Month: September 2021

Talented four-year-old Annavisto (NZ) (Reliable Man) advanced her record to five wins from ten starts, when comfortably taking out the 4CYTE for Living Legends Handicap (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday. Prepared by Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr, Annavisto found the lead under John Allen who then controlled the tempo, turning the race into a dash home and ultimately an easy watch for punters that supported the mare into favoritism.   “I thought it was this little party going on out there for Johnny Allen, so it was good,” Price…

New Zealand bred mare Sierra Sue recorded a gritty Group One win when prevailing in the Gr.1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday in the hands of Daniel Moor. Sierra Sue, who carries the colours of Ozzie Kheir and is raced by a host of prominent owners, narrowly prevailed from Dice Roll with the heavily-backed $4.20 favourite I’m Thunderstruck a half-length away third. Prepared by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, the Darci Brahma five-year-old has been in impeccable form this campaign. Her Cranbourne trainers pulled a masterstroke…

Death, taxes and Verry Elleegant. They’re the three things you can rely on in life and the New Zealand bred mare once again did her legion of supporters proud as she dug deep and overcame a sub-optimal run to get the better of game front-runner Riodini to land the Gr.1 George Main Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday. It was the ninth Group One win of Verry Elleegant’s career as she surpassed A$9 million in earnings. Sent out a $1.75 favourite, Verry Elleegant was slow into stride from barrier 2,…

Albert Bosma’s Go Racing syndicates enjoyed one of their finest hours on Saturday when they celebrated three separate victories including two at stakes level in the space of sixty minutes. Talented galloper Hasabro kicked off proceedings at Riccarton when he produced a fresh-up victory over 1200m for the Go Racing Hasabro syndicate, before exciting four-year-old Atishu made it two wins from three starts out of the Chris Waller stable in Sydney for members of the Go Racing Ring A Ring syndicate, when successful in the Gr.3 Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m)…

Former New Zealander Atishu will attempt to follow the path blazed by Probabeel last year and claim the Bill Ritchie-Epsom Handicap double after taking out the first leg at Randwick. Now prepared by Chris Waller, the Go Racing-owned Atishu ($3.50 fav) showed fierce determination to wear down leader Prime Star (fifth) then get the better of Looks Like Elvis as the pair drew clear to fight the race out. She scored by a half-neck over Looks Like Elvis ($31) with the winner’s stablemate Aramayo ($13) another 1-1/4 lengths away. The…

Rider Sarah Macnab produced a gem of a ride as she guided under-rated filly Bellacontte to a thrilling victory in the Gr.3 Hawke’s Bay Breeders’ Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) at Hastings. The Chrissy Bambry-trained daughter of Burgundy went into the Group Three feature off the back of a gritty win in the Listed The O’Learys Fillies Stakes (1200m) at Wanganui at the start of the month and paid a generous $21.70 for the win, despite being a last-start stakes winner. Macnab had pierced through an inside gap to win that…

Gritty local galloper Callsign Mav had to call on all his undoubted talent as he took out his second Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) in succession, in a desperate finish to the feature event at Hastings on Saturday. The John Bary-trained son of Atlante had upset in the race in 2020 at odds of more than $80, but with the scratching of the pre-post favourite in Avantage on Friday, this time the punters were happy to install the strapping five-year-old as the top fancy at $3.30. Rider Jonathan Riddell had no…

Awapuni galloper Wakari upset all predictions when he held out hot favourite I Wish I Win to take out the Listed El Roca-Sir Colin Meads Trophy (1200m) at Hastings. Punters had disregarded the chances of the three-year-old son of Vespa after he could only manage second in rating 65 company first-up at Hawera when expected to win comfortably. Trainer Royden Bergerson didn’t buy into that sentiment and was expecting a forward showing from his charge with the benefit of that race under his belt. Rider Kozzi Asano bounced Wakari out…