Former favourite Echo Gal has firmed slightly for the Magic Millions Classic following confirmation of her place in the field for the $2 million race for two-year-olds. The Gai Waterhouse-trained filly was found to have the thumps after she finished second last in the B J McLachlan at Doomben on… Read More »
Kristen Buchanan’s first Saturday metropolitan winner could herald the emerging trainer’s first stakes win with Two Blue among the entries for the Group Three Belle Of The Turf Stakes at Gosford. Two Blue went to Rosehill on Saturday with three city seconds from her previous three starts but wasn’t to… Read More »
A drop in grade and a home track advantage have given trainer Mario Caltabiano the confidence to run Prettyfamous just 10 days after her slashing fourth in the Carrington Stakes. The Warwick Farm trainer said he would not normally back her up so quickly but with just a short walk… Read More »
A New Year’s Day city win was the perfect start to 2014 for Gig and trainer Shawn Mathrick hopes the mare can go to another level in the Listed Chester Manifold Stakes. The former Darley-owned galloper was knocked down to Mathrick for $61,000 at an August sale last year and… Read More »
Charlie Boy’s physical fitness heading first-up into the Magic Millions Guineas is of no concern to Gerald Ryan but the trainer admits the colt’s mental attitude can be a worry. The Danehill Stakes winner steps out over 1400 metres in Saturday’s $1 million race at the Gold Coast in what… Read More »
Veteran jockey Steven King is nearing a return to race riding after the longest injury-enforced break of his career. King broke four metatarsal bones in his foot in April when Oltre Finito, who he just had steered to victory in a maiden at Ballarat, veered into the running rail and… Read More »
Terry Biddlecombe, three-times champion jumps jockey and husband of former trainer Henrietta Knight, has died aged 72. Biddlecombe won more than 900 races including the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Woodland Venture in 1967. He was champion jockey in 1964-65, 1965-66 and 1968-69 and rode a total of nine winners at… Read More »
The first three across the line in the Carrington Stakes are set to renew their rivalry in Gosford’s feature sprint. Dances On Stars claimed an overdue stakes win in the Carrington (1100m) at Randwick on New Year’s Day by a short neck from Hidden Warrior with Dee’n’Gee a half neck… Read More »
Tony Vasil has mapped out stable star Prince Harada’s path to the Group One Australian Guineas but a more immediate focus for the trainer is a $1 million target for stablemate The Bowler. Vasil is aiming Prince Harada at the $500,000 Australian Guineas (1600m) third-up on March 1 at Flemington… Read More »
Chris Waller saw enough in Brigantin’s first start for the stable to be optimistic the former French horse can be a force in the Gosford Cup. The seven-year-old made an eye-catching run for fifth after being blocked for a run late in a 1550m race at Canterbury on December 28,… Read More »
Invisible’s co-trainer Michael Hawkes agrees Unencumbered is the deserved favourite for the Magic Millions Classic but also believes he is there to be beaten. The Bjorn Baker-trained Unencumbered is the best performed youngster in Saturday’s $2 million race for two-year-olds at the Gold Coast with four wins from five starts…. Read More »
Leading syndication company Star Thoroughbreds has announced a change in direction with Chris Waller to be the trainer of all yearlings bought this year. Gai Waterhouse has been the exclusive trainer of Star Thoroughbreds horses since Denise Martin established the company 20 years ago. Martin said in a statement on… Read More »
Maggot therapy is helping St Nicholas Abbey get the better of the life-threatening disease laminitis. Tom O’Brien, the surgeon at Ireland’s Fethard Equine Hospital, said the Coolmore stallion was beginning to show signs of recovery. The Racing Post reported the six-time Group One winner’s improvement had been marked since the… Read More »
Melbourne Cup placegetter Mount Athos has been switched from trainer Luca Cumani to Marco Botti who will prepare him for the upcoming Dubai carnival. Mount Athos was originally trained by David Wachman in Ireland and joined Cumani in 2012. He finished an unlucky fifth in the 2012 Melbourne Cup and… Read More »
Victorian trainer Glenn Thornton is at the centre of Racing NSW stewards’ inquiry after a syringe was found in a stable occupied by Cool Attraction before she raced at Rosehill. The trainer was questioned at length before the first race and the mare was allowed to run. She finished fifth… Read More »
A winning treble at Caulfield has moved Damien Oliver five wins clear in the Melbourne jockeys’ premiership. Oliver’s haul of winners on Saturday was highlighted by the victory of three-year-old Trust In A Gust in the $150,000 Gold Carat (1200m) which came in between wins aboard The Wingman and Initiator…. Read More »
The Hawkes training team might not have the numbers of old but it boasts the best strike rate in Sydney racing, boosted further by another win from Mecir. John Hawkes took the plunge to go into partnership with his sons Michael and Wayne after years with the large Woodlands operation… Read More »
Motherhood and training horses go hand in hand for Kristen Buchanan who has celebrated her first Saturday metropolitan winner at Rosehill. The consistent Two Blue finally broke through in the De Bortoli Wines (1500m) after three city seconds with Buchanan clutching seven-month old daughter Mackenzie Rose as she tried to… Read More »
A jockey who feared injury would end his career and a horse which was given away combined for an upset win in the Listed $100,000 Goldmarket at the Gold Coast on Saturday. Jockey Jason Taylor, who only picked up the ride 90 minutes before start time, led all the way… Read More »
The decision by Melbourne’s premiership-leading trainer Darren Weir to freshen Trust In A Gust for the Gold Carat has reaped another reward for connections at Caulfield. Weir thought about spelling Trust In A Gust after his win in the $100,000 Eureka Stockade at Ballarat in November but after seeing how… Read More »
