The Victorian racing industry and participants across Australia are mourning the passing of Deane Lester who over a career spanning more than three decades became one of the country’s most popular racing form analysts. Lester passed away peacefully at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital on Thursday after a short battle with an… Read More »
Trainer Darryn Weatherley admits he isn’t sure how New Zealand Group 1 winner Pier will measure up against some of Australia’s most promising three-year-olds in the Hobartville Stakes, but he is happy to roll the dice and find out. Racing is a family affair for the Kiwi horseman, who trains in partnership… Read More »
An infection has ruled Carbine Club Stakes winner Perfect Thought out of the Sydney autumn carnival with trainer John Sargent instead turning his sights towards Queensland. After missing the Eskimo Prince Stakes due to an elevated temperature, Perfect Thought had been slated to re-route to this weekend’s Hobartville Stakes (1400m) but was… Read More »
Learning To Fly’s Inglis Millennium victory was a bittersweet moment for Michael Freedman. While the Randwick trainer had to settle for a narrow second with Blanc De Blanc, there was some consolation in the fact Learning To Fly’s performance franked the form of another of his smart two-year-olds, Mumbai Muse…. Read More »
A jump-out last week has Scallopini primed to tackle a stakes race at Flemington. The Steven O’Dea and Matt Hoysted-trained eight-year-old returns to Flemington on Saturday to contest the Listed Elms Handicap (1400m). It was the same course and distance Scallopini was successful over during the spring when he accounted for Pinstriped in… Read More »
Saturday’s CS Hayes Stakes at Flemington does not carry Group 1 status, but co-trainer Sam Freedman would like to think the $200,000 Group 3 can be a stepping stone to a deserved elite-level success later in the campaign for Elliptical. The son of Dundeel has won just one of his six… Read More »
Anamoe has capped an outstanding afternoon for Godolphin, providing the Royal Blue army with its fourth black-type win of the day with his bullish return in the Apollo Stakes at Randwick. Godolphin had earlier claimed the two Blue Diamond Preludes in Melbourne with Barber and Exploring and the Light Fingers Stakes in Sydney… Read More »
In Secret has laid the foundation for another Group 1 shot after overcoming a dawdling start to kick off her autumn campaign with a win. The Godolphin filly has been tardy to jump in her barrier trials and was again slow out of the gates before gathering herself to settle midfield… Read More »
Jacquinot enhanced his status as one of the most valuable stallion prospects in Australia when he was crowned the winner of a dramatic $750,000 Group 1 CF Orr Stakes at Sandown on Saturday. The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr -trained son of Rubick was awarded the race in the stewards’ room after… Read More »
Lofty Strike was denied a shot at Group 1 glory at last year’s Blue Diamond meeting, but the son of Snitzel emphatically declared on Saturday that he is on track for a shot at redemption 12 months on. The Julius Sandhu-trained three-year-old scored a dazzling first-up win under Craig Newitt in… Read More »
Annabel Neasham experienced the best and worst of racing in the space of a few seconds with one of her two Inglis Millennium runners posting a sensational win as the other suffered a heavy fall. Neasham’s first thought was for two-year-old Dorothy Gail and her jockey Tom Marquand, who crashed to the… Read More »
James Cummings flexed his Blue Diamond muscle at Sandown on Saturday when jockeys sporting Godolphin’s famous royal blue silks won both $300,000 Blue Diamond Preludes. Barber lived up to his high billing when he won the colts and geldings edition, while Exploring put up her hand for a start in the $2 million… Read More »
Tasmanian racegoers were very close to witnessing one of the biggest upsets in recent history only for Dunkel to dive through late and take out the Listed Tasmanian Derby. The shortest priced favourite in the Derby since Northwest Passage in 2017, Dunkel was tipped to win in a canter, however it didn’t… Read More »
Lindsay Park trainers Ben and J D Hayes are looking forward to the Festival Of Racing with two of their stable stars Mr Brightside and Gentleman Roy. The pair meet in the first Group 1 race of the autumn, the CF Orr Stakes (1400m) at Sandown on Saturday with the $5 million All-Star Mile… Read More »
Nature Strip showed he is on target for a 10th Group 1 win following a pleasing jump-out at Flemington. Opposed to stablemate September Run and the Mike Moroney-trained Roch ‘N’ Horse, the trio went 800m out of the barriers down the straight 800m course on Friday morning. Nature Strip led home Roch ‘N’ Horse with September Run in… Read More »
Perth trainers Sean and Jake Casey know what it takes to win on the eastern seaboard and are keen to see how their two-year-old Brave Halo measures up. Unbeaten in three starts at Ascot, Brave Halo is in Melbourne to run in the colts and geldings’ division of the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude… Read More »
Boom filly Learning To Fly will almost certainly take her place from an outside barrier in the $2 million Inglis Millennium as connections keep their focus on the bigger Golden Slipper picture. The youngster has come up with gate 19 in Saturday’s Randwick feature and will jump from the widest alley… Read More »
A Group 1 win on the CV of Turaath is what trainer Maddie Raymond is looking for. It is for that reason Turaath is heading to the C F Orr Stakes (1400m) at Sandown on Saturday when the mare could run the following week in the Group 3 Tony Bourke Memorial (1400m) at Flemington. Turaath has an excellent… Read More »
Having been given a taste of El Bodegon’s talent in the Cox Plate, Chris Waller is aiming high with the former French galloper ahead of his Sydney debut in the Apollo Stakes at Randwick. The four-year-old was an eye-catching third to Anamoe in Australasia’s weight-for-age championship last spring but Waller revealed the… Read More »
Cranbourne trainer Julius Sandhu has taken the advice of jockey Craig Newitt in electing to start Lofty Strike in a stakes race at Sandown. The Group 2 Rubiton Stakes (1100m) on Saturday will see Lofty Strike tackle older sprinters as he prepares for the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) on February 25. Sandhu was originally… Read More »
