Month: May 2020

Epsom racing authorities and local council are discussing the possibility of a 1-day Derby meeting. Epsom officials are exploring the feasibility and practicality of conducting a one-day Derby meeting behind closed doors. Jockey Club Racecourses, the track’s owner, has submitted an application to Epsom and Ewell Borough Council to hold the Derby and Oaks on the same day in either July or August, along with restricting access to the site. A provisional date of July 4 has been put forward, but the application also asks for flexibility, with a Saturday…

Trail-blazing aboriginal jockey, the legendary Darby McCarthy, has died aged 76 in Queensland. Legendary jockey Darby McCarthy, a trail blazer for aboriginal sports people, has died at the age of 76. McCarthy was one of 13 children raised in Cunnamulla in western Queensland and rose to be among Australia’s top jockeys in the 1960s. In one golden period McCarthy won the Stradbroke Handicap three times with Mullala (1963), Cele’s Image (1964) and Castanea (1966). McCarthy also won the 1968 Doomben 10,000 (Gay Gauntlet) and 1966 Brisbane Cup (Apa). McCarthy moved…

Gotta Kiss is among apprentice Stephanie Thornton’s first rides without a claim. Star apprentice Stephanie Thornton gets her chance to make a mark on her first days of riding without an allowance. Thornton outrode her city allowance with a treble at Doomben last Saturday. She will take advantage of the modified rules under COVID-19 protocols which allow jockeys to ride at both metropolitan meetings at the Gold Coast on Friday and Doomben Saturday. She realises it is now essential she maintain her momentum without the benefit of her claim. “For…

Celestial Falls will be on trial for a Brisbane winter appearance when she resumes at Randwick. Stakes-placed filly Celestial Falls is set for a return to racing on a day when her elder half-sister Greysful Glamour chases victory in the Listed Gosford Gold Cup on the same Randwick program. Trained by Mark Newnham who also prepares Greysful Glamour, three-year-old Celestial Falls has not raced since last spring but is on target to resume in Saturday’s Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service 3&4YO Benchmark 78 Handicap (1400m). Like Greysful Glamour a year earlier,…

Trainer Brent Stanley will send out It’s Kind Of Magic and Cryptic Jewel at Caulfield. Brent Stanley is a Victorian trainer that in previous seasons has been keen to head north for the Brisbane carnival. However the closure of interstate borders because of coronavirus protocols means those trips require a significant amount of planning, although Stanley has not completely ruled out sending three-year-old It’s Kind Of Magic to Brisbane. But first Stanley wants to see how the filly runs in the Darren Gauci Handicap (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday. It’s…