Trainer Kevin Kemp admits a Group One win with Sold For Song is almost a fantasy. But it’s not an impossibility. Sold For Song is one of a large number of promising three-year-olds making their return to racing in the Listed Mick Dittman Plate (1000m) at the Sunshine Coast on… Read More »
Tony McEvoy is to close his NSW stables at Hawkesbury and Randwick to concentrate on his operations in Victoria and South Australia. McEvoy said he wanted to consolidate his business and focus on Adelaide and Melbourne. “It has been a difficult decision but to ensure the best results for my… Read More »
Nine Australian horses feature among the record 164 overseas entries for the Royal Ascot meeting. The world’s highest ranked sprinter Chautauqua is among 44 entries for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes along with last year’s winner, American Undrafted who beat Australia’s Brazen Beau. The Hawkes Racing-trained Chautauqua won the opening leg… Read More »
Raw Impulse was very impressive at his Australian debut, and Sportsbet.com.au punters believe that the Darren Weir trained import can win again when he contests the Selangor Turf Club Handicap (1800m) this Saturday at Caulfield. He opened $1.95 and has been the early firmer, now sitting at $1.90. Next best… Read More »
Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy has publicly taken Zac Purton to task over a claim Australian racing’s whip rules could have cost him winning last month’s Golden Slipper. Purton blamed Australia’s whip regulations as a possible difference between winning and losing the world’s richest two-year-old race on Yankee Rose…. Read More »
Steve O’Dea is keeping options open for Sir Moments, with the Stradbroke Handicap still a possible winter target. O’Dea first had the Doomben Cup as the race he wanted to win during the Queensland carnival. But the trainer is reconsidering his plans. Sir Moments, a Doomben winner coming from last… Read More »
Nick Olive will be a relieved trainer on two fronts as he prepares to have his first city runner since his best horse was involved in fall during The Championships. As Single Gaze crashed to the turf under Kathy O’Hara in the ATC Australian Oaks earlier this month, Olive feared… Read More »
Dual Group One winner Press Statement has run his last race and will join the stallion roster at Vinery Stud in the new season. Vinery’s Peter Orton said there had been great interest in the colt and a service fee was likely to be announced on Wednesday. Trained by Chris… Read More »
Champion sprinter Chautauqua has arrived safely in Hong Kong ahead of his first appearance on the international stage. The dual TJ Smith Stakes winner travelled with Godolphin’s Bow Creek and arrived on Tuesday morning. Co-trainer Michael Hawkes said the gelding coped well with the trip which took 13-1/2 hours from… Read More »
While the Sydney autumn carnival was the stepping stone to greatness for Winx, her trainer Chris Waller admits to a couple of disappointments. Waller was the leading trainer with four Group One wins, three courtesy of the Cox Plate winner. Her Doncaster Mile victory impressed the international handicappers enough for… Read More »
A stud deal is imminent for Group One winner Kermadec who could still round out his career at Royal Ascot. Kermadec and his Chris Waller-trained stablemate Press Statement both ran in Saturday’s All Aged Stakes with a view to travelling to England for the famous June carnival. While third-placed Kermadec… Read More »
Queensland Derby hopeful Eagle Way has made an impressive return away from the glare of metropolitan racing. Eagle Way, who won three times during the summer, finished second to the handy Doughty in a benchmark 75 race at the Gold Coast on Saturday. Trainer Bryan Guy couldn’t have been happier… Read More »
Fell Swoop’s quest for a Group One win will continue in Brisbane. The four-year-old has been runner-up twice at the highest level this year and trainer Matthew Dale has earmarked four races during the Queensland carnival beginning with the Group Two Victory Stakes on April 30 at Doomben. He will… Read More »
The forgiving nature of European training tracks has the 2014 Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist on the verge of a comeback to racing. Protectionist hasn’t been seen since finishing down the course in last year’s Caulfield Cup, but he is coming to hand for a northern hemisphere summer campaign under German… Read More »
It wouldn’t be a Sydney autumn without Gai Waterhouse training a Group One winner. But she cut it fine, waiting until Saturday and the All Aged Stakes to put her name on the honour roll with English in the final Group One race of the carnival at Randwick. Runner-up to… Read More »
Jockey Brenton Avdulla thought Music Magnate had been beaten in the Hall Mark Stakes. How happy he was to be wrong. Music Magnate’s head bobbed to fend off the fast-finishing Knoydart and win the Group Three race at Randwick on Saturday. The judge took his time separating the pair and… Read More »
John Sadler harbours concerns Bengal Cat may struggle at 2000m but his son holds no such fears after her all-the-way win at Caulfield. Bengal Cat booked a trip to Adelaide for the Australasian Oaks (2000m) at Morphettville next month with her win in the VOBIS Gold Reef on Saturday when… Read More »
Late-entry Prized Icon has given James Cummings his first Group One as a trainer in his own right. Backing up after winning the Fernhill Handicap last week, Prized Icon proved the superior stayer over an extended distance for two-year-olds in the Champagne Stakes at Randwick. In a race where New… Read More »
He’s Our Rokkii’s win in the Frank Packer Plate might mean he has to wait a bit longer before he heads to a spelling paddock. A solid victory in the 2000m Frank Packer Plate made it back-to-back Group Three wins for He’s Our Rokkii at Randwick on Saturday. Now trainer… Read More »
The best-performed juvenile going into the VOBIS Gold Ingot has captured his second lucrative Caulfield win of the season. The David Hayes and Tom Dabernig-trained Valliano ($4.80) held off the well-supported favourite Dissolute ($3.80) in Saturday’s $150,000 race, adding to the gelding’s victory in the sale-restricted $250,000 Inglis Premier over… Read More »
