Galloping BOAY TV

Would be enough for you to clear $5k a country meeting.

It's been happening for a few years now.  Toward the end of the season they start balancing the books.

Golden Path’s (NZ) (Belardo) Listed McKell Cup (2000m) win was the latest chapter in the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr Sydney success story for 2023/24 and the bad news for trainers permanently-based in the Harbour City is the team is hoping to quadruple its numbers there. The training partnership, whose main base is at Cranbourne, is currently operating out of six borrowed boxes at Rosehill, which are overseen by Ben Elam. Price and Kent have won three Stakes races since setting up base during the Autumn Carnival, which has inspired Price to want a permanent presence with his own 24-horse stable. “I’ve got a nice little barn but I’ve only got six horses there and I’m waiting on a barn so I can be a permanent resident,” Price said. “I’ve got good staff up there. Ben Elam is doing a good job. “I’ve always liked Sydney racing and I’m just waiting on a (bigger) barn.” Golden Path’s Listed win last Saturday was his second in a row in Sydney and was Price and Kent’s fifth win from 31 starters in New South Wales this season with Wee Nessy’s (Snitzel) Gr.2 Sapphire Stakes (1200m) success the biggest. They also won the Listed Gosford Gold Cup (2200m) with Hezashocka (NZ) (Shocking), while Amenable (Lonhro) finished runner-up in the Gr.1 All Aged Stakes (1400m). Another of their Sydney winners is The Creator (NZ) (Wrote), who was successful last time out at Canterbury, and the Kiwi recruit will chase another victory at the same venue this Wednesday. They have one runner nominated for this Saturday’s Randwick meeting, Loco (So You Think), who is a chance to contest the benchmark 78 event over 2000m. Price and Kent are set to raise the bar further with Golden Path, who made it back-to-back wins at 2000 metres and now boasts a record of four wins from 11 starts. “He ate up the 2000 metres,” Price said of the son of four-year-old son of Belardo. “He was an 87-rater, he goes to a Listed race and probably gets 12 points now, so he’s got to be Black Type all the way.” View the full article

In a coup for Central Districts racing, respected track manager Bryce Mildon has returned to New Zealand to take up the position of General Manager of Track Development and Operations with Hawke’s Bay Racing at Hastings Racecourse. Mildon has had a lifelong involvement in the industry, which was instigated by his owner-trainer grandfather Jim Mouat, and he found his way into turf management after studying horticulture, while his brother Rhys was also bitten by the racing bug and is currently assistant trainer to leading Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh. “My grandfather was an owner-trainer, so I would always go to track work and race meetings with him,” Bryce Mildon said. “When I left school I studied horticulture, so I am a qualified gardener. When I was working as a gardener, I did a few turf units and had a bit of interest in turf and growing grass. That is when I went to Matamata (Racing Club) for 10 years and that is where I qualified in sports turf management.” After a decade at Matamata, Mildon moved across the Tasman to further his career. With the exception of spending a year at Pukekohe Park, Mildon has plied his trade in Victoria, Australia, for the last decade, working at several clubs. “I went from Matamata to a small track in Victoria called Stawell. I was there for 12 months and then I spent three years at Sale and then I moved to Pakenham where I was track manager,” Mildon said. “I was then at Pukekohe for 12 months before returning to Pakenham for five years where I was General Manager of Racecourse. I was looking after all the infrastructure and development there as well, so I got to see a lot, do a lot, and learn a lot. “Pakenham is quite unique because it has synthetic racing as well as turf racing. The turf track was also a sand profile track that was fibre reinforced. There were a lot of things I had to learn to be able to look after those particular profiles and grass types. That really broadened my knowledge. “To come to Hastings and continue that on will be really good.” Mildon has been working at Hastings for a fortnight and he is already enjoying his new role, with the track having conducted its first race meeting since February over the weekend, and Mildon has given the track his tick of approval. “The club hadn’t raced since February, but we had our first meeting back on Saturday which went well,” he said. “The club did a really good renovation in the autumn, which has got the track in really good order. “It has come through the meeting well, we are racing again this Saturday, so it is a quick back-up, but the track has got a good cover of grass, and we are moving the rail out to get over that wear and tear. We had a lot of rain last week as well and the track took that rain well. It was a genuine heavy track on Saturday and performed well. I am happy with where it is at.” Mildon is looking forward to the challenge of preparing the Hastings track for the looming Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival but holds even more excitement about potential developments at the club in years to come. “As part of my role, the club is looking at whether they redevelop their current site here at Hastings or whether they move to a different site and build a new racecourse in Hastings,” Mildon said. “That will be a great challenge but full of excitement as well. I am really looking forward to that.” Mildon is also enjoying being back in his homeland after several years away from family. “It is good being back, I was away for over 10 years,” he said. “With what is happening in racing in New Zealand at the moment, it is quite an exciting time to be back here and be a part of.” View the full article

