Without A Fight has been issued a 1kg penalty for his Caulfield Cup win with the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained gelding to now carry 56.5kg in the Melbourne Cup. Racing Victoria’s head of handicapping David Hegan announced the penalty on Monday afternoon, two days after his win under 55.5kg in the… Read More »
The G1 Spring Champions Stakes (2000m) has often been a good horse’s race as the boys get to the 2000m for the first time and may well press on to the Victoria Derby. Tom Kitten ($2.50) looks like he is really striving for that ground so has to run favourite… Read More »
James McDonald’s confidence in Romantic Warrior ahead of this Saturday’s $5 million Cox Plate is increasing with every track gallop. The champion jockey was at Moonee Valley on Monday morning to partner the Hong Kong star in a 1200-metre workout with Danny Shum stablemate Romantic Charm, six days out from… Read More »
Matthew Dunn is confident Big Dance favourite Cepheus can overcome a minor setback in time for the $3 million Melbourne Cup Day feature at Randwick. The in-form gelding was scratched from Saturday’s Filante Handicap (1600m) at Randwick after presenting with mild swelling in his near-fore fetlock three days earlier. However, Dunn said… Read More »
In a bid to claim a fifth Cox Plate champion trainer Chris Waller will give his two representatives extra experience at Moonee Valley ahead of Australasia’s weight-for-age championship. Fangirl and Militarise had their first look at the Moonee Valley circuit on Saturday ahead of the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) and will return on Tuesday morning for Breakfast With The Best. Both horses were not out to break the clock but will be asked to… Read More »
Moonee Valley track staff freely admit that preparing the course for the double-header Cox Plate Carnival is a challenge, and the plan for Friday night’s meeting is for a firmer track. Since the final Moonee Valley meeting of the 2022/23 season back in March, their focus has all been about providing the best surface… Read More »
Reigning Everest winner Think About It might have been back home in the stable, but Joe Pride only had eyes for his Big Dance Wild Card winner King Of The Castle at Randwick, describing the gelding as his “horse crush”. King Of The Castle ($7) raced his way into the $3 million… Read More »
West Wind Blows, who started a $5.50 favourite in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m), was narrowly denied, by a former stablemate no less, but co-trainer Ed Crisford was upbeat after the race despite the loss. Crisford, who trains in partnership with his father Simon, brought Without A Fight to Australia for… Read More »
Jockey Ben Melham will be putting his hand up to ride whichever horse Mark Zahra rejects in the Melbourne Cup. Ben Melham rode the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Gold Trip into third place in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) on Saturday and would like to keep the ride in the Group 1 Melbourne… Read More »
Mark Zahra’s faith in Without A Fight was vindicated when the imported galloper provided the jockey a second Caulfield Cup in four years. In different scenes from his win aboard Verry Elleegant when there were no crowds on course because of COVID, Zahra defeated his close friend Jamie Spencer aboard English galloper West Wind Blows in a race that was… Read More »
With regular jockey Kerrin Mcevoy in Melbourne for the Caulfield Cup, John Sargent had to find a new rider for Palmetto in the Five Diamonds Prelude and his booking of Kathy O’Hara proved a winning one. O’Hara has been a mainstay of the Sydney jockeys’ room for many seasons but is enjoying a career… Read More »
The Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) is next on the agenda for the Michael Moroney trained Coeur Volante who remained unbeaten this preparation, taking out the Group 2 Thousand Guineas Prelude (1400m) at Caulfield. Jumping from the widest barrier, Blake Shinn managed to slot Coeur Volante one out, one back after 200… Read More »
With his wife and children watching on, Damien Oliver guided home a winner at his final Caulfield Cup meeting. Oliver announced his retirement from riding at the start of the Spring Carnival and will bow out after competing at the Perth Summer Carnival in November. Unfortunately for Oliver he was unable to add to his… Read More »
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have continued their outstanding start to the juvenile season, producing Shangri La Express for a debut win at Randwick to give them three of the first four two-year-old races of the term. The stable started its run when Espionage led home a Breeders’ Plate trifecta before Sovereign… Read More »
Mention to Steve Wolfe that Red Can Man has not won a race for a while and the Albany-based trainer bristles at the remarks. The records show Red Can Man hasn’t been successful since the G3 John Monash Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield two years ago. But, delve deeper and those same… Read More »
James Cummings will attempt the rare feat of a running double with siblings at Randwick when products of blueblood mare Memorial step out within 40 minutes of each other this Saturday. Boom I Am Invincible filly Commemorative takes on the older mares in Race 5 with her Exceed And Excel half-brother Contemporary to go… Read More »
Trainer Grahame Begg has been denied a start in a feature Cup race for a second time with Nonconformist being scratched from the Caulfield Cup. Nonconformist presented with lameness in his right-hind leg on Thursday and was re-inspected by Racing Victoria vets on Friday before being withdrawn 2.53pm on veterinary grounds. The scratching of Nonconformist… Read More »
Grahame Begg is banking on an early morning trip being the catalyst for C’Est Magique finding winning form again. A debut winner on the synthetic track at Pakenham in August last year, C’est Magique has raced exclusively in Stakes company in her five subsequent starts. Her seventh career start on Saturday comes in the Group 3 Tristarc Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield… Read More »
Racing Victoria and Melbourne’s metropolitan racing clubs all undertake their own international recruiting campaigns, but some perform the role without being on the payroll. Damian Lane is something of an unofficial scout in Japan and earlier this year he was doing his best to ensure Japanese representation in the Spring Carnival… Read More »
The updates from the Werribee quarantine facility had always been positive, but that didn’t mean Ed Crisford wasn’t without some trepidation when he saw West Wind Blows for the first time in several weeks on Thursday. Crisford and his co-trainer, his father Simon, had been kept well up to date by the… Read More »
