Storm Boy appears to have run his last race in Australia with owners Coolmore announcing he will continue his career overseas. The high-class colt, who finished third as favourite in the Golden Slipper, will join the powerful Aidan O’Brien team at Ballydoyle with a view to competing in some of Euorpean racing’s… Read More »
Ben, Will and JD Hayes started Melbourne Cup Day with a career first when Tycoon Star lead home a stable trifecta in the $200,000 Maribyrnong Plate. The Lindsay Park trainers produced the Written Tycoon colt to win the Group 3 event on debut, defeating stablemates Bacash and Shining Smile. It was not… Read More »
Star galloper Western Empire is set to use Saturday week’s Group 3 Colonel Reeves Stakes (1100m) as his key lead-up run to the Group 1 MCA Pollytrack-Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) on November 30. The Grant and Alana Williams-trained galloper won a 950m trial at Lark Hill earlier this morning, his second… Read More »
Athabascan has been ruled out by RV vets from the Melbourne Cup. The Melbourne Cup field is down to 23 starters following the scratching of Athabascan following a Racing Victoria veterinary inspection. All 24 runners in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) on Tuesday underwent veterinary examinations on Monday, having undergone pre-acceptance inspections… Read More »
Jet-setting jockey William Buick has ridden two winners of the Melbourne Cup, but not on the day they were successful. Buick is about to embark on his sixth ride in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday and has labelled Irish galloper Vauban his best chance of winning the race. Vauban… Read More »
A call an hour before Sea King won the Bendigo Cup landed UK rider Hollie Doyle her second ride in the Melbourne Cup. Doyle jetted into Melbourne on Monday morning to partner the Harry Eustace-trained Sea King in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday. It will be Doyle’s second time… Read More »
Ciaron Maher scored one of the most emotional wins of his career on Derby Day, but it would be taken to a new level if he can win Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup with one member of his stable in particular. The champion trainer has four runners in the Melbourne Cup 2024, including… Read More »
Jockey Winona Costin has a long family association with the Melbourne Cup. One of four female jockeys riding in Australia’s greatest race at Flemington on Tuesday, Costin is hoping to break the families ‘duck’ in the 3200m handicap. Costin’s great-grandfather on her father’s side Larry Wiggins rode Akbar into second place… Read More »
Chris Waller has watched with envy the adulation success in the Melbourne Cup provides the winning trainer. A winner of Australia’s most famous race, Waller had to remain in Sydney due to COVID lockdowns when Verry Elleegant won the race in 2021. This time around, the Waller team has five runners… Read More »
A lesson learned 12 months earlier could reap rewards for trainer Joe Pride on Melbourne Cup Day at Randwick when Estadio Mestalla lines up in the Little Dance. The mile race is the understudy to the $3 million Big Dance (1600m) on the same program but with a total prizemoney purse… Read More »
Successful in the day’s feature for South Australian trainer Andrew Gluyas aboard Goldrush Guru, Kah was brought to tears when she combined with Ciaron Maher to win aboard Another Wil in the colours of Colin McKenna who died last week, the result of a brain tumour. A whack in the face left… Read More »
Australian Racing Legend and 12-time Melbourne Cup winning trainer Bart Cummings had a theory a horse’s Cup preparation required 10,000m in the legs and to run on the Saturday prior to the Cup. That theory held true for 11 of Cummings’ Cup winners, with only Saintly failing to run on the… Read More »
The forecast of a cooler Melbourne Cup Day than 12 months ago is expected to help the Willie Mullins-trained pair of Vauban and Absurde. While Mullins altered the preparations of both stayers from the one employed last year, the weather forecast is also a little kinder this time around. The Group… Read More »
UK trainer Brian Ellison thought luck had again deserted him when Onesmoothoperator was under an injury cloud for a start in the Melbourne Cup. Ellison has been coming out for the Melbourne Spring Carnival since 2005, with a focus on the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington to be run on… Read More »
Harry Eustace is hoping to ride his luck with Sea King for just a couple more days in Australia. The Englishman headed Down Under to tackle the Cox Plate with Docklands, who had in tow a travelling companion who is now a leading contender for an even bigger prize – the Melbourne… Read More »
The Ciaron Maher stable has a strong hand in the $3 million Big Dance at Randwick, even if the barrier draw has thrown up some potential challenges for a couple of well-credentialled stablemates. Maher has three runners in Tuesday’s 1600m race, with Gringotts and Detonator Jack both drawing wide while Vivy Air has a… Read More »
Despite the 3200-metre journey of the Melbourne Cup, when it comes to barrier draws the gap in starting from pole position compared to gate 21 still seems, on face value, to be a long way between being fortunate or otherwise. Owner Ozzie Kheir part owns four runners engaged in this… Read More »
William Haggas has continued his incredible strikerate in Sydney, producing Lake Forest for an upset win in The Golden Eagle and in doing so becoming the first European trainer to triumph in the $10 million race. Ridden by the UK-based Cieren Fallon, Lake Forest ($19) settled in the second half… Read More »
Fawkner Park has gone some way towards offsetting the disappointment of an abandoned Caulfield Cup campaign with a consolation victory in the $750,000 Rosehill Gold Cup. A dominant winner of the Q22 during the Brisbane winter carnival, the gelding was among the early fancies for the Melbourne feature but struggled to… Read More »
At her third attempt, Atishu has finally added the Empire Rose Stakes to her ever-growing record. The only Group 1 race run for fillies and mares during the Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington, Atishu has finally been lauded the winner after finishing fifth in her first attempt before chasing home Pride… Read More »