The 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour made its way to Cambridge on Monday and local trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood got their first glimpse at the iconic trophy they hope to get their hands on at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November. The Cambridge horsemen have a guaranteed spot in the race that stops two nations courtesy of Mark Twain after he won the ballot exempt Listed Roy Higgins (2600m) at the Melbourne track in March. James has tasted plenty of success at elite-level, but the Melbourne Cup has eluded him to date, having just had the one previous runner in Railings, while his multiple Group One winner Silent Achiever was ruled out of the Cup at the 11th hour 11 years ago with injury. James said the Melbourne Cup is the pinnacle in Australasian racing and he is excited to have a lightweight chance in this year’s edition of the time-honoured race. “For anyone that is involved in racing, the Melbourne Cup is the one race that stands out in Australasia,” James said. “Anybody that is not involved in racing knows about the Melbourne Cup as well. It has built a name over the years that is steeped in history and to be able to have a runner in it is a privilege.” James has been happy with the way Mark Twain has returned from his spell and said they have time to iron out some issues with his racing manners, which were showcased in his Roy Higgins win, prior to the Cup. “He is in the early stages (of his preparation) but he is where we want him,” James said. “He is a late maturing horse, and he is getting there, and I think he will strengthen through the programme. “He has been capable of doing a bit wrong on race day, but I don’t think they are problems that we can’t remedy. He won’t be in the same gear that he raced in that (Roy Higgins) day, but we haven’t decided what he will race in yet.” Mark Twain’s entire Melbourne Cup preparation will take place across the Tasman, and James said a lengthy duration in Melbourne poses no concerns. “He will probably have three, maybe four runs in the build-up (to the Melbourne Cup) and we have got the job of peaking him on his day, and he should get in with a nice weight,” he said. “It (first run) will be in Melbourne. I think it is just too risky to stay here and there is a lot of travel involved and a lot of wet tracks. “I just think he is better to get over there. He enjoyed the atmosphere in the stable over there once he got there in the autumn and I have no worries about having him there for a length of time.” While looking forward to having his second runner in the Melbourne Cup, James said it will be good to share the experience with his training partner. “For somebody of his age to win a Cup it would be phenomenal,” James said. A victory in the Melbourne Cup by Mark Twain would be fitting, having been named after the American author, who in 1895 went to Flemington and saw the three-year-old filly Auraria win the Melbourne Cup and penned the lines after the event: ”Nowhere in the world have I encountered a festival of people that has such a magnificent appeal to a whole nation. The Melbourne Cup is Australasian National Day. I can call to mind no specialised annual day in any country whose approach fires the whole land with a conflagration of conversation and preparation and anticipation and jubilation. The Cup astonishes me.” This year’s Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour is travelling to 39 destinations in six nations, including New Zealand, Australia, Japan, USA, United Kingdom and Ireland. The Cup is being accompanied by Tour Ambassador and three-time Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Damien Oliver, who was impressed with Mark Twain when visiting Cambridge on Monday. “I was really impressed by his win in the Roy Higgins at Flemington. It looked like the second coming of Kiwi (1983 Melbourne Cup winner) launching down that straight,” he said. “Even seeing him in the flesh here today, he looks great, his coat looks fantastic for the middle of winter. We know how good a horseman Roger is, so I am sure he is going to get the chance to show his best on the first Tuesday in November.” Having ridden Doriemus (1995), Media Puzzle (2002), and Fiorente (2013) to victory in the great race, Oliver knows what it takes to be a Melbourne Cup winner, and he said Mark Twain will need to improve his racing manners ahead of November. “He is going to get a pretty light weight, he has raced really well on the course, although he probably needs to get his race manners a little bit better than what he showed there (Roy Higgins),” Oliver said. “He is a young horse and I think there is obviously improvement to come with him, but in a race like the Melbourne Cup you can’t afford to do too much wrong. He will need to mend his ways a little bit, but he looks like he has got some raw ability there and I am sure Roger has got a bit of time up his sleeve to get the best out of him.” New Zealand has a rich history in the Melbourne Cup, with Kiwi-breds having won the race on 44 occasions, and James and Wellwood are hoping they can extend that to 45 in November. View the full article