Category: Featured

Cap Ferrat faces strong opposition on FWD Champions Day. Photo: HKJC Cap Ferrat will aim to join one of Hong Kong racing’s most exclusive and esteemed clubs when he lines up in Sunday week’s (27 April) HK$28 million G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin. Trained by Francis Lui, Cap Ferrat prevailed in last month’s HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) by a short head at odds of $25 under Craig Williams, and the four-year-old is chanced with becoming the sixth horse to complete the Derby-QEII Cup double…

Bona Sforza winning the Listed Welcome Stakes (1000m) at Riccarton Park on Saturday. Photo: Race Images South International racing journalist Andrew Hawkins’ imagination was captured by two things as a child, thoroughbred racing and the Canberra Raiders, and on Saturday he was able to combine his two loves. As a teenager, with the hope of one day racing his own horse, Hawkins designed a set of silks based on the colours of his three-time NRL Premiership-winning Canberra Raiders, and on Saturday he realised that dream when watching Bona Sforza carry…

Multiple group winner Nereus is being set for a Queensland campaign after powering into second in Saturday’s Listed Hawke’s Bay Cup (2200m) at Trentham. The Waikato Stud-owned son of Savabeel has a strong affinity with the Upper Hutt course, having won the Group 2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2400m) last year before finishing sixth in the Listed Mornington Cup (2400m) in Victoria. His trainers Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray opted to take a different path with the gelding this season, winning the Group 3 Counties Cup (2100m) before testing his abilities…

Croupier winning the Lisa Allpress Des Coppins Melbourne Cup Tour 1400 at Trentham on Saturday. Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North) Quirky three-year-old Croupier has one more box to tick to book his passage to Brisbane. He might be a handful at times but has an abundance of ability, and comeback trainer Andrew Campbell has plans in place for Ace High’s son to showcase that talent at the Queensland winter carnival. Croupier was a luckless fifth on debut behind stakes winner Super Photon last month at Trentham and returned…

The 2024 Victorian Spring Racing Carnival has cemented its status as a powerhouse on Australia’s major events calendar, delivering a record $785.1 million economic boost to the state. A newly released economic impact study from IER Pty Ltd found the three-month Carnival delivered its highest gross economic benefit in a decade, as almost 600,000 racegoers flocked to tracks across Victoria. The surge in spending across accommodation, transport, fashion, food and hospitality reflected the breadth of the Carnival’s impact – from marquee events at Flemington, Caulfield and The Valley to 26…

What Kembla Grange Races Where Kembla Grange Racecourse – Princes Hwy, Kembla Grange NSW 2530 When Tuesday, April 15, 2025 First Race 1:20pm AEST Visit Dabble Kembla Grange Racecourse is the destination for NSW racing on Tuesday afternoon, with a quickfire seven-part program awaiting punters in the Illawarra region. The rail moves out +6m the entire circuit, and although some rainfall is forecast to hit the course, it shouldn’t affect the Good 4 rating at the time of acceptances. The opening event is scheduled to get underway at 1:20pm local…

Kimochi winning the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield. (Photo by Reg Ryan/Racing Photos) Kimochi (Brave Smash) will line up in Saturday’s Group 1 All-Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick in search of a second career Group 1 victory. The four-year-old mare, trained by Gary Portelli for Yulong, made her Group 1 breakthrough in last year’s Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) and has returned in strong form this campaign. She resumed with a fast-finishing second in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) and followed that effort with a game…

Magic Time overhauls Amenable to claim the 2024 Group 1 All Aged Stakes at Randwick. Photo: Bradleyphotos.com.au Grahame Begg is confident that star mare Magic Time is primed to go back-to-back in the Group 1 All-Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday. The five-year-old resumed in style with victory in the Group 2 Expressway Stakes (1200m) earlier this prep and has since added a third in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) and a solid sixth placing in a high-class Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m). “She ran very well,”…

Feroce ridden by Billy Egan winning the Australian Guineas at Flemington. Photo: Pat Scala (Racing Photos) Feroce will be kept to races around the mile distance this spring, with trainer Dom Sutton confirming the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill as the four-year-old’s main goal. The Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) winner is currently enjoying a well-earned break after finishing sixth in the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) on March 29 – his first run beyond a mile – against older weight-for-age horses. “He went to the paddock last…

Damian Lane. Photo: Bradleyphotos.com.au Damian Lane added yet another major to his growing tally on Saturday, piloting Treasurethe Moment to a stirring victory in the Group 1 Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick. It marked Lane’s eighth Group 1 triumph of the season, but celebrations were soon tempered when stewards handed down a suspension and fine for breaching the whip rules during the win. Lane pleaded guilty to excessive use of the whip, striking Treasurethe Moment a total of 20 times — ten of those coming before the 100-metre mark. As…