Trainer Desleigh Forster is looking forward to seeing up-and-coming gallopers I’m Hector and I’m Belucci on a big track for the first time at the Sunshine Coast. Forster has a big opinion of both horses but admits she won’t know exactly where to head with them until she sees how… Read More »
CANTERBURY STAKES HISTORY * Weight-for-age sprint race first run in 1929, won by Amounis * Run at Canterbury racetrack for many years before a switch to Rosehill * Held at Randwick for the first time in 2014 * Carried Group Two status from 1979 until 2012 before elevated to Group… Read More »
Chris Waller’s resolute faith in his best horses to win the races their talent deserves is being tested once more with popular racemare Catkins. Catkins is adored because she is a grey racehorse with an uncompromising attitude that has delivered a bundle of important wins without claiming a Group One… Read More »
A wide barrier has prompted Gary Portelli to scratch Testashadow from the Australian Guineas on Saturday. Portelli only decided to accept for the Flemington feature following Testashadow’s work on Tuesday morning but he was flattened by the draw in gate 16. “I thought we were on track after his work… Read More »
A decision to cut the corner proved a masterstroke for Mark Du Plessis as he guided Rock Diva to victory in the Auckland Cup. Rock Diva started favourite for the 3200m Group One contest at Ellerslie but jumped badly from her wide draw and settled last in the running. The… Read More »
Premier trainer Tony Gollan notched his 50th metropolitan win of the season as he continued to plunder midweek maidens at Ipswich on Wednesday. Gollan is on track to break Bruce McLachlan’s Brisbane training record of 78 city wins in a racing term, a mark McLachlan set in 1987-88. Since February… Read More »
Apprentice Jackie Beriman was back in the winner’s circle at Sandown on Wednesday just days after celebrating a Group One win in a different role at Caulfield. Beriman was victorious aboard the Peter Moody-trained Wild Fire in the National Apprentice Riders Race (1200m), which featured junior riders from around the… Read More »
A year after a serious injury ended Unequivocal’s shot at the Golden Slipper, trainer Noel Mayfield-Smith has the filly ready to make up for lost time. In her first start since an abbreviated spring and summer campaign, Unequivocal will go out as one of the chances in a $100,000 Provincial… Read More »
Her dam is a Golden Slipper winner and Stay With Me could be given the chance to emulate that feat pending her performance in a lead-up race at Randwick. Trainer David Hayes captured the 2006 Golden Slipper with Miss Finland and he is hoping her daughter Stay With Me can… Read More »
Three horses who broke their maidens in separate races at Sandown on Wednesday are set to be aimed at Group One races interstate. The connections of Bikila, Black Velveteen and Redasun all harbour loftier ambitions for their respective charges following impressive midweek victories. The Pat Carey-trained Bikila holds a nomination… Read More »
Clarry Conners has made his name as a master educator of young racehorses but the veteran trainer had to acknowledge the input of the jockey after Look To The Stars’ first win on Wednesday. Conners, who has trained four Golden Slipper winners and is rarely without an above-average two-year-old, confessed… Read More »
Disappointment quickly turned to optimism for Craig Williams when he picked up the Australian Guineas ride on Minnesinger after a minor injury ruled his original mount Disposition out of the $500,000 race. Group One plans for Disposition had to be shelved after he slipped over at the stables of trainer… Read More »
Toowoomba two-year-old Dream Finnish has given her late sire Captain Sonador his first metropolitan winner with an all-the-way victory at Ipswich on Wednesday. Captain Sonador took out the 2010 Group One Epsom Handicap before he was retired to stand at Raheen Stud on the Darling Downs where he served about… Read More »
Michael Moroney had his wish granted when Merion snuck into the final field for the Group One Australian Guineas on Saturday. The trainer feared that Merion, who was 20th in the ballot order, would miss out on a start in the 1600-metre race at Flemington. As a back-up, Moroney nominated… Read More »
An attribute that his jockey says was missing in a lead-up race holds the key to Scissor Kick regaining his place as a benchmark three-year-old in the Randwick Guineas on Saturday. Scissor Kick was overshadowed by the first four horses across the line in the Hobartville Stakes and while it… Read More »
Hong Kong-based Brett Prebble has picked up the ride on the Gai Waterhouse-trained Wandjina in Saturday’s Group One Australian Guineas at Flemington. Prebble replaces Damien Oliver after he failed in his appeal against a careless riding suspension. A field of 16 plus one emergency has accepted for the Australian Guineas… Read More »
A field of eight has been declared for the $600,000 Randwick Guineas, the first leg of a Sydney autumn triple crown series for three-year-olds. It will be the smallest Guineas field since the race’s inception in 2006 but it includes Hallowed Crown and Shooting To Win, Group One winners rated… Read More »
Just five runners will line up in Saturday’s Todman Stakes at Randwick racecourse. Although a small field it will be a key Golden Slipper form race with Headwater, Vancouver and Frunaces going head to head in the race. View the Todman Stakes Field More: Todman Stks – 5… Read More »
It was only six years ago Sam Twiston-Davies needed his headmaster’s permission to miss school so he could ride Irish Raptor in the Kim Muir at the Cheltenham Festival. Now he finds himself in one of the hottest positions in British racing as stable jockey to champion jumps trainer Paul… Read More »
Trainer Darren Smith has become the first person convicted of cobalt offences with NSW stewards finding him guilty of more than 40 charges. Smith’s defence that there was no threshold in place at the time his horses tested positive was rejected by the Racing NSW panel which relied on rules… Read More »
