Author: NZRacingDesk

Kiwi trained Melbourne Cup hope Mahrajaan (Kitten’s Joy) will miss this Friday night’s Gr.2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m) after suffering an insect bite at his Warrnambool base. Cambridge trainer Shaune Ritchie had hoped to use the A$750,000 feature as New Zealand and Auckland Cups winner Mahrajaan’s final lead-up to the $A8.56 million Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 5. But the insect bite, which Ritchie believed was probably a spider bite, has meant a change of plans for Mahrajaan, who could now tackle Wednesday week’s Gr.3 Bendigo…

Marton horseman Fraser Auret has a number of Group One victories to his name as a trainer, but in the coming months he is hoping to add a maiden Group One breeding success to his record through the deeds of Hong Kong sprinting sensation Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress).  The exciting son of Shamexpress is on a path towards the HK$26 million Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) in December, and continued his dream run to the feature sprint with a dominant victory in the Gr.2 Premier Bowl Handicap (1200m)…

Racing in Southland has been far from smooth sailing this season, and Gore’s Wednesday meeting will mark the start of several campaigns for Graham Eade and Brooke Kincaid’s team of horses. Inclement weather has caused havoc in the region with cancellations of several jump-outs, alongside the raceday scheduled at the venue on September 22, which was transferred north to Oamaru. “We’ve had a few setbacks, it’s been that wet that we couldn’t have jump-outs, trials, we couldn’t do anything,” Eade said. “We do the best of our ability, but our…

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD NEWSLETTER

Lady Luck wasn’t riding on the shoulder of James McDonald aboard Cambridge Stud’s high-class mare Joliestar at Randwick, but the farm still had ample reasons to celebrate at the weekend. The Chris Waller-trained four-year-old was heavily fancied in the A$20 million The Everest (1200m) and ran home strongly for seventh after having no favours in the running. “It was a shame that she got shuffled further back than anyone would have liked and obviously ran on really well, but the race had got away on her by that point,” Cambridge…

Clocking one of the fastest 1200m times ever recorded at Sha Tin, Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress) continued a relentless march towards the Gr.1 Hong Kong Sprint in December with imperious victory in the Gr.2 Premier Bowl Handicap (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday. Posting his seventh win from nine starts, Ka Ying Rising was unextended in running 1m 07.57s to narrowly miss eclipsing Sacred Kingdom’s long-standing 1200m course record of 1m 07.50s while cruising to a one and a half length margin over Helios Express. Three-time Group 1 winner…

Bill Thurlow’s team of gallopers were simply unstoppable at Waverley on Sunday, with his four winners capped off by Battle Secret (NZ) (Battle Paint) taking home the Steelformers Waverley Cup (2200m). The seven-year-old son of Battle Paint has had a sterling campaign so far, winning three of his five starts, alongside a game second behind Sacred Pearl in the Egmont Cup (2100m) a fortnight ago. Battle Secret was then aimed towards the local feature, where he closed the $3.80 favourite with Craig Grylls in the saddle. Jumping away positively from…

First-year trainer Dom Sutton may have fallen just short of a fairytale maiden Group 1 win in last weekend’s Caulfield Guineas, but the young horseman will now eye off a win on racing’s biggest day. Sutton confirmed Feroce (NZ) (Super Seth), who fell just a half-head short of Private Life, will head to the Gr.3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) on Victoria Derby Day at Flemington. “When he had that really soft first-up run (McNeil Stakes) it put into consideration he could have four runs for the prep,” he explained. “He…

Ciaron Maher said he saw nothing in Pride Of Jenni’s Randwick run and post-race recovery on Saturday to suggest she will not take her place in the highly select A$5 million Cox Plate this week. Such news will bring a major sigh of relief for those at the Moonee Valley Racing Club as currently, it appears Saturday’s race will feature just six runners and no horse will have a bigger bearing on the shape of the race than the hugely popular on-pace runner. Maher said on Sunday morning that he’d…

The Melbourne Cup dream is over for this year for Warmonger (NZ) (War Decree), who has been sent to the paddock following his eighth placing in Saturday’s Caulfield Cup. OTI Racing director Terry Henderson confirmed on Sunday morning that Warmonger’s spring campaign was over after connections decided pressing on to the Melbourne Cup would “be pushing it”. “He pulled up fine, but he’s just had enough,” Henderson said of the Queensland Derby winner. “The Caulfield Cup was always going to be the swinging door as it were, and he knows…