The Australian Wagering Council says Racing Victoria’s changes to its race fields fees will send more punters to bet with illegal offshore bookmakers. The AWC, which represents Australia’s biggest online bookmakers, released a statement denouncing RV’s new race fields fee framework on Friday. AWC members will pay 30 per cent… Read More »
A pre-race incident looked as if it would cost trainer John O’Shea his first stakes win for Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley operation but Cameo stepped up to the plate to win the Scone Cup. Just hours before Friday’s race, Darley’s other runner Wistful, the $4.80 favourite, was scratched after arriving at… Read More »
Chris Hyland once thought he would have to tell Pantuo’s owners the horse was a dud but now he has Group One hopes for the three-year-old. Pantuo failed to impress Hyland on the training track and in trials before he scored a shock debut win at Sale. A son of… Read More »
Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome is shining even brighter as he heads into the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of US flat racing’s elusive Triple Crown. “I think he loves it,” assistant trainer Alan Sherman said of the adulation the chestnut colt has received since arriving this week at the… Read More »
Experienced administrator Ian Mackay has resigned his role as chief executive of The Championships, the two-day centrepiece of the Sydney autumn racing carnival held for the first time this year. Mackay will step down next month to take over at the helm of the Canberra Southern Cross Club. Racing NSW… Read More »
Robert Thompson has been described as an ornament to racing by Racing NSW chairman John Messara at a special presentation to the jockey at Scone to recognise his 4000th winner. Messara made the presentation on behalf of the industry while the chairman of Scone Race Club, Noel Leckie, made another… Read More »
Scone Race Club chairman Noel Leckie was the driving force behind fine-tuning the $100,000 Inglis Challenge for two-year-olds and shared in the spoils when Voodoo Lad scored an impressive win. Friday’s victory also gave trainer Rod Northam his third win in the race in the past five years with Okane… Read More »
A horse who has raced in Australia’s best sprints without winning will be given another chance to break through at Group One level if he justifies his trainer’s confidence at Scone on Saturday. Aeronautical is on trial for next month’s Stradbroke Handicap and Lionel Cohen expects the sprinter to enhance… Read More »
The much-travelled Floria will be out to cause an upset in the Doomben Cup, seven years after her trainer Peter Moody won the race with another mare at long odds. Floria did her early racing in New Zealand before joining the Moody stable and campaigning in four states. The six-year-old… Read More »
It’s been more than 12 months in the making but trainer Bjorn Baker concedes he is nothing more than hopeful Twilight Royale can secure one of the richest bonuses in Australian racing. Few horses given only an outsider’s chance will carry as much interest as Twilight Royale does into the… Read More »
Racing Victoria has significantly increased the fees it will charge wagering companies to use the state’s thoroughbred race fields next financial year. RV used a turnover model of 1.5 per cent for standard meetings and two per cent for premium meetings for the past two years but the board resolved… Read More »
Craig Newitt has found the key to Danger Close but trainer Jason Warren is confident the sprinter’s winning run can continue at Caulfield with a new jockey. With Newitt riding in Brisbane on Saturday, Steven King takes over on Danger Close as the gelding steps to open company aiming for… Read More »
Ways to boost the Group One Doomben Cup will be among of the priorities in a review of the Brisbane winter carnival. Racing Queensland chief executive Darren Condon confirmed there would be a major review at the end of this year’s carnival including race dates, sponsorship and weight scales. Condon… Read More »
Arabian Gold, a clear-cut favourite for The Roses at Doomben on Saturday, will confirm a rating as one of Australia’s most durable three-year-old fillies in recent seasons if she can win the lead-up to the Queensland Oaks. The David Vandyke-trained grey arrived in Brisbane on Thursday having raced successfully at… Read More »
Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome has a small blister in his throat but is reported to be fine as he prepares to run in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes. California Chrome coughed about four times on Thursday after galloping, according to Alexis Garske, spokeswoman for Sherman Racing. Trainer Art Sherman and his… Read More »
Derby dreams on either side of the English Channel remain alive for the first three horses home in the Dante Stakes at York in which The Grey Gatsby beat off Arod and True Story in a pulsating finish. The Grey Gatsby, trained by Kevin Ryan, stepped up to a mile-and-a-quarter… Read More »
Melbourne Cup winning jockey Scott Seamer has been banned for six months by stewards after an inquiry into the bona fides of the training of racehorses at Ballina. The penalty was handed down on Thursday after trainer William Pholi pleaded guilty to running two horses in races and barrier trials… Read More »
Tony McEvoy is convinced Tikitour will relish a distance rise in an off-season race at Caulfield on Saturday but the trainer’s spring stocks have received a blow with an injury to a stable star. McEvoy said dual Group-winning galloper Mouro had undergone surgery to remove a bone chip in a… Read More »
Gosford Race Club’s on-course facilities will be given a $4.3 million facelift in a redevelopment aimed at making the racetrack one of the NSW central coast’s biggest multi-purpose entertainment venues. The works, expected to be completed by mid-October, will be solely funded by the provincial racing club. “We are fortunate… Read More »
Chris Waller’s expertise with overseas horses could be expanded to include a new frontier before the Queensland winter carnival is over. Waller is without peer when it comes to winning races with ex-northern hemisphere horses but it seems his training methods work just as well with those returning to Australia… Read More »
