It wasn’t a great day for racing at Doomben on Saturday. The general gloom, the arrival of a storm which delayed the program mid-meeting, and the early postponement of the last race shortly after that when it was realised conditions would be too dark at the time to complete the… Read More »
The close race for the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership just got even tighter. It was ‘as you were’ after Wednesday’s meeting at Eagle Farm after premiership contenders Angela Jones and Emily Lang landed one win apiece …an outcome which left Jones two wins ahead in the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership with only… Read More »
Trainer David Vandyke is finishing off the 2024/25 season with a flourish which can only bode well for the stable for the new campaign when it gets under way on August 1. With no less than eight winners from his last seventeen runners … that is a stable that is… Read More »
Like all top jockeys do, Angela Jones will be looking ahead and not back when she steps out at Eagle Farm on Saturday with her focus reset on riding winners that will extend her fragile lead at the head of the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership. That Premiership has become a well-documented… Read More »
Compelling Truth has the form to make you believe he can win the 2025 edition of the Ramornie Handicap at Grafton on Wednesday. The Mack Griffith trained son of I Am Invincible has won three of his last four starts. All of those wins have come over 1200m … the… Read More »
The Big Goodbye hasn’t left the building yet. The 2023 Ramornie Handicap winner is back at Grafton for another crack at the race he won at double figure odds when chasing home from a wide barrier draw two years ago. In that race the Robert Heathcote trained The Big Goodbye… Read More »
The Big Dance is a race that will only take place on November 4, Melbourne Cup day … a little under four months away … but a $3 million prize-money carrot is a huge temptation for trainers to line up their best options early and try and qualify their horses… Read More »
The Brisbane steward’s room has had something of a revolving door in recent times with top riders nursing the scars after their brush with the law … most notably the two Brisbane Jockey Premiership contenders Angela Jones and Emily Lang. It’s been something like watching a tennis match … look… Read More »
With the conclusion of the Queensland Winter Carnival in South-East Queensland, there is a subtle shift of focus to the two-month long North Queensland Winter Racing Carnival, which commenced last Saturday … and which incorporates Cup days at Rockhampton, MacKay, Townsville and Cairns, as well as a host of supporting… Read More »
After choosing to make the late call not to send around his emerging prospect Mister Bianco in the Group 3 Winx Guineas at the Sunshine Caost last week, trainer Paul Shailer is now targeting a QTIS Three-Year-Old Handicap over 1350m at Eagle Farm on Saturday as the race in which… Read More »
Trainer Jeff Dunn is weighing up a crack at the Ramornie Handicap with Sha Of Gomer, his Rockhampton Newmarket winner, who has pulled up well after his feature race success at Callaghan Park last Friday where he was ridden by Rikki Dunn … keeping it all in the family. “He… Read More »
There has been a bump in the road in Angela Jones’ quest to become the first female rider to win the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership with Jones failing to get a ten-day suspension overturned at an appeal hearing. Jones picked up the suspension for her ride on Floozie in the Group… Read More »
Racing invariably writes its own script, often deviating from the expected, and the story of Nikita Beriman being stood down for a twelve-day period under concussion protocols is another tale with an unusual twist. Beriman was one of the riders involved in a four-horse fall at Ipswich last Thursday. She… Read More »
It was indeed a kiss of good fortune for Luke Tarrant when he picked up the ride on the Lloyd Kennewell and Lucy Yeomans trained Fortunate Kiss in the Listed Glasshouse Handicap at the Sunshine Coast after Ronnie Stewart, who had originally been booked for the ride picked up an… Read More »
The Peter Robl trained Overfull earned his way back into the winners’ enclosure when he held off the challenge of Charming Nic to land the $200 000 Bernie Spilsbury Three-Year-Old Handicap over 1000m, a race named in honour of the long-time Sunshine Coast Turf Club doctor who is now retiring… Read More »
Earn To Burn ($6) outgunned his opposition in a pressurised finish to win the Bruce McLachlan Classic, a QTIS Two-Year-Old Handicap over 1000m. It was a tough win for Jack Bruce trained son of Better Than Ready, who was held out four wide from a number nine barrier all the… Read More »
The Billy Healey trained King Yoshi shrugged aside any doubts about tackling the extra ground when came home with something to spare over 1200m to land the Provincial Sprinters Series Final … a BM80 Handicap … at the Sunshine Coast. This result sealed a third successive win for the four-year-old… Read More »
You certainly can’t fault the form of the Lope De Vega gelding Mr Verse, who saluted for third time in six starts at the Sunshine Coast when he arrived with inch perfect timing under a great ride from Ashley Morgan to slip past Gossip Girl, who had looked the likely… Read More »
And now for something completely different. The saying ‘different strokes for different folks’ largely applies across the board for people and it is the same with horses in terms of their personal and physical characteristics, attitude and the little tricks they might come into play in terms of their likes… Read More »
Trainer Troy Pascoe is eyeing a significant Cup winning double as he prepares to nominate Flash Aah, his impressive Ipswich Cup winner, for a crack at the Caloundra Cup next Saturday. Pascoe is realistic about the task ahead, but he is also justifiably buoyed by not just the Ipswich Cup… Read More »
