Cox Plate-winning trainer Ciaron Maher will kick off a massive week at Flemington with a strong attack on the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes. Maher and co-trainer David Eustace have nominated colts Anders and Holyfield, and also filly Muntaseera for Saturday’s stallion-making race. Leading sires including Zoustar and Brazen Beau… Read More »
Classy filly Gotta Kiss has sailed through her first important trackwork test as she nears a comeback to racing. Gotta Kiss pleased co-trainer Matt Hoysted with the way she finished off an 800 metre jump out at Eagle Farm last Tuesday. “It was a hot heat with Isotope and Plutocrat… Read More »
Positive Peace has continued trainer Bjorn Baker’s successful Sydney carnival by taking out the Group Three Nivison at Randwick. The five-year-old Stratum mare started at $16 and proved too classy, beating Wandabaa ($5.50 equal fav) by a neck with Godolphin’s Athiri ($6) a further 1-1/4 lengths away. Despite the sharp… Read More »
Big-race jockey Glen Boss produced a magical ride to win his fourth Cox Plate on imported galloper Sir Dragonet and now he’s hoping the horse can also provide him with a fourth Melbourne Cup. The victory was also a triumph for the training partnership of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace… Read More »
A few fist pumps and a victory salute from Gerald Ryan revealed that Peltzer’s Bondi Stakes win meant something special to the Rosehill trainer. When the three-year-old surged over the final 200m of the $1 million race and kicked away from the field, Ryan likewise broke clear from a group… Read More »
The partnership of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have combined with Winona Costin to take out the Listed City Tattersalls Club Cup at Randwick with Knights Order. The So You Think import was second up after almost 700 days on the sidelines but led from barrier to box over the… Read More »
Danny O’Brien added another string to his already powerful Melbourne Cup bow when Miami Bound returned to form with a win in the Moonee Valley Cup. O’Brien already has last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare, King Of Leogrance and Russian Camelot being aimed at the event and he… Read More »
Trainer Patrick Payne has assessed Cherry Tortoni’s win in the Moonee Valley Vase as a good tune-up for the Group One Victoria Derby. The three-year-old has firmed into $6 for next Saturday’s classic and Payne has confirmed he will back-up, provided he comes through the race well. “We’re really mindful… Read More »
He has been a horse with a sizeable wrap on him from day one, and the Kris Lees-trained The Bopper has gone some way to franking those high expectations. The Nicconi gelding started $4.40 and easily took out the Listed Brian Crowley Stakes (1200m) at Randwick, beating Tommy Gold ($10)… Read More »
Richard and Michael Freedman enjoyed a successful first season with their two-year-olds and they have continued the new term in the same vein. Debutant Tiger Of Malay came from behind the speed to overpower his rivals in the Kirkham Plate (1000m) at Randwick on Saturday to earn a possible tilt… Read More »
Ciaron Maher and David Eustace continued their early domination of juvenile events in Australia when filly Sneaky Five became their third two-year-old winner for the season by taking out the Inglis Banner. Sneaky Five’s victory in the $500,000 race at Moonee Valley followed the stable’s success with Enthaar in the… Read More »
Fresh from capturing Sydney’s two biggest races of the spring, jockey Kerrin McEvoy is setting his sights on winning the only leg of the sport’s grand slam to elude him. The Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Golden Slipper are considered the jewels in the crown of Australian… Read More »
Bryce Heys realises the enormity of the task Stylebender faces in the Bondi Stakes but the trainer thinks his improving colt can give a good sight in the $1 million race at Randwick. The lightly-raced Stylebender still carries a maiden tag and is clearly a work in progress, but after… Read More »
Magic Wand is out of the $5 million Cox Plate while her Aidan O’Brien-trained stablemate Armory has been passed fit to start. The 2019 Mackinnon Stakes winner was scratched on Friday after failing to recover from a lameness issue affecting her off fore leg. Armory had also been under an… Read More »
If the bullish attitude of James Cummings is anything to go by, Namazu could be poised to produce a Bondi Stakes upset. The colt, a son of Godolphin’s 2014 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Earthquake, broke his maiden in stylish fashion last start when he came from last on the turn… Read More »
The lure of extra prize money has swayed trainer Annabel Neasham to kick-start Ghostwriter’s Magic Millions campaign at Doomben. TAB fixed odds has installed Ghostwriter on the second line of betting at $4.20 for the Spring Plate (1110m), challenging Alert And Ready ($4) for favouritism. The son of I Am… Read More »
The WS Cox Plate will lack its usual amphitheatre-like atmosphere when the race is run at an empty Moonee Valley. Cox Plate day usually has about 30,000 racegoers with the countdown to the $5 million Cox Plate producing scenes that are unique in world racing. Crowds get closer to the… Read More »
Kris Lees can remember exactly where he was when Bonecrusher and Our Waverley Star elevated the Cox Plate into racing folklore with their tooth-and-nail battle down the Moonee Valley straight. It was 1986 and almost 20 years before Lees would begin training his own stable of horses at Newcastle. Market… Read More »
Champion trainer Aidan O’Brien faces an anxious wait after his two Cox Plate horses, Magic Wand and Armory, showed signs of lameness just two days out from the race. All 14 Cox Plate runners were inspected by Racing Victoria veterinarians on Thursday and passed fit to start with the exception… Read More »
Chris Waller believes both of his gallopers in the Cox Plate, Kolding and Humidor, will have to produce peak performances to be winning chances in the Moonee Valley showpiece. Waller is aiming for his fifth victory in the Cox Plate having trained the incomparable Winx to win four in a… Read More »
