Month: January 2020

Triple Group One winner Alizee (red cap) heads the entries for the Group Two Expressway Stakes. Star mare Alizee will have scant opposition in her defence of the Expressway Stakes with seven entries taken for the Group Two sprint over 1200 metres. Alizee beat four class runners last year, with Le Romain second and 2018 winner Trapeze Artist fourth. This time around, three-year-old colt Standout is expected to be the one trying to foil her bid on Saturday with the Gerald Ryan-trained colt catching the eye in his barrier trials.…

Trainer Stuart Kendrick has high hopes for Cosmic Gossip who is headed for the new QTIS The Jewel. The impressive win of Cosmic Gossip at the Sunshine Coast has further boosted the $500,000 QTIS 2YO The Jewel as the battle to find Queensland’s best juvenile heats up. The Jewel, which is restricted to QTIS eligible horses, will be run on March 14 at the Gold Coast and is already attracting plenty of attention. Cosmic Gossip scored a last-to-first win and stamped herself as a genuine hope in The Jewel by…

Cox Plate winning jockey Damian Lane has been confirmed to ride NZ star Catalyst in Melbourne. Star Melbourne jockey Damian Lane will ride boom New Zealand three-year-old Catalyst in his upcoming Australian campaign. Catalyst is raced by Dick Karreman’s Oaks Stud with general manager Rick Williams confirming Lane would replace kiwi Troy Harris in the Group Three C S Hayes (1400m) at Flemington on February 15. “Damian Lane’s manager emailed and said Damian wouldn’t take another ride until he knew what the riding engagements were going to be,” Williams told…

Group 1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby (2400m) aspirant Sherwood Forest. Photo: Race Images South A gritty victory over the older horses at Te Aroha last Friday in his first attempt beyond 1600m has Cambridge trainer Tony Pike convinced Sherwood Forest is right on track for his tilt at the Group 1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie next month. Pike elected to test the Fastnet Rock gelding over 2200m in rating 82 company at Te Aroha and he came through that test with flying colours as he showed plenty…

Group One-winning mare Volpe Veloce. Photo: Trish Dunell Volpe Veloce gave trainer Graham Richardson one of his biggest moments in racing when she won the Group 1 Railway (1200m) two years ago and he is hoping to finish her career on a similar high. The six-year-old mare is likely to have two more tilts at Group 1 glory this season before retiring to stud and her brave runner-up performance in the Group 2 Westbury Classic (1400m) at Ellerslie on Saturday proved she is capable of the task. “It was a…

Mikiko Nakao is set to have her first runner as a jockey and trainer this week at Doomben. Nakao was recently granted a dual licence and has several horses in work at the Deagon training complex. She has entered Secret Agent Man for a Class One event at Doomben on Thursday. Nakao, who emigrated from Japan a decade ago, was apprenticed to trainer Pat Duff at Deagon and rode 51 winners. Before that she had stints with Trevor Sutherland, Bernie Howlett and Gratz Vella in NSW and the ACT. “If…

Brisbane Racing Club chairman Neville Bell has received an OAM in the Australia Day honours. Brisbane Racing Club Chairman Neville Bell has received a Medal of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day honours list. Bell was honoured for his contribution to racing and the community of Caboolture, north of Brisbane. He was an original member of the BRC board when the Queensland Turf Club and Brisbane Turf Club amalgamated in 2008. Bell has been BRC chairman since 2012 and has overseen a move from a racing-only emphasis to…

Four years after closing the gates on his stable, Peter Moody confirms plans to return to training. Peter Moody has confirmed his plans to return to the Victorian training ranks with a boutique stable at Pakenham. Moody said he had not yet got a licence and he would have preferred to keep his plans to himself but recent speculation had forced his hand. The trainer of many Group One winners, led by the unbeaten Black Caviar, stepped away from training in 2016 after being handed a six-month suspension to unintentionally…

Azuro runs in the Australia Day Cup ahead of a planned trip to NZ for the G1 Auckland Cup. A trip to New Zealand for the Group One Auckland Cup is the plan for imported stayer Azuro who will first try to add the Australia Day Cup at Warwick Farm to his record. Trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace for OTI Racing, Azuro won three times over 3200m during 2019 – the Stayer’s Cup at Rosehill in June, the Listed Queensland Cup in July and the Listed Sandown Cup…