINNON STAKES * $2 million Group One, 2000m, weight-for-age * Run as race eight at Flemington on Saturday, November 9, 4.55pm AEDT HISTORY * The 2000m-race was formerly held on Victoria Derby Day and used as a Melbourne Cup lead-in * The Victoria Racing Club decided its importance as a… Read More »
VRC SPRINT CLASSIC * $1 million Group One, 1200m, weight-for-age sprint race * Run as race five at Flemington on Saturday, November 9, 2.50pm (AEDT) HISTORY * First run in 1960 as the Craven ‘A’ Stakes and won by Karina with numerous changes to the race name since * A… Read More »
Co-trainer Simon Zahra hopes Zoutori will not strike similar conditions to Derby Day when the sprinter faces his first Group One test in the Darley Sprint Classic. Zoutori was favourite in last Saturday’s Group Two Linlithgow Stakes (1200m) at Flemington which was run on a soft track and the gelding… Read More »
The most popular horse Godolphin has imported to Australia will fittingly make his final racetrack appearance at Group One level. Hartnell bows out in the Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday after a career that has taken in the country’s best races. Among all the high quality horses at… Read More »
Matt Smith continues to make a habit of winning races with imported horses, a trend he is keen to build on with latest arrival Artarmon. The Sydney trainer has had a superb spring with two Group One victories in Melbourne courtesy of the Japanese-bred Fierce Impact. It followed a prosperous… Read More »
Star sprinter Santa Ana Lane gets the chance to cap a successful Melbourne spring carnival for the Anthony Freedman stable when he attempts to defend the Darley Sprint Classic at Flemington. Santa Ana Lane goes into Saturday’s $2 million weight-for-age VRC Sprint Classic off a last-start second in the $14… Read More »
Premier Rockhampton trainer Tom Button gets the chance to celebrate his move to Caloundra with The Silver Lady at Doomben. The Silver Lady was a strong winner in a Sunshine Coast two-year-old race a fortnight ago after having no luck at her first start when unplaced at Eagle Farm. The… Read More »
Australia’s favourite English horse, Melbourne Cup runner-up Prince Of Arran, will extend his world travels to include the Japan Cup. Trainer Charlie Fellowes has confirmed the dual Melbourne Cup placegetter will have his next start in Tokyo on November 24 with the Hong Kong Vase at the International meeting in… Read More »
Three years ago, South African jockey Keagan Latham was on the verge of walking away from racing. Living in England and struggling for opportunities, he had lost faith in himself and was at a major crossroads in life. A product of the famous jockey academy in Durban that has produced… Read More »
Chapter and Verse will be ridden closer to the pace when he resumes at Doomben after drawing a single digit barrier for the first time in months in the Listed Keith Noud Quality. The Keith Noud, named after the legendary race caller and journalist, is the traditional opening to the… Read More »
