Racing Queensland is considering changes the qualifying system for various sprint and staying race series finals. The move follows recent examples when large numbers of horses in series finals have not run in a qualifying race. A suggestion is it would be mandatory for horses to have competed in a… Read More »
Reigning Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling and runner-up Johannes Vermeer are unlikely to line up in Australia’s most famous race this year. Lloyd Williams won a record sixth Melbourne Cup as an owner last November when the Joseph O’Brien-trained Rekindling defeated the Aidan O’Brien-trained Johannes Vermeer at Flemington. Both Rekindling and… Read More »
The Aquis organisation has announced a $1 million bonus scheme aimed at boosting the stud’s first season sire The Mission and the Queensland breeding industry. It is the first time an individual sire in Queensland will carry a bonus scheme and the first $1 million bonus scheme for a stud… Read More »
New Zealand jumper Monarch Chimes will be be prepared for a return to Victoria for the Australian Hurdle. The winner of a 3200m-steeplechase at Pakenham in April, Monarch Chimes was placed in the Brierly Steeple and fourth in the Grand Annual during the Warrnambool May carnival. He has since run… Read More »
Toowoomba trainer Steve Tregea is tempted to take his best horses Bergerac and Niccanova to Rockhampton for the carnival. The two were scratched from the Sunshine Cost on Saturday when the track was rated a heavy eight. Tregea said he would probably have run both had the track been a… Read More »
David Payne will set emerging stayer Toulouse on a path to emulate his elder stablemate Ace High, winner of the Spring Champion Stakes and Victoria Derby. Toulouse claimed his second win of the winter at Rosehill on Saturday when he dead-heated with Dio D’Oro in the two-year-old handicap. He will… Read More »
Trainer Dan McCarthy is keen to stretch Ashlor out to 1400 metres with a view to giving the talented sprinter a crack at Melbourne’s first Group One race of the upcoming season. Ashlor lumped 63kg to a convincing win in a 1200m benchmark-84 race at Caulfield on Saturday to register… Read More »
Allan Reardon has finished as Queensland’s chief steward but will be looking to continue as part of the industry. Reardon had been head steward with the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission since it started three years ago after holding a similar position with Racing Queensland. His contract finished on Saturday at… Read More »
Less than three years after coming to Victoria from Alice Springs, teenage apprentice Ethan Brown finds himself challenging for the Melbourne jockeys’ premiership. Brown, 19, landed his 45th metropolitan winner for the season at Caulfield on Saturday to keep in touch with the leader Craig Williams. A six-time premier rider… Read More »
Trainer Toby Edmonds and jockey Justin Stanley have extra reason to celebrate their seasons with both joining the 100 winners club. Stanley rode a double at Mackay on Saturday to become the 18th jockey in Australia to ride 100 winners in 2017/18. He is third among Queensland riders behind Jeff… Read More »
The Melbourne Cup-winning combination of trainer Joseph O’Brian and Australian owners Lloyd and Nick Williams has celebrated another major success with Latrobe in the Irish Derby. The winner was ridden by the trainer’s brother Donnacha and fought hard to beat Rostropovich and Saxon Warrior, both prepared by their father Aidan… Read More »
Popular jockey Alannah Fancourt has finished her apprenticeship in style with a winner. Fancourt rode as an apprentice for the last time at the Gold Coast on Saturday and won on Academy Hill for trainer Stephen Lee. On Friday she rode a winner for her boss Tony Gollan when The… Read More »
Withhold has enhanced his Melbourne Cup prospects with an all-the-way win in the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle. Absent since he won the Cesarewitch in impressive fashion in October, the Roger Charlton-trained five-year-old overcame his long absence in the style of a classy stayer. Robert Winston was able to dictate the… Read More »
A huge weight of 63kg has not stopped talented sprinter Ashlor from winning in stylish fashion at Caulfield. The Dan McCarthy-trained four-year-old enjoyed a box-seat run from the inside barrier in Saturday’s Keno Jackpots Handicap (1200m) before jockey Jamie Mott was able to angle into the clear early in the… Read More »
Classy Victorian mare Jamaican Rain took the first step to Group One races during the Melbourne spring when she won the Listed Glasshouse Handicap at Caloundra. Trainer Richard Laming had hoped to run Jamaican Rain in the Group One Tatt’s Tiara last week but she failed to make the field…. Read More »
Wins to stablemates Al Passem and Wenner have made it a day to remember for trainer Ken Keys at Caulfield. After three-year-old Al Passem produced a gutsy display to win the Keno Replay Handicap (1400m), four-year-old Wenner also fought gamely in the straight to narrowly take out the Keno Superplay… Read More »
Multiple Group One-winning trainer Nigel Tiley produced a top performance to get his first Australian win when Megablast won the Listed Caloundra Cup on Saturday. And jockey Damian Browne put a tumultuous week behind him to guide Megablast ($3.60) to a three lengths win over First Crush ($10) with three-quarters… Read More »
Talented mare Rillito has brought up the 50th city win of the season in Melbourne for Craig Williams to extend the jockey’s lead in the premiership. Rillito was sent out the $2.25 favourite in Saturday’s Keno Heads Or Tails Margins Handicap (1200m) at Caulfield and after getting into the clear… Read More »
Promising New Zealand three-year-old The Bostonian showed the decision to stay in Queensland after some early setbacks was the right one when he won his second stakes race for the winter at the Sunshine Coast. Given the run of the race by jockey Michael Cahill, The Bostonian, the $2.60 favourite,… Read More »
A solid pace over a distance short of his best has been the catalyst for Liapari’s return to the winner’s circle in the Civic Stakes at Rosehill. One of four runners for premier Sydney trainer Chris Waller in Saturday’s 1350m Listed race, Liapari was the longest priced of the quartet… Read More »
