Chief Stipe

A judge in England has called the wrong horse the winner in a hurdle at Sandown based on a photo from the first of two winning posts on the track. One For Rosie, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, was announced as beating the Hughie Morrison-trained Third Wind. But it transpired the call had been based on a photo-finish print from the first winning post on the track, when in fact the second one should have been used for the two and a half mile (4000m) hurdle, by which time Third Wind had edged in front. After a lengthy delay, the result was reversed. “It’s very depressing, but mistakes happen. We did get beat, we’ve seen it there (replay),” Twiston-Davies said. “It’s a great shame, but we’ve still got a lovely horse.” A number of bookmakers opted to pay out on both results. “Given the confusion, we have made a decision to pay out on both, but it’s an infuriating thing to happen at any time.” Coral’s David Stevens said. The British Horseracing Authority said it would conduct a thorough investigation. “The photo-finish image that was sent to the judge, and then subsequently to the stewards, by the racecourse photo-finish operator was from a camera which had been left focused on the winning line for the chase course,” the BHA said in a statement. “There are two cameras in operation, a primary and a secondary, which were tested by the operator as part of routine pre-race checks on both winning lines prior to racing. The primary camera was then not correctly re-aligned to focus on the winning line for the hurdles course. “We will be investigating this incident thoroughly as a matter of priority to understand all of the circumstances involved, this will include engagement with the external racecourse contractors who operate the photo-finish system.” The mistake was discovered before jockeys weighed in, but several bookmakers had paid out and had to then pay out again on the correct winner. View the full article

Majestic Man holds out Kings Landing to win the group 3 Southern Lights Trot at Ascot Park on Saturday. Photo: Bruce Stewart. Majestic Man displayed a dynamic new dimension and possibly booked a passage to the Rowe Cup in Auckland when grabbing a half-head victory in the group3 Southern Lights Trot on Northern Southland Cup Day at Ascot Park on Saturday. Driver Brad Williamson had the four-year-old midfield on the outer early before taking him up to force the issue with favourite and leader Kings Landing. After a brief tussle, Majestic Man took the lead at the mile and had enough in reserve to hold the passing lane challenge of the All Stars stable rep. “He was a good three-year-old but he couldn’t have done that last year,” trainer Phil Williamson said. “He was placed a few times behind Winterfell and Luby Lou, but they were elite three-year-olds and beat him on his merits. “As he has matured, he’s kept improving and is a little bit better now. Hopefully he’ll still be improving at five.” Williamson said Majestic Man will head now to the four and five-year-old trotting championship at Addington before tackling the Rowe Cup. “He has raced twice at Alexandra Park for two seconds to Winterfell and prefers that way of going.” Williamson has won Rowe Cups before but not with a four-year-old. He has also won five of the 12 runnings of the Southern Lights Trot as a trainer including with Monty Python in 2017. Monty Python was raced by the Griffins Syndicate as is Majestic Man. At the presentation, syndicate manager Mark Noonan made it clear the group enjoys winning races at meetings of the Northern Southland Club. “Northern Southland really look after owners, they set the standard,” he said. Ross Wilson produced Robyn’s Treasure to win the New Zealand Oaks in 1994 but has never had runner in the Derby. After relative Robyns Playboy led for the closing mile of the $20,000 Caduceus Club of Southland Super Nugget Final on Saturday, he confirmed the Derby will be the gelding’s next start. “He’s got to make the field yet and I don’t think he would beat Ultimate Sniper, but it would be good to have a runner,” Wilson said. “He’s got a high cruising speed and will often wait for the others. He’s fit and won’t need another race.” Robyns Playboy is fourth on the list of qualifiers for the Jewels, another target for the season. Longshot Swiss Miss pulled off an upset when winning the $20,000 Haras des Trotteurs Southland Trotting Oaks in a smart 2:47.9. The Gavin Smith-trained filly, driven by Nathan Williamson, sat last of the five runners left in contention from the start before unleashing in the straight. “Gavin’s got her humming,” said Williamson. “She was trotting a bit roughly the first round but got better as she went on. Turning in she was travelling so well that I thought if she doesn’t break, she’ll be in this and she just kept going.” View the full article

