Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin team received its first significant piece of good news in some time when Farhh emerged a convincing winner of the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury. Still dogged by the scandal which resulted in an eight-year ban for trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni for administering anabolic steroids to horses in… Read More »
Chris Symons has done his chances of getting more rides for Chris Waller no harm, maintaining a perfect record for the trainer with victory on Fulgur at Flemington. On a day when Waller prepared the quinella of Beaten Up and Foreteller in the Group One Doomben Cup in Brisbane, import… Read More »
Victorian jockey Brent Evans will miss the bulk of the Group One meetings at the Brisbane winter carnival following a hefty careless riding suspension at Doomben. Evans will miss 12 meetings after pleading guilty to careless riding for his ride aboard the Greg Eurell-trained Zombie Dancer in The Roses. Chief… Read More »
Jockey Chris Munce claimed his most important win since his return from cancer treatment when he steered Belltone to win the Group Three BRC Sprint at Doomben on Saturday. Munce spent three months out of the saddle after undergoing chemotherapy for throat cancer in February. He has been back riding… Read More »
Trainer Greg Hickman was an exception as Taxmeifyoucan returned to one of the rowdiest receptions imaginable after winning the $500,000 Inglis 3YO Guineas at Scone on Saturday. Amid chaotic scenes as Taxmeifyoucan’s large syndicate of owners converged on the mounting yard, Hickman backed away from a television interview because he… Read More »
Pre-race confidence was matched by post-race emotion when Mister Milton rediscovered the form that seemed to have permanently deserted him at Flemington on Saturday. Carrying the colours made famous 30 years ago by the champion sprinter Rancher and trained, strapped and adored by the man who used to wear them,… Read More »
Premier Sydney trainer Chris Waller maintained his dominance of Group One weight-for-age races with a one-two finish to the Doomben Cup with imported stayers Beaten Up and Foreteller. Shoot Out was Waller’s sole spring Group One winner in the George Main Stakes and started the ball rolling for Waller in… Read More »
Arctic Flight confirmed a valuable future well beyond the racetrack as she added to a stellar day for her trainer and jockey in the $200,000 Dark Jewel Classic at Scone on Saturday. A close relation to Black Caviar and recently retired colt All Too Hard, Arctic Flight posted her first… Read More »
New Zealand three-year-old Platinum Kingdom has given his trainer Lisa Latta her first Queensland win with a strong display in the Fred Best Classic on Saturday. Latta is fast building a name for herself from her Awapuni base and she has brought three horses to Queensland for the winter. Platinum… Read More »
Premier Sydney trainer Chris Waller has taken his winning form to Brisbane with Beaten Up beating stablemate Foreteller to win the Group One Doomben Cup. Waller opted to take Beaten Up north rather than race in Friday’s Listed Scone Cup and the European import delivered with Leith Innes aboard. A… Read More »
Dear Demi sustained a long run to win The Roses at Doomben but it was runner-up Gondokoro who produced the outstanding Queensland Oaks trial. Ridden by Luke Nolen, Dear Demi ($4) managed to cling on from the fast-finishing Gondokoro ($13) to win by a short head with Vaquera ($26) a… Read More »
Anthony Cummings trains the Stradbroke Handicap favourite and after Fontelina’s win at Scone on Saturday, he could also be training one of the main dangers to top colt Your Song. Cummings confirmed Fontelina would have his next start in the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 8 after… Read More »
Around five months ago someone in the David Hayes stable suggested Whisper Downs might be due for a spell. They were ignored, and they haven’t offered an opinion since. Whisper Downs, who resumed from a long-forgotten spell last August, won his sixth race this time in at Flemington on Saturday… Read More »
The toll of a heavy workload during her two-year-old season has done nothing to diminish the talent of Diamond Earth, winner of the Denise’s Joy Stakes at Scone on Saturday. Diamond Earth raced nine times during her debut term and after an early-season hiccup in 2012-2013, she is on course… Read More »
Confidence turned to concern for apprentice Tom Sadler in the minutes before he rode favourite Vain Queen in Saturday’s Trevor Clarke Handicap at Flemington. But he need not have worried as the talented filly powered to a third win from as many starts. Sadler said Vain Queen ($2.90) might have… Read More »
Michael Rodd produced one of the rides of the Brisbane winter carnival to land Solzhenitsyn a consolation winner at Doomben on Saturday. Solzhenitsyn was being set for the Group One Doomben Cup (2000m) on Saturday but trainer Robert Heathcote missed the nominations. The gelding was then entered for the Group… Read More »
When he went to New Zealand two years ago with a set of instructions and a modest budget, Nigel Blackiston put his faith in a horse that had more potential than looks. “He wasn’t much to look at, but I suspected he would run,” Blackiston said. At Flemington on Saturday… Read More »
Missy Longstocking will back up in next week’s BRC Sires Produce Stakes after her hard fought win in the Lancaster Stakes at Doomben. Jockey Damian Browne felt Missy Longstocking ($1.65 fav) was going to win comfortably and was surprised by the fight shown by runner-up Hallside Rose ($41) with only… Read More »
A filly trainer Mat Ellerton once feared would never get to the races because of her barrier manners has won back her purchase price and plenty more with a city win at Flemington. Two-year-old Menage A Charge, a $27,500 yearling, produced a tough on-pace effort in Saturday’s $80,000 Victorian Carbine… Read More »
Premier Sydney trainer Chris Waller was left to play a rare supporting role in a metropolitan-class staying race when veteran Queenslander Trajet scored a surprise win at Scone on Saturday. Much of Waller’s success in recent seasons has been built on winning races with imported horses over extended distances but… Read More »
