Geoff Torney, a former Moonee Valley Chairman and founding director of Racing Victoria, has died, aged 82. Torney, a litigation specialist who was recognised as a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2005, was a much-loved figure in Ballarat where he was born and raised…. Read More »
Darren Weir has become the first trainer to prepare 400 winners in a season in Australia, bringing up the history-making milestone on his home track at Ballarat. Seven-year-old Ancient King scored as the odds-on favourite in a hurdle race on Thursday, the gelding’s third-consecutive win over jumps. Last season Weir… Read More »
After going winless in two metropolitan meetings this week, apprentice Beau Mertens needs to hit back at Moonee Valley after being joined in the Melbourne jockeys’ premiership lead. Mertens and premiership rival Craig Williams both failed to ride a winner at Monday’s Mornington metropolitan meeting before Williams joined his younger… Read More »
Apprentice jockey Deanne Panya has been released from hospital after suffering a mild concussion when a horse she was to ride in a barrier trial at Warwick Farm flipped on top of her. After being assessed, the 24-year-old was discharged on Thursday afternoon. Earlier this year Panya was off for… Read More »
A week after Nictock ran third in a Highway Handicap, Mudgee trainer Cameron Crockett is throwing stablemate The Frick into the deep end on a wet track at Rosehill. Crockett has applied the same philosophy to the four-year-old’s Highway debut on Saturday as he did when younger stablemate Nictock stepped… Read More »
Co-trainer Troy Corstens has a couple of questions in the back of his mind as Mamzelle Tess attempts to extend her winning sequence to four at Moonee Valley. After wins at Bendigo, Geelong and Sale, Mamzelle Tess runs in the Kane Constructions Handicap (1600m) on Saturday. “The question mark is… Read More »
For a jockey who admits he can get lost going to Ipswich races Damian Browne has an amazing record at the track. Browne lives at Caloundra and is renowned for his dislike of travel down the Bruce Highway for Brisbane and Ipswich meetings. He has had only four rides at… Read More »
Albury trainer John Whitelaw guesses it’s around 40 years since he last raced a horse at Moonee Valley. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since, including Whitelaw’s 25-year hiatus from training. Daisy Doutes, unbeaten at her past four starts, brings Whitelaw to Moonee Valley on Saturday to… Read More »
Darren Beadman expects Godolphin mare Alegria to continue a consistent preparation in the Kensei Handicap at Rosehill. The five-year-old makes the seventh start of her campaign on Saturday when she renews her rivalry with pre-race favourite Supply And Demand, Tucanchoo and Montauk. Alegria and that trio occupied the first four… Read More »
Trainer Kelly Schweida’s ability to think outside the square could give him another winner at Ipswich. The latest example of his clever thinking was last Saturday when he took handy restricted class horse Stella Ombra to win in Sydney. The Brisbane trainer has made a habit of bobbing up in… Read More »
Darren Weir has become the first trainer to prepare 400 winners in a season in Australia, bringing up the history-making milestone on his home track at Ballarat. Seven-year-old Ancient King scored as the odds-on favourite in a hurdle race on Thursday, the gelding’s third-consecutive win over jumps. Last season Weir… Read More »
The form from recent Eagle Farm meetings has not held up at other tracks and trainer Michael Nolan is hopeful it will prove the same for Jumbo Prince in the Ipswich Cup. Jumbo Prince turned in the worst run of his 42-start career when beaten 10 lengths into 12th place… Read More »
After notching his first city winner since his return to training, Grahame Begg will try to keep the ball rolling when he takes two-year-old filly Hinchin Time to town for the first time at Moonee Valley. Begg enjoyed considerable success when training out of Randwick for more than two decades… Read More »
Tough kiwi galloper Benzini will break a 55-year-old weight-carrying record if he can win the Ipswich Cup with 60kg. Only two horses have carried more than 57kg to win the race since it was first run in 1935. The Sydney Cup winner Sharply holds the weight-carrying record at 58.5kg (9… Read More »
A winning double at Sandown has Darren Weir on the verge of a history-making 400 winners in a season. The premier Victorian trainer’s nationwide total moved to 399 with the wins of Penryn Pearl and Yogi on Wednesday. The stable’s 400th winner could be brought up on Weir’s home track… Read More »
Frankie Dettori expects to be fit to ride the John Gosden-trained Shutter Speed in the French Oaks, the Prix de Diane, at Chantilly after injuring an arm in a parade ring fall. The popular jockey was thrown from the Gosden-trained Tivoli at Yarmouth on Tuesday. Tivoli was withdrawn from the… Read More »
Trainer Jim Cerchi jr has been charged with applying a chest rub ointment to the nostrils of a horse before a race at Pakenham. Petrov was down to run last Thursday but was a late scratching. Cerchi did not have permission of the stewards to administer any medication to Petrov… Read More »
The victory of Ruby Sea at a midweek winter meeting at Sandown may not make the season highlight reel for Ciaron Maher but it did bring up a milestone for the trainer. The filly won the Chandler Macleod Handicap (1600m) on Wednesday giving Maher his 100th winner for the season…. Read More »
Grahame Begg has described winning a midweek race at Sandown as like a Group One victory. The former Sydney trainer Begg was no stranger to Group One success during a career that began during the 1990s ahead of a sabbatical at the end of 2014. The win of Phoenix Park… Read More »
Fournette has shown her fighting qualities at Canterbury to add a city win to her recent provincial maiden success. The three-year-old was in the middle of the pack at the halfway point of Wednesday’s 1550m-race but surged down the straight to pip Hittite ($14) by a short half-head. Jockey Kerrin… Read More »