Henry Hubert staged a massive recovery to win the Northern Southland Trotting Cup at Ascot Park on Saturday. Photo: The wayward tendencies of Henry Hubert reared their head again in the group 3 Northern Southland Cup at Ascot Park on Saturday but the gelding was good enough to overcome them, even after galloping for about 100 metres at the start. “He just panics,” driver John Dunn said. The problem also emerged when he was hot favourite on his first visit to Ascot Park, in January of last year. After losing considerable ground, he finished out of the placings. He won his next start and would have figured in the Super Nugget at this meeting last year but had been gelded and didn’t recover in time. “He’s always had plenty of ability and was good enough to run fifth in the Derby after that,” Dunn said. Henry Hubert went north then and in three starts from behind the mobile, recorded a win, second and fourth. “He goes good at Alexandra Park; he’ll go back there this year for the Messenger and Taylor Mile.” Prior to that, the four-year-old by Bettors Delight will be tested at Group 1 level against all ages in the Easter Cup. Foremost in Dunn’s mind will be getting him away on terms with the field. The horse clearly has the class to do the rest. Despite steering Spellbound to win a pair of Group 3 juvenile filly features six days apart, Dunn is still waiting to give her the run to suit. “You can’t waste a good draw in a small field,” Dunn said after adding the $30,000 Caduceus Club of Southland and Alabar Fillies Classic at Ascot Park on Saturday to her Leonard Memorial at Addington last weekend. “I think she would be better making just one run though.” Dunn said the filly will have a short break now before returning for a Sires Stakes heat and the Jewels. Five-year-old, U May Cullect, who clocked 2:41.2 when winning on debut on Saturday by four lengths, was nearly sold by his Invercargill owner Tom Kilkelly two years earlier. “He won a workout as a three-year-old, I was offered $50,000 for him from Sydney and the next day he popped a tendon,” said Kilkelly, who had acquired the half-brother to Victoria May as a weanling at an Auckland mixed sale. “We brought him back at four and he went again so I gave him longer out on a hill break at Riverton.” Winning driver and co-trainer Kirstin Barclay was quick to credit the recovery of U May Cullect to the time her training partner Paul Ellis devotes to the horse at their Oreti Beach headquarters. View the full article

Auckland Racing Club at Ellerslie Saturday 9th March Weather – Showery Track conditions – Slow 8 Rail Out – 2.5m Race 1: SPINDLE – BREEZON – MR UNIVERSE Race 2: SANDRINE – PODRAVINA – CONTESSA VANESSA Race 3: TROUBLE – ZENVO – WESTERN GIRL Race 4: MONACO – TOGETHER – JIP JIP ROCK Race 5: […] Want to read this content? For free user content sign up here Free Online Content View our subscription options and get behind The Informant paywall Already a member? Login here View the full article

Can you guys get back on topic and stop throwing sand at each other?

Gore Race Scratchings R1: 1 R2: R3: R4: R5: 2,10 R6: 11,13 R7: 6 R8: 10 R9: R10: TAB Meeting #6 with the first of 10 races starting at 12:04pm Doubles: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 Trebles: 1-2-3, 4-5-6, 8-9-10 Quaddies: 2-3-4-5, 7-8-9-10 Track conditions: Dead 5 Weather: Fine Rail: True Track: Left hand 1600m Length of straight: 350m Race 9: Best […] Want to read this content? For free user content sign up here Free Online Content View our subscription options and get behind The Informant paywall Already a member? Login here View the full article

Gore Race Scratchings R1: 1 R2: R3: R4: R5: 2,10 R6: 11,13 R7: 6 R8: 10 R9: R10: TAB Meeting #6 with the first of 10 races starting at 12:04pm Doubles: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 Trebles: 1-2-3, 4-5-6, 8-9-10 Quaddies: 2-3-4-5, 7-8-9-10 Track conditions: Dead 5 Weather: Fine Rail: True Track: Left hand 1600m Length of straight: […] Want to read this content? For free user content sign up here Free Online Content View our subscription options and get behind The Informant paywall Already a member? Login here View the full article

All-Star Mile favourite Alizee has continued her preparation for the A$5 million race with a comfortable gallop between races at Flemington. Alizee had Hugh Bowman aboard as she galloped solo between the first and second races on yesterday’s Newmarket Handicap and Australian Cup programme, a week out from the inaugural All-Star Mile at the same track. Bowman said the multiple Group One-winning mare was just out for a day out but was delighted with the work. “It was a really nice piece of work,” Bowman said. “She was a little wound up again when I got on her in the mounting yard, but not as much as as she was at Caulfield last start, so I’d like to see a little more improvement in that department next Saturday. “But once I got on the track and trotted around she did everything I asked her to do and I’m very pleased. She feels amazing. She’s got an amazing stride and she’s very clean-winded. As fizzy as she is in the prelim, once I get on the track she really relaxes.” Alizee has won all three of her starts this preparation, including the Gr. 1 Futurity Stakes at Caulfield two weeks ago, and is the $3 favourite for the All-Star Mile ahead of Australian Guineas-winning filly Mystic Journey at $4. Bowman is booked to ride the James Cummings-trained, Godolphin-owned Alizee in the All-Star Mile. View the full article

