Zac Spain is appealing the severity of a suspension incurred at Benalla for careless riding in an incident in which he fell from his mount in the home straight. Spain was outed for 12 meetings last Friday after his ride aboard St Paul’s Bay, who clipped heels near the 100m… Read More »
A sparkling trial has indicated veteran mare Volkoff has lost none of her zest for racing as her swan song looms large. Volkoff is a rising eight-year-old but she has made the most of an extended extra year of racing. After winning the races in Perth, including two stakes events,… Read More »
For the first time in its long history, there could be two Weetwood Handicaps run in the same year with Toowoomba allocated a September Saturday stand-alone. The Weetwood, inaugurated 120 years ago, has traditionally been run in late March or early April to fit in with the Toowoomba show. The… Read More »
A colt by champion sire Snitzel out of the speedy Ichihara heads the leader board at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale in Sydney, fetching $2,8 million on the first day. He was consigned by Corumbene Stud which owns his three-quarter brother Menari and bought by James Harron Bloodstock. His price… Read More »
Singapore-based Glen Boss is making another hit-and-run visit on The Championships in Sydney looking to add to his Group One haul. Boss won last Saturday’s Doncaster Mile on the Hawkes Racing-trained Brutal and just missed making it a feature race double for the weekend when second on Countofmontechristo in the… Read More »
Trainer Kris Lees has given Frankely Awesome the green light to challenge Verry Elleegant again with Hugh Bowman to ride the filly in the Australian Oaks. Lees had intended to run Frankely Awesome against the colts and geldings in last Saturday’s Australian Derby, seven days after she finished second to… Read More »
As always before a big race, one of Winx’s owners is on hand to draw her barrier. For the last time on Tuesday that task fell to Peter Tighe ahead of Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick. Of nine barriers, Tighe pulled out No.9, not that it really matters to… Read More »
One of a trio of sprinters Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien brought to Australia last spring is set to have his first start for Warrnambool-based Matthew Williams. Intelligence Cross had three starts in Melbourne during the spring, twice at Group One level, finishing close to the tail of the field on… Read More »
Bidding has been brisk at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale with five lots fetching more than $1 million in the first hours of the auction. The highest so far is a Snitzel-Ichihara colt bought by James Harron Bloodstock for $2.8 million while a Fastnet Rock colt out of Legally Bay… Read More »
Two of Queensland’s best short course sprinters, Tarzan and Whypeeo, are headed for a clash to decide which is unofficially the fastest horse in the state after trialling well at the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast respectively. The $105,000 Bat Out Of Hell (900m), which carries a Harley Davidson motor… Read More »
Melbourne’s wet weather has trainer Logan McGill a little concerned ahead of speedster Written Choice’s return at Sandown. While country areas of Victoria desperately need rain, McGill does not want to see any more ahead of Wednesday’s Walk For Phil Handicap (1000m). The Sandown circuit is rated in the soft… Read More »
Melbourne trainer Lloyd Kennewell and Spendthrift Farm have joined forces to buy the first million dollar lot at the Easter Yearling Sale in Sydney. They paid $1.7 million at the first session on Tuesday for the colt by Japanese stallion Deep Impact out of Grito, offered by Arrowfield Stud. Grito… Read More »
English visitor Dubhe, the Sydney Cup favourite, has drawn barrier four in the Sydney Cup at Randwick. His Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby won the Sydney Cup in 2017 with Polarisation and claimed last year’s Melbourne Cup with Cross Counter. Saturday’s Cup over 3200m has attracted a full field of 20… Read More »
Winx will start from the outside barrier in the nine-horse field for her final race in the Group One Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick. Japanese visitor Kluger drew the inside alley as he backs up in Saturday’s 2000m-race, a week after his fourth in the Doncaster Mile. He’s Eminent, trained… Read More »
Winx will have a maximum of eight rivals in her final race, the Group One Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick. The champion is the overwhelming favourite to win her 33rd consecutive race on Saturday and take her Group One tally to 25. Among Winx’s competition is Happy Clapper who finished… Read More »
Star filly Sunlight will get another chance to land her fourth Group One win of the season, with trainer Tony McEvoy confirming his intention to run the three-year-old in next month’s TAB Classic in Adelaide. Sunlight won the Coolmore Stud Stakes for three-year-olds at Flemington last spring while her autumn… Read More »
Trainer Tony McEvoy has South Australian Derby ambitions for last-start winner Secret Blaze who will continue on a path towards that Group One assignment when he contests the Galilee Series Final at Caulfield. Saturday’s 2400m-race for three-year-olds is one of two Listed races on the Caulfield program along with the… Read More »
Mike Moroney is still unsure how many runners he will saddle up for the Group One Sydney Cup, with final acceptances to determine whether Top Of The Range gets his chance alongside stablemates Sound and Vengeur Masque in the $2 million race. “We will be paying up with all three…. Read More »
The countdown to Winx’s last start is on in earnest with the mare the centre of attention in the streets and the corridors of power. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the mare epitomises the Australian spirit of having a go while the public has the chance to see her likeness… Read More »
Hay List’s younger half-sister Miss Siska has been taken to Sydney from Victoria in the hope she can make the field for the Group One Coolmore Legacy Stakes at Randwick. Runner-up in the Group Two Matriarch Stakes (2000m) for mares at Flemington at the end of her spring campaign when… Read More »
