The presence of some of the country’s best weight-for-age sprinters in Sydney and Melbourne has prompted a belated change of plans for Deploy who has been sent north in search of a confidence-boosting win. The only option for the seven-year-old at Randwick on Saturday was the Premiere Stakes (1200m) which… Read More »
Crystal Ocean has been bought by Coolmore and will stand under its National Hunt banner at The Beeches Stud. The five-year-old suffered a career-ending injury last month, bowing out with an official rating of 127 after a succession of fine performances. He won the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal… Read More »
Enable has barrier nine of 12 as she bids for an historic third victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The John Gosden-trained mare became the eighth dual winner of Europe’s premier middle-distance contest last season, and was kept in training as a five-year-old with the chief aim to… Read More »
As the right-hand man to Gai Waterhouse for many years, Mark Newnham learned a thing or two about preparing two-year-olds from the six-time Golden Slipper-winning trainer. It is hardly surprising then that Newnham, now a successful trainer in his own right, will saddle up two runners in the first juvenile… Read More »
Supernova is out of the Metropolitan Handicap with co-trainer Michael Hawkes confirming the horse will instead chase a Melbourne Cup berth via the Bart Cummings at Flemington. The winner of Saturday’s Bart Cummings (2520m) is exempt from a Melbourne Cup ballot and Hawkes says the Flemington race has always been… Read More »
Enticing Star has been retired with trainer Chris Waller’s slot in the $14 million Everest now vacant, opening the way for Nature Strip to get a start. One of two mares sent to Waller from leviathan West Australian owner Bob Peters, Enticing Star ran below par in Saturday’s Golden Pendant…. Read More »
What began as a job for extra cash during a gap year has turned into something quite extraordinary for Jess Taylor as she prepares for two Group One rides on Sydney’s most significant race day of the spring. It will not be the 28-year-old’s first experience in the Group One… Read More »
Bart Cummings famously declared patience the cheapest thing in racing and Team Hawkes has abided by the same theory with Epsom Handicap candidate Rock. Rock showed above average ability from the outset but was immature so the family training partners adopted a long-term view and took their time. “We’ve had… Read More »
Jockey Anthony Darmanin is confident Mystic Journey can erase any distance doubts heading towards the $5 million Cox Plate when she returns to Flemington for the Group One Turnbull Stakes. The Adam Trinder-trained Mystic Journey was beaten for the first time in 12 months when West Australian gelding Gatting caused… Read More »
EPSOM HANDICAP $1 million 1600m handicap HISTORY * First Epsom Handicap event in 1863 won by Dundee * Named after famous Epsom Downs racecourse in the South of England where Epsom Derby has been run since 1780 * The race has been run at 1600m since 1885 – following a… Read More »
Reigning Caulfield Cup winner Best Solution has been retired from racing with stud plans for the Godolphin-owned horse yet to be announced. Trained by Saeed bin Suroor, Best Solution won nine races including three at Group One level. After back-to-back Group One victories in Germany last year, Best Solution travelled… Read More »
Former Singapore champion Debt Agent makes his Australian debut for new trainer Jim Conlan at Flemington. Racing as Debt Collector in Singapore for expatriate Australian trainer Cliff Brown, the gelding’s career was curtailed by respiratory issues after posting 12 wins from 24 starts, including five at Group One level. Horse… Read More »
Just over a year after Attention Run suffered such severe travel sickness it was feared she would never race in Australia, the German import will line up as a live chance in one of Sydney’s most prestigious Group One staying races. The Kris Lees-trained five-year-old is $19 for Saturday’s Metropolitan… Read More »
Trainer Levi Kavanagh is banking on fitness and Kentucky Breeze’s ability to run a strong 2000 metres earning the gelding a start in the Caulfield Cup. Kentucky Breeze runs in Saturday’s Group One Turnbull Stakes at Flemington with the winner gaining a ballot exemption to the 2019 Caulfield Cup. The… Read More »
They have combined to win two of the past seven Edward Manifold Stakes at Flemington and trainer Phillip Stokes and jockey Luke Nolen will again team up in the Group Two race at Flemington, this time with Really Discreet. Stokes’ and Nolen’s success in the Edward Manifold includes victory in… Read More »
The Australian Turf Club Foundation has announced its second lot of drought funds providing welcome relief for the racing community in NSW. More than $120,000 will be distributed among ATC Foundation racing participants, community organisations and its four Sydney racecourses. A grant of $30,000 to the Tamworth Jockey Club will… Read More »
Trainer Anthony Freedman is set to be two-handed in the two Guineas races on the opening day of the Caulfield Cup carnival. Freedman says Super Seth and Groundswell will contest the Group One Caulfield Guineas with the stable to be represented by Lyre and Southbank in the fillies division, the… Read More »
Defending titleholder Cross Counter headlines 80 first acceptors for this year’s $8 million Melbourne Cup which includes 18 other internationally trained horses. First acceptances for the 3200m Melbourne Cup at Flemington on November 5 closed on Tuesday, with Cross Counter and his Charlie Appleby-trained stablemate Ispolini among the acceptors while… Read More »
A 25 per cent share in leading Caulfield and Melbourne Cups contender Mustajeer is to be auctioned ahead of the Ebor winner’s tilt at the Australian spring features. Inglis will take bids through its Digital Online platform next Tuesday and Wednesday. Australian Bloodstock have bought a controlling interest in Mustajeer… Read More »
Brisbane trainer Bryan Dais dreams of having a Caulfield Cup runner and they can become a reality if Looks Like Elvis wins the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington. Looks Like Elvis is the best horse Dais has prepared and will be his first Group One runner when he contests Saturday’s 2000m… Read More »