Matt Cameron picked up a 10-day suspension for careless riding in yesterday’s Gr. 1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie. Cameron admitted a charge of careless riding near the 1100-metre mark when his mount, last year’s New Zealand Derby winner Vin De Dance, shifted outwards, making contact with and unbalancing the eventual third placegetter Rondinella. Cameron’s suspension begins at the completion of next Saturday’s New Zealand Oaks meeting at Trentham, where he will ride favourite Queen Of Diamonds in the feature race. It runs up to and including March 30 – the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes meeting at Awapuni. View the full article

Glyn Schofield has been fined A$1000 for an altercation with fellow jockey James McDonald after the Randwick Guineas. Schofield rode Purple Sector, who copped a hefty bump mid-race and eventually trailed the field by more than 30 lengths. After the race, Schofield fronted McDonald, who rode Aramayo, in the jockeys’ room. “I asked James what he thought he was doing,” Schofield told stewards. “I was agitated. I was a bit hot under the collar. I did get in his face, I gave him a shove. I was carrying my saddle and skull cap.” But as it turned out, Schofield shoved the wrong person and it was in fact Josh Parr on third-placed Nakeeta Jane who caused the interference. Parr was subsequently suspended and will be out from Wednesday but back in time to ride Nakeeta Jane in the Gr. 1 Vinery Stud Stakes on March 30. View the full article

Champion trainer David Hayes is confident the best is still ahead of former New Zealand filly Spanish Whisper after the three-year-old raced to her first Australian stakes win at Flemington. Spanish Whisper won two of her four starts in New Zealand last season including the Gr. 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes, and she placed in the Gr. 1 Sistema Stakes at Ellerslie. She joined Hayes’ Lindsay Park stable in Victoria after a stable client acquired a controlling interest in the filly, with breeders Daniel and Elias Nakhle and Darren Brady remaining in the ownership. Hayes, who trains in partnership with his son Ben Hayes and nephew Tom Dabernig, said Spanish Whisper had returned this preparation a better filly than in her first Australian preparation last spring, in which her best result was a second in a Listed race. After finished runner-up in the Typhoon Tracy Stakes in her return from a spell last month, Spanish Whisper ($7.50) lined up in yesterday’s Gr. 2 Kewney Stakes and chased down stablemate Victory Kingdom to win by a neck. Western Australian filly Angelic Ruler, the $2.60 favourite, closed late to finish another short half-head away third. After clinching an Australian Group Two win, Hayes said Spanish Whisper is likely to head to Sydney autumn carnival targets including the Gr. 1 Coolmore Legacy Stakes for fillies and mares at Randwick next month. “I think she’s got it all ahead of her because she’s just learning how to do things right,” Hayes said. “She’s been a bit aggressive and it’s taken a while for her to settle in. It was a good effort today. She dug in deep and beat what I think is a very good filly.” Jockey Dwayne Dunn believes Spanish Whisper can step up to a higher level. “She’s a top-class filly,” Dunn said. “If she gets the right run in the top-class races she’ll be competitive for sure.” View the full article

Tough gelding Ball Of Muscle has edged out champion sprinter Redzel in a thrilling finish to the Gr. 2 Challenge Stakes at Randwick to set himself up to fulfil his family destiny. In a major upset, Ball Of Muscle ($11) held off the $1.60 favourite by a nose to win yesterday’s 1000-metre sprint. He is now likely to contest the Gr. 1 Galaxy in two weeks, a race won by his brother Tiger Tees in 2014. Pride had hoped Ball Of Muscle’s Group One win would come in Perth late last year, but the gelding suffered a bleeding attack and did not get his chance. Having his first start since serving his mandatory three-month ban, Ball Of Muscle went straight to the front and did not relinquish the lead. “I’m really proud of this horse. A lot of work has gone into him and very proud of the team at home and this horse. He’s old (eight) but age hasn’t wearied him. “Not being able to take him to Perth was disappointing, but he maybe looks as though he is going just as well as he was before.” Tiger Tees and Ball Of Muscle’s half-brother Terravista was a regular Group One performer and the winner of two races at the elite level. “The family have all done well in their later years of racing,” Pride said. “We just take the best care of him that we can. The rest takes care of itself. “I think the Galaxy is the obvious next move for him. It’s never really been his favourite track Rosehill but we will certainly have to give it some deep consideration.” His rider Glyn Schofield said neither he nor Kerrin McEvoy on Redzel were sure who had won. “I went past the line, Kerrin and I both looked at each other and said ‘did you get it?’ at the same time. We weren’t sure either,” he said. “What a race. This horse, he really deserves this. He was in great form before he had that setback. I’m just so happy for Joe and his team.” View the full article

