It will be hard to find a jockey with more incentive to ride a winner at Rosehill than Glyn Schofield. Schofield is chasing back-to-back Inglis Classic wins on Saturday when he partners the Melbourne colt Direct Charge. His booking comes at the expense of leading Victorian jockey Steven Arnold who… Read More »
Trainer Mark Loft received a pleasant surprise when the bookies offered him $26 about his horse King’s A Star when it won the Latrobe Cup at Traralgon last month. And he’s similarly impressed by the generous price on offer in Saturday’s Piping Lane Handicap (2000m) at Flemington. “I couldn’t believe… Read More »
Matamata trainer Ken Kelso hopes the Telegraph Handicap at Trentham will be the springboard to a Sydney campaign in autumn for his class mare Xanadu. The Group One 1200m sprint will be the first race for the Elusive City four-year-old since October, when she finished fourth in the Hastings Spring… Read More »
New Zealand galloper Ocean Park is set to make his first public appearance at the start of an ambitious international campaign in Auckland on the day of New Zealand’s richest race. Ocean Park, winner of the Cox Plate, will have an exhibition gallop between races at Ellerslie on January 27,… Read More »
It’s not surprising James Lyons has found his niche in racing given a rich family heritage. Lyons is the grandson of riding legend Billy Cook, who won two Melbourne Cups aboard Skipton and Rainbird and was buried wearing the racing silks of Carioca, who won a Sydney Cup in 1953…. Read More »
Taunton’s richest ever meeting on Saturday could be the best chance of any turf racing going ahead over the next few days. Temperatures in Somerset are fairly tropical compared to most of the rest of the country, but even they are not completely safe, with a band of either snow… Read More »
Tom Scudamore has three possible mounts in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March. David Pipe’s stable jockey could ride Grands Crus for his boss or one of David Bridgwater’s two entries – last year’s Gold Cup runner-up The Giant Bolster and impressive Ascot winner Wyck Hill. “The Gold Cup entries… Read More »
Black Caviar’s fitness levels will be put to the test in a raceday gallop at Caulfield on February 2. Trainer Peter Moody and co-owner Neil Werrett have dismissed a report the unbeaten champion is many kilograms overweight ahead of her return in the Lightning Stakes at Flemington which has been… Read More »
Victoria Derby winner Fiveandahalfstar will do his early autumn racing in Melbourne with the Australian Cup a likely target. The gelding made his first public appearance since the Derby at Thursday’s Randwick barrier trials and pleased trainer Anthony Cummings with his fourth in a 740m heat. “He wasn’t out to… Read More »
he Group One Orr Stakes is among the options for the return of Cox Plate runner-up All Too Hard. Trainer John Hawkes said the three-year-old would have a jump-out in the coming weeks ahead of his resumption in Melbourne. The Listed Manfred Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 2 and… Read More »
A quest to track down the first foal of a mare he trained has led Harold Norman on a surprising journey to Saturday’s Inglis Classic. The Gold Coast-based Norman arrived in Sydney on Wednesday with his $22,000 yearling buy Cannyzing. Norman’s path to the Classic began several years ago with… Read More »
A filly at the start of her career and an accomplished stayer with a future over the jumps will book-end Colin and Cindy Alderson’s Flemington team on Saturday. The father-daughter training partnership is hoping race experience will work to the advantage of two-year-old Devil Woman when she chases her first… Read More »
It’s the middle of summer but Sunshine Coast trainer Len Treloar is already thinking of winter. Not for relief from the scorching temperatures but to plan a carnival campaign for his talented three-year-old Indubious beyond Saturday’s Channel Seven Handicap (1200m) at Eagle Farm. “This race will give us an indication… Read More »
Eagle Farm trainer Jeff Caught has been fined $10,000 following a positive swab inquiry. Caught pleaded guilty to administering the banned substance ethacrynic acid to Soft Angel the day before the mare won at Ipswich on November 9. A post-race urine sample taken from Soft Angel tested positive to the… Read More »
Trainer Adam Duggan is confident Frozen Rope has the hallmarks of a quality stayer and he hopes to test his theory this campaign. The five-year-old’s biggest asset is his turn of foot and he has used it to establish an almost 50 per cent winning strike rate, and a few… Read More »
Britain’s freezing weather looks set to take its toll on important jumps races this weekend, affecting the preparations of several stars heading to the Cheltenham Festival in March. Frost has been posing a problem after the prolonged wet spell and officials at Ascot, Haydock and Taunton are battling to keep… Read More »
Titleholder Rock On Ruby is one of four Champion Hurdle winners entered for this year’s race at Cheltenham on March 12. Hurricane Fly, successful in 2011, Binocular (2010) and Punjabi (2009) are the other past champions who could try to regain their crown. Last season it was Rock On Ruby’s… Read More »
Damian Browne’s narrow defeat on Buakaw at Doomben on Wednesday had a costly sequel in the stewards’ room. Stewards fined Browne $1000 for failing to ride Buakaw out to the finish of the Ambassador Travel Maiden Handicap when the gelding was beaten a head by Pintuck. Browne, who won last… Read More »
It was a frustrating afternoon for punters at Wyong on Wednesday but no so for Christian Reith who took riding honours with a treble. Reith notched his three wins in successive races aboard the Kris Lees-trained Gold Epona ($4), the Chris Waller-trained Forever Crazy ($4.40) and Tunes ($6) for Darley… Read More »
Trainer Anthony Freedman is considering a return assault on New Zealand’s richest race with the promising two-year-old Minaj. Freedman got a good idea of what it takes to win the $NZ1 million Karaka Million when he claimed it as his first attempt with Ockham’s Razor last year. And he believes… Read More »
