Month: September 2024

Karis Teetan finished second in the 2023/24 Hong Kong jockeys’ championship. Chasing his first win of the season, Karis Teetan hopes to capitalise on a full book of rides at Sha Tin on Sunday as the Mauritian bids to reclaim a familiar lofty perch in the Hong Kong jockeys’ championship. A seemingly permanent fixture near the top of the championship, Teetan finished second to seven-time champion Zac Purton (130 wins) last season with 86 victories after a string of third places in the championship. One of the city’s hardest-working jockeys,…

Warrnambool raider Rolls is set to cross the Tasman to tackle the final two legs of the Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival. Photo: Reg Ryan (Racing Photos) The Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival is set to get an injection of international flavour, with Warrnambool raider Rolls set to contest the final two legs of the Hastings triple crown. Trainer Maddie Raymond was in search of more forgiving ground during spring, and after consultation with her expat Kiwi partner Patrick Bell, she decided the Hawke’s Bay carnival presented as a nice option for…

Group One winner Mustang Valley. Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North) Saturday’s Taranaki meeting was the final step towards Mustang Valley’s second Group One title last season, and the mare will return on an identical path. A powerful wet-track galloper, Mustang Valley skipped through the heavy conditions to take both this race and the Group 1 Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m) 12 months ago. Her rating of 107, with a mare’s allowance, places her at 62.5kg, and she will carry the topweight despite apprentice jockey Ngakau Hailey’s three-kilogram claim. Andrew…

Quintessa will contest the Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on Saturday. Photo: Bruno Cannatelli A talented team of four runners at Flemington on Saturday will try to add to the momentum that Te Akau Racing has built up through the first 12 months of its Victorian base. Te Akau’s Cranbourne stable opened in late September of last year, and by the end of the 2023-24 season, trainer Mark Walker had recorded 24 wins from just 124 runners on that side of the Tasman. Te Akau’s Australian stable…

Pinstriped ridden by Ben Allen winning the Memsie Stakes at Caulfield. (Photo by Pat Scala/Racing Photos) Enver Jusufovic is aiming for back-to-back Group 1 victories with Pinstriped, following the gelding’s Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) triumph, as he prepares to contest the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington this Saturday. Pinstriped will face tough competition from the likes of Mr Brightside, Antino, Pride Of Jenni, and interstate challengers Via Sistina and Atishu. However, Jusufovic remains confident that the seven-time winner is poised for his best campaign yet. “He’s…

The Matthew Smith-trained Buenos Noches. (Photo by Brett Holburt/Racing Photos) After winning the Listed Poseidon Stakes (1100m) at Flemington’s Makybe Diva Stakes meeting in 2022, Buenos Noches, trained by Matthew Smith, returns to the same event this weekend, this time competing in the Group 2 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m). Now five years old, Buenos Noches has only won once since that Poseidon victory, claiming the Group 3 Show County Quality (1200m) first-up last season. “I’ve got confidence in the horse and I think he’s back to his best. We want…

Archer Stakes contender, Mostly Cloudy. (Photo by George Sal/Racing Photos) Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young are optimistic that their imported stayer Mostly Cloudy can return to winning form in this Saturday’s Group 3 Archer Stakes (2500m) at Flemington, which would secure him an unballoted entry into the Melbourne Cup (3200m). Although Mostly Cloudy hasn’t won since September last year, his consistent efforts have kept him competitive. After a solid first-up performance at Caulfield, where he finished fourth behind Young Werther, Busuttin is hopeful for a breakthrough. “He doesn’t know how…