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 »
A number of trainers will be interviewed by the British Horseracing Authority as it emerges more than one stable could have used a banned drug. Newmarket handler Gerard Butler admitted last month he was the subject of a BHA investigation after a number of his horses tested positive for anabolic… Read More »
One of the most impressive aspects of Black And Bent’s string of success is that he has cleared around 100 hurdles in achieving it. Another is that his trainer Robert Smerdon has kept him at a perfect winning pitch for more than three years. Black And Bent attempts to win… Read More »
Kentucky Derby winner Orb was in a playful mood the day before the Preakness, making faces for photographers between nibbles of grass outside his stall at Pimlico Race Course. “He’s really settled in well. He seems to be energetic about what he’s doing so I couldn’t be more pleased,” trainer… Read More »
Frankie Dettori’s planned return to the saddle may be delayed with the British Horseracing Authority yet to issue him a licence. The 42-year-old had planned to return to action at Leicester on Monday after serving a six-month ban for testing positive for cocaine at Longchamp following a race last September…. Read More »
Adelaide galloper Petman has twice been placed at Listed level in Melbourne, convincing trainer John Hyam he is up to winning a stakes race. The four-year-old gets the chance to prove his trainer right in Saturday’s Listed Straight Six (1200m) at Flemington. Petman was a disappointing last-start seventh as favourite… Read More »
Victorian galloper Speediness overcame a pre-race tantrum to save his best run for what will be the last of his autumn campaign when he scored a heart-stopping win in the $200,000 Scone Cup on Friday. Giving trainer Colin Scott the impression he wanted to be anywhere else but on a… Read More »
