Grahame Begg has done his job to prepare Beauty Bolt for the Australasian Oaks, the rest is now up to the filly. Beauty Bolt left Begg’s Caulfield stable on Thursday night for Adelaide where local trainer John Hyam will stable her until Saturday’s Group One Australasian Oaks over 2000m for… Read More »
Trainer John O’Shea can be a hard marker when it comes to horses, but juvenile Newsreader has won him over despite having never raced. The well-named daughter of Press Statement will make her debut in Saturday’s Cellarbrations Handicap (1000m) against a mostly experienced field, headed by city winners Wild Ruler… Read More »
The handicap conditions for a number of winter series races at Flemington have been changed to cater for higher quality horses. With travel restrictions in place and a reduced number of feature races in Queensland during the winter carnival because of the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, all the races… Read More »
Leading Queensland owner Peter Tighe has raced horses valued in the millions of dollars but one of his cheaper investments could steal the limelight at Doomben. Tighe is best known as a part-owner of superstar Winx but over the past 30 years has had dozens of individual winners. He is… Read More »
Friday night’s scheduled Cranbourne meeting has been transferred to Pakenham synthetic due to wet weather. An inspection on Friday morning deemed the Cranbourne track unsuitable for racing after receiving 9mm of rain overnight and a further 5mm on Friday morning. Racing Victoria made the decision to transfer the meeting to… Read More »
Friday’s scheduled meeting at Geelong has been abandoned with wet weather to blame for what is now consecutive days of no afternoon racing in Victoria. Geelong received 4.4mm of rain in the past 24 hours and 21.2mm last 7 days which resulted in surface water before and after winning post… Read More »
Three-year-old Garibaldi heads a strong line-up for premier Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan as he heads towards yet another career peak at Doomben. Gollan has 10 runners at Saturday’s meeting, giving him a great chance to build on his 111 winners for the season. With three months of the season remaining… Read More »
The all-jumps program to open an abbreviated Warrnambool carnival has attracted strong nominations in six races. The May three-day carnival has been shortened this year because of COVID-19 restrictions and opens on Tuesday featuring Australia’s longest race, the Grand Annual Steeplechase. Gold Medals and Zed Em, who have shared the… Read More »
Four-year-old Irish Songs has fulfilled an ambition for Goulburn trainer Kurt Goldman with victory in the Wagga Town Plate. Goldman was confident Irish Songs would win Thursday’s $160,000 Town Plate (1200m), the feature race on the opening day of the annual two-day racing carnival at Wagga Wagga in the NSW… Read More »
He might have underestimated the challenges of relocating to a new state but former South Australian trainer Mark Minervini has no regrets about his move to Newcastle. Having forged a successful 30-year career in Adelaide training horses like Group Two winners Go The Knuckle and Vormista, Minervini had, like many,… Read More »
Off the scene since finishing second to the talented Rubisaki at Flemington last season, three-year-old The Astrologist is poised to make his return to competition at Sandown. The Astrologist did most of his build-up from Tony and Calvin McEvoy’s South Australian base before being sent to their Flemington stable to… Read More »
The next phase of John O’Shea’s stable rebuild is being rolled out in the coming weeks as he targets some of the better off-season races with a progressive group of horses. O’Shea has adopted a slow and steady approach since he relaunched his career as an independent trainer after a… Read More »
Queensland will join a national free-to-air coverage of racing on Network Seven during its winter racing. But negotiations for Sky Channel’s premier station to show Brisbane full-time on free-to-air television have stalled. It means there will be two coverages of the four winter meetings – Sky and Network Seven which… Read More »
Caloundra trainer Stuart Kendrick could reach 900 career winners this weekend with promising filly Uncomplicated leading the way at Doomben. Kendrick recorded his 64th winner for the season and his 897th overall when All To Do won at the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday. He has eight runners at the Sunshine… Read More »
Phillip Stokes will be watching from interstate when Selica strives to give the trainer his third win in the Group One Australasian Oaks at Morphettville. Stokes has long operated an Adelaide stable and won four-straight South Australian state trainers’ premierships. In the past 18 months he has opened a stable… Read More »
The Golden Slipper came too soon for Wild Ruler but the youngster is set to get his chance in Group One company sooner rather than later. Trained by Peter and Paul Snowden, Wild Ruler will resume in Saturday’s Cellarbrations Handicap (1000m) on the Kensington track ahead of a tilt at… Read More »
Trainer Colin Little has always felt Vegas Knight had the potential to win a Derby in Australia. But the chances of Vegas Knight contesting a Derby hinge on his performance at Sandown on Saturday. The South Australian Classic on Saturday week is the final Group One Derby in Australia this… Read More »
Australia’s top sprinter Nature Strip has secured his spot in The Everest and will run for the TAB which has posted him $4 favourite. The four-time Group One winner is trained by Chris Waller and won the TJ Smith at his most recent start. “It’s really exciting to partner with… Read More »
Apprentice Stephanie Thornton has a strong book of rides at Doomben as she chases another career milestone. She is set to join an elite group of apprentice jockeys who have outridden their metropolitan claim. Her win on Just Orm at the Sunshine Coast last Saturday was her 79th at a… Read More »
Dual Group One winner Castelvecchio will not race as a four-year-old with Arrowfield announcing he will join the stallion roster later this year. Arrowfield boss John Messara says the decision to retire Castelvecchio has been made because of the impact of coronavirus on the stud’s plans for the upcoming season…. Read More »
