Month: October 2020

Below we take a look at the background of the six New Zealand bred runners in Saturday’s Gr.1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington. ALBARADO – Savabeel x O’Fille (O’Reilly) $7 Savabeel, a son of the legendary Zabeel, needs no introduction as a sire of Classic winners, one of which was 2011 VRC Derby winner Sangster. There’s staying prowess on the damside, too. O’Fille, a daughter of the versatile O’Reilly, never raced beyond 2100m – a distance over which she won the Gr.3 Trentham Stakes – and was Group One-placed over…

New Zealand Premiership-leading jockey Danielle Johnson will miss the first day of the New Zealand Cup carnival at Riccarton next month through suspension. Johnson admitted a breach of careless riding aboard Melodious in the Conaghys Pro-Abamec 1400 at Te Aroha on Wednesday and was subsequently suspended from the conclusion of racing on November 3 to the end of racing on November 10. As a result, Johnson will miss the ride on the Stephen Marsh-trained Bourbonaire in the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m). He is currently…

Trainer Andrew Carston was thanking the late Neill Ridley following Caitlyn Jay’s win in the NZB Insurance Pearl Series Race (1400m) at Ashburton on Thursday. Ridley, who passed away from cancer earlier this month, was the mare’s former trainer. “When Neill got sick, he suggested to her owner Robin Laidlaw that he should send her to me to train,” Carston said. “Neill and I got on really well and I was honored to get her to train and so it was nice to get another win to repay his faith…

Leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller is hoping he can secure his home track’s biggest prize on Saturday when he lines-up Subpoenaed in the A$7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill. The daughter of Rip Van Winkle won the Gr.2 Golden Pendant (1400m) at the Sydney track two starts back before disappointing in the Silver Eagle (1300m) at Randwick when finishing sixth. Waller is looking forward to returning to Rosehill with the four-year-old but he said the rain-affected track is an unknown factor for his mare. “She was a little bit…

Kiwi-bred mare Oceanex has been given the green light to continue onto the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) on Tuesday. The daughter of Ocean Park had undergone a veterinary inspection on Thursday morning where Racing Victoria’s chief vet Dr Grace Forbes, along with co-trainer Mick Price and stable vet David Shepherd, were not happy with her action. Oceanex subsequently underwent a change in shoeing in a bid to relieve pressure on her heels, and the alteration has resulted in a drastic improvement. “We just put a three-quarter shoe on her, took…