Grahame Begg is out for redemption after Lunar Flare was withdrawn from last year’s Melbourne Cup due to a bruised heel with the mare set to start favourite in Friday night’s Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m). Lunar Flare, who has drawn barrier 3 for Friday night’s feature, won the… Read More »
Kerrin McEvoy will bid for a clean sweep in the $2 million The Invitation when he links with talented mare Espiona for the first time at Randwick. McEvoy has won both editions of the rich feature, capturing the inaugural running aboard Icebath in 2021 before backing it up with victory on… Read More »
After 18 months without a win, Amade has booked himself a potential start in the Melbourne Cup with a narrow win at Geelong. A former French galloper, Amade showed his class with a win at Flemington over 2600m in April 2021, and Wednesday’s success in the Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m) was his… Read More »
The Lindsay Park team of Ben, Will and J D Hayes have will be out to add their names to the honour of Cox Plate winning trainers. That honour roll includes their father David and grandfather Colin and Ben Hayes believes they have a strong chance in this year’s edition of the… Read More »
With a Group 1 prize at stake, the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable has again called on James Mcdonald to ride I Am Me in the Manikato Stakes. I Am Me will be having her first start at Moonee Valley on Saturday when she lines up against six opponents in the Group 1 sprint…. Read More »
Ciaron Maher and David Eustace will back-up Gold Trip into the Cox Plate after all the early indications are that he has taken no harm from his tough run in the Caulfield Cup. Gold Trip will be joined in Australia’s weight-for-age championship at Moonee Valley on Saturday by three-year-old King Colorado. The… Read More »
A fourth win at Moonee Valley beckons for Imperatriz when the mare faces six rivals in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes. Saturday’s 1200m sprint will be the fourth consecutive run at the track for Imperatriz who started the ball rolling with victory in the Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) in March. This… Read More »
It isn’t the barrier James McDonald requested, but Danny Shum has labelled gate seven ‘OK’ for Romantic Warrior in Saturday’s $5 million Cox Plate at Moonee Valley. The Hong Kong star will start just wide of the middle of the field of 12 for the 2040-metre weight-for-age contest. Romantic Warrior… Read More »
Without A Fight has been issued a 1kg penalty for his Caulfield Cup win with the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained gelding to now carry 56.5kg in the Melbourne Cup. Racing Victoria’s head of handicapping David Hegan announced the penalty on Monday afternoon, two days after his win under 55.5kg in the… Read More »
James McDonald’s confidence in Romantic Warrior ahead of this Saturday’s $5 million Cox Plate is increasing with every track gallop. The champion jockey was at Moonee Valley on Monday morning to partner the Hong Kong star in a 1200-metre workout with Danny Shum stablemate Romantic Charm, six days out from… Read More »
In a bid to claim a fifth Cox Plate champion trainer Chris Waller will give his two representatives extra experience at Moonee Valley ahead of Australasia’s weight-for-age championship. Fangirl and Militarise had their first look at the Moonee Valley circuit on Saturday ahead of the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) and will return on Tuesday morning for Breakfast With The Best. Both horses were not out to break the clock but will be asked to… Read More »
Reigning Everest winner Think About It might have been back home in the stable, but Joe Pride only had eyes for his Big Dance Wild Card winner King Of The Castle at Randwick, describing the gelding as his “horse crush”. King Of The Castle ($7) raced his way into the $3 million… Read More »
Jockey Ben Melham will be putting his hand up to ride whichever horse Mark Zahra rejects in the Melbourne Cup. Ben Melham rode the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Gold Trip into third place in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) on Saturday and would like to keep the ride in the Group 1 Melbourne… Read More »
With regular jockey Kerrin Mcevoy in Melbourne for the Caulfield Cup, John Sargent had to find a new rider for Palmetto in the Five Diamonds Prelude and his booking of Kathy O’Hara proved a winning one. O’Hara has been a mainstay of the Sydney jockeys’ room for many seasons but is enjoying a career… Read More »
With his wife and children watching on, Damien Oliver guided home a winner at his final Caulfield Cup meeting. Oliver announced his retirement from riding at the start of the Spring Carnival and will bow out after competing at the Perth Summer Carnival in November. Unfortunately for Oliver he was unable to add to his… Read More »
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have continued their outstanding start to the juvenile season, producing Shangri La Express for a debut win at Randwick to give them three of the first four two-year-old races of the term. The stable started its run when Espionage led home a Breeders’ Plate trifecta before Sovereign… Read More »
The updates from the Werribee quarantine facility had always been positive, but that didn’t mean Ed Crisford wasn’t without some trepidation when he saw West Wind Blows for the first time in several weeks on Thursday. Crisford and his co-trainer, his father Simon, had been kept well up to date by the… Read More »
Amelia’s Jewel’s interstate campaign remains alive with the gun Perth mare showing significant improvement following her shock defeat at Caulfield on Saturday. Amelia’s Jewel finished ninth of 16 in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m), a run totally out of character and the worst performance of her outstanding career. There were… Read More »
Ben Melham has gone close to winning the Caulfield Cup and even though he is booked to ride Gold Trip is none the wiser as to whether the horse will run. The track condition on Saturday will be key to whether Gold Trip runs in the Group 1 Handicap over 2400m in which… Read More »
The spring campaign is over for I Wish I Win after his second placing in The Everest in Sydney. Trainers Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman have elected to spell the New Zealand-bred sprinter and have already began planning the gelding’s autumn campaign. Moody said the stable had considered returning to Sydney for the $3 million Giga Kick Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill on November… Read More »
