Melbourne Cup second favourite Loft has been scratched from the Melbourne Cup with a tendon injury. Racing Victoria stewards said the stayer had failed its veterinary inspection prior to being eligible to accept for Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup. All 32 horses remaining in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington underwent a veterinary… Read More »
Julius Sandhu does not let nerves get the better of him, but he admits he was on edge when Lofty Strike made his return to racing at Caulfield. After having his two-year-old season cut short by Racing Victoria vets on the eve of the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes, Lofty Strike pleased Sandhu with his third-place… Read More »
A change to the spring programming has led Joe Pride to put a fresh spin on an old school formula for his Melbourne Cup hopeful Stockman. The Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) was traditionally used by the likes of legendary trainer and 12-time Melbourne Cup winner Bart Cummings to finalise the preparations of his… Read More »
Caulfield Cup winner Durston has been ruled out of the Melbourne Cup after a ‘grey area’ showed up in a CT scan taken on the stayer. As part of Racing Victoria’s requirement for all Melbourne Cup contenders, Durston underwent a scan at Werribee last Friday. In a statement posted on social media, Chris Waller Racing posted there… Read More »
The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr stable is tackling the major three-year-old sprint of the Melbourne Cup Carnival with three representatives. Jacquinot, Grand Impact and Bews will line up in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) on Saturday as they chase honours in the stallion making race. Price and Kent… Read More »
New Zealand trainer Graeme Rogerson says nothing seems to faze Sharp ‘N’ Smart who has arrived in Melbourne for his tilt at Group 1 Victoria Derby. The $3 favourite with TAB for Saturday’s Group 1 race over 2500m at Flemington arrived in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Sharp ‘N’ Smart won… Read More »
Graeme Begg and the owners of Lunar Flare cannot wait for the first Tuesday in November. Lunar Flare showed she was on target for the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 1 with her second placing to imported galloper Francesco Guardi in the Group 2 Moonee Valley Cup (2500m) on… Read More »
A wait of almost 24 hours did not bother Bella Nipotina who collected her maiden Group 1 win at Moonee Valley. Held over from the abandoned meeting on Friday night to be the 11th race on a mammoth Cox Plate Day, the Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) ended up being a walk in the park… Read More »
It only took one race for John O’Shea’s fortunes to take a turn for the better and the trainer was in celebration mode after Promise Of Success swooped down the outside to claim the $2 million The Invitation. O’Shea has ridden out a rough couple of weeks with Benaud unable to accept… Read More »
Lessons learned on the golf course helped Hugh Bowman back his judgement aboard Sharp ‘N’ Smart at Randwick, and while it didn’t land him a hole in one, it did win him a Spring Champion Stakes. Bowman found himself three-wide aboard the New Zealand raider but using the strong wind to advantage,… Read More »
The margin was narrow but the performance all class as Golden Mile dug deep to edge out Communist and win the inaugural running of the $1 million Callander-Presnell at Randwick. Winning jockey Hugh Bowman said he was always comfortable Golden Mile had the race in hand after he allowed the Godolphin colt to… Read More »
James Cummings and his trusted Melbourne lieutenant Sean Keogh leapt around the back parade ring away from prying eye after Anamoe scored a stirring win in the Cox Plate. The victory in the weight-for-age Group 1 contest at Moonee Valley on Saturday wiped away the disappointment of 12 months earlier when Anamoe was beaten into… Read More »
Francesco Guardi will not be winning the Melbourne Cup in 2022, but Chris Waller has already flagged his intention to target next year’s edition with Saturday’s dominant Moonee Valley Cup winner. The son of Frankel atoned for a luckless run in $750,000 The Bart Cummings, when he almost fell in the middle… Read More »
Berkeley Square has vindicated trainer Dan O’Sullivan’s faith in the three-year-old as a stayer with a fighting win at Moonee Valley. Victory in the Group 2 Drummond Golf Vase (2040m) on Saturday was a precursor to the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington on the opening day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival. Sent out… Read More »
As the hour’s countdown to the Cox Plate, the preparation Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr planned out for I’m Thunderstruck has gone like clockwork. Price wanted an exacting race program to have I’m Thunderstruck battled hardened for the 2040m Group 1 weight-for-age contest at Moonee Valley on Saturday. And that is precisely… Read More »
The curtain has closed on the racing career of star mare Verry Ellegant with her owners announcing the retirement of the prolific Group 1 winner. Connections of the 2021 Melbourne Cup heroine confirmed their decision on Thursday following the seven-year-old’s unsuccessful four-start European stint. She will remain in France to… Read More »
Lindsey Smith is thinking ahead with his talented galloper Tuvalu. The Group 1 Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington on November 5 and it’s $1.8 million first prize money is firmly in the back of Smith’s mind. For that reason, the Warrnambool-based horseman is playing a waiting game to see whether Tuvalu runs in the… Read More »
James Cummings is adamant Anamoe doesn’t need a Cox Plate on his resume to appeal as a stud prospect. The four-year-old is already Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s equal most prolific Group 1 winner, with six, and was narrowly beaten both on track and in the stewards’ room in last year’s… Read More »
Sydney’s loss will be Melbourne’s gain with trainer Chris Waller confirming Nature Strip will have his next start in the Darley Champions Sprint on the final day of the Melbourne Cup carnival at Flemington. Connections had also been weighing up whether to keep Nature Strip in Sydney for his namesake race, the… Read More »
Trainer Mike Moroney is hoping Emissary will gain enough of a rehandicap for the Melbourne Cup to force a start in the great race at Flemington. Emissary came from second-last in the Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m) on Wednesday to put his hand up for a start in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup… Read More »
