Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh struck Group Three gold in both islands within the space of one special hour on Saturday afternoon. Belle Fascino (NZ) (Per Incanto) capped a series of black-type placings with a big finish to capture the White Robe Lodge WFA (1600m) at Wingatui, then Vernanme (NZ) (O’Reilly) swooped to victory in the Powerworx Taranaki Cup (1800m) at New Plymouth. Marsh took special satisfaction from Vernanme’s win, which came just a couple of days after co-owner-breeder Kevin Hickman sadly lost his multiple Group One-winning mare Silent Achiever (NZ)…
Month: February 2021
‘Silver’ service
Last night’s Western Districts Derby heats promised ‘silver service’ racing. And star prospect Silver Lake ‘served up’ a new 450-metre track record! Bred, owned and trained by Lynette Gough at Nyora, Silver Lake semaphored a sizzling 24.69sec – slicing 0.01sec off the 24.70sec previous mark, set by Pirate Pete on November 25 last year. Ironically, Silver Lake ($3.00) defeated Blackpool Flash ($4.30) by 4.7L, with Pirate Pete ($2.80F) a further 3.8L away third. It was his fifth win from only six starts. “He’s just a natural, he never puts a…
Local stars to feature prominently in Saturday night’s Cranbourne Cup Final
Saturday night’s $71,250 Group 2 Backmans Greyhound Supplies Cranbourne Cup Final (520m) boasts a strong local contingent, with six of the eight finalists being trained in the local area. The Cranbourne region has long been a major hub for Victorian greyhound racing – boasting a plethora of elite trainers and top-class greyhounds – with the Cranbourne Cup, first run in 1975, being the conclusion of the 2020/21 Gippsland Festival of Racing following the Sale Cup (26 December) and Warragul Cup (16 January). One of the main fancies in the Cranbourne…
Collaboration pays off with Cup upset
A joint venture between owner-breeder John Phillips and Riccarton trainer Danny Crozier produced a dream result in Saturday’s Listed Nellies Restaurant and Bar Dunedin Gold Cup (2400m). Defying odds of $31.60, nine-year-old mare Madam De Soir outfinished her opposition in the Wingatui staying feature and secured a valuable first black-type victory. Throughout most of her 66-start career, the daughter of Raise the Flag has been trained by Phillips at his Winton base. She found a purple patch of form earlier this season, winning over 2500m during the New Zealand Cup…
Ruakaka filly strengthens Oaks bid with thrilling victory
Lightly raced filly Spine Tingle (NZ) (Super Easy) sent shivers down the backs of plenty of her potential Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand Oaks (2400m) rivals with a stunning victory at New Plymouth on Saturday. Bred and raced by the Hawkins family under their Llanhennock Trust banner, the Super Easy three-year-old went into Saturday’s Listed Fasttrack Insurance Oaks Prelude (1800m) at New Plymouth with just two runs under her belt, including a last start victory over 1400m on her home track at Ruakaka. The Chris Gibbs-trained galloper was…
Back-to-back Guineas for Showemhowitsdone
A rematch of last month’s Listed Gore Guineas (1335m) produced the exact same result on Saturday as Showemhowitsdone (NZ) (Showcasing) edged out The Gift (NZ) (Power) in a tight finish to the Listed Mediaworks Dunedin Guineas (1500m) at Wingatui. The same two fillies hit the line locked together two weeks ago at Gore, where the strong-finishing Showemhowitsdone snatched victory by a head. But a rough-house finish and Slow8 track conditions may have raised some doubts over that form when a similar field stepped out on to a Dead4 track at…
Magneto takes Taranaki two-year-old feature
Promising colt Magneto (NZ) (Showcasing) turned the tables on race rivals Quattro Quinta (NZ) (Darci Brahma) and Wolfgang (NZ) (Puccini) when he stormed home along the fence to take out the Gr.3 Woburn Farm 2YO Classic (1200m) at New Plymouth. The Showcasing colt had finished third behind Saturday’s race rivals in the Listed Wellesley Stakes (1000m) at his last start but reversed that result with a professional display. Rider Ryan Elliot had the Steven Cole-trained runner humming along nicely in the trail throughout as first starter Ima Roca Bee (NZ)…
Runaway win for Snapper
Flemington trainer Mike Moroney was pleasantly surprised with the runaway win from Snapper (NZ) (Power) at Moonee Valley on Friday night. Moroney was a little concerned Snapper might need the run but the son of Power turned it into a procession after crossing from the outside to lead and then burn his rivals off in the home straight to win the 3YO Maiden over by 3-1/4 lengths eased down. “I thought he was impressive doing what he did,” Moroney said. “I was concerned about the outside barrier and him possibly…
Trainers’ tips on big day at Cambridge
To mark Cambridge’s big day today we have canvassed the thoughts of the trainers for all the runners in the two features. If trainers were not available we have used Trotech comments. Cambridge: Race 6 (Waikato Breeders Stakes G3) 1) The Last Gamble (ft) – has worked well at home, she’ll be running with some tough ones this week. We hope she could be in the combos. (D Moore) 2) Sunny Petite (ft) – Scratched 3) Lisa Marie P (ft) – Scratched 4) Emma Frost (ft) – has been working…
Whale Watch – Winton – Sunday
Craig “The Whale” Thompson has his top tips for Winton on Sunday