Month: September 2020

Jockey Shaun McKay will undergo further tests at Waikato Hospital to determine whether he needs a plate inserted in his shoulder to assist the healing process for the collarbone he broke in a nasty fall at Ellerslie on Saturday. McKay was riding the well-favoured Blood Warrior in the last race on the day when his charge crashed heavily to the turf on the home bend after clipping the heels of Manrico, who was being angled into the clear by rider Jasmine Fawcett when insufficiently clear of McKay’s mount. Thankfully, McKay…

Cambridge conditioner Roger James got what he was looking for at Ellerslie on Saturday when progressive stayers Concert Hall and London Banker performed with distinction in their first-up assignments. Gr.3 Manawatu Cup (2300m) winner Concert Hall stormed home late to push eventual winner Dawn Patrol close in an open 1400m event while lightly raced five-year-old London Banker finished close up in third behind longshot winner Lord Sibford over 1600m. James, who prepares the pair with training partner Robert Wellwood, was keen to see how both runners would measure up as…

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD NEWSLETTER

The “rising star’ tag had been bandied around for a while, but after Inferno (Holy Roman Emperor) lit up Saturday’s Singapore Guineas (1600m) with a victory as emphatic as you would ever witness at Kranji, not many will now disagree that a new star is born. Even if Mr Malek (NZ) (Swiss Ace) – smart but not as charismatic – had not been sensationally scratched on Tuesday, the third and last Leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge was always going to be billed as a one-horse race, especially after Inferno…

Haunui Farm shuttle stallion Belardo was in the headlines in the northern hemisphere once again through his progressive daughter Isabella Giles, who took out the Gr.2 Rockfel Stakes (1400m) at Newmarket on Friday. The Clive Cox-trained filly provided Belardo, a Group One winning son of Lope De Vega, with his first Group success at Goodwood in August and showed plenty of courage to deny Nazuna by two lengths on the Rowley Mile. Isabella Giles was winning for the fourth time in five starts and was given quotes of 14-1 for…

Chris Waller has declared the A$7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m) the target for Subpoenaed (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle) after she defeated a high-class field of mares to win the Gr.2 Golden Pendant (1400m). The four-year-old has threatened to claim a good race but as a backmarker she has often been unlucky. From a good draw on Saturday, Tommy Berry was able to position Subpoenaed ($5) closer in the run and she charged home to take out the 1400m race by 1-1/4 lengths over Emeralds (Sebring) ($15) with Jen Rules (Redoute’s…

Crosshaven (Smart Missile) cemented his claims for a spring classic as a clear winner of the Gr.3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) on Saturday. He was sent out a $5.50 chance after coming off an impressive Listed Exford Plate (1400m) victory at Flemington. Crosshaven took an on-pace position on a hot speed but as his rivals faded away on turning for home, he sprinted clear and on the line had a length-and-three-quarter advantage over Amish Boy (Star Witness). Crosshaven took his record to four wins from his five starts and was…

‘Judgement Day’ was ominously descending on short-priced favourite Heartening Flyer (NZ) (Excelebration) in the home straight in Singapore on Saturday, but his sheer will to win saved the day in the end. The $8 hotpot had everything going to script and was quite rightly being hailed the winner when he rocked up for his run to the wire. However, that fighting spirit of his was about to be tested yet again when Sacred Judgement (So You Think) loomed upsides at the 300m and even headed him. Louis-Philippe Beuzelin, who has…