All-weather track racing will return to the Sunshine Coast with a $7 million replacement of its synthetic track. The Caloundra complex now caters for 400 horses and two of the state’s top five trainers are based there. The current synthetic track is 12 years old and is in urgent need… Read More »
An impressive trial has indicated smart mare Outback Barbie can start another big summer carnival with a win in the Listed Keith Noud Quality at Doomben. Trainer Tony Gollan has dominated Brisbane summer carnivals in the past 10 years, winning 24 feature sprint races. He is growing in confidence he… Read More »
A true blue Aussie win may help reignite enthusiasm for the Melbourne Cup after crowd numbers fell again amid a Taylor Swift scratching, animal cruelty allegations and interstate rivalry. The Australian-bred, owned, trained and ridden Vow And Declare repelled the international invasion to deliver an all-Australian Melbourne Cup victory. The… Read More »
Santa Ana Lane will have eight rivals in his attempt to win the Group One Darley Sprint Classic at Flemington for the second straight year. Trained by Anthony Freedman, multiple Group One winner Santa Ana Lane has drawn barrier five for Saturday’s $2 million weight-for-age VRC Sprint Classic over the… Read More »
Well-bred sprinter Tanker is the favourite in opening markets for the inaugural $1 million Golden Gift which has a field of 14 two-year-olds. By dual Group One-winning stallion Pride Of Dubai, Tanker out of Listed winner Calcatta, is one of three runners for trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace in… Read More »
Irish mare Magic Wand is an acceptor for the Group One Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington after her midfield finish in the Melbourne Cup. The Aidan O’Brien-trained Magic Wand finished 10th of the 24 runners in Tuesday’s $8 million Melbourne Cup over 3200m and connections have paid up for the six-time… Read More »
A north Queensland apprentice jockey has been suspended for six months for failing a breath test at trackwork. Queensland Racing Integrity Commission officers conducted a snap check on riders at Cairns on October 30 and found Amanda Thomson to be in excess of the permitted threshold of .02. Thomson’s licence… Read More »
Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare will spend time at trainer Danny O’Brien’s coastal property while his path to a Cup defence is mapped out. Vow And Declare won Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup and the morning after the gelding was posing for media along with his trainer at O’Brien’s Flemington stable…. Read More »
The former doyen of the Brisbane bookmakers ring Jack Kelleher has died aged 89 after a short illness. Kelleher was the longest serving metropolitan bookmaker in Brisbane, plying his trade for about 52 years before retiring about a decade ago. He was originally a miner who came to Brisbane in… Read More »
Trainer Danny O’Brien has vowed that Vow And Declare will be an even better racehorse next year when he defends his Melbourne Cup title. The Australian-bred, owned, trained and ridden Vow And Declare repelled the international invasion to deliver an all-Australian Melbourne Cup victory and a slice of history for… Read More »
A video posted by Vow And Declare’s trainer and now a Melbourne Cup winner Danny O’Brien after the Caulfield Cup has showed Craig Williams basically give use the Melbourne Cup winner weeks ago. The video shared by Danny O’Brien recorded Melbourne Cup winning jockey Craig Williams discuss Vow And Declare’s… Read More »
Trainer Danny O’Brien has vowed to bring Vow And Declare back to defend the Melbourne Cup title next year. The Australian-bred, owned, trained and ridden Vow And Declare repelled the international invasion to deliver an all-Australian Melbourne Cup victory and a slice of history for jockey Craig Williams. O’Brien and… Read More »
The travelling foreman for champion trainer Aidan O’Brien says the stable will be back for another attempt to win the Melbourne Cup. O’Brien had his first runners in the Melbourne Cup in 2008 but it has only been in recent years he has made a concerted effort to win Australia’s… Read More »
Former NSW MP Geoff Corrigan compares winning a Melbourne Cup to waiting for a knife-edge election result. “It’s just like waiting for a vote to come in on election day,” the remarkably calm part-owner said shortly after winning the $8 million Melbourne Cup. “I was in a very close margin… Read More »
Jockey William Buick believes a slow start has played against Cross Counter who has finished eighth in his defence of the Melbourne Cup at Flemington. Only four horses in the Melbourne Cup’s history have won back-to-back, with champion Makybe Diva the most recent with her three-straight successes from 2003 to… Read More »
Family members have watched on with pride as Craig Williams claimed the Melbourne Cup to complete a career ‘grand slam’ in Australian racing. Williams famously missed the winning Melbourne Cup ride on Dunaden in 2011 because of suspension, having already ridden the winners of the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate… Read More »
The Melbourne Cup favourite has won 34 times in the race’s 159-year history. But the Chris Waller-trained Finche finished seventh this year, leaving punters who backed the Melbourne Cup favourite without a winner since Fiorente in 2013. HOW THE MELBOURNE CUP FAVOURITES HAVE FARED THIS CENTURY 2019 – Finche ($8)… Read More »
Winx part-owner Peter Tighe could not add a Melbourne Cup to his trophy cabinet but he was proud of the effort by Finche and already making plans to try again next year. Tighe shares in the ownership of Finche with a number of long-time stable clients of trainer Chris Waller,… Read More »
Jockey Michael Walker admitted he was devastated he couldn’t win the Melbourne Cup for his family. Third across the line, Prince Of Arran was elevated to second behind Vow And Declare after a stewards’ protest. As Walker was leaving home for Tuesday’s meeting, he promised his daughter Layla that he… Read More »
The number of people attending the Melbourne Cup has dipped again, for the fourth year in a row. There were 81,408 racegoers at Flemington Racecourse on Tuesday to watch the Australian-bred, trained, ridden and owned Vow And Declare win the Melbourne Cup. That was down slightly from last year’s rain-affected… Read More »
