Month: March 2024

After an aborted spring campaign, trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr are looking forward to seeing Globe (NZ) (Charm Spirit) back on the racetrack. That will come on Saturday in the Gr.3 Victoria Handicap (1400m) at Caulfield. A winner of his first four starts, Globe was thrown into the deep end in the spring, running first-up in the Gr.2 Feehan Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley last September. But the race went pear-shaped for Globe who was beaten more than 30 lengths, later to be diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Globe…

Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars) could still attempt a third consecutive Group One win in as many years over the Randwick autumn carnival, despite showing signs of soreness on pulling up from his unplaced Gr.1 Australian Cup (2000m) run at Flemington on Saturday. The winner of the past two Doncaster Handicaps this year has long had the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) on April 13 as his Sydney aim and his co-trainer Wil Hayes said on Sunday that the stable will work towards that goal. “We’ve got a framework to potentially…

Star New Zealand mare Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) will be kept to her pre-race routine in Melbourne before travelling to Sydney for the opening day of The Championships. The Mark Walker-trained mare will have her last piece of work at Cranbourne on Tuesday before being floated to Sydney on Thursday night to run in the Gr.1 T J Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on Saturday. Imperatriz is aiming for a sixth Group One win this season in the T J Smith, having already taken the Moir Stakes, Manikato Stakes and…

Levin trainer Ilone Kelly will unveil an intriguing new addition to her stable when the well-related Linara (Lonhro) makes his New Zealand debut in Monday’s McMillan Equine Feeds Maiden (1100m) at Otaki. Linara was bred by Milburn Creek Stud and is by Lonhro out of the Elusive City mare Fascination Street. Herself a five-time winner up to Listed level, and a placegetter in the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m), Fascination Street is the dam of two winners including the multiple Australian stakes performer Maotai. Bought for A$360,000 as a yearling,…

Local trainer Graham Eade enjoyed success at his Riverton home track on Saturday and is hoping for more of the same when he lines up four of his team on the second day of the annual two-day carnival on Easter Monday. Eade produced progressive three-year-old Riviera Rebel (NZ) (Pure Champion) to score a comprehensive front–running victory in a rating 65 1600m contest and believes there is more in store for the son of former Gr.1 Windsor Park Plate winner (1600m) Pure Champion. “It was a very strong win and a…

Two highly talented Te Akau mares made bold statements with impressive sprinting victories at Flemington and Ellerslie on Saturday. The New Zealand stable, based out of Matamata under co-trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, kicked off the Trans-Tasman double with an outstanding display from Puketiro (NZ) (Savabeel) in the Fiber Fresh 1200 at Ellerslie. A daughter of Savabeel, Puketiro showed significant early promise in winning four of her first five career starts, but was sent for a freshen-up after performing below the stable’s expectations through the late spring. Returning in…