Pedigree analyst-turned-taxi driver Lance Horan has received a boost as he battles illness, with O’Lordy graduating from the Highway Handicap series with her second victory at Rosehill. Goulburn trainer Danny Williams recorded his eighth win in Saturday’s race for country-trained horses and happily shared the kudos with the New Zealand-born… Read More »
Jockey Dean Yendall is starting to build an enviable record aboard three-year-old fillies. Yendall had never ridden a Group One winner until guiding filly Yankee Rose to success in last year’s Spring Champion Stakes in Sydney. He went on to win on another filly I Am A Star in last… Read More »
New Zealand-trained stayer Jon Snow has been ruled out of the Melbourne Cup following a veterinary examination. Racing Victoria chief steward Terry Bailey says the ATC Australian Derby winner is sore in the left foreleg. Jon Snow has battled injury since finishing ninth in last month’s Caulfield Cup. On a… Read More »
My Giuliano has surprised even his connections by running a course record over 2040m at Doomben. The tough stayer ($6.50) came from the tail of the field to beat Endless Days ($8.50) by a long neck with Monteux ($6.50) third in Saturday’s Lite ‘N’ Easy Hcp. The victory continues a… Read More »
Trainer Aaron Purcell has been thrown into the Australian racing spotlight as an unlikely star of this year’s Melbourne spring carnival, with Merchant Navy giving him his second Group One win. The elite colt ($19) stormed home in Saturday’s $1 million Coolmore Stud Stakes on the straight 1200m course at… Read More »
Gai Waterhouse will have a runner she believes can stem the European tide in the Melbourne Cup with Cismontane sealing his place with victory in the Lexus Stakes at Flemington. Saturday’s Lexus over 2500 metres, three days before the Cup, is the last chance to earn a guaranteed berth and… Read More »
Lyuba has graduated to stakes company with a narrow Derby day victory at Flemington. The $2000 yearling purchase took her prize money past the $400,000 mark with Saturday’s Group Three Skip Sprint (1100m) win. Ridden by Damian Lane, Lyuba ($7) scored a short-half-head win over Savanna Amour ($12) with Concealer… Read More »
John Sargent has another Oaks in his sights after Luvaluva gave the trainer his third Wakeful Stakes win in five years at Flemington. Sargent won the 2013 Group Two Wakeful (2000m) with Kirramosa, five days before that filly won the VRC Oaks (2500m). He added another Wakeful a year later… Read More »
The decision not to run Levendi in the Victoria Derby has paid dividends with the colt winning the Carbine Club Stakes at Flemington. Trainer Peter Gelagotis said he’ had run out of time to prepare the three-year-old for the Derby and switched his attention to Saturday’s Group Three race. Levendi… Read More »
Forever Unbridled has caused an upset with a half-length win in the Grade One Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar. Ridden by John Velazquez, Forever Unbridled held off Abel Tasman with the favourite Elate fourth in the eight-horse field in the feature race on the first day of the two-day… Read More »
Three stables housing horses in Victoria have been quarantined after confirmation of a case of strangles. Racing Victoria stewards said the confirmed case was in a horse at Glenfern Park, George Osborne’s pre-training facility at Romsey north of Melbourne where 12 racehorses and a pony are currently located. George Osborne… Read More »
Jockey James McDonald has lost his latest appeal against an 18-month ban imposed by Racing NSW stewards for betting on a horse he rode. McDonald’s third attempt to appeal the severity of the suspension failed in the Supreme Court of NSW. The former Godolphin jockey was suspended after placing a… Read More »
The Coolmore Stud Stakes is a $1 million race but trainer James Cummings is aware it is worth even more for the future of the three colts he will start in the race if one is successful. Cummings is in his first spring carnival as the head trainer of Sheikh… Read More »
Victoria Derby day at Flemington could be career-defining for Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young who will have at least three chances in the Classic at Flemington. Busuttin won the 2011 Group One Victoria Derby with Sangster and the co-trainers then snared the 2016 Australian Derby in Sydney with Tavago. Both… Read More »
After a record-equalling third Cox Plate win and another undefeated spring, champion Winx has earned a break. Winx will not be seen again this spring with her owners and trainer Chris Waller opting to send her for a spell with the Sydney autumn carnival and Royal Ascot on the horizon…. Read More »
Foxplay will be without her best mate as she attempts to add another Group One victory to her record. The mare is stabled next to champion Winx at trainer Chris Waller’s Rosehill stable and occupies the same position when the two are in Melbourne. She tagged along with Winx to… Read More »
Bjorn Baker will pit stablemates Collateral and Embley against each other at Rosehill with the trainer mounting a case for both. Collateral was denied a first-up win over 1400 metres by a nose when pipped by Improvement. He faces a potentially tricky step up in distance to 1800m in the… Read More »
The winner of Saturday’s Lexus Stakes (2500m) is guaranteed a start in the Melbourne Cup if it is among the nominations. Brew in 2000 and Shocking in 2009 are the only horses in the past 30 years to complete the double. Until 2005, both first and second placegetters in the… Read More »
Eight of the 10 runners in the Lexus Stakes will be staking a claim for automatic inclusion in the Melbourne Cup. The winner of Saturday’s 2500m-Group Three race is guaranteed a start with Ecuador and Havana Cooler the only two Lexus runners not among the Melbourne Cup entries at the… Read More »
Danny Williams will also breathe easy if Tiger By The Tale responds to his latest throat operation by winning a Highway Handicap at his 15th attempt at Rosehill. The six-year-old returns to racing on Saturday after undergoing a second procedure to clear his airway. Tiger By The Tale ran in… Read More »
