Trainer Wayne Hawkes has delivered a blunt assessment of Zac Lloyd’s ride aboard Briasa following the colt’s fourth placing in the All Aged Stakes at Randwick on Saturday. Sent out at $18 with bookmakers, Briasa jumped cleanly but settled off the pace, a tactic Hawkes believes cost the horse a… Read More »
The tenth running of the Pegasus World Cup will take place at Gulfstream Park in Florida this weekend, making it an appropriate time to review its history in comparison to The Everest, another slot race who kicked off in the same year in which The Pegasus had its inaugural running…. Read More »
Everyone knows the stories of the greats of the turf, the deeds of Phar Lap, Tulloch, Winx, Black Caviar, Manikato, Makybe Diva, Carbine, Bernborough and Kingston Town firmly etched in the minds of racing fans. But there are plenty of horses whose achievements go unheralded. We take a look at… Read More »
It was this week 35 years ago that trainer David Hayes took on the world with Better Loosen Up, taking a daring trip across the globe to become the first Australian trainer to win the world’s richest race, the Japan Cup. “What a day that was!” David said, still justifiably… Read More »
Hall of Fame trainer Gai Waterhouse has emphatically rejected calls to shorten the Victoria Derby to 2000 metres. Addressing media at Flemington trackwork on Tuesday morning, Waterhouse didn’t mince words. “It drives me crazy when people have to tamper with things,” she said. Her stance isn’t universally shared across the… Read More »
Who’s afraid of Ka Ying Rising? Several pundits have already tried to pick possible holes in the Hong Kong champions suggested right of passage to a victory in the 2025, $20 million The Everest and, while there is no certainty in racing, the ultra-restrictive odds about the chances of the… Read More »
Is the Henry Dwyer trained Asfoora getting the level of recognition she deserves? The seven-year-old mare’s win in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes last Friday at York gave her bragging rights over the host of other top Australian racehorses who have saluted in Britain in the last couple of decades,… Read More »
High-profile American thoroughbred owner John Stewart has made headlines on social network X with his bold prediction that the highly anticipated Snitzel colt out of champion mare Winx could fetch between $15 million and $20 million when he goes under the hammer at the 2026 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. Stewart,… Read More »
Marhoona won a thrilling edition of the Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday, just beating Wodeton in a close finish with Tempted not far away in third in what was a thrilling edition of the $5m race. Down below is how we’ve rated each runner and their performance. Marhoona… Read More »
While not as universally acclaimed as the illustrious mares Black Caviar and Winx, jockey Brad Rawiller holds Weekend Hussler in equally high esteem and expressed a desire to have pitted him against the two legends. Rawiller, who steered Ross McDonald’s exceptional racehorse to seven Group 1 victories in 2007 and… Read More »
As star mare Imperatriz prepares for her first breeding season this spring, the pedigree experts at G1 Goldmine suggest that a date with champion sire Snitzel or one of his accomplished Group 1-producing sons would be a fitting match. The G1 Goldmine Stallion Match, a widely trusted tool utilised by… Read More »
Ever since Saturday there have been heated debates about the ride of Craig Williams on the red hot favourite Jimmysstar in the Elms Handicap at Flemington. Ciaron Maher expressed frustration and bewilderment at Craig Williams’ tactics aboard the heavily backed Jimmysstar, who succumbed to an upset defeat by $151 outsider… Read More »
Golden Ticket/Win And You Are In races have become more and more popular over time, especially when it comes to races like the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup, and the whole idea of ballot exemption races are in the spotlight this week with news The Gateway, which was a golden… Read More »
Something to ponder in the wake of prize-money for The Everest being lifted from $15 million to $20 million. In the last three years thirty-six horses have contested The Everest from twenty stables. Those thirty-six rides have been taken by nineteen jockeys. Chris Waller and James Cummings have had five… Read More »
It is good to finally see some movement on the jockey’s protective vest issue but, for any true value to come out of the latest rumblings, things do not only have to move in the right direction, they have to move at a pace that the urgency of the matter… Read More »
It has literally been years in the making … ok, we won’t go there … but the fact that The Racing Integrity Amendment Bill 2022 was finally passed into law by the Queensland Parliament on October 25 means that the workings of the Queensland Racing Judiciary system can now hopefully… Read More »
Despite a strong push from Peter V’Landys and Racing NSW to try and encroach, with some levels of success, there is no denying that the Melbourne Spring Carnival is the place to be for the end of the year. The best horses, the best trainers and best jockeys want to… Read More »
What on earth is going on at Racing Australia? Described as the peak National Administration body for the thoroughbred racing industry in Australia, Racing Australia is stuck in an impasse which is putting their profile in negative territory and currently doing nobody any good at all. John Messara has quit… Read More »
The late great Roy Higgins declared Taj Rossi as the best horse he ever sat on. Potentially. The Spring of 1973 from Taj Rossi was something we won’t see ever again. He won an Ascot Vale Stakes (Now Coolmore Stud), then later in the prep won a Cox Plate. Backed… Read More »
Jockey Tiffani Brooker had her fair share of publicity going into her ride on Sneaky Starter in the $2 million Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic … in fact, a lot of publicity if you consider Sneaky Starter started at a price of $201. For the most part though, Brooker’s story, in… Read More »
