The finals of the NSW country and provincial championships have both received a prize money boost to $500,000. Racing NSW announced the dates on Friday for the two series in 2018, culminating in the finals at Randwick on the two Saturdays of The Championships in autumn. The Country Championships series… Read More »
Trainer Gary Moore has worked hard to ensure Classic Uniform jumps cleanly from the barriers, and now the gelding also has the draw to suit for a genuine crack at the Listed Winter Challenge. Fractious by nature for much of his 30-start career, the four-year-old is blindfolded entering the stalls… Read More »
The Robert Smerdon-trained Ability has started to fulfil his potential and puts his unbeaten run this preparation on the line when he faces his biggest test in the Group Three Bletchingly Stakes. Craig Williams, who takes a three-win lead in the Melbourne jockeys’ premiership into the season’s final city meeting… Read More »
A third case involving allegations of racing fixing in Queensland harness racing has been adjourned for a month. Michael Kevin Grant, of Redcliffe, appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday charged with race fixing. His case was adjourned until August 30 for further mention and no further details of… Read More »
Apprentice Jack Martin has appealed the severity of a careless riding ban from a winning ride at Sandown. Martin was suspended for eight meetings on Wednesday after pleading guilty to shifting in at the 1100m mark of a 1600m race on White Devon, causing the eventual runner-up to be steadied…. Read More »
Apprentice Beau Mertens will be riding the final metropolitan meeting of the season at Caulfield without any extra weight on his shoulders. Three winners down on leader Craig Williams in the Melbourne jockeys’ premiership, Mertens will let Saturday unfold and see if he can reel in Williams. Having already produced… Read More »
Racing Queensland hopes to begin implementing action recommended in a report into the closure of Eagle Farm racecourse as early as next week. Have Your Say: What should RQ do with the Eagle Farm track? – Leave a comment below. Eagle Farm, Queensland’s main racetrack, has been closed since the… Read More »
Most sportspeople are well into retirement by age 47 but journeyman jockey Jeff Penza belileves he’s going better than ever. Any notion of hanging up the whip is far from the mind of the man currently on a high after riding 133 winners this season and another 250 placegetters. While… Read More »
Riding horses is a passion for Jake Bayliss and he is striving to finish his apprenticeship on a winning note at the final city meeting of the season. Bayliss, 22, has three rides at Caulfield on Saturday. “I’d love to finish my apprenticeship on a good note with a winner,”… Read More »
A step up in distance could lift talented gelding Mr Epic back to the winner’s circle at Doomben. Mr Epic will be having his first attempt at 2000m in Saturday’s Ernst Open (2030m). The four-year-old has won seven races and $373,000 prize money but hasn’t won since leading all the… Read More »
A lot of hard work has gone into getting lightly raced former Hong Kong galloper Divine Ten back to the racetrack. Now in his second preparation for Geelong trainer Kelvin Bourke, Divine Ten runs in Saturday’s Group Three Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield. Divine Ten was one of Hong Kong’s… Read More »
The lure of the final QTIS bonus money of the season has enticed connections to keep Group One-placed three-year-old Heart Skip A Beat in her own age group at Doomben. Saturday’s meeting is the final chance in 2016/17 for connections to get the the QTIS bonus money which is available… Read More »
English racing has been left embarrassed by the discovery that a winner of a two-year-old race at Yarmouth, was in fact the horses elder stablemate. The mistake was only discovered after the 50-1 Charlie McBride-trained Mandarin Princess had overturned the 4-6 favourite Fyre Cay on Thursday (Friday AEST) but was… Read More »
Mighty mare Winx’s ability to win at both the mile and middle distances has been acknowledged with nominations for two NSW awards. The dual Cox Plate winner could go one better than last year after being nominated for both top miler and middle distance categories for the NSW Racehorse Owners’… Read More »
Tony McEvoy has the Aurie’s Star Handicap in mind for Hey Doc’s new season return and the trainer will use a jump-out at Flemington to re-acquaint the Group One winner with the straight course. Hey Doc will have his first jump-out of the preparation on Friday morning in an 800m… Read More »
Trainers whose horses have raced at three recent Melbourne meetings have been advised to monitor their horses for clinical signs of Strangles after a clerk of the course’s horse was confirmed with the infectious disease. “Buddy”, ridden by Shane Patterson, worked at Caulfield on July 15 and Flemington last Saturday…. Read More »
A Victorian jockey has been taken to hospital with a wrist injury following a fall in a race at Echuca on Thursday. The Victorian Jockeys’ Association said Jarrod Fry had been taken to the Echuca hospital with a suspected fractured wrist. Fry was riding She’s Just Lika in the final… Read More »
A recent jump-out has kept the Tony McEvoy-trained Nistaan up to the mark for the VOBIS Gold Ingot for which the rising three-year-old is favourite to break his maiden. Nistaan resumed with a third at Caulfield on July 1 over 1200m behind the talented Lone Eagle and Evil Cry at… Read More »
A Highway win is often considered a highlight of a country trainer’s season, but for Stirling Osland the trip to Rosehill with Prada Miss cannot match her previous metropolitan road trip. The Armidale trainer took the filly to Brisbane in April and she ran second on her black-type debut in… Read More »
Tommy Berry is aiming to notch his first win in South Australia and please some Hong Kong owners when he takes the reins of impressive colt Ducimus. Berry is bound for the former British colony next month, potentially leaving Saturday’s Lightning Stakes at Morphettville as his last opportunity to win… Read More »
