Mike Moroney considers this season’s Group One Victoria Derby as one that got away with promising three-year-old Chapada. But the trainer is hoping the gelding can make up for what he describes as “a pretty luckless spring” with a big autumn campaign which begins at Flemington on Saturday in the… Read More »
Godolphin-owned colts Microphone and Lanigera are fighting out favouritism for the Talindert Stakes while Lindsay Park trainer David Hayes believes one of his runners is over the odds for the Listed race. The Talindert Stakes for two-year-olds is run on the straight course over 1100m at Flemington and the James… Read More »
John Sargent is renowned as a trainer of stayers in Australia but his resume with two-year-olds in New Zealand is equally impressive. And he hopes to get the chance to showcase that versatility locally when he starts debutante Crystal Falls in the Pierro Plate (1100m) at Randwick on Saturday. Sargent… Read More »
A regime of water aerobics has veteran Green Empire ready to revive memories of the legendary trainer Bart Cummings at Doomben. Green Empire is one of the last horses still racing originally trained by Cummings who died in 2015. The gelding won two races for Cummings when he trained in… Read More »
Verification of voting on the All Star Mile has indicated the top 10 has not been compromised despite some people submitting more than the allowed one selection. Terms and conditions for voting on the inaugural running of the $5 million All Star Mile at Flemington on March 16 allows for… Read More »
Divine Quality’s near-perfect first-up record has given trainer Robbie Griffiths the confidence to put her up against a crack field in the Group One Lightning Stakes. Griffiths has followed a similar program with the mare to the one he used in the spring when she was an emphatic first-up winner… Read More »
The Robert Heathcote-trained Ingeegoodbe will play a lone hand for Queensland in the longest race on the Doomben program, highlighting the lack of local distance horses. Premier Sydney trainer Chris Waller has three runners, Estikhraaj, Follow Suit and Vaucluse Bay, Newcastle-based Kris Lees has Zip A Dee Doo Dah, Murwillumbah’s… Read More »
Markets suggest Miss Fabulass is the clear pick of Kris Lees’ two runners in the Light Fingers Stakes at Randwick but the in-form trainer isn’t so sure. Lees will saddle up the $2.70 favourite along with El Dorado Dreaming ($14) who enters her second campaign for the Newcastle-based horseman after… Read More »
Beaudesert trainer Diane Murphy believes she will have plenty of options during the winter carnival with former Godolphin horse Astoria who will be spelled after he runs at Doomben. Astoria is one of the best performed horses racing in Queensland having been Group One-placed in the 2017 Victoria Derby and… Read More »
Four-time Cox Plate winner Winx has got through a final tune-up unscathed ahead of her return to racing in the Group Two Apollo Stakes at Randwick on Saturday. Preparing for her final campaign before retirement, the seven-year-old mare gave a glimpse of her trademark speed as she galloped down the… Read More »
Apprentice Kayla Crowther could not have wished for a better introduction to racing at Sandown, riding a double at her first two rides at the city course. Crowther guided $19 outsider Really Discreet to success in the Clanbrooke Racing Plate before hopping aboard $1.65 favourite Terbium to win the Le… Read More »
Greg Eurell admits lightly raced O’Tauto still has plenty to learn but the trainer hopes the talented gelding can put it all together quickly enough to emerge as an Australian Guineas chance. Winner of two of his four starts with another two seconds, O’Tauto steps up in class in Saturday’s… Read More »
As stable big guns Graff and In Her Time prepare to clash in the Group One Lightning Stakes in Melbourne, Kris Lees is taking a softer approach with capable sprinter Invincible Gem. The mare resumes in the Group Three Triscay Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on Saturday in search of her… Read More »
Hugh Bowman insists Deep Chill is a two-year-old certain to make a name for himself but the champion jockey doubts it will be in the Golden Slipper. And trainer David Payne agrees despite Deep Chill producing a late finish to win the Sledmere Stud Plate over an unsuitable 1200m at… Read More »
They train Winx’s unraced baby sister Courchevel, but family links will mean little at Randwick on Saturday when Ciaron Maher and David Eustace saddle up Aloisia against the champion. Eustace can’t recall the stable having had a runner against Winx before and has mixed feelings about Aloisia becoming the first… Read More »
Trainer Danny O’Brien expects to learn a lot more about the autumn prospects of My Pendant when the up-and-coming filly is tested at stakes level for the first time in The Vanity at Flemington. My Pendant has risen through the grades with three straight wins during the late spring and… Read More »
After considering his options with Group One-winning colt Written By, trainer Grahame Begg has decided to start the sprinter in the Lightning Stakes at Flemington rather than wait another week for the Oakleigh Plate. Begg had originally indicated the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) was the planned target for Written By who… Read More »
Smart filly Vincere Volare can ease the pressure to qualify for the big Sydney autumn races by winning the Qld Chinese Jockey Club 2YO Plate at Doomben. Trainer Tony Gollan resisted the temptation to take the filly to Sydney for the $2 million Inglis Millennium last Saturday and instead set… Read More »
Champion Winx has seven rivals as she tries to build on her winning streak in the Apollo Stakes at Randwick. A winner of 29 races on end, Winx last raced when she won a fourth straight Cox Plate at Moonee Valley last October. Winx has drawn barrier three in the… Read More »
Top Brisbane jockey Jim Byrne will have a better idea of how long he will be sidelined with a shoulder injury next week. Byrne underwent an operation on a shoulder last Wednesday and has been at home recuperating since. He injured his shoulder in a track work fall last month… Read More »
