Following a brilliant 8 ½ length trial win at Belmont on Monday, Kieran Mcdonagh is hopeful the best remains ahead for the Maschino gelding. Since setting the bar high as a three-year-old in a couple of cracking races, Cockney Crew has been hindered by niggling injury issues. The complaints were never… Read More »
Glen Boss will be hoping luck does not desert him again having picked up the ride on Sir Lucan in the Melbourne Cup. Sir Lucan is currently number 24 in the Order of Entry for the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington next Tuesday. The safety limit for the Melbourne Cup field is… Read More »
Nothing is likely to ease the pain for James Mcdonald of having to watch the Cox Plate from the jockeys’ room, but a Victoria Derby win would help a little. McDonald teams with Kiwi gelding Tutukaka in the Group 1 Victoria Derby over 2500m at Flemington on Saturday. Tutukaka enters Saturday’s… Read More »
Lark Hill trials on Monday will hold special significance for Ben Kennedy. It marks his official return to racing after being out of action for close to five years. Kennedy quit riding and walked away from the sport in 2017 after guiding Skylab at Albany. But after a number of… Read More »
The $7.5 Million Golden Eagle (1500m) has a capacity field at Rosehill on Saturday, with quality on display not just from Australia, but there are several internationals engaged, so with the big field, a good speed is expected on a relatively dry deck. Down below is a speed map, runner… Read More »
The first key major of Cup Week at Flemington is the Victoria Derby (2500m) on Saturday, with a full field of 16 and four emergencies accepted for the $2 Million contest, which should be run on rain affected ground if the weather forecast is correct. Down below is a speed… Read More »
He doesn’t boast the best strike rate, but the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Aim certainly knows when there are high stakes on offer. The four-year-old has won four out of his 16 starts including the $501,000 Silver Eagle and more importantly the $2 million Magic Millions 3YO Guineas back in… Read More »
The unbeaten Braidwood galloper is prepared by Luke Clarke, and to date, he has been ultra-impressive. The four-year-old recorded his maiden win at Moruya back in May when lobbing in front and running away for a comfortable two-length victory over the 1010m journey. The Star Witness gelding was then spelled for… Read More »
The hard work riding trackwork at Flemington through the cold winter months has landed Fred Kersley with some important rides during the Melbourne Cup Carnival. And the young jockey, who arrived from Perth four years ago as a brash 18-year-old, has a couple of key chances to notch his maiden Group 1 win on Godolphin runners at… Read More »
Carif only needs his CT scans to be given the nod of approval to finally get his chance to run in Australia’s most famous race, the Melbourne Cup. The Peter and Paul Snowden-trained stayer has run in the Hotham Handicap (2500m) in the past two years attempting to force a passage into the race and come up short. This… Read More »
The dream of Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young having their Victoria Derby aspirant Forgot You run in the Melbourne Cup is over. Although Forgot You had undertaken the standing CT scan and given the all-clear, he requires another one before Thursday if he was to start in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 2. Forgot You’s spring… Read More »
Of the 35 horses still in Melbourne Cup contention, 19 require x-rays to pass veterinary examinations after the standing CT scanner has been shut down. A mechanical issue has temporarily shut down the operation of the standing CT scanner resulting in a number of Melbourne Cup entrants being unable to be scanned…. Read More »
Ciaron Maher and David Eustace have a great record with their stayers, but it will be a masterful training effort if Hitotsu wins the Victoria Derby. Hitotsu is the only three-year-old the training partners have in Saturday’s Victoria Derby at Flemington which is run at Group 1 level over 2500m. Having started his career… Read More »
After a satisfying Melbourne debut at Caulfield, Mark Newnham is chasing a Group 1 Melbourne Cup Carnival win with Harmony Rose. The daughter of Glass Harmonium runs in the Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday. After a disappointing 15th in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick on October 2,… Read More »
It’s been 12 months since Kerry Parker’s Think It Over finished 11th in the Rosehill Gold Cup, and what a difference a year makes. Since that failure the So You Think gelding has posted five victories and earned over $2.2 million in the process, and the six-year-old lines up for an extra… Read More »
Former jockey Michael Grantham says the R.J. Peters Stakes (1500m) looms as the next option for his Northam Cup hero Kaptain Kaos as he plots a path to the Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m). Just being in conversation for the Railway Stakes is mind blowing for Grantham, a harness trainer… Read More »
The mandatory CT scans of all Melbourne Cup runners has claimed the Danny O’Brien stables hope Young Werther. The four-year-old, who had been aimed at the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 2, was not among the remaining 35 horses after fourth acceptances closed on Monday. The O’Brien stable posted… Read More »
Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young have not given up on the hope of starting three-year-old Forgot You in the Melbourne Cup. But first there is the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington on Saturday before any decision is made about the Cup. Forgot You was the only three-year-old entered for this year’s Group 1 Melbourne… Read More »
It is not often that a trainer is pleased to run second in a race, but Julius Sandhu was over the moon to do so at Geelong on Wednesday. The runner-up placing with Do You Reckon in a benchmark 78 race over 1500m gains the gelding a start in the $500,000 Melbourne Cup Carnival… Read More »
Tom Dabernig tasted plenty of success at the highest level when part of the “Hayes, Hayes, Dabernig” training trio at Lindsay Park, but a Group 3 success on Cox Plate Day notched a new milestone for his new training operation at Warrnambool. In winning the Group 3 Tesio Stakes (1600m) by 4-½ lengths at… Read More »
