Many of Ciaron Maher’s key spring players are nearing trial stage, but one of his Group 1 winners who might have a later start to spring than many is Socks Nation. The daughter of Sioux Nation was given several weeks off following her blowout win in the $700,000 Queensland Oaks… Read More »
It has been six months in the making, but Ryan Houston finally repaid Grahame Begg a Saturday city success when he won aboard British Columbia at Caulfield on Saturday. The win in the $130,000 Sportsbet Same Race Multi Handicap (1400m) was the first Saturday city winner for the 20-year-old apprentice. Houston has passed… Read More »
Quietly satisfied is what trainer Annabel Neashem seemed to be when former French galloper Don Diego De Vega won for the first time on Australian soil at Randwick. Steered by Jason Collett, Don Deigo De Vega ($2.40 bookmakers favourite) would have been forgiven by Neasham for succumbing to the late… Read More »
Adrian Bott is not quite sure yet where Wanaruah will fit within the powerhouse stable’s next season rising three-year-old ranks but he is highly confident that there can be a lot more to come after maintaining his perfect race record. Winning on debut at Canterbury over 1250-metres in June, the colt by… Read More »
Trainer Cliff Brown believes he has a ready-made replacement for the horse he was initially intending to run in a Stakes race at Caulfield. Little Miss Kubi will represent Brown in the Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) on Saturday after the trainer had originally been keen to run last start… Read More »
Ciaron Maher is on the verge of breaking a record he set with former co-trainer David Eustace for the number of winners prepared in a season. After the win of Fabrice at Sandown on Wednesday, Maher has prepared 103 metropolitan winners in Melbourne for the 2023-24 season. Success in Sydney on Wednesday… Read More »
Kerrin McEvoy will miss the next two city meetings as he heads off for a short family break, but he is already looking forward to the new season and reuniting with Doncaster Mile winner Celestial Legend. The top jockey was sidelined for much of the autumn after fracturing a vertebra… Read More »
Warrnambool trainer Tom Dabernig is banking on a return to Caulfield and a rain-affected track turning around the fortunes of Ashford Street. The sprinter has had three starts since joining Dabernig’s yard, two at Caulfield, for a win and a second, and an unplaced finish at Flemington. The Group 3 Sir… Read More »
Legendary horse trainer Gai Waterhouse has sparked a heated debate in the racing community with her recent tweet criticising the frequent postponement and abandonment of races and trials due to rain. In her tweet, Waterhouse questioned the decision-making behind these cancellations, arguing that heavy tracks are safer for horses as… Read More »
A swag of betting agencies last week opened markets on the Group 1 races in Melbourne and Sydney this Spring Carnival and no name features more prominently than Pride Of Jenni. The Ciaron Maher -trained mare occupies a place on the top two lines of betting in 10 features, including being… Read More »
A meeting with Party Of Two’s owners late on Monday afternoon was to decide whether the Queensland filly will contest Saturday’s $200,000 Sir John Monash Stakes at Caulfield. The three-year-old daughter of Sidestep was one of only nine entries for the 1100-metre Group 3 event, with Recommendation, Ashford Street, Honey Girl… Read More »
Munhamek did not need to win Saturday’s Winter Championship Final to stamp himself as the best horse of Nick Ryan’s ever-evolving training career, but he ensured any horse who hopes to surpass him will have to work even harder. The ageless gelding brought up a winning hat-trick when he overcame a… Read More »
Just weeks after celebrating his maiden Group 1 win in the Stradbroke Handicap, star apprentice Zac Lloyd has landed his first four-timer at a Saturday metropolitan meeting, highlighted by the Listed Winter Stakes on Tamerlane. The 20-year-old managed to achieve the feat for different trainers, teaming with Hawkes Racing to take… Read More »
Paul Messara doesn’t know where Clear Thinking’s ceiling is, but he is looking forward to finding out after the up-and-coming mare lit up Randwick with a breathtaking Highway Handicap win. Clear Thinking slipped at the start and had to muster quickly to find a position midfield, forcing apprentice Zac Lloyd to… Read More »
Imported stayer Berkshire Breeze has quickly established a liking for Flemington and Ciaron Maher is hoping it is an affinity that extends until later in the year. The grey gelding made it two wins from as many starts at Australia’s most famous racecourse when he spaced his rivals as a $1.30 betting… Read More »
Michael Hawkes is an unabashed fan of first season sire Exceedance, who has provided the stable with its second Sydney Saturday metropolitan two-year-old winner in the space of a month. Brave One ($8) showed his class to get the better of Mayfair ($2.30 betting fav) by three-quarters of a length in… Read More »
Trent Busuttin always planned to let Craig let him know if he should run in Saturday’s Silver Bowl Final at Flemington, but that stopped the trainer asking a few leading questions. Busuttin and his co-trainer Natalie Young have looked hard for signs to suggest the import might be coming to… Read More »
Not only does Bjorn Baker coax the best out of his horses such as recent Stradbroke Handicap winner Stefi Magnetica, but he has an uncanny knack for getting them to maintain form once they find it. Two horses who showcase that particularly well are Iknowastar and Highlights, the duo preparing to vie… Read More »
Once touted as an Everest contender before being struck down by soundness issues, Showmanship will be looking to prove that he still packs a punch when he returns to Sydney for the first time in almost two years. The eight-year-old, who will line up in Saturday’s Listed Winter Stakes (1400m) at… Read More »
Gavin Bedggood understands Windstorm was beaten fair and square by Munhamek last start at Flemington, but he is still clinging to the hope he can turn the tables in Saturday’s Winter Championship Final. The geldings, who were separated by half-a-length when first and second in the 1620-metre The David Bourke on June 22,… Read More »
