Horse Racing News
Black Opal Stakes day to become $1 million race day
The nation’s capital is set to have its first $1 million race day with the Canberra Racing Club moving to condense its annual carnival into a single showcase meeting, headlined by the Group 3 Black Opal Stakes. The two-year-old feature will be one of four stakes races on a bumper 10-race...
Gai Waterhouse sets sights on 2023 Melbourne Cup
Renowned trainer Gai Waterhouse is eagerly preparing for a shot at claiming her second Melbourne Cup victory, a decade after her initial triumph. With a strong stable of stayers under her guidance, Waterhouse believes she has assembled a formidable squad for the prestigious race in 2023. Waterhouse, in partnership with Adrian Bott,...
The Kosciuszko winner joins Matthew Dale stable
Front Page, the reigning Kosciuszko champion, will have a new trainer as Matthew Dale takes over the reins from the recently retired Geoff Duryea. Dale expressed his excitement about the opportunity to train the top sprinter and confirmed that Front Page will make his first appearance under his guidance in the...
Benaud too classy for rivals at Wyong
Benaud is more accustomed to Group 1s than Class 1s and it showed at Wyong on Tuesday when the grey gelding beat up on four hapless rivals in the $40,000 Happy Retirement Isorich Class 1 & Maiden Plate. The John O’Shea-trained four-year-old recorded his first win since debut victory at Nowra...
Winx’s half-sister City Of Lights sent for a spell
City Of Lights, the highly anticipated half-sister of racing legend Winx, won’t extend her first preparation with trainers opting to spell the rising four-year-old. Despite being the second emergency, the talented filly did not secure a start in the Listed Winx Guineas on Saturday, as she was unable to overcome a...
Malkovich to seek a Monash Stakes redemption
Sydney trainer Bjorn Baker is sending Malkovich to Melbourne looking for redemption in the Sir John Monash Stakes at Caulfield. Malkovich was run down late in the 2021 Group 3 race over 1100m by Red Can Man, but a stronger version will head to the start on Saturday. Baker said he was looking forward to...
Coolangatta set to skip spring racing carnival
Talented sprinter Coolangatta is set to skip the upcoming spring season and instead focus on the $1 million Magic Millions Sprint at the Gold Coast in January. Initially, there were considerations of heading to the US for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, but following a disappointing 11th-place finish in the King’s...
Champion sprinter Nature Strip set to return to work
Champion sprinter Nature Strip is set to make his return to Chris Waller’s Rosehill stables for his final preparations ahead of the Spring Carnival. Nature Strip, with career earnings surpassing $20 million, hasn’t raced since his fourth-place finish in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick in April. The early plan...
Owners weigh up massive offers for Knight’s Choice
Knight’s Choice proved in Saturday’s Winx Guineas just why John Symons has had such a big opinion of him, but the questions around the gelding don’t end with what to do with him next. There is a chance it might not be the Sunshine Coast trainer’s decision to make with Symons...
Nominations in for Sir John Monash Stakes day
Caulfield is back hosting group action and the G3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) has some promising horses entered. Sigh ($9) for Peter Moody and Flying On A Limb ($9) bring in strong winning form angles so will be tough to beat. But there is a horse who contested an Everest in...