Pre-post favourite Rizeena features in a field of 19 declared for the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket with trainer Clive Brittain bullish about her chances. The winner of the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot over the five furlongs (1000m), the daughter of Iffraaj relished seven furlongs to claim the Moyglare Stud… Read More »
Craig Williams is aiming for a second win in the Tenno Sho in Kyoto, racing against the horse which gave him his first. Williams rides Gold Ship in Sunday’s 3200m Group One race which also features his 2010 winner Jaguar Mail and global traveller Red Cadeaux, the only international runner…. Read More »
Todd Pletcher is going after the Kentucky Derby with numbers again. The trainer who has won America’s greatest horse race will saddle four horses. Little-known Mike Maker has three starters. Art Sherman has just one. But it’s a really good one. California Chrome is the favourite for the 140th Derby… Read More »
Veteran jockey Robert Thompson is poised to reach another milestone after riding a treble at Muswellbrook. Thompson heads to Saturday’s Newcastle meeting on 3999 career winners and has three scheduled rides. He has already ridden more winners than any other Australian jockey and set himself the target of 4000 winners… Read More »
Trainer Tom Hogan has arrived in Hong Kong to oversee the final preparation of Gordon Lord Byron for the Champions Mile. And the Irishman was as pleased as jockey Zac Purton ahead of Sunday’s Group One race. “The signs are good,” Hogan said. “He was 469 kilos when he ran… Read More »
Imported stayer Trade Commissioner has led home a Chris Waller-trained quinella in the $140,000 Listed Wagga Wagga Gold Cup. The heavily backed favourite at $2.70, Trade Commissioner came from the back in a fast-run race to beat stablemate Beyond Thankful ($6) on Friday. They dominated the finish with Price Of… Read More »
Fresh from a successful Warrnambool carnival, prolific Victorian jockey Dean Yendall will be aiming even higher at the feature meeting in Adelaide. Yendall is locked in a battle with fellow Victorian Brad Rawiller for the national jockeys’ premiership and has eight scheduled rides at Morphettville on Saturday. Rawiller won last… Read More »
The South Australian Derby came around too quickly for Happy As Hell but the gelding will be on trial for another Classic when he runs at Caulfield on Saturday. Happy As Hell chases back-to-back wins at the track in the L U Simon Builders Handicap (2000m) which could be a… Read More »
A wet Gold Coast track should help Mr O’Ceirin give jockey Glen Boss a happy homecoming in the Hollindale Stakes. Boss has come a long way since he was the Gold Coast’s leading apprentice 25 years ago. The multiple Group One and three-time Melbourne Cup winner, who was apprenticed to… Read More »
A spring campaign is doubtful for Fontelina but trainer Anthony Cummings is counting on the sprinter’s younger brother to help fill a void, starting with the Hawkesbury Guineas. Fontelina went amiss as he was being prepared for the TJ Smith Stakes, ruling the Group Two winner out of a Singapore… Read More »
Markets suggest Pressing is clearly a better chance than Manhattan Avenue at Caulfield on Saturday but trainer Mick Price says it is hard to split the stablemates. Debut winner Pressing is the $3.30 favourite for the Listed Sky High Mt Dandenong Stakes for two-year-olds while Manhattan Avenue is at $11… Read More »
Trainer Matt Dunn has put a failed Gosford experiment with Londehero behind him and is excited about the three-year-old’s upcoming Brisbane campaign. Londehero will be having his first start in a month when he runs in the Group Three Gold Coast Guineas (1200m) on Saturday on the way to a… Read More »
Stud plans for dual Doncaster Mile winner Sacred Falls have been shelved in favour of another season of racing. Widely expected to be retired after finishing runner-up in the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Sacred Falls will now return for a spring campaign. The four-year-old’s future was decided after talks… Read More »
Ken Keys has come close to winning the South Australian Derby and the Cranbourne trainer returns on Saturday with a horse he rates his best chance yet. Keys is chasing his first Group One win and Bring Something heads into the 2500-metre race at Morphettville as a winner of his… Read More »
Gary Portelli will chase a Hawkesbury victory on Saturday with a horse he never intended to keep in his stable. The Warwick Farm trainer will start two-year-old Runkle in the Evergreen Turf Claret Stakes (1300m), a race won last year by Zoustar on his way to Brisbane winter carnival success…. Read More »
Lee Freedman has a new job as the director of racing for Sir Peter Vela’s Pencarrow Stud in New Zealand. One of Australia’s most successful trainers, Freedman shocked the racing world in August 2011 when he handed over the running of the family stable on the Mornington Peninsular to his… Read More »
Kingman, carrying the same colours as Frankel, seeks to emulate Khalid Abdullah’s racing phenomenon by winning Saturday’s 2,000 Guineas. Like Frankel, who claimed this in 2011 on the way to being lauded as the greatest racehorse of all time, Kingman warmed up for the opening Classic of the European season… Read More »
California Chrome, winner of his last four races, is primed to shine as the 140th Kentucky Derby kicks off US flat racing’s Triple Crown. The chestnut colt trained by Art Sherman was installed as the early 5-2 favourite for the $US2 million ($A2.16 million), 1-1/4-mile race at Churchill Downs, where… Read More »
Cox Plate winner Shamus Award has run his last race and will stand at Widden Stud in the spring alongside Zoustar. The three-year-old added the Australian Guineas in the autumn to his Cox Plate victory at weight-for-age. A son of Snitzel, Shamus Award failed on the heavy track in the… Read More »
Hopportunity, the second favourite for the Kentucky Derby, is out of the race. Trainer Bob Baffert says the colt has a sore left front foot. Hopportunity was the 6-1 choice for Saturday’s race and was to have been ridden by Mike Smith. The scratching on Thursday means Pablo Del Monte… Read More »
