Relaxed and refreshed. That’s how trainer Robert Heathcote describes Buffering in the build-up to his return to racing in Saturday’s Group Two Victory Stakes (1200m) at Doomben. “I’ve got a healthy, happy horse,” Heathcote said. “He looks well, he’s carrying more condition than he’s ever carried in his life and… Read More »
It will hard to find a more imposing formline for a midweek race than the one country galloper Double Halo brings to Canterbury on Wednesday. Double Halo went closer to beating It’s A Dundeel than any horse during last year’s unbeaten Sydney spring campaign of racing’s latest superstar. But whether… Read More »
Trainer Gerald Ryan is hoping some Black Caviar magic will rub off on his classy filly Snitzerland after she tried out some of the champion mare’s hand-me-downs during a stopover in Melbourne this week. Snitzerland, who is part-owned by Neil Werrett, a major shareholder in Black Caviar, tested the lycra… Read More »
In an ominous warning to It’s A Dundeel’s future spring rivals, trainer Murray Baker says the colt won’t hit his peak until he is a four-year-old. Unlike his fellow star three-year-olds Pierro and All Too Hard, a stud career is at least another season away for the four-time Group One… Read More »
Premier Sydney trainer Chris Waller has claimed his third Doncaster Mile with Sacred Falls beating glamour colt Pierro in the $2 million race at Randwick on Saturday. In an all three-year-old finish, Sacred Falls drove through on the inside section of the track to overhaul the favourite with the filly… Read More »
Royal Descent, in doubt to run right up until a few hours before the race, has scored one of the most emphatic Australian Oaks wins at Randwick on Saturday. ” … we made a decision at basically one o’clock that we were going run,” winning trainer Chris Waller said. On… Read More »
Kelinni has further cemented his place at the top of the market for the Sydney Cup with a confidence-boosting victory in his lead-up at Randwick on Saturday. The imported gelding who rose through the ranks in the spring to run fourth in the Melbourne Cup, sustained a long sprint to… Read More »
The victory by Eminent Domain at Randwick on Saturday held special significance for trainer Danny Williams. Two years ago Eminent Domain was struck down by illness and spent six weeks at a veterinary clinic. Williams was told to prepare for the worst. “They were going to give the horse 24… Read More »
The occasion of Doncaster day at Randwick almost got the better New Zealand three-year-old Platinum Kingdom but his raw ability was enough for him to win a Listed race at his first Australian start. After trying to toss Jonathan Riddell off as he went onto the track for the South… Read More »
The unheralded Riocetto broke his maiden in style when he relished the heavy conditions to romp home with Saturday’s Listed Fernhill Handicap at Randwick. Beaten at the provincials and in midweek grade at his only other starts, Riocetto was sent out one of the outsiders of the field at $21…. Read More »
A richly deserved stakes win at Randwick on Saturday has set Everage up for a crack at bigger things during the spring. Sent out the $2.10 favourite in the Listed Keith Mackay Quality (1200m) for two-year-old fillies, Everage’s proven wet track ability came to the fore as she wore down… Read More »
Doncaster day at Randwick got off to a wet and windy start but it mattered little to mud-splattered apprentice Alex Stokes as she celebrated her biggest win. The 25-year-old steered French Gift to a slogging victory for her master Stephen Hodge with several runners failing to handle the heavy conditions…. Read More »
Gai Waterhouse could have a challenger in Paul Beshara as the most confident trainer going into the Doncaster Mile on Saturday. Beshara saddles up Happy Trails, a $26 chance against the Waterhouse-trained favourite Pierro in the $2 million race, and won’t hear of his charge being beaten. It is the… Read More »
Champion jockey Glen Boss will need to call on all the tactical nous and skill that has won him five Doncasters if he’s to add to his record haul in Australian racing’s feature mile handicap race on Saturday. Boss knows as well as anyone what it takes to win the… Read More »
Ethiopia is an unusual horse. Unusually talented, unusually campaigned and, for a horse who has only one win to his name, he has earned an unusual amount of money. And his trainer Pat Carey is tipping he can add to that $1 million figure in the Group One Doncaster Mile… Read More »
A filly trainer Chris Waller tried unsuccessfully to buy five months ago looms as the biggest threat to his chances of claiming Saturday’s Australian Oaks. Waller will saddle up two runners in the 2400m classic at Randwick, Adrian Knox Stakes winner Royal Descent and outsider Wind Bender. But had fate… Read More »
It is hard to imagine a time when Chris Waller wasn’t regularly leading in winners. Sydney’s premier trainer for the past two seasons, Waller has hundreds of horses on his books, often multiple runners in a single race and recently set up a satellite operation in Melbourne. But it hasn’t… Read More »
Pierro dominates Doncaster Mile betting but top trainer John O’Shea has declared Shoot Out a weighted certainty in Saturday’s Randwick showpiece. There has been healthy debate about the Doncaster handicaps this week with Pierro’s trainer Gai Waterhouse expressing concerns over the three-year-old’s 57kg impost. O’Shea, who will saddle up $71… Read More »
The party is over, but the dream will live on. Black Caviar, arguably the greatest horse to race in Australia in 80 years and one of the best the world has ever seen, has retired undefeated, unharmed and with her record unblemished. Her part-owner Neil Werrett and trainer Peter Moody… Read More »
Pierro’s bid to keep his unbeaten record in Sydney intact has gained a further boost with barrier four in Saturday’s Doncaster Mile. The three-year-old is the dominant favourite for the prestigious race over what is regarded as the toughest 1600m course in the country but his owner Greg Kolivos is… Read More »
