Leading spring contender Sir Delius has been ruled out of both the Melbourne Cup and Cox Plate following independent CT scan results that deemed the import unfit to contest either race. The setback ends the stayer’s highly anticipated spring campaign, with veterinary findings prompting connections to withdraw him from both… Read More »
Champion Irish trainer Willie Mullins will send out Absurde in the $5 million Caulfield Cup on Saturday. The race will kick off Absurde’s third campaign down under and it provides a slight, and what could turn out to be a very important point difference from his last visit, in the… Read More »
Mornington trainer Rory Hunter says it is great to have a horse capable of being a player during the Melbourne Spring Carnival. That horse is Autumn Mystery who runs in the Caulfield Classic (2000m) on Saturday as his final lead-up to the Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington on November 1. Hunter has… Read More »
David Hayes has been facing the media at every turn with regards to his champion Ka Ying Rising. Thankfully, it is the trainer and not the horse who has to absorb all of the pressure that comes with having a blazing hot favourite in a $20 million race … who… Read More »
The barrier gods have been against Mating Call for the fourth time in as many starts as the filly prepares for her most important assignment at Caulfield. Mating Call heads to the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) on Saturday, drawing another wide barrier, a feat that has fallen on the filly in her four… Read More »
Andrew Gluyas will chase a third consecutive win in the Listed Hill Smith Stakes (1800m) at Morphettville on Saturday when he saddles up a three-pronged attack in the three-year-old feature. Gluyas won the race with subsequent VRC Derby hero Goldrush Guru in 2024 and Air Assault in 2023, while he… Read More »
In horse racing, plans are made but don’t always come to fruition. For Phillip Stokes and his Caulfield Cup hope Deakin, everything has gone to a plan mapped out by the trainer soon after the stayer scored at Flemington in March. That victory came in the Roy Higgins Quality which secured Deakin a ballot exemption into… Read More »
A wide draw brought Briasa undone in The Galaxy but regular jockey Tyler Schiller has no fears of a repeat despite drawing gate 10 for his clash with Hong Kong sprint sensation Ka Ying Rising in The Everest at Randwick. Briasa went back to last from the outside barrier in The Galaxy and… Read More »
Chris Waller isn’t perturbed by the presence of bold frontrunner Pride Of Jenni in the King Charles III Stakes, comfortable the rival mare is well enough exposed not to sneak under their guards. Waller has Fangirl in the feature, the seven-year-old having clashed with Pride Of Jenni three times, beating her home… Read More »
Former Willie Mullins-trained galloper Vauban is on his third foray into the Melbourne Spring Carnival and will front up at Caulfield for the first time on Saturday. Vauban had gone straight into the Melbourne Cup in his two previous trips, but after running 11th in last year’s Cup was purchased by Australian Bloodstock and transferred into… Read More »
It is often said that Australian sprinters, in general, are the best in the world and generally that claim goes unchallenged given the combination of their inherent strength on the home front and their notable successes on the international scene. Well, they now have to defend that heavyweight title …… Read More »
It has been a long, at times tortuous climb, but the Robert Heathcote trained Rothfire has finally made it to The Everest race-day — that is to the race-day and not yet to the big race itself. While it is likely he may not reach the summit of that long-held… Read More »
Bankers Choice must pass a Racing Victoria veterinary inspection to take his place in Saturday’s $5 million Sportsbet Caulfield Cup (2400m). All other accepted runners have been cleared to start. Racing Victoria advised on Thursday that the Lindsay Park-trained gelding, who arrived at Flemington shortly before the inspection after travelling… Read More »
Though his jockey career ended earlier than he may have aimed for initially, Nick Keal is enjoying the training ride and having broken through with a tricky mare last start, he is hoping to so it again with She’s Brutal at Ipswich on Friday. While 27-year-old Keal took less than eight weeks… Read More »
While discussions might have taken place about Tentyris running in The Everest, Anthony and Sam Freedman and the Godolphin team did not lose focus on the colt’s Grand Final. The Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes, considered the stallion-making race for sprinting three-year-olds in the spring, is the focus of the… Read More »
Ben Hayes admits he isn’t sure just how good War Machine might be heading into Saturday’s $20 million The Everest — and that’s exactly what excites him most. The Stradbroke winner has been unbeaten since joining the Lindsay Park team and has drawn perfectly in barrier four for the world’s… Read More »
Ole Dancer will bid to replicate what her sire did five years ago by winning a Group 1 during the Caulfield Cup Carnival. Ole Kirk took the Caulfield Guineas in 2020 while his daughter Ole Dancer lines up in the filly’s version on Saturday, the Thousand Guineas (1600m). Ole Dancer… Read More »
The Lindsay Park stable knows what it is like to score in the Caulfield Cup with a longshot. In 2017 when David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig were at the helm, Boom Time took out the race for unheralded jockey Cory Parish. Move to 2025, and Lindsay Park, now… Read More »
The Silver Eagle will be a fork in the road for lightly raced mare Gerringong as connections weigh up several feature race options in the coming weeks. Jockey Tim Clark, who partnered her when runner-up to Manaal in the Golden Pendant last start, said Saturday’s Randwick assignment would be important in determining where… Read More »
Japanese trainer Katsunori Tanaka is hoping to join his father-in-law as the winner of one the ‘three majors’ during the Melbourne Spring Carnival. Tanaka’s father-in-law Yoshito Yahagi prepared Lys Gracieux to win the 2019 Cox Plate, before Tanaka had even taken out a trainer’s licence. Having held that licence now for five years,… Read More »
