After an arduous first season of racing, Streisand is set to make her return at Flemington. The Blue Diamond Stakes victor runs for the first time as a three-year-old in the Group 3 Cap D’Antibes Stakes (1100m) on Saturday. It will be the first of three runs that trainer Clinton McDonald has… Read More »
The Ciaron Maher stable has had a 12-month plan for Shockletz which it hopes will pay a dividend at Flemington. The 2026 Melbourne Cup has been a long-term plan for the daughter of Shocking, himself a winner of the Cup. But Shockletz needs to win her way into Cup calculations which the Maher team… Read More »
Bjorn Baker will make the trip to Flemington on Saturday with high expectations for promising colt Paradoxium, who resumes in the Group 3 Poseidon Stakes (1100m). The Group 2 Todman Stakes winner has caught the eye in two Sydney trials ahead of his return and has attracted support from punters… Read More »
With good depth in the three-year-old ranks this season, Tenenbaum has largely flown under the radar. However, jockey Chad Schofield won’t be surprised to see that change, starting in Saturday’s Ming Dynasty Quality (1400m) at Rosehill. Schofield partnered the Snitzel colt to his strong first-up win at Canterbury when he… Read More »
Trainer Chris Waller is banking on Steel Will following the lead of a sibling when the three-year-old makes his Melbourne debut at Flemington. Successful in his past two outings, Steel Will runs in the Group 3 Poseidon Stakes (1100m) on Saturday. Steel Will’s older half-sister September Run came to Melbourne as a… Read More »
Fresh from winning his fourth John Letts Medal, Jason ‘Stubby’ Holder is eager to throw his ever-present energy into winning the Listed W H Wylie Handicap at Morphettville on Saturday. At 52-years-old, Holder is still at the top of his own game and that of the riding ranks in South… Read More »
Gai Waterhouse, like her father Tommy Smith, has for a long time been a key player during the Melbourne Spring Carnival. With training partner Adrian Bott domiciled in Sydney, it has allowed Waterhouse to become a more permanent fixture in Melbourne during the spring. Waterhouse was at Flemington earlier in… Read More »
The Epsom Handicap is off the agenda, but the $10 million Golden Eagle is firmly in Gerald Ryan’s sights with sprinter-miler Skyhook. The four-year-old resumes in the Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill on Saturday, the timing of his return all but burying any chance of him contesting… Read More »
An inside barrier is a positive for most horses, but Tommy Berry isn’t sure it’s an ideal scenario for Apocalyptic. The Michael Freedman-trained mare has drawn the rails for Saturday’s Sheraco Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill and it’s Berry’s one reservation over her winning chances given she appreciates galloping room. “Barrier one… Read More »
Breeders’ Cup excitement aplenty with Diktaean going back-to-back in the Korea Cup, and it’s a ‘Win and You’re In’ for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland on October 31. Returning to defend his title in the Korea Cup, an international Group 2, it was G1 Racing’s Diktaean… Read More »
Three-time Group 1 winner Al Riffa has been retired from racing after further veterinary examinations revealed the extent of a suspensory injury, ending plans for another Australian campaign and a potential tilt at the Melbourne Cup. The six-year-old, trained in Ireland by Joseph O’Brien and raced by Australian Bloodstock, had… Read More »
Five horses have secured their places in the $2 million The Kosciuszko, with Graceful Ellen, Love Shuck, Band Of Brothers, Considered and So You Pence locked in for the October 17 feature at Randwick. The first five selections account for five of the 14 available slots in the 1200m race… Read More »
Having shown faith in Columbus by sticking with the horse despite a couple of defeats, champion jockey James McDonald has been rewarded with a midweek win at Randwick’s Kensington track. A son of Dundeel, who McDonald rode to six Group 1 wins, Columbus ($2.30 fav) was being touted as a… Read More »
The gelding of Warnie has been instrumental in the Ciaron Maher-trained galloper becoming a more relaxed horse, which is finally showing through on the racetrack. Warnie relaxed during the running of the Group 3 Chautauqua Stakes (1300m) at Sandown on Wednesday before unleashing a devastating finish. Wednesday’s Group 3 was… Read More »
The untapped potential of boom colt St Gotthard will be put to the test when he faces a crack field of three-year-olds in a key Golden Rose lead-up at Rosehill. A brother to young stallion Switzerland, St Gotthard will face his toughest assignment in Saturday’s Run To The Rose (1200m)… Read More »
Imported stayer Nearco Frod will be shooting for a fifth straight win and a Melbourne Cup berth when he lines up at Flemington. The Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained galloper runs in the Group 3 Archer Stakes (2500m) on Saturday, a race that carries a ballot exemption into the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November… Read More »
Lindsay Park legend Mr Brightside will look to maintain a perfect record in an early-season Group 1 race at Flemington. Mr Brightside has run in the Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m), run at Flemington on Saturday, for the past three years, posting wins on each occasion. In his first victory he… Read More »
‘With just one month to go before the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the dress rehearsals arrived,’ with Daryz and Varandir victorious in the prestigious green of the Aga Khan Studs. And it was all about Daryz going into the Group 2 Qatar Prix Foy over 2400m, and living… Read More »
This year’s Cox Plate will be without an internationally-trained runner after all 15 overseas nominations dropped out at the first declaration stage. A total of 57 Australasian-trained horses remain in contention for the $6 million feature, which will be staged at Flemington in 2026 while Moonee Valley undergoes redevelopment. There… Read More »
Zac Lloyd will have his first race day ride on Group-winning mare Verona Rose in the Theo Marks Stakes at Rosehill after being taken by her eye-catching performance in a recent barrier trial. Lloyd partnered her in the 742m hit-out in which she was expected to be outsprinted, but the… Read More »
