Trainer Caspar Fownes is focusing on Sunday’s Group Two Hong Kong Jockey Club races in which he has three horses entered for two of the trio of Group Two contests, including Columbus County (NZ) (Redwood), who is entered for the HK$4.5 million Jockey Club Cup off the back of an eye-catching first-up win at the Happy Valley. “This Sunday is a big step-up for him, he’s proving to me though that he has the ability to finish inside the top four even though he is out of the ratings, but…
Month: November 2020
Cup victory for About Turn
By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk Cambridge trainer Mike Berger took three horses south to Manawatu Raceway’s meeting on Tuesday and he was rewarded with a winning double. The night was headlined by About Turn’s gutsy win in the Mad Butcher Wairarapa Cup Mobile Pace (2000m). The five-year-old entire had his work cut out for him after drawing one on the second line, but under a patient drive by stable junior driver Luke Whittaker they bided their time at the rear of the field, Whittaker then launched his charge three-wide…
Mixed fortunes for Cup contenders
Australia’s top ranked greyhound Simon Told Helen remains the favourite for the $630,000 TAB Melbourne Cup despite drawing box four in his heat on Friday night.
The “Oddie” couple
Short-course speedster Tough Like Atom ($2.40F) provided young Murchison trainer Stacey Evans, 29, with her first winner – and a huge thrill – at Shepparton on November 9. The 22.13sec victory over 385m was even more sweet given the young mum has spent so much time with the quirky female greyhound, who had unfortunately ‘soured’ midway in her initial preparation. “My partner, Thomas Wark, and I were puzzled as to her fractious behaviour, which she did not present with in the beginning,” said Stacey, pictured above with Thomas and Tough…
The amazing story behind Simon Told Helen
A jam-packed show kicked off Season Two of Thrill of the Chase on 7TW0, including a must-watch feature story about champion greyhound, Simon Told Helen. Also joining the show were leading trainers Robert Britton and Kelvyn Greenough, who discussed their respective superstar greyhounds Tornado Tears and Houdini Boy. James Van de Maat explained why recent Million Dollar Chase winner Handsome Prince looms as a huge threat in the upcoming TAB Melbourne Cup series based on a trial performed by the greyhound on Shootout night. And to round out the show…
Thompson reveals Melbourne Cup Secret
Jason Thompson rates unproven youngster Aussie Secret, a $17 chance in TAB’s all-in market, as his best chance of celebrating a record-breaking fourth TAB Melbourne Cup victory. Thompson’s three Melbourne Cup wins have come courtesy of Light Of Fire (1994), Got A Moment (2012) and Black Magic Opal (2013), while wife Seona continued a proud family tradition with Aston Dee Bee in 2017. It’s no surprise that sprinting luminaries Simon Told Helen, the reigning Australian Greyhound of the Year, and Topgun hero Shima Shine, head Melbourne Cup betting at $7.50…
Brandenburg right on song for The Gong
Trainer John Sargent is expecting a better performance from Brandenburg (NZ) (Burgundy) when he lines up in the The Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange. Brandenburg is among 24 nominations for the A$1 million provincial feature on Saturday, a race only introduced to the spring racing calendar last year. The stakes-winning four-year-old will appreciate returning to a firmer surface following his midfield effort behind Collette (Hallowed Crown) on a heavy-rated track in the A$7.5 million Golden Eagle three weeks ago. “It was too wet for him in the Golden Eagle but…
Chad Orsmby – the man of many hats
Waikato horseman Chad Orsmby has his fingers in a lot pies, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Earlier this year he returned to the jockey ranks after a near decade-long hiatus, and juggles that alongside being a trainer and preparing a 10-strong draft under his Riverrock Farm banner for New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready To Run Sale, which commences at 1pm on Wednesday. Ormsby said he wouldn’t be able to pursue so many facets of the industry if it wasn’t for his staff and partner, Aleisha Moroney. “I couldn’t…
Treweek’s buoyed ahead of RTR sale
Lyndhurst Farm have a proud history selling at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale and that is set to continue at Karaka this week. The Waikato farm has sold seven Group One winners at the sale and principals Mark and Shelley Treweek are hoping to produce another from their select draft of three this year. “It has been a very good sale and we have targeted it a lot over the years,” Mark Treweek said. “We have had seven Group One winners out of it, so it has…
Media Sensation primed for Breeders’ Stakes
South Auckland trainers Peter and Dawn Williams are looking forward to heading to Pukekohe on Saturday where Media Sensation (I Am Invincible) will make her raceday resumption in the Gr.2 Dunstan Feeds Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m). The Group One winner has had three trials this preparation, culminating in a 1200m win at Ellerslie last week, and her trainers believe she is primed for her first-up assignment this weekend. “Her trial last week was great, she is ready to race,” Peter Williams said. “She will line-up on Saturday in the…