Commanding Jewel’s spring is over with the Group One-winning mare sent to the paddock to recover from a muscle injury. Last year’s Thousand Guineas winner returned from a lengthy lay-off earlier this season and won the Group Two Let’s Elope Stakes. She had a setback in the lead-up to last… Read More »
Yasutoshi Ikee came agonisingly close last year to achieving Japan’s dream of winning Europe’s most prestigious race and on Sunday he intends to set that right with the same horse Orfevre. The 44-year-old trainer, who was born in 1969 the same year that Japan first had a runner in the… Read More »
Black Caviar has capped her glittering career by being honoured as Australia’s Racehorse of the Year for the third time. Unbeaten in 25 starts, the now-retired world champion sprinter joins dual Cox Plate winner Sunline as the only other horse to win the title three times. After an absence from… Read More »
Amid the celebrations of his 60-year training career, Bart Cummings showed it was far from over with Norzita named the three-year-old filly of last season. Cummings was honoured at the Australian Racehorse of the Year awards held in Melbourne on Thursday night. Norzita gave Australia’s greatest living trainer his 265th… Read More »
Being barefoot at the races is usually associated with girls who have grown tired of their high heels after a long day. For the Joe Pride-trained Tiger Tees it was a state he found himself in unexpectedly during a race. The smart sprinter lost a shoe during the run when… Read More »
Betting suggests Saturday’s Group One Flight Stakes is cut and dried but it’s a view that isn’t shared by the trainer of the short-priced favourite. Guelph is at $1.40 to claim the final leg of the four-race Princess Series, ahead of Arabian Gold at $3.20 and Bound For Earth ($10)…. Read More »
Warrnambool trainer Ciaron Maher’s mind might be on the Caulfield Cup in two weeks time but he will ask his brave gelding Mr O’Ceirin to put in another strong performance in Saturday’s Turnbull Stakes at Flemington. Maher has decided not to risk Mr O’Ceirin in the Caulfield Stakes next Saturday… Read More »
There isn’t much room for sentiment in racing but Hugh Bowman is allowing himself just a little as he prepares to reunite with Streama in Saturday’s Group One Epsom Handicap. Horse and jockey were almost inseparable during the mare’s early career combining to win seven races, two at Group One… Read More »
John Thompson is at a loss to explain Tremec’s failure to beat a runner home so far this campaign. But the trainer is looking for the Group-winning stayer to turn his form around in Saturday’s Listed Bart Cummings (2520m) at Flemington. Tremec has finished last in the Warwick Stakes (1400m),… Read More »
Saturday’s Metropolitan at Randwick is shaping as Sydney’s version of the United Nations. In a reflection of just how much the make-up of the local staying ranks has changed, eight of the 14 runners are European imports while another two are from New Zealand. The Europeans hail from five different… Read More »
Chris Waller expects weight of numbers to serve him well in the Epsom Handicap but is cautious about his approach to the famous race being a readymade formula for success. Waller has three runners in the Epsom – a race that has eluded the premier trainer since his stunning rise… Read More »
Maybe Discreet’s trainer Phillip Stokes is treating Saturday’s Group Two Blazer Stakes as a guide for her ultimate spring goal, the Group One Myer Classic. Impressed with her return to the racetrack, Stokes says the Group One Schweppes Oaks winner will be improved for a recent Adelaide run when she… Read More »
Sydney trainer Lionel Cohen has opted to start Aeronautical in the Gilgai Stakes at Flemington on Saturday rather than the Premiere Stakes at Randwick. Both are races Group Two events run over 1200m but Cohen believes the Melbourne race, with its set weights and penalties, rather than weight-for-age event at… Read More »
Gold Coast trainer Craig Tyrrell is confident he has kept Anna Lizzie fresh enough to extend her winning sequence at Doomben on Saturday. Anna Lizzie made it four wins in a row when she resumed from an 18-week spell to win in a 1350m fillies and mares Class Six Plate… Read More »
Should Kizuna fulfil a 44-year quest by Japan and win Europe’s most prestigious race the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Sunday it would have an added emotional significance, says his jockey Yutaka Take. For Japan Derby winner Kizuna – one of two fancied Japanese Arc runners with last year’s… Read More »
Former Metropolitan police chief Lord Stevens will conduct an internal inquiry into the global racing empire of Sheikh Mohammed. He has already begun the process of “assembling a team of experts” for an investigation which is likely to continue into the new year. Sheikh Mohammed’s racing organisations were placed under… Read More »
Good Friday racing in Britain has been approved in principle from next year. The British Horseracing Authority confirmed it had taken applications from racecourses to stage meetings on the day despite some opposition. The details of which courses will race on Good Friday is still to be confirmed. “Racecourses were… Read More »
Irish St Leger winner Voleuse De Coeurs will be aimed at the Melbourne Cup after New Zealand bloodstock agent Paul Moroney secured the mare in a surprise deal on Wednesday. Voleuse De Coeurs’ Cup price was slashed to $17 from $34 after the announcement she would leave Dermot Weld to… Read More »
Two of Sydney’s biggest training operations have carved up Wednesday’s Canterbury meeting, winning six of the seven races between them. Peter Snowden and Chris Waller each trained a treble with Allan Denham the only other trainer to get on the board when he produced First Class Ticket to win the… Read More »
Hugh Bowman is confident he is on the pick of owner Lloyd Williams’s two Metropolitan runners as he chases his first victory in the Sydney staying feature at Randwick on Saturday. Bowman has been the regular partner of Victorian Mourayan whenever he has come to Sydney and has combined with… Read More »
