A strong European representation is expected for the opening day of the Caulfield Cup carnival. Horses trained by Aidan O’Brien, Charlie Appleby, Saeed bin Suroor and Charlie Fellowes have been entered across five races on Saturday’s 10-race program. O’Brien, who will be represented by U S Navy Flag in The… Read More »
Gai Waterhouse will join her father TJ Smith in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, becoming the fifth racehorse trainer to be inducted. Now a household name, Waterhouse fought a protracted battle to gain a licence after being denied by the then governing body, the Australian Jockey Club, because her… Read More »
Queensland’s thoroughbred racing industry is threatening to derail Melbourne Cup day celebrations unless they get more prize money from the state’s new gambling tax. Racing Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has been ordered into crisis talks with industry chiefs on Tuesday in a bid to head off strikeson Cox Plate day and… Read More »
Waikato Stud has bought dual New Zealand Horse of the Year Bonneval and she will be served this season by I Am Invincible. Bonneval’s retirement was confirmed last week following her failure in her attempted defence of the Group One Underwood Stakes at Caulfield. Mark Chittick of the famous New… Read More »
Multiple Group One-winning jockey Damian Browne has been suspended at the Sunshine Coast as he awaits a hearing on a separate ban. Browne has been outed for his winning ride on Take Time at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday after pleading guilty to careless riding. He will be out from… Read More »
Enable has repelled the late charge of Sea Of Class to defend her crown in thrilling finish to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp. The John Gosden-trained Enable was a brilliant winner of Europe’s premier middle-distance contest last season and and was the dominant favourite to become the… Read More »
Queensland stewards have indicated they will take a tougher line with horses returning positive swabs to arsenic. Stewards around Australia have warned trainers about arsenic products in wood shavings and fence posts after they were linked to positive swabs. In Queensland there have been about a dozen cases where horses… Read More »
Trainer Archie Alexander is looking forward to the challenge of chasing his first Group One victory with Mirette in the Thousand Guineas at Caulfield. The Alexander team has had an interrupted spring after his Ballarat stable was placed in quarantine following a strangles outbreak in late August. Alexander was forced… Read More »
Having already been ruled out of the $13 million Everest, Invincible Star and English are battling to make the consolation, the Sydney Stakes. The two Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained mares are both still showing signs of lameness after their slot holders and owners agreed they were not up to… Read More »
After seeing Oohood break through for a satisfying Group One win in the Flight Stakes, trainer Tony McEvoy has enough confidence in the filly to take on the colts and geldings in the $2 million Caulfield Guineas. The $500,000 Group One Thousand Guineas for fillies is on the same program… Read More »
New Zealand mare Savvy Coup will be set for a battle with Winx in the Cox Plate as her trainer Michael Pitman faces a personal challenge. Two days after Savvy Coup’s Group One win in the Livamol Classic at Hastings on Saturday, Pitman will undergo surgery for bowel cancer. The… Read More »
The clubs that will be most affected by a proposed strike in Queensland racing have come out in support of a protest against government treatment of the racing industry. The Brisbane Racing Club and Gold Coast Turf Club say while the protest will impact on them they have to look… Read More »
Lindsay Park will keep Long Leaf to sprinting during the spring, deciding to bypass the Group One Caulfield Guineas. Senior trainer David Hayes says the colt will instead be freshened for the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington on November 3 before being aimed at Guineas races in the… Read More »
The new Eagle Farm track surface could be ready to have its first test with horses galloping on it within weeks. Tentative plans have also been made for Group One racing at Eagle Farm next winter with the races to be spaced over a fortnight rather than back-to-back. Eagle Farm… Read More »
Glyn Schofield’s win on Avilius in The Bart Cummings at Flemington has come at a cost with the jockey suspended for 10 meetings for careless riding in the Group Three race. Schofield pleaded guilty to the charge for shifting in late on Avilius during Saturday’s staying race, resulting in Northwest… Read More »
An improved Invincibella has lived up to the expectations of trainer Chris Waller racing away to a comfortable stakes race win at Flemington. Heavily backed to run the $3.20 favourite, Invincibella took out Saturday’s Group Two Blazer Stakes in emphatic fashion. The victory made amends for a luckless performance at… Read More »
Talented filly Amphitrite has taken the step to stakes racing in her stride, leading in a Darren Weir stable trifecta in the Edward Manifold Stakes at Flemington. With Craig Williams aboard, Amphitrite was able to get into the three-wide running line with cover in Saturday’s 1600m Group Two race for… Read More »
Ace High will need a new rider in the Caulfield Cup with Tye Angland to miss the race through suspension. Angland was outed at Randwick for his ride on runner-up Aramayo in Saturday’s Group One Spring Champion Stakes in which he shifted out at the 300m, inconveniencing two other runners…. Read More »
After a couple of near misses in Group company, I Am Serious has appreciated the absence of Avilius to claim the Angst Stakes at Randwick. The Chris Waller-trained five-year-old’s second and third behind Godolphin’s Avilious in the Group Three Premier’s Cup and Kingston Town Stakes stood her in good stead… Read More »
Avilius has won a start in the Melbourne Cup after surviving a protest to claim The Bart Cummings at Flemington. Success in Saturday’s 2500m handicap gave the winner a ballot exemption into the $7 million Melbourne Cup 2018 on November 6. A protest was lodged by Michael Walker, rider of… Read More »
