![Canberra trainer Matt Dale.](/web/20160819154528im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/k/f/0/5/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gqwbc0.png/1471600560963.jpg)
Fell Swoop wins NSW Country Horse of the Year
Canberra's Fell Swoop topped off a break-out year for Matt Dale's stable.
Canberra's Fell Swoop topped off a break-out year for Matt Dale's stable.
Champions, an exclusive club in which the outstanding Winx is seeking entry, can be gained more by worthy defeat than success over Bum of the Month opposition.
Bob Skelton, known as one of Australasia's most gifted distance riders and who endured deplorable conditions to win the 1976 Melbourne Cup on Van Der Hum, has died at the age of 81.
There are a couple of things that came to Gary Portelli's mind as Rebel Dane prepares to take on the mighty Winx in the Warwick Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
David Hayes and his team have worked out a way to split their three-year-old riches and decided Derryn is the right option for the Golden Rose in Sydney.
"I got it completely wrong and thought they'd all make three-year-olds, which shows what I know." So said Angus Gold, one of the foremost yearling buyers in the world at the opening session of the Arqana Premier Yearling Sales at Deauville, France, last Sunday, regarding his initial thoughts of the progeny of the Frankels.
Ahead of the much anticipated return to racing of world class race mare Winx, her trainer has admitted that he won't be distracted by lucrative overseas races in the coming six months.
Most people in racing wait a lifetime for a horse like Winx. Trainer Chris Waller knows it, so does jockey Hugh Bowman, but owner Peter Tighe has waited longer than both of them to find not only a champion but a group 1 winner.
Christian Reith believes Randwick Guineas winner Le Romain has taken the steps he needs to be competitive at the top end during the spring.
Michael Costa has only been at the training caper for five years and just ticked over the $1 million mark in prize money, but he has been waiting for a filly such as Manaya.
Godolphin-retained jockey James McDonald left Australia for Europe after the Brisbane carnival needing to escape. He wasn't enjoying his job, mainly because he wasn't living up to his own expectations, but he knew he wasn't matching others' expectations either.
The return of Winx in Saturday's Warwick Stakes at Randwick coincides with the return of champion jockey Hugh Bowman, who is looking forward to being back at the races after an extended break through suspension.
Star filly Yankee Rose will begin her ambitious spring campaign in the Group One Golden Rose without a lead-up race.
Australian Racing officials have welcomed the news that the first American-trained stayer could compete in this year's $6 million Melbourne Cup.
Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne has been offered the ride on Group 1 winner Azkadellia when the mare competes at the Breeders' Cup meeting in the United States.
Punters have never been better informed than in 2016 but the more information people get the more they want.
Winx has certainly changed Chris Waller's life in some ways, but in other ways things are pretty much the same as she gets set to begin her spring preparation in Saturday's Warwick Stakes at Randwick.
When Testashadow took out the Spring Preview at Rosehill on Saturday, Gary Portelli had to ponder what it previewed.
It was a case of one up, one down for Peter and Paul Snowden with their three-year-olds on Saturday.
Some eye-catching early winter barrier trials materialised into a group 2 success at Caulfield on Saturday.
Star Turn was always a couple of lengths away from the best colts as a two-year-old but maturity served him well on Saturday.
The training partnership of Keith Dryden and Scott Collings is off to a winning start thanks to the dominant win by favourite Your Knuckleship.
Michelle Payne and the Prince Of Penzance engagement, bone surgery to Winx, and the value in backing the Snowden three-year-olds are the week's main issues.
Peter Snowden is used to managing a team of good colts from his time at Darley. It is an art to find the right races for each and every horse and have them avoid each other, so his interest will be split between Sydney and Melbourne on Saturday.
The premier trainer will play a major role at Saturday's meeting.
One of Australia's most experienced jockeys maintains that the former Tasmanian galloper The Cleaner will need to be ridden with early aggression if he's to be successful in Saturday's $200,000 Lawrence Stakes at Caulfield.
The older brother of Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne has emerged in a bid to quieten the war of words that are reverberating around the Australian racing industry.
Champion trainer Chris Waller has reported to stewards super mare Winx had a bone chip removed from her near fore leg after her win in the Doncaster Mile, four months after the event.
Kayla Nisbet said Michelle Payne being sacked from her Melbourne Cup-winning ride "sucks" but stopped short of relating the move to any gender disparity within the racing industry.
Former senior Racing Victoria steward Kane Ashby denies knowing laboratories used in Danny O'Brien and Mark Kavanagh's cobalt cases were not accredited to do the testing.
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