Gai Waterhouse has as much confidence about Hampton Court in the Victoria Derby as she did about Fiorente winning last year’s Melbourne Cup. Fiorente gave Waterhouse her first Melbourne Cup win and the trainer can not see Hampton Court being beaten in Saturday’s $1.5 million Victoria Derby. “Having Hampton Court… Read More »
After giving her camp a scare late last week, My Ambivalent has been cleared to run in the Melbourne Cup. Racing Victoria’s chief veterinarian Dr Brian Stewart inspected the mare following a light canter at Werribee on Tuesday morning. Trainer Roger Varian’s travelling foreman David Eustace said the mare had… Read More »
Gai Waterhouse’s hopes of back-to-back Melbourne Cups are over with The Offer out of this year’s race. Waterhouse won her first Melbourne Cup with Fiorente in 2013 and The Offer had been the early favourite this year after winning the Sydney Cup in the autumn. Racing Victoria stewards confirmed on… Read More »
If Lord Van Percy can win the Lexus Stakes and force his way into the Melbourne Cup field, internationally-trained horses will account for half the runners in Australia’s most famous race. Of the 12 overseas horses among the latest declarations taken on Monday, the Andrew Balding-trained Lord Van Percy is… Read More »
Irish sprinter Slade Power will get his first look at the Flemington straight course in a jump-out on Tuesday. Slade Power, a Group One winner at his past two starts in England, is in Melbourne to tackle Australia’s best sprinters in the Darley Classic at Flemington on November 8. The… Read More »
Criterion will get another chance to claim a Group One win this spring with the four-year-old to run in the Mackinnon Stakes ahead of a likely trip to Hong Kong. A dual Group One winner of the Rosehill Guineas and the Australian Derby, Criterion pulled up so well after his… Read More »
A Brazilian riding in Hong Kong and a New Zealand horse owned by an Australian training in Singapore could be the recipe for success in the Victoria Derby. With the first two major races of the Melbourne spring carnival falling to international gallopers Admire Rakti in the Caulfield Cup and… Read More »
A virus has put an end to Dear Demi’s spring campaign but her trainer Clarry Conners is still hoping John Singleton’s colours can feature in the Group One winner’s stall. Yesterjoy will run in Saturday’s Wakeful Stakes as a prelude to a start in the VRC Oaks which Dear Demi… Read More »
Kerrin McEvoy got his big break when Brew provided the then apprentice with the 2000 Melbourne Cup. McEvoy, who went on to ride successfully in Europe for Godolphin, caught up with 20-year-old Brew at the Melbourne Cup launch on Monday and said he owed it all to that horse. Move… Read More »
Chad Schofield has been cleared of any serious damage to his neck after a fall at Moonee Valley, leaving him free to ride during the Melbourne Cup carnival. One of his leading Group One contenders, Go Indy Go, also emerged a bit sore from Saturday’s meeting but trainer Leon Macdonald… Read More »
Queensland Derby winner Sonntag has made a triumphant return with a barnstorming win in the Sale Cup. Trainer Henry Dwyer resisted the temptation to target the gelding at the big spring features, preferring not to rush him so soon after his autumn/winter campaign which ended with his Derby win in… Read More »
Gerald Ryan already rates Rubick up with Snitzel as the best colt he has trained and the three-year-old gets his chance to fulfil his Group One destiny in the Coolmore Stud Stakes. Rubick’s only defeat in four starts has been his fourth in the Blue Diamond Stakes won by Earthquake… Read More »
The Melbourne Cup is off the agenda for New Zealand mare Silent Achiever. The six-year-old multiple Group One winner turned in her best run of the spring, and one her trainer Roger James rates as one of the best of her career, when a close third in Saturday’s $3 million… Read More »
Tony McEvoy will wait until he sees the Melbourne Cup second acceptances before deciding which race Big Memory contests at Flemington on Saturday. If Big Memory looks like missing out on a Cup start when the next declarations are taken on Monday he will contest the Group Two Lexus Stakes… Read More »
Hampton Court remains favourite to give Gai Waterhouse her second Victoria Derby but rival trainer Gerald Ryan has seen nothing to shake his confidence about Bachman. Waterhouse won the 1995 Derby with Nothin’ Leica Dane, the sire of Bachman’s dam Ain’t Seen Nothin’. Bachman is by Group One winner All… Read More »
A stiff and sorry Buffering is being carefully monitored after being battered in a rough Manikato Stakes. Brisbane’s star sprinter finished seventh in a blanket finish in Friday night’s Manikato won by Lankan Rupee but came off the worse for wear when he did not get to the lead as… Read More »
Jockey Michelle Payne will appeal a 20-meeting suspension for her winning ride on Prince Of Penzance in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup. Payne was found guilty of careless riding near the 400m which caused Chad Schofield to be dislodged from Albonetti. Stewards said Payne allowed Prince Of Penzance to improve… Read More »
English trainer Andrew Balding is keeping his options open about Side Glance defending his Mackinnon Stakes crown after the well-travelled gelding’s fourth in the Cox Plate. Side Glance won the Group One Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington a week after finishing sixth in the Cox Plate last year. “We’re going to… Read More »
Roger James has been adamant Silent Achiever was going better than her spring form suggested and the mare didn’t let him down with a gallant Cox Plate placing. With Hong Kong-based Nash Rawiller back in the saddle for the first time since the autumn, the New Zealand mare bounced back… Read More »
An Irish horse who is about to become an Australian has claimed a breathtaking win in the $3 million Cox Plate. His win follows that of Japanese horse Admire Rakti in the Caulfield Cup, underscoring the quality of the international visitors. Adelaide came to Moonee Valley on Saturday for the… Read More »
