Month: April 2020

Trainer Gary Portelli is looking to run Nicci’s Gold at Randwick on a seven-day back-up. Gary Portelli is as busy as ever training his horses at Warwick Farm amid some uncertainty about their goals. With the Brisbane winter carnival scrapped then reinstated on a lesser scale, plans for several horses are unclear. While racing has continued during the coronavirus pandemic, programs in Sydney and Melbourne have also changed, and are subject to further alterations at any time. Among those Portelli had been planning to take to Queensland is last year’s…

RV stewards have charged jockey Ben Melham with a string of betting offences. High profile Melbourne jockey Ben Melham faces charges relating to bets totalling thousands of dollars made through his partner’s account. Racing Victoria stewards on Monday issued seven charges against Melham over bets made during a six-month period last year. One of the charges is for giving false or misleading evidence during an interview in September. Many of the bets were made through the account of Melham’s partner, registered owner Karlie Dales, who has also been charged with…

Dual Group Two winner Dragon Leap. Photo: Trish Dunell The Matamata stable of Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott is preparing to welcome 25 to 30 horses back into the stable over the coming week, with boom three-year-old Dragon Leap not far away from a return to training. If there is a silver-lining to the lockdown period, O’Sullivan believes the additional time to mature for the son of Pierro, can only make for a better horse next season. The Hermitage Thoroughbreds-raced gelding has won three of his five starts to date,…

Trainer Robert Heathcote is among those calling for further changes to the Brisbane carnival. The success of the Sydney autumn carnival has sparked a renewed push for a further upgrade of Queensland’s winter racing. Racing Queensland originally scrapped the winter carnival features because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic implications. But it has since issued a revised schedule of 25 black-type races including the reinstatement of two Group One races – the Stradbroke Handicap and J J Atkins. The Sydney autumn carnival produced large television ratings and good betting…

Betcha Flying will be out to emulate Egg Tart by adding the Australasian Oaks to a Flemington win. The Chris Waller stable has precedence on its side in its attempt to win the Australasian Oaks at Morphettville with Betcha Flying. A winner at Flemington over 1700m on Saturday, Betcha Flying is Adelaide-bound for the Group One race for three-year-old fillies over 2000m on Saturday. Waller used the same race, then run over 1600m, as the lead-up for Egg Tart who went on to win the Australasian Oaks in 2017. Waller’s…

Trainer Joe Pride believes there needs to be an overhaul of open company winter races in Sydney. Trainer Joe Pride is calling for changes to the Sydney racing calendar to cater for horses who would otherwise be competing in the Brisbane winter carnival. Queensland has drastically reduced its black-type offering because of the coronavirus pandemic and biosecurity protocols mean travelling horses interstate is logistically complex. Given the timing of the national virus restrictions, most trainers already had their winter carnival horses in training when the landscape changed. Pride says there…

Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare will go for a break after a second disappointing performance. Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare is heading for a break after disappointing trainer Danny O’Brien at Flemington. Vow And Declare finished fifth in Saturday’s William Newton VC Handicap (2600m), a little over four lengths from the winner Haky. O’Brien dismissed suggestions Vow And Declare had not come up this campaign after two disappointing performances. Vow And Declare returned from his Melbourne Cup success for third in the Australian Cup at Flemington last month…