Month: April 2020

Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare will be a headline attraction at Flemington. Trainer Danny O’Brien will use staying races on his home track at Flemington for his bid to defend Vow And Declare’s Melbourne Cup crown. The first of those is Saturday’s William Newton VC Handicap (2600m) which leads to the Andrew Ramsden Stakes (2800m) at Flemington on May 16. O’Brien is hopeful the Victoria Racing Club may add another quality handicap in June or early July to keep Vow And Declare ticking over for November’s Melbourne Cup. “If…

Qld jockey Luke Tarrant has been outed for six months for head-butting fellow rider Larry Cassidy. Queensland jockey Luke Tarrant has been disqualified for six months after admitting to head-butting fellow rider Larry Cassidy at the weighing scales at Doomben. As well as the seriousness of the physical incident, stewards took into account the breach of the COVID-19 social protocols and the potential for Tarrant’s actions to have an adverse effect on the racing industry. It is the latest disqualification or suspension for Tarrant who had been making a success…

Tony Millard saddled the great Ambitious Dragon. Tony Millard enjoyed one of his biggest days at Sha Tin when the exceptional Ambitious Dragon won the 2011 Group 1 QEII Cup (2000m) and this Sunday (26 April) the handler will saddle the talented duo Glorious Dragon and Elusive State in the HK$25 million feature. Ambitious Dragon was 2.3 favourite when he rolled off a brilliant Hong Kong Derby victory to secure the Cup but this time the Millard runners will be attempting to rise up and mix it with the current…

In-form Usmanov is one of nine acceptors for Toby and Trent Edmonds at the Coast Coast. The Toby and Trent Edmonds stable has reached 100 winners in a season for the third time and is headed for another milestone. Toby Edmonds trained 109 winners last season and 106-1/2 winners in 2017/18 when his son Trent was his foreman. This season is their first as a partnership and Powering’s win at Ipswich on Sunday was their 100th. The wins are made up of 80 in Queensland and 20 in NSW. There…

Ringo’s A Rockstar will be out to improve on an outstanding record at the Sunshine Coast. Ringo’s A Rockstar’s will be out to enhance his outstanding record over 1000 metres at the Sunshine Coast where he takes on a classy field. The Anzac Day meeting on Saturday was set to mark the start of the winter carnival which has been revised during the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, Racing Queensland has scheduled 25 black-type races of which only two are at Group One level, the Stradbroke Handicap and JJ Atkins, both on…

France Galop has met with government officials to map out a possible return to racing. France Galop has had what it describes as a positive and constructive meeting with French government authorities regarding a return to racing. Meetings have been suspended since March 17 because of the coronavirus crisis but hope remains that action could resume next month behind closed doors. France Galop president Edouard de Rothschild consulted with members of the French government on Tuesday, with the parties giving themselves 48 hours to come up with an agreement on…

Trainer Tom Dabernig is among those on the scene of a truck accident in which three fillies died. Four horses have died in a truck accident near Lindsay Park at Euroa in a scene co-trainer Tom Dabernig has described as devastating. Three Shadwell Stud-owned fillies, all trained by Lindsay Park, and an unnamed broodmare were killed in the accident on Monday night soon after leaving the training property near Euroa. A fifth horse, the Bjorn Baker-trained Hybrid Theory, who ran at Caulfield on Saturday, was taken to a veterinary clinic…

Dual Group One winner In Her Time will have her final start in the Gold Crown at Rosehill. Trainer Kris Lees is looking to send dual Group One winning sprinter In Her Time out on a high at Rosehill. The mare is listed for auction as a broodmare proposition at the Chairman’s sale early next month and will be backing up from her fifth in the Group Three Hall Mark Stakes at Randwick on Saturday. She is nominated for two races on Saturday, the Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) and the Hawkesbury…

Bellx (r) will try to improve on her last-start second when she runs in the St Leger at Flemington. Bellx is well down the ballot order for an interstate Group One event, leading Lindsay Park to switch its attention to a stakes race at home. The filly features among nominations for the Australasian Oaks (2000m) at Morphettville on May 9 but instead will step out over a longer distance in Saturday’s Listed VRC St Leger (2800m) at Flemington. There are no such concerns about Bellx gaining a St Leger start…