A Group One race meeting in France has been abandoned because of a protest by a group representing trainers, owners and breeders. Protesters blocked access from the pre-parade ring at Saint-Cloud on Sunday, eventually forcing officials to call the meeting off after just one race. They were demonstrating against a… Read More »
The first Scottish trainer to have a runner in the Melbourne Cup has arrived in Australia to oversee final preparations for the big race. Iain Jardine was at the Werribee racecourse on Sunday where Nakeeta has just completed quarantine. Jardine arrived in Melbourne on Saturday evening and liked what he… Read More »
Talented Gold Coast three-year-old Freddie Fox Trot is all business on the track but will have to improve his pre-race manners before he is allowed to start again. Freddie Fox Trot made it four wins in a row at Doomben on Saturday when he had his fifth start. But there… Read More »
Kris Lees will look to take Karavali to Flemington for the Matriarch Stakes after her impressive 2000m-win at Randwick at her first try at the distance. The Group Two Matriarch at Flemington on November 11 is also over 2000m and the manner of her win has Lees convinced she can… Read More »
Vega Magic is still on target for the Darley Classic at the Flemington carnival despite the disappointment of his Manikato Stakes run as the $2 favourite. Friday night’s fifth placing in the Group One sprint at Moonee Valley was the first time the gelding had finished out of the placings… Read More »
Lloyd Williams has paid Chris Waller the ultimate compliment following Winx’s record-equalling third Cox Plate win. Ridden by Hugh Bowman, Winx staved off a late challenge from Humidor to win the Cox Plate in record time at Moonee Valley on Saturday. “Leave alone the fact that Hughie handles the big… Read More »
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott are reassessing their spring schedule for English after the mare’s disappointing run in the Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley. The training partnership had planned to enter English in the Group One Darley Classic (1200m) down the Flemington straight on November 11, but it seems likely… Read More »
Trainer Chris Waller will take no chances when it comes to Winx, no matter how intense the interest in the champion mare’s next challenge after her record-equalling third Cox Plate. Waller says Winx has pulled up remarkably well, with his stable staff reporting she is “fantastic” after enjoying an early… Read More »
Victoria Derby plans for Royal Symphony have been shelved with the colt the worse for wear after a torrid run in the Cox Plate. Damien Oliver was outed for improper riding in Saturday’s Cox Plate with stewards saying he rode Happy Clapper inwards and made contact with Royal Symphony early… Read More »
Five-time Melbourne Cup winning owner Lloyd Williams has been inundated with text messages for the ride on Almandin following the suspension of Damien Oliver. Jockeys from Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia are chasing the ride after Oliver was outed on an improper riding charge aboard Happy Clapper in Saturday’s Cox… Read More »
Premier Brisbane jockey Jeff Lloyd is free to ride Houtzen in the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington despite a careless riding suspension. Lloyd pleaded not guilty to the charge at Doomben on Saturday but was handed a 12-meeting ban. His penalty begins after Saturday’s Flemington meeting. Houtzen may… Read More »
Saxon Warrior’s victory in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster has given Aidan O’Brien a unique slice of racing history with the champion trainer setting a record for the most Group One wins in a calendar year. O’Brien notched his 26th Group One win of the year to go one… Read More »
Hugh Bowman (Winx) 1st : “I must admit, the post just couldn’t come quick enough. It just means so much to so many people. Look at the crowd here today, I’ve never witnessed anything like it. The journey this thoroughbred has taken us on is just unexplainable, it’s a childhood… Read More »
If anyone knows what it is like for Hugh Bowman to ride champion Winx during her amazing winning streak, it’s Black Caviar’s jockey Luke Nolen. As Bowman punched the air when he crossed the line on Winx for a record-equalling third Cox Plate win on Saturday, Nolen was 14 lengths… Read More »
Former jockey Malcolm Johnston is not sad Winx has reached Kingston Town’s record of three Cox Plates. She deserves it, says the man who rode “The King” to the first of his Cox Plate victories. “She’s as good as I’ve seen,” Johnston said. “She deserves it. “She hasn’t beaten his… Read More »
Aloisia has tightened her grip on VRC Oaks favouritism with a dominant win in the Group Two Vase at Moonee Valley. The Thousand Guineas winner took on the colts and geldings in Saturday’s 2040m race and strode away from last weekend’s Caulfield Classic winner Cliff’s Edge to win by 3-1/2… Read More »
For a few fleeting strides Darren Weir thought he was going to pull off an improbable Cox Plate victory. As Winx was going to the front at the 600m, Weir was watching closely as Humidor began to make ground. He had noticed Humidor settle at the back of the field,… Read More »
Ultra-consistent gelding Cabeza De Vaca has upstaged his stablemate Supply and Demand as the Tulloch Lodge duo made successful comebacks to racing at Randwick. The pair provided co-trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott with a quinella in the Filante Handicap (1400m) on Saturday to mark an encouraging start to their… Read More »
Folkswood was no match for Winx but he has managed to become just the fourth northern hemisphere-trained horse to finish top three in the Cox Plate. The Charlie Appleby-trained English galloper Folkswood won the Listed Cranbourne Cup in the lead-up before finishing third in Saturday’s $3 million Cox Plate (2040m)… Read More »
A great day went within a long neck of being a magnificent one for jockey Blake Shinn. With a quartet of winners on the board at Moonee Valley before Saturday’s Cox Plate, Shinn almost spoiled the party of those willing Winx to a record-equalling third Cox Plate success. Shinn rode… Read More »
