Grey skies are looming over Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens ahead of the world’s richest race for two-year-old horses, the $3.5 million Golden Slipper. This year’s Slipper has an international flavour with two Japanese hopefuls in the field, while off the track celebrity fashion designer Nicole Richie is preparing to cast her… Read More »
Now that Serenade has scraped into the Golden Slipper field, trainer Mike Moroney expects her to run better than her odds suggest. Serenade, a $101 chance, was first emergency but gained a start in Saturday’s $3.5 million showpiece on race eve when the Clarry Conners-trained Look To The Stars came… Read More »
Four Blue Diamond Stakes wins have not translated to Golden Slipper success for jockey Dwayne Dunn. But the Melbourne-based rider is hoping a Blue Diamond placegetter can be the horse to land him the $3.5 million Slipper at Rosehill to go with his record number of wins in Victoria’s premier… Read More »
A day before he saddles up his first Golden Slipper runner, trainer Nick Olive has sent Without A Shadow out at Goulburn to qualify for the $300,000 Country Championship final. Without A Shadow ($5) beat Just A Blur ($6) in Friday’s heat by three-quarters of a length with both horses… Read More »
Gai Waterhouse sees enough in one Golden Slipper runner to make a comparison with her first winner in the race. And while another Tulloch Lodge filly has come from nowhere to stake a claim at Rosehill on Saturday, Waterhouse is in no doubt unbeaten colt Vancouver deserves to be favourite…. Read More »
David Hayes is convinced his two Golden Slipper runners are being underestimated. But he says the pace of the race the tactics used on the favourite Vancouver from his wide alley, will determine which of the two has the best chance at an upset. “I think the market hasn’t assessed… Read More »
Chris Waller insists he can’t lose in the long term even if it doesn’t work out for Kermadec in the $1 million George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday. Waller will run Kermadec against Australia’s best sprinter-milers at weight-for-age instead of stepping one of the most promising horses in his… Read More »
Dwayne Dunn won the Oakleigh Plate on Shamal Wind but the horse which finished third will carry the jockey’s hopes of another Group One sprint win in The Galaxy. Dunn rides Fast `N’ Rocking at Rosehill on Saturday and has drawn confidence from his Oakleigh Plate performance which he rates… Read More »
Trainer Darren Smith has lodged an appeal against a 15-year disqualification for cobalt-related offences which would effectively end his career. At Friday’s penalty hearing, Smith’s lawyer Paul O’Sullivan said the trainer could not have known in April last year cobalt was a prohibited substance because there was no threshold. Racing… Read More »
Since they ran the quinella in the Kindergarten Stakes, the careers of the winner Hallowed Crown and runner-up Washington Heights have taken much different paths. Hallowed Crown is favourite to claim his third Group One win in Saturday’s Rosehill Guineas while Washington Heights will be out to break his maiden… Read More »
Wendy Kelly will learn a lot more about her promising galloper Fast Cash after he contests the Bendigo Guineas on Saturday. Fast Cash is a winner of two of his seven starts and Kelly said the 1400m Listed race will tell her whether the gelding is purely a sprinter or… Read More »
Kris Lees is certain he has timed Caulfield Cup placegetter Lucia Valentina’s autumn campaign to bring out her best in the Ranvet Stakes. “It was always our intention to have her peaking for her third and fourth run, being the Ranvet and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes,” Lees said. Lucia Valentina… Read More »
Trainer Darren Smith has been hit with a 15-year ban for cobalt offences. Earlier this month, Smith was found guilty of more than 40 charges relating to cobalt found in horses from his stable before a national threshold of 200mcg was introduced this year. Racing NSW stewards handed down the… Read More »
Tony McEvoy has a light muster on Saturday but the trainer is sure he has the right horse for the Golden Mile at Bendigo. Evangelist is McEvoy’s sole representative at Bendigo’s metropolitan meeting. And instead of going to Bendigo, McEvoy will venture to Morphettville where he has three runners. “It’s… Read More »
Racing Queensland stewards hope to open inquiries next week involving five trainers whose horses have been confirmed to have had cobalt levels above the accepted level. Chief steward Alan Reardon has been handed control of the cobalt inquiries after RQ’s integrity officer Wade Birch was stood down pending an unrelated… Read More »
Robert Heathcote’s winter plans have suffered a setback with a career-threatening injury to star sprinter Buffering. While Buffering is out for at least three months, Heathcote is turning his immediate focus to Dream Of Slips. Formerly trained in Victoria, Dream Of Slips has won five of his seven starts for… Read More »
Len Treloar and Jamie McConachy have been named as the two Queensland thoroughbred trainers to have horses return illegal levels of cobalt. However, Racing Queensland has been unable to contact Treloar who is no longer licensed after closing his business in July saying it was not financially viable. Treloar, who… Read More »
A good performance from Press Report in the Sebring Stakes will reinforce her trainer’s decision to change focus with the filly. Last spring, Lee Curtis set her for longer races and Press Report performed well at the highest level without winning. She finished fourth in the Flight Stakes (1600m) won… Read More »
Win or lose, Nick Olive plans to soak up the experience of having a runner in the world’s richest race for two-year-olds. Connections of Single Gaze paid a $150,000 late entry fee to secure the filly a spot in Saturday’s $3.5 million race at Rosehill. And the Canberra trainer is… Read More »
Being a close relation to an English Derby winner is unlikely to count for much when it comes to saving the manhood of first-up Warwick Farm winner Dance Of Heroes. A three-quarter brother to High Chaparral, Dance Of Heroes made a heart-stopping Australian debut for prominent owner Richard Pegum and… Read More »
