Month: April 2020

Group One Rosehill Guineas winner D’Argento is to be offered for stallion duties. Group One winner D’Argento is to be retired to stud with trainer Chris Waller and Star Thoroughbreds abandoning a racetrack return. The winner of the 2018 Rosehill Guineas, D’Argento has not raced for a year after a couple of minor problems interrupted his recent preparations. Waller said the striking grey had been unlucky not to have a better Group One record. “D’Argento came into the stable as a typical Denise Martin purchase, a smart looking type by…

Stradbroke Handicap-bound Outback Barbie has shown her fitness with a Doomben barrier trial win. Outback Barbie is set to give trainer Tony Gollan another strong chance in his quest for the Group One Stradbroke Handicap after an impressive barrier trial. Outback Barbie sat fourth until the home turn before gathering in the leaders at the 150m and coming away for an easy win in her 1000m-heat at Doomben on Tuesday. The four-year-old mare always performs well in trials but even by her standards it was a strong effort. Outback Barbie…

Westbury Stud stallion Reliable Man. Photo: Lesley Warwick Westbury Stud stallion Reliable Man bolstered his CV on the weekend when his son Kinane took out the Group 3 Frank Packer Plate (2000m) at Randwick on Saturday. The Chris Waller-trained gelding has now recorded two wins from just four starts and with Saturday’s victory he became his sire’s seventh Group winner and 11th stakes winner. Westbury Stud General Manager Russell Warwick was delighted with the result and is excited about the gelding’s prospects. “He looks pretty smart,” Warwick said. “It’s a…

Racing Victoria CEO Giles Thompson expects to have a clearer picture of the spring carnival by June. Racing Victoria chief executive Giles Thompson says there is still time before a decision needs to be made on what the Melbourne spring carnival will look like. Thompson is hoping for a clearer picture by June ahead of announcing carnival plans amid the COVID-19 pandemic which has meant crowd lock-outs and strict biosecurity measures at race meetings. RV has begun looking at different scenarios with only a remote chance crowds will be allowed…

Travelling Light with trainer Ben Foote. Photo: Trish Dunell Cambridge trainer Ben Foote is finding a silver lining to New Zealand’s strict lockdown measures under Covid-19 Alert level 4. With the nation poised to ease restrictions next week, which will likely enable a return to full-training, Foote has said there have been some benefits from the down time. Among those benefits is the additional time quality filly Travelling Light has had to mature. The winner of five of her seven starts to date, including the Group 1 Levin Classic (1600m),…

Insensata will get another chance to add valuable black-type to her resume at Rosehill. Trainer Jason Coyle has turned his attention to the Hawkesbury Crown at Rosehill with Insensata after the mare missed a start in a race at Randwick. Insensata failed to get a run as an emergency in a 1400m-benchmark 100 race won by Ranier on Saturday. The six-year-old is among 23 nominations for Saturday’s Group Three Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) for fillies and mares with the entries headlined by dual Group One winner In Her Time who has…

Britain’s Culture Secretary has defended the decision to allow the Cheltenham Festival to go ahead. Britain’s Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has defended his decision to allow the four-day Cheltenham Festival days before racing was shut down because of the coronavirus crisis. Around 250,000 people attended last month’s famous jumps meeting with additional hygiene measures in place. Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Dowden was accused by presenter Piers Morgan of “actively encouraging” people to attend Cheltenham and other events such as the Liverpool versus Atletico Madrid football match ahead of the…