Year: 2019

Moreira took his tally to 30 with a treble today. Dirt track specialist Elusive State posted an impressive win in the Class 2 Kwangtung Handicap Cup (1650m) at Sha Tin this afternoon (Sunday, 27 October), Joao Moreira secured his second win of the day with a rail-running swoop, nailing section two of the Class 4 Shenzhen Handicap (1200m) aboard the Francis Lui-trained Fortune Happiness. And the three-time Hong Kong champion jockey made it three when the David Ferraris-trained Bear Slam took the Class 3 Zhuhai Handicap (1650m). That was the…

Elusive State looked good under Joao Moreira. Dirt track specialist Elusive State posted an impressive win in the Class 2 Kwangtung Handicap Cup (1650m) at Sha Tin this afternoon (Sunday, 27 October) but trainer Tony Millard remained evasive regarding future plans for the talented six-year-old. “We’ve got a plan for him so we hope we can pull it off. I had an international jockey get hold of me, so I’ve got a plan. We’ll see what happens now, see how he pulls up,” the handler said. The rumour mill has…

Exceedance’s stallion value will be stamped if he can win the Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington. Hawkes Racing is leaving nothing to chance as they chase an important Group One victory with lightly raced colt Exceedance. The three-year-old is set to run in Saturday’s Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington. Since being elevated to Group One status in 2006, the Coolmore Stud Stakes has been won by some of Australia’s brightest young stallions including Star Witness (2010), Sepoy (2011), Zoustar (2013), Brazen Beau (2014) and Merchant Navy (2017). Filly Sunlight…

Cox Plate-winning jockey Damian Lane can complete the grand slam if he wins the Melbourne Cup. History awaits star Australian jockey Damian Lane when he returns to riding on Melbourne Cup day after a suspension. With wins in the Golden Slipper, Caulfield Cup and Saturday’s Cox Plate already in his keeping during 2019, Lane can create history at Flemington on November 5 when he rides Japanese Caulfield Cup winner Mer De Glace in the $8 million Melbourne Cup. No jockey has won Melbourne’s three major spring races – Caulfield Cup,…

Te Akau Shark (R) will return home to NZ while stablemate Melody Belle (L) runs in Group 1 at Flemington. Cox Plate placegetter Te Akau Shark will return home to New Zealand for a spell with trainer Jamie Richards to switch his attention to stablemate Melody Belle. The mare runs on Saturday at Flemington where she will try to add the Group One Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) to her three elite level wins at home this spring. New Zealand’s reigning Horse of the Year has settled in well and will…

Trainer Tony McEvoy will try Sunlight over 1500m in the $7.5 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill. After digging deeper into Sunlight’s performance in The Everest, co-trainer Tony McEvoy is happy to bite the bullet for a shot at the Golden Eagle. Sunlight finished 10th behind Yes Yes Yes in The Everest on October 19, leaving the trainer puzzled and searching for answers. “When we dissected the race she still ran the fastest 1200 metres she’s ever run so it wasn’t a disastrous run, but she finished well below what we…

Trainer of Cox Plate winner Lys Gracieux, Yoshito Yahagi, says he wants to return to Australia. Having won the Cox Plate for the first time, Japanese trainer Yoshito Yahagi is keen to return for another Melbourne spring carnival. The Yahagi-trained Lys Gracieux, a dual Group One-winning mare in Japan, showed her class in Saturday’s Group One weight-for-age Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley to win by 1-1/2-lengths. Her win came a week after fellow Japanese horse, the Hisashi Shimizu-trained Mer De Glace, won the Caulfield Cup . The Cox Plate…