Month: February 2021

A remarkable ride has seen Zac Spain win his first career Group 1 aboard Streets Of Avalon in the Neds C.F. Orr Stakes at Caulfield. The son of Magnus became the fourth horse since Black Caviar to win the Orr after taking out the Group 2 Australia Stakes at Moonee Valley two weeks ago, largely thanks to some fantastic race tactics from the 24-year-old hoop. After Sovereign Award took up the lead, Spain chose to sit patiently in the box-seat before producing Streets Of Avalon down the straight in a…

Group 1 racing returns this weekend with Caulfield host to the $500,000 Neds C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) where resuming Ladbrokes Cox Plate hero Sir Dragonet is the well-supported favourite. Ladbrokes Cox Plate hero Sir Dragonet is first-up favourite in Saturday’s Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes at Caulfield. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos. Nine weight-for-age hopefuls remain in contention for this season’s C.F. Orr Stakes title after the early withdrawal of Fifty Stars from the Lindsay Park stable. Markets on the event are firmly led by the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained…

Bought for just $22,000, Rocketing By has upstaged two-time Group One winner Ole Kirk and top filly Dame Giselle to snare the rich Inglis Sprint at Randwick. Starting at $26, the three-year-old won the race on his merits, bursting through the pack to down Prime Star ($16) by a half-length with Ole Kirk ($2.60 fav) doing his best work late another long head away. Dame Giselle was also responsible for a nice return, finishing fourth. Trainer David Pfieffer snapped up Rocketing By at the Scone sales and the son of…

Streets of Avalon, ridden by Zac Spain, has won the Group One C F Orr Stakes at Caulfield. Zac Spain’s infatuation with tough galloper Streets Of Avalon has gone to another level as the tough on-pacer provided the 24-year-old with his first Group One win when successful in the Orr Stakes. Spain described his association with Streets Of Avalon as a career changer. He said he could barely contain his excitement when Streets Of Avalon fought off a determined challenge from Imaging to win the 1400 metre Group One at…

Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou saddled up two runners in the Eskimo Prince Stakes and they ran the quinella, just not in the order the stable expected. The training partners saw Saturday’s Group Three sprint as an ideal grand final for race-fit three-year-old The Face, while it appealed as a campaign starting point for rising star Peltzer. But the Eskimo Prince (1200m) proved more than just a stepping stone for the latter as Peltzer asserted his class to run down his stablemate. In doing so, he maintained his unbeaten record…

The Golden Slipper looms large for the Mick Price-trained Profiteer after his Millennium romp. Newgate Farm’s Henry Field has won his share of big races but he has never felt the nerves like he did leading into the $2 million Inglis Millennium. Earlier this week, Newgate announced they had bought into Profiteer, who started a short-priced favourite in the Millenium, and the pressure was on for the Victorian colt to perform. He did so in breathtaking fashion, showing sustained speed to control Saturday’s race and rocket clear to score by…

Probabeel ridden by Damian Lane wins the Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes at Caulfield. Poland confirmed his trainer Mike Moroney’s lofty opinion of him and he’s now Australian Guineas bound after his tough first-up win in the Autumn Stakes. Moroney said he had always held Poland in high-regard and he blamed himself for the colt’s only poor run which was in the Caulfield Guineas. “I think he’s a very good horse. When I saw him parading on Caulfield Guineas Day, I knew he shouldn’t have been here, as he had come to…

General Beau ridden by Jamie Kah wins the Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) at Caulfield. General Beau took another persuasive step to convincing his owner David Moodie to pay a late entry fee for the Blue Diamond Stakes with a narrow win in the Prelude. Co-trainer Mat Ellerton said they would discuss whether the $55,000 late entry fee, which needs to be paid by Monday, February 15, would be paid during the week for the $1.5 million race on February 20. “We’ll have that conversation during the week and see how…