Red Verdon will undergo a veterinary examination before final acceptances for the Melbourne Cup 2018 after missing a trackwork session at Werribee with a bruised heel. Racing Victoria stewards said in a statement the bruising was detected before Red Verdon was supposed to gallop on Thursday morning. It resulted in… Read More »
Encryption has at least one thing over his rivals as he prepares for the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes. As the winner of the Group Two Danehill Stakes in September, the Godolphin-owned colt is the only horse in Saturday’s field of 10 three-year-olds to have won on the straight course… Read More »
EMPIRE ROSE STAKES * The Empire Rose Stakes is a Group One, $500,000 weight-for-age race * It is run at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse over 1600m by fillies and mares only HISTORY * Formerly known as the Myer Classic, the race is named after champion mare Empire Rose who completed the… Read More »
Mornington-based Shane Nichols is looking forward to I Am A Star’s attempt at creating another piece of history in the Group One Empire Rose Stakes. I Am A Star became the first three-year-old to win the Group One race restricted to fillies and mares and two years later is aiming… Read More »
Long Leaf’s family features a host of classy sprinters and connections of the talented colt believe a decision to save him for the stallion-making Coolmore Stud Stakes can be rewarded at Flemington. “We’ve come to the conclusion we think he’s a really good fresh sprinter,” co-trainer Ben Hayes said. Long… Read More »
Sydney trainer Mark Newnham has every reason to approach the Melbourne Cup carnival with confidence, having hand-picked three horses he believes are going to be suited by the spacious Flemington track. Newnham recently trained his first Group One winner when Maid Of Heaven beat Victoria Derby contender Aramayo to win… Read More »
Unraced two-year-olds are largely unknown quantities but Stuart Kendrick should have a deeper knowledge than most of his first starters at Doomben. The trainer, who runs Embattled in the juvenile colts and geldings race and Cabochon Lil in the fillies division, has links to the respective families of both. He… Read More »
Danny Williams has a very good stable of gallopers but will make a rare venture to Melbourne and Flemington for Derby Day this weekend where he will saddle up and cheer on stable pin up horse She Knows in the Furphy Sprint (1100m). The daughter of Denman has been a… Read More »
If there are any chinks in the armour of the leading Victoria Derby fancies, trainer John Sargent is confident Geelong Classic winner Home Ground will have the staying capacity to capitalise. Sargent is no stranger to Victoria Derby day success at Flemington having won the traditional VRC Oaks lead-up, the… Read More »
Victory by Farooq in the Victoria Derby will be a family first for the McEvoys. The three-year-old will be ridden by Kerrin McEvoy in Saturday’s Group One race at Flemington with the colt trained by his uncle Tony. Both are maidens in the blue riband event and the younger McEvoy… Read More »
The Rosehill meeting will take a back seat to the rich Derby day program at Flemington but Sydney punters might be offered an early 2019 Golden Slipper insight. Having won the world’s richest two-year-old race last year with She Will Reign, trainer Gary Portelli is setting his sights on a… Read More »
Frankie Dettori believes Enable is primed to defy history and become the first Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner to follow up with victory at the Breeders’ Cup meeting. The four-year-old dual Arc winner runs in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs in Kentucky on Saturday (Sunday AEDT). Enable… Read More »
The injuries have continued for International Melbourne Cup contenders with another key runner under an injury cloud which could see him miss Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup. The Ed Dunlop trained Red Verdon is set to miss the 2018 Melbourne Cup after the horse has spread a Plate and his near side foreleg… Read More »
English stayer Duretto has been ruled out of the Melbourne Cup with a stress fracture to his left foreleg. The Andrew Balding-trained Duretto was lame after trackwork on Saturday and has undergone a wide range of veterinary tests. The fracture was detected on Wednesday after a bone scan a day… Read More »
Dean Yendall is in the box-seat to win a third-consecutive Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington with the ride on Thousand Guineas winner Amphitrite. A prolific winner across Victoria for a number of years, Yendall has become a go-to jockey for lightweight chances in big races. He won the Empire Rose… Read More »
English jockey Jim Crowley has his eye in ahead of a Melbourne Cup assignment, claiming a winning double at Bendigo with his first two rides in Australia. Crowley will ride the John Gosden-trained Muntahaa in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup at Flemington. Muntahaa races in the blue and white colours of Sheikh… Read More »
Outsider Red Alto has scored a fighting local victory, defying Melbourne Cup hopefuls to win the Bendigo Cup. Potential Cup runners Dal Harraild, Sir Charles Road and Lord Fandango were held at bay in the 2400m race by the Brent Stanley-trained stayer. Trained at nearby Sutton Grange, Red Alto ($71)… Read More »
Queensland provincial racing will be the biggest beneficiary from the immediate injection of $18 million for prize money from the state government. The government and stake holders reached an agreement last week after a united racing industry withheld its services from the Doomben meeting coinciding with the Cox Plate fixture… Read More »
Being an expensive yearling brings with it racetrack expectation. And high-priced colt Diplomatico has earned his opportunity on the big stage to deliver a Group One win in the Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington on Saturday. The Coolmore for three-year-olds on the Victoria Derby program has developed into an important… Read More »
It will be a case of swings and roundabouts if the Gerald Ryan-trained Red Excitement can break a winning drought at his home track of Rosehill on Saturday. The nine-year-old, who ran Winx to a length when second to the champion in last year’s Chelmsford Stakes, hasn’t won a race… Read More »
