Sometime’s Tarka’s size or lack of it can put him at a disadvantage but his trainer David Payne believes it should help him on a heavy track at Randwick. Tarka will run in Saturday’s Group One Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) as one of the favoured runners trying to get the… Read More »
Queensland’s racing industry is threatening to strike on Melbourne Cup Day in protest at the state government’s new gambling tax. The point-of-consumption tax was introduced on Monday and imposes a levy on all bets placed in Queensland. It is meant to prevent interstate and overseas companies avoiding paying tax on… Read More »
As rain continued in Sydney, trainer Cameron Crockett says a heavy track won’t fuss Velaro in Saturday’s Highway Handicap at Randwick. The Mudgee trainer said the four-year-old was strong-minded and mentally wouldn’t shy away from performing his best whatever the conditions. “He’s a very bold horse and I don’t think… Read More »
Trainer Liam Birchley can take a major step in what what has become an annual pursuit when Courseshewill runs at Doomben. Courseshewill is the only horse with raceday experience to be contesting Saturday’s two-year-old fillies Plate over 1000m. Courseshewill earned $30,500 when she won the Pat O’Shea Memorial Plate at… Read More »
Strike action in the Queensland racing industry is nothing new and dates back nearly 50 years. But the mooted two day strikes over the distribution of the Point Of Consumption tax are the first time the entire industry will be united. The first strike was in August 1970 when jockeys… Read More »
David Hayes fears the in-form Avilius in The Bart Cummings at Flemington but is confident he has Jaameh in the right shape for his attempt to win his way into the Melbourne Cup. Saturday’s Group Three Bart Cummings (2500m) doubles as a qualifying race for next month’s Melbourne Cup, with… Read More »
Key players in the Queensland racing industry are planning to strike on two major race days in protest at the lack of state government support. The action has been brought on by industry fury at the new Point of Consumption tax distribution. The state government introduced the tax on Monday… Read More »
Steve Tregea has had his best start to a season but the Darling Downs trainer gets a chance to put aside a major frustration at Doomben. Tregea, who runs a breeding-training business at Windemere Stud, has had six winners and nine minor placegetters from just 25 runners this season. He… Read More »
Dual New Zealand Horse of the Year Bonneval has run her last race and will be sold as a broodmare. Trained by Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman to win three Group One races, Bonneval has been unplaced in two starts this campaign and her retirement was flagged after her failure… Read More »
Key players in the Queensland racing industry are reportedly threatening to strike on two days in protest at the new Point of Consumption tax distribution. The state government introduced the tax on Monday and announced money collected would be allocated to infrastructure, clearing a debt and the reimbursement to the… Read More »
Cracksman has been ruled out of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and will instead defend the Champion Stakes at Ascot at what will be his final start. The John Gosden-trained colt was a brilliant winner of last season’s Champion Stakes but has failed to reproduce that level of form… Read More »
Champion Winx has added to her unbeaten streak claiming a third straight Australian Racehorse of the Year title in a unanimous verdict. Winx joins unbeaten champion Black Caviar and dual Cox Plate winner Sunline as the only three-time winners of the award. The world’s highest-rated thoroughbred, who will on Saturday… Read More »
Reflecting on the form of the J J Atkins Stakes is encouraging for Brisbane trainer Steve O’Dea who will saddle Sesar in the Roman Consul Stakes at Randwick. The colt finished fourth in the Group One Atkins (1600m) at Doomben in June with the race won by The Autumn Sun… Read More »
Injury has cost sparingly raced Kopi Luwak his place in the $1.3 million Kosciuszko. Kopi Luwak was a slot runner for The Kosciuszko, a support race for country horses to the $13 million Everest at Randwick on Saturday week. A promising but problem-plagued sprinter for Goulburn trainer Danny Williams, Kopi… Read More »
If Truly Discreet can win the Group Two Blazer Stakes at Flemington, the result will revive fond memories for trainer Dan O’Sullivan. At the corresponding meeting in 2000, O’Sullivan prepared So Gorgeous to win the Manifold Stakes, completing a string of black-type races that also included the Quezette Stakes, the… Read More »
Osborne Bulls has been scratched from the Gilgai Stakes but his younger half-brother Mercury can make an immediate impression at Flemington in Melbourne’s first juvenile race of the season. Mercury is out of the mare Jerezana and will be the first of stallion Brazen Beau’s progeny to race. Brazen Beau… Read More »
TURNBULL STAKES Group One, 2000m, $500,000, set-weights & penalties, four-year-olds upwards HISTORY * First run as the Royal Park Stakes in 1865 and won by The Sign * Renamed multiple times, earning its current name in 1948 after then-VRC chairman Richard Turnbull * Became a 2000m race in 1972, and… Read More »
Archie Alexander has rolled the dice in his bid to secure a Melbourne Cup start for Wheal Leisure. The Ballarat-trained mare is racing for a ballot exemption into November’s $7 million Melbourne Cup in the Bart Cummings at Flemington on Saturday. “It’s going to be very hard and it’s the… Read More »
Dealmaker has had an interrupted preparation but his trainer Chris Waller remains hopeful the talented colt can emulate his sire in the Group One Spring Champion Stakes. The colt is a son of Dundeel, who raced in Australia as It’s A Dundeel and won the 2012 Spring Champion Stakes and… Read More »
Trainer Bryan Guy believes apprentice Clayton Gallagher’s 3kg claim is the key to back-to-back wins for veteran mare Volkoff at Doomben. Guy got plenty of kudos after he and his co-trainer son Dan coaxed a first Queensland win out of the former Perth mare at the Sunshine Coast two weeks… Read More »
