Dale not focused on group 1 but what's best for Fell Swoop
Canberra trainer confident going into g2 Schillaci Stakes.
Canberra trainer confident going into g2 Schillaci Stakes.
New Zealand horseman Murray Baker knows what it takes to win an Australian group 1 with a three-year-old and this kiwi is not into wasting his time when he crosses the Tasman.
Forgive me for not dwelling on the three horse Caulfield Stakes, another disappointing Michelle Payne chapter, or whether Sydney horses, including Impending in the Caulfield Guineas, can get around the difficult circuit on Saturday.
Rory Hutchings wants to seize his opportunity on Veladero in the Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
The numbers aren't actually stacked up against super mare Winx in Saturday's Caulfield Stakes, only Black Heart Bart and He Or She are rivals, but history of small fields makes for unusual results.
Tiny race fields aren't necessarily a bad thing.
The 2016 spring carnival is pending and ready to take the back page.
To describe Caulfield trainer Stuart Webb as hands on is probably an understatement.
The Cox Plate has become racing's big blue with queen Winx to be challenged by Godolphin's Hartnell in a clash which invokes memories of great racing rivalries at Moonee Valley later in the month.
Canberra racing stalwart Barbara Joseph said she was "gobsmacked" to receive the Special Recognition Award at the NSW Country and Provincial Awards.
As debate swirls around the benefits or otherwise of having a field of just three in this year's $600,000 Caulfield Stakes, the possibility of approving the European practice of allowing stablemate pacemakers remains a distant prospect.
Thunder Fantasy is probably the best horse at Randwick on Saturday and will carry a good horse's weight of 63kg as he returns to racing after 18-month break.
The massive Godolphin racing operation have confirmed that last Sunday's impressive Turnbull Stakes winner Hartnell will not contest Saturday week's Caulfield Cup, and instead will go straight to the Cox Plate.
James Cummings knows how deep the talent pool runs with the three-year-olds this season, but he also knows he has a couple of extra good ones in Prized Icon and Good Standing.
Godolphin-retained jockey James McDonald wishes he could be in two places at once on Saturday.
Matt Dale believes there is a group race in stable acquisition Rocket Commander and it could come as early as Saturday's Angst Stakes at Randwick.
Pin-hookers came to the fore at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale for two-year-olds at Newmarket in Sydney, and thanks to a huge investment from Asian buyers the sale grossed almost $9 million with a $64,000 average despite 80-odd yearlings failing to reach their reserve prices.
There are only a couple of horses brave enough to take on Winx as she looks for her 12th consecutive win in the Caulfield Stakes on Saturday.
While David Hayes is quietly rejoicing about earning more than $50,000 for a track gallop in Saturday's Caulfield Stakes, the trainer is not writing off He Or She's chances of winning the group 1 race.
Leading trainer Chris Waller maintains that a fear of the Caulfield racecourse was the furthest thing from his mind when he braved the cold conditions on Wednesday morning to give his champion race mare Winx her first look at the track.
Melbourne Cup winning jockey Michelle Payne will not be able to ride in NSW after taking out dual training and riding licence in Victoria.
A Sydney-based gambler linked to an investigation into match fixing in the NRL set up a company with suspended jockey Danny Nikolic as its director, a tribunal has heard.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Could this year's Cox Plate serve up the 21st century's answer to Bonecrusher versus Our Waverley Star?
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.
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.
There is no race Lloyd Williams cares more about than winning the Melbourne Cup.
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