Month: April 2020

Doomben winner Scathing will be part of trainer Chris Munce’s winter team for the revamped carnival. Talented three-year-old Scathing has emerged as another top winter contender for trainer Chris Munce with a strong win at Doomben. Scathing easily beat older horses in a benchmark 72 race on Saturday to take his record to three wins and four minor placings from seven starts. Munce has been active at the yearling sales in recent years and is reaping the benefits with a quality crop of three-year-olds. He already has likely winter hopefuls…

Ciaron Maher and training partner David Eustace have been fined $2000 for a therapy mix-up. The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable has been fined for running Stardayz at Flemington after the horse was given shockwave therapy within the cut-off period before the race. Maher, who appeared before stewards on Saturday, pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined $2000 while Stardayz was disqualified after the mix-up. Stardayz had finished 10th in a benchmark 64 race at Flemington on March 4 when ineligible to race. The stable’s treatment diary recorded…

Glenfiddich (l) 2nd to King’s Legacy in the G1 Champagne, will be set for the Caulfield Guineas. Cranbourne trainer Robbie Griffiths is looking forward to the Melbourne spring with Glenfiddich after the colt’s narrow defeat in a Group One race at Randwick. Griffiths has long held Caulfield Guineas ambitions for Glenfiddich and after his second to King’s Legacy in Saturday’s Champagne Stakes (1600m), he sees no reason to alter those thoughts. Glenfiddich led the Champagne field and, after being headed by King’s Legacy, fought back bravely to be beaten a…

Authorities hope to run the English Derby when racing resumes in Britain behind closed doors. A Guineas meeting in early June and the Derby and Oaks run in early July feature in the British Horseracing Authority’s best-case scenario when racing resumes. With racing suspended indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic, the season’s first four Classics have been delayed from their usual slots in the calendar. The Resumption of Racing Group is working to draw up provisional plans for when racing is able to return, with “a phased approach” behind closed…

Qld premiership leader Baylee Nothdurft has been suspended after riding three winners at Doomben. Leading Brisbane jockey Baylee Nothdurft faces a disrupted start to winter racing after being suspended for nearly three weeks following incidents at two meetings. Nothdurft, who rode a treble at Doomben on Saturday, leads the state and metropolitan premierships in the senior and apprentice divisions. He was suspended for 13 days on a charge of causing interference at the Sunshine Coast on Friday night. As it stands the suspension is due to start after Saturday’s metropolitan…

Life Less Ordinary has broken a run of outs extending almost 12 months in winning at Randwick. Eight-year-old Life Less Ordinary has chased down Greysful Glamour to snare his first win in almost a year in the Group Three Japan Racing Association Plate at Randwick. One of six runners for Sydney’s premier trainer Chris Waller in the field of 12, Life Less Ordinary enjoyed a cosy run under Jason Collett, midfield on the fence, from the inside barrier in Saturday’s 2000m race and set out after leader Greysful Glamour in…

Khoekhoe takes victory in the $855,000 The Showdown. Matt Cumani made a conscious decision in establishing his stable after arriving from the United Kingdom that he wanted to show he could prepare two-year-olds. The Ballarat-based horseman did not want to be pigeon-holed as a trainer of distance horses and realised to be successful in Australia you needed winners with two-year-olds. While he has had stakes winners with juveniles, none have been as important as the victory of Khoekhoe in the $855,000 The Showdown at Caulfield on Saturday. Ridden by Fred…