• 1 hr ago

MELBOURNE, Oct 4 AAP - Sacred Elixir has already taken care of Melbourne's top three-year-olds in his season return and will now have to repel a host of quality Sydney colts to win the $1 million Caulfield Guineas.

• Michael Lynch

Lloyd Williams' impressive Flemington scorer Almandin has been handed a 1 kilogram penalty, taking his Melbourne Cup weight to 51 kilos, following his victory in The Bart Cummings on Sunday. 

• Adam Cooper

Danny Nikolic has said he considers Racing Victoria's chief steward - the man he once called a "f---ing c---" at a race track - to be "corrupt" and also at fault for the exchange which cost the rider his licence to work as a jockey.

• Tony Wright

It's not usually considered a great day when you begin it by admitting, under oath, to lying. On that measure alone, Danny Nikolic had a rough morning at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

• Michael Lynch

Could this year's Cox Plate serve up the 21st century's answer to Bonecrusher versus Our Waverley Star?

• Michael Lynch

Australian Lloyd Williams came close to snaring the world's most prestigious flat race in the early hours of Monday morning when the Irish trained galloper he part owns, Order of St George, finished third in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

• Michael Lynch

This year's Cox Plate promises to be a clash for the ages, with champion mare Winx set to take on Sydney star Hartnell and dominant Melbourne galloper Black Heart Bart.

• Michael Lynch

There is no race Lloyd Williams cares more about than winning the Melbourne Cup.

• Patrick Bartley

Racing administrators are delighted with the number of overseas horses arriving to tackle races outside of the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

• Chris Roots

Golden Rose winner Astern was almost certainly the best horse in the Roman Consul Stakes but he had to play second fiddle to the unbeaten Russian Revolution on Saturday.

• Chris Roots

Saturday could prove destiny day with Divine Prophet and Swear and, to a lesser extent, Star Turn.

• Chris Roots

Blake Spriggs has been trying not to think about the Melbourne Cup for the past couple of weeks because he did want to get "too far ahead" of himself. But his belief in Sir John Hawkwood was finally matched by performance in Saturday's Metropolitan at Randwick.

• Chris Roots

Godolphin's jockey James McDonald admitted he "missed a couple of beats", but the trainer John O'Shea's heart "was like machine gun" as Hauraki scored an improbable last to first Epsom victory at Randwick on Saturday.

• Chris Roots

Newgate Farm and China Horse Club might have the two best colts in the country if the last 48 hours is any indication.

• Chris Roots

It could be said that Tulloch Lodge owns the Flight Stakes. Tommy Smith won 13, Gai Waterhouse eight and now the partnership of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott has its first courtesy of Global Glamour leading all-the-way at Randwick on Saturday.

• Michael Lynch

Anyone looking for the strongest guide to the Caulfield Cup should head to Flemington on Sunday where the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes will surely provide all the evidence they need.

• Michael Lynch

The kings – Chautauqua and Buffering – may not be quite dead, certainly not on the evidence of one run.

• Chris Roots

Godolphin trainer John O'Shea was hoping for the usual weather pattern heading into a major Randwick meeting for his Metropolitan hopes Allergic and defending champion Magic Hurricane.

• Chris Roots

David Vandyke has learnt his lesson with Yankee Rose and she will be back "to following a back" and charging to the line in Saturday's Flight Stakes at Randwick.

• Chris Roots

Adrian Bott's name sits next to Gai Waterhouse in the Randwick racebook for the first time on a day that she has made her own for the past 20 years. So there would be some symmetry if the partnership can bank its first big one at Randwick on Saturday.

• James Buckley

James McDonald has two brilliant books of rides on grand final weekend.

• Max Presnell

For the first time in more than 50 years I'll miss Saturday's Epsom at Royal Randwick, anticipating a Hauraki goal, seeking another Malceski moment.

• Tom Hackett

The Turnbull Stakes meeting at Flemington on Sunday should reveal plenty of contenders for spring riches as the Melbourne carnival gets into full swing.

• Chris Roots

Winx had the perfect season in 2015-16. Being unbeaten in seven starts earned her the Australian horse of the year title on Thursday night, but she couldn't poll all 60 top votes for the award.

• Tom Hackett

There is group 1 racing but the highlight of the Randwick meeting on Saturday may well be the clash between superstar colts Astern and Capitalist in the Roman Consul Stakes.

• Michael Lynch

Robert Heathcote, the Queensland-based trainer of sprint sensation Buffering, jokes that if he didn't look at the old galloper's ID card he would think he was only a four-year-old.

• Chris Roots

Glyn Schofield likes what Skylight Glow has shown him leading into a wide-open Flight Stakes on Saturday at Randwick.

• Adam Pengilly

Gerald Ryan is known to keep sales books for years, curiously glancing back at his notes when one emerges as a budding superstar on the track. He didn't take long to glance at his scribbling for the boom colt heading into the two-year-old season when Sun Bloodstock were seeking a trainer.

• John Holloway

The crowd at the prestigious Goffs Orby Sales in Ireland this week had to wait until one of the last lots for the seven-figure mark to be smashed.