The Queensland Oaks has been turned on its head with the scratching of favourite Fireburn. Gary Portelli is taking the scratching of Queensland Oaks favourite Fireburn on the chin, despite his bitter disappointment at the filly’s withdrawal from the Group 1 race. The 2022 Golden Slipper winner was ruled out on Thursday… Read More »
Trainer Matt Smith’s hopes of taking Esti Feny to Queensland for the rich Q22 have been all but dashed by a setback, but he is hoping to at least get the horse’s campaign back up and running at Rosehill. The Hungarian-bred gelding broke through for his first Australian win in the… Read More »
Trainer Matt Laurie concedes the career of Ranveer is likely to be ‘another one of those stories’, the one of a promising horse that did not quite reach his potential. But Laurie has not given up hope of Ranveer reaching a higher grade than the VRC & GFA Partnership Sprint (1100m), a benchmark 70 race the gelding runs in at… Read More »
The first week of winter is possibly not the time to see a two-year-old starting his campaign that could shape their spring. Normally the two-year-olds with spring aspirations are in Brisbane before a short break in the winter sun or just about to return to work after an autumn carnival campaign. For Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young,… Read More »
Adam Hyeronimus will return to Saturday metropolitan racing for the first time in more than two-and-a-half years when he heads to Rosehill for six rides. The Group 1-winning jockey hasn’t ridden in town since September 2020 after being banned over betting offences. Returning to trackwork in December, his comeback was delayed… Read More »
As a Golden Slipper winner, Fireburn has already achieved more than most horses. As an eight-time Group 1-winning trainer, Gary Portelli is even more accomplished. But there would be few more satisfying achievements for the Warwick Farm horseman than winning Saturday’s Queensland Oaks (2200m) with his 2022 Golden Slipper winner. Not only… Read More »
Katherine Coleman is on the cusp of her ‘dream come true’ as she sets to join Peter Moody as a co-trainer for the upcoming racing season starting August 1. The official announcement of this partnership has been eagerly anticipated, with all eyes on the necessary clearances from Racing Victoria. The… Read More »
Regally bred colt Piercing Arrow has continued Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s outstanding run with two-year-olds this season, posting an impressive debut win at Warwick Farm to earn a spring carnival tilt. By super sire I Am Invincible out of Listed winner Silently, Piercing Arrow fetched $1 million as a Magic Millions… Read More »
It is a training method more commonly used in Europe, but Annabel Neasham has no qualms extending Spirit Ridge to 2400-metres second-up in the Listed Winter Cup at Rosehill. The seasoned campaigner resumed with a solid sixth to stablemate Bois D’Argent in the Lord Mayor’s Cup (2000m) and steps straight up to a… Read More »
Party For One will not have everything in her favour as she did when breaking through recently for a long overdue at Flemington. After registering one win for Joe Pride in Sydney from 16 starts, Party For One was sent to Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr in March and finally landed her second career win when successful… Read More »
Three horse races are never easy to win as Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young found out with Acierto at Mornington. After scratchings reduced the Vic By The Jug Handicap (1500m) from six horses to three on Wednesday, it was considered a two-horse race between the $1.60 favourite Unowho and Acierto ($2.90) with Delure ($7) the outsider of the trip. Delure, ridden by Craig Newitt, was able… Read More »
Superbly bred filly Miracle Of Love has moved a step closer to a start in the Group 1 JJ Atkins Stakes with a narrow but important victory at Doomben. By Dundeel out of 2006 Golden Slipper winner Miss Finland, Miracle Of Love’s victory in Wednesday’s 1350m maiden took her prizemoney… Read More »
Star New Zealand apprentice Wiremu Pinn has landed his first winner on Australian soil guiding Mystery Moment to victory at Mornington. Pinn arrived in Melbourne last week where he is on loan to Cranbourne-based trained Michael Kent. After an unsuccessful day at Sandown on Saturday that netted the apprentice two seconds from six… Read More »
Bjorn Baker might be enjoying the friendly rivalry with two of his fellow Warwick Farm trainers but come start time in the Queensland Oaks, there will be no love lost. The south-western Sydney track is home to the top three fillies in betting for Saturday’s Group 1 staying contest – the… Read More »
The Victorian breeding industry is mourning the loss of Trust In A Gust, the dual Group 1 winner. Glen Eden Stud confirmed the passing of the cherished stallion on Tuesday. Trust In A Gust, celebrated for his ten wins and earning over $1 million in prize money, was most renowned… Read More »
Trainer David Vandyke has tasted success at the highest level, but a mere Maiden win at Doomben on Wednesday … should it arrive in the third race on the card … could be quite an emotional result in its own right for the stable. Don’t expect that emotion to be… Read More »
City Of Lights, the half-sister to the esteemed four-time Cox Plate champion Winx, is poised to make her debut at Geelong this Sunday. The filly, born from Winx’s dam Vegas Showgirl and the extraordinary Japanese sire, Deep Impact, was originally scheduled to run at Cranbourne last Friday. However, trainers Anthony… Read More »
There’s nerves and apprehension, but you can’t dampen the excitement for young trainer, Kieran Regan ahead of Belmont’s meeting on Saturday. The hobby horseman is set to fulfil a dream and saddle up his first black-type runner when Tin Chooks tackles the Listed Raconteur Stakes (1400m). “I’ve never had anything in… Read More »
Gai Waterhouse has paid tribute to the horse who provided her with her biggest thrill in racing following the death of Fiorente. Widden Stud announced late on Tuesday afternoon that the 2013 Melbourne Cup winner had died at the age of 15 after ‘battling an ongoing chronic illness’. “I was deeply… Read More »
Trainer John Sargent is expecting So Dazzling to turn around her form when she returns to Brisbane for the Queensland Oaks. So Dazzling produced a less than flattering performance when finishing in the second half of the field in the Group 3 Rough Habit Plate (2000m) at Doomben on May 13. That effort followed a one-and-three-quarter length… Read More »
