Month: January 2020

Southern Lad is favourite to win his first attempt at 1400m in the Listed Carrington Stakes. Southern Lad will be looking to continue trainer John O’Shea’s outstanding mid-season form at Randwick, and notch a victory that has the potential to set him on a Group One path. O’Shea has trained 14 metropolitan winners this season, nine of them since January 1 including a treble on the Kensington track on New Years’ Day and a double at Randwick two weeks ago. Southern Lad has formed part of the Randwick horseman’s formidable…

Ziemba can continue a family tradition for trainer Robert Heathcote at the Sunshine Coast. Trainer Robert Heathcote has more than one reason to hope promising three-year-old Ziemba can win at the Sunshine Coast. Ziemba will be joined by stablemates Stuttering and Mosshiki to give Heathcote a strong hand in Saturday’s QTIS Three-Year-Old Handicap (1600m). Heathcote has been the form Brisbane trainer since the start of the new year with nine winners and he has high hopes for Ziemba. Ziemba is by Rothesay out of the Group Two winning mare Funtantes…

Golden Sixty is an exciting Group 3 winner already this season. Francis Lui is in an unusual position. Not only does he occupy a high berth in the trainers’ standings approaching the season’s halfway mark but he also has two of Hong Kong’s most exciting four-year-old prospects in his care. Golden Sixty and More Than This could well go to post as the top two in the market for Monday’s (27 January) Hong Kong Classic Mile, the first of three contests that make up the Four-Year-Old Classic Series. Lui’s current…

Arc winner Waldgeist (l) and Enable (r) are joined by Crystal Ocean in a 3-way tie for world’s best. In a three-way tie, Enable, Crystal Ocean and Waldgeist have been named as the top-rated horses in the world. The John Gosden-trained Enable just failed in October to become the first horse to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe three times. The horse who denied her a special place in history three months ago was Waldgeist, who had previously finished behind Enable three times for trainer Andre Fabre. Crystal Ocean,…

Shamport seals a double for Fownes and Ho. Caspar Fownes ended a dry spell stretching back to 18 December with a double at Happy Valley last night (Wednesday, 22 January) that owed plenty to the skill and confidence of jockey Vincent Ho. “I’d forgotten what it’s like,” Fownes quipped after Ho had sealed the brace for his old boss aboard Shamport – fresh off a spell at Conghua – in race three, the Class 4 Shing Yip Handicap (1200m). “He’s a horse that, truthfully speaking has been quite disappointing,” Fownes…

Lyle Hewitson breaks his Happy Valley maiden on Kiram (10). Lyle Hewitson earned a long-awaited and deserved first Happy Valley win last night (Wednesday, 22 January) to help trainer David Ferraris continue his solid form this term, particularly with his stable’s old-stagers. The two-time South African champion jockey has had a stark introduction to Hong Kong racing, with his stats rolling into tonight’s nine-race card reading one win from 174 rides – a win strike rate of 0.57%. But Hewitson has not buckled in the face of limited opportunities. After…

Osborne Bulls retires with nine wins from 20 starts and nine placings. Five were at Group One level. Popular Godolphin sprinter Osborne Bulls has been retired as a multiple Group One placegetter. Godolphin announced on Wednesday the six-year-old would join its Lifetime Care Program, which retrains ex-racehorses in other disciplines. The gelding retires with nine wins from his 20 starts and nine placings, including five seconds at Group One level and a third in the 2018 Everest. A late starter because of various veterinary issues, Osborne Bulls made a winning…

Currie rode Hanseatic to victory in the Merson Cooper Stakes in November in his only start. Jockey Luke Currie has already won this season’s Magic Millions Classic and will get a better idea about his hopes of back-to-back Blue Diamond Stakes victories when favourite Hanseatic resumes in one of the Previews. Currie is well placed to judge the potential of young horses, having won two of the past three Magic Millions Two Year Old Classics at the Gold Coast on Sunlight (2018) and Away Game (2020). He is also the…

Josh Cartwright rode Hard ‘n’ Tough to victory at Sandown, his second city success since his return. Jockey Josh Cartwright has landed a satisfying city double at Sandown as he continues to rebuild his riding career in Victoria after serving a lengthy suspension. A victory on the Nick Harnett-trained colt Seafield Road in Wednesday’s Le Pine Funerals Plate (1300m) gave Cartwright his first city success since his return in the middle of last year. He followed with victory on the Simon Wilde-trained Hard ‘N’ Tough in the Big Screen Company…

Albumin (L) is an outsider in the Carrington Stakes after a disappointing run at Randwick. After a race day he would rather forget, trainer Gerald Ryan is hoping to come away from Randwick in a happier frame of mind. Ryan had high expectations for two-year-old Return With Honour at Rosehill on Saturday but the heavy track put paid to the colt’s chances and those of his stablemates In Lighten Me and Coterie. The bright spot of the day was Bandersnatch, who held on for a gutsy win and has now…