The rider arguably closest to More Joyous is adamant the outstanding mare has an edge over Pierro despite her younger stablemate attracting most pre-post support for the Canterbury Stakes. Her trackwork partner Steve O’Halloran says More Joyous’ record as a proven weight-for-age racehorse makes her an obvious pick in the… Read More »
A host of Golden Slipper contenders will press their claims in lead-up races at Rosehill on Saturday but several others kept their campaigns ticking over in barrier trials on Friday. Peter Snowden and Gai Waterhouse, the trainers of the past two Slipper winners, sent two of their chances out at… Read More »
The spring carnival was one to forget for Speediness but his autumn campaign is being approached with greater expectation. Speediness resumes in the Listed Thoroughbred Club Cup (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday a bigger version of the horse that was never quite right during a disappointing three-start spring preparation. Colin… Read More »
Ranvet Stakes favourite Fiveandahalfstar will go where few latter-day three-year-olds have dared in the weight-for-age race at Rosehill on Saturday. The horse who left Sydney racing as a restricted grade winner in the spring returns as the top betting pick in a Group One event in which it has been… Read More »
Most of the excuses trainer Tony Vasil had made on behalf of the enigmatic galloper Under The Eiffel were justified by the gelding’s breakthrough stakes win in the George Adams Stakes at Launceston last month. Vasil is hoping the rest of them can be put to rest at Caulfield on… Read More »
Stable foreman James Cummings has identified dangers from more than one angle as Norzita tries to complete a rare double for a three-year-old filly in the $600,000 Coolmore Classic. Assistant to his legendary grandfather Bart, Cummings says the race’s recent history, worthy opposition from the older brigade and the inclusion… Read More »
She’s cranky and a creature of habit, but according to the man who knows her best, that’s what makes Secret Garden such a fierce competitor, . Understanding Secret Garden’s habits and working with, rather than against, the mare has enabled Paul Nolan jnr to extract the best out of her… Read More »
Ric McMahon will have a half kilogram buffer if he needs it after dieting to get to lightweight chance Risk Aversion’s 52kg in the Coolmore Classic. Stewards have granted permission for McMahon to ride the mare at 52.5kg if required and extended the same liberty to Dwayne Dunn if he… Read More »
Gai Waterhouse believes the battle between Overreach and Villa Verde on Saturday will be as good as the match-up between her stable stars More Joyous and Pierro. And Tommy Berry, who’ll ride the reigning Golden Slipper favourite Overreach in Saturday’s Reisling Stakes (1200m), is confident his mount will come out… Read More »
With three runners in Sunday’s $60,000 Wellington Boot, Wagga Wagga trainer Trevor Sutherland holds an undeniable hand in the two-year-old feature. Sutherland will saddle up Power Alert (John Kissick), Supreme Lyne (Michael Travers) and Our True Matriarch (Anthony Cavallo) in the 33rd running of the event. Sutherland has enjoyed previous… Read More »
Chris Waller has an inkling the form surrounding the least fancied of his three Ranvet Stakes runners might be the best guide to the outcome of the $400,000 weight-for-age race at Rosehill on Saturday. Waller expects Kelinni and Gatewood to turn in the right BMW trials but it is Foreteller,… Read More »
Jeff Lloyd’s riding career is in doubt but his fitness appears to have saved him from serious disability following a stroke. Lloyd’s wife Nicola said the popular jockey had been moved from intensive care to a neurological ward in the Gold Coast hospital he has been in since last Friday…. Read More »
Star hurdler Black And Bent takes an important step on his road back to jumps racing when he returns from injury in a flat race at Caulfield on Saturday. Trainer Robert Smerdon said the next six weeks would be telling for Black And Bent as it was important to see… Read More »
Trainer Anthony Cummings hasn’t given up on blue blood filly Scandiva making an unlikely run towards the Golden Slipper. Scandiva, with links to Black Caviar and All Too Hard, became the latest winner from Australian breeding’s hottest family, with a decisive victory in the Emerald Hills Estate Plate (1100m) at… Read More »
Two fillies head betting for the Golden Slipper but trainer David Hayes is confident his colt Fast `N’ Rocking can emerge as a serious contender after Saturday’s Todman Stakes. Hayes believes the Blue Diamond runner-up is peaking at the right time to be a major player in the Golden Slipper… Read More »
The decision to bypass the Magic Millions carnival with Doubtfilly wasn’t an easy one for trainer Stuart Kendrick. But the physical development the daughter of Not A Single Doubt has made since her last campaign has convinced him it was the right one. “Between her autumn and spring campaigns last… Read More »
He might have been up against opposition described as modest at best but imported stayer Hathras kept alive his chances of running in the richest weight-for-age race of the Sydney autumn carnival with a runaway Warwick Farm win on Thursday. Taking on three rivals over 2200m, Hathras made a one-act… Read More »
Tommy Berry clearly remembers Black Caviar thundering past him and his favourite filly Karuta Queen in a race at Caulfield 17 months ago. The young Sydney jockey reunites with Karuta Queen for the first time in a year in Friday night’s Group One William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley. And… Read More »
John O’Shea is clinging to a stand-out statistic in Steps In Time’s racing record to help her deliver what he believes would be an against-the-odds Coolmore Classic win at Rosehill on Saturday. Angered by the handicapper’s treatment of the mare, the Randwick trainer says Steps In Time has “weights and… Read More »
Melbourne racing is facing a major upheaval following the announcement by a local council that it intends to kick all trainers off Caulfield racecourse. The Glen Eira council announced its intention in a position paper adopted at a meeting on Tuesday. The council claims regulations concerning the use of the… Read More »