Jockey Jamie Kah was left speechless after claiming her first Group One win guiding Harlem to a second successive victory in the Australian Cup at Flemington. Kah dominated South Australian racing in recent seasons before making the move across the border in January to fulfil her dream of winning a Group One. That arrived today when $31 chance Harlem fought back to defeat Shillelagh ($18) by a short half-head with Trap For Fools ($15) a length away third. “I’m speechless. That is just the best feeling in the world,” Kah said. Now based at Cranbourne, Kah said she was prepared to travel to different training centres in a bid to build her career and connections. She has regularly made the trip to Lindsay Park’s Euroa base to ride work for Harlem’s trainers David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig. “I didn’t expect anything massive straight away so I tried to get to Euroa as much as I could and whenever they wanted me for jumpouts,” Kah said. “And it’s paid off. “They supported me in Adelaide and asked when I was coming over here and make the leap. I knew it was going to be hard and I didn’t think it would have been so soon.” Harlem’s first Australian Cup win followed the second Newmarket Handicap win for stablemate Redkirk Warrior last year. Redkirk Warrior was attempting a third victory in the big sprint today, but after beating only one runner home he has been retired to Living Legends. Despite his long price, Lindsay Park thought Harlem was the stable’s best hope. “He showed incredible fight, he was beaten twice and kicked back,” David Hayes said. “I thought he was in terrific form, but I thought a few of them were. “He goes well at Flemington and at the 2000 metres and it was a great ride by Jamie, an 11 out of 10 ride.” Harlem will now head to Sydney where he will take on champion Winx in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes during The Championships. The victory was sweet revenge for the Lindsay Park team after Fundamentalist’s narrow defeat by The Autumn Sun in the Randwick Guineas 15 minutes earlier. “She’s been beaten five times at Group One level,” Hayes said. “She’s a great filly and she stretched maybe the best colt seen in years.” Corey Brown said the $1.65 favourite Avilius was a fraction disappointing after having a soft run. “I hadn’t asked him to really extend until I got the gap about the 300-metre mark and he didn’t find a lot,” Brown said. “He still whacked away well but I just expected him to put them to the sword once he got through, but he didn’t do that.” Brown took the ride after Hugh Bowman stood down following his second-placed ride aboard $4.20 favourite Osborne Bulls in the Newmarket Handicap to return to Sydney for family reasons. View the full article

In a Winx-like performance, the champion’s stablemate The Autumn Sun has come from a seemingly impossible position to win the Gr. 1 Randwick Guineas and confirm his status as Australia’s best three-year-old. The $1.80 favourite was near the tail of the field early when Miss Fabulass set off and led by as much as 15 lengths midway through today’s 1600-metre race. Fundamentalist gave chase after the tearaway and as Miss Fabulass capitulated, the other filly took up the challenge and looked to have a winning break halfway down the straight. But as The Autumn Sun was stoked up by Kerrin McEvoy, his strides got longer and he muscled his way to the line a long head in front of Fundamentalist, who is now a five-time Group One runner-up. “If I didn’t train Winx I wouldn’t have believed that performance,” Waller said. “She has probably desensitised the emotion of these big race wins. “That was a glimpse of what she can do and I won’t say any more about her. “Full credit to this horse. He’s Australia’s next star and I can only tell you how good he is. You’re seeing it but he is a very, very good horse.” Just how good or how long The Autumn Sun will be a star is yet to be determined, with John Messara of Arrowfield Stud hinting he may be serving mares by the spring. Messara would not be drawn into any plans whether the colt would take on Winx in either the George Ryder or Queen Elizabeth Stakes or head to Royal Ascot. “We don’t make these decisions on raceday,” he said. “It was important to get today over first.” Arrowfield bred The Autumn Sun and bought back into the colt shortly before he won the Caulfield Guineas in October. He is also the winner of the Gr. 1 JJ Atkins as a two-year-old and the Gr. 1 Golden Rose in the spring. “The exciting part about this horse is he’s not mature yet,” Waller said. “That is the next question you have to ask ‘do you want an immature horse taking on the world or be around for a bit longer?’ It’s a great thing to be thinking about.” McEvoy said The Autumn Sun deserved all his accolades. “He needed to be outstanding today and he was. He was brilliant,” he said. “I knew he was going to finish strongly and that’s exactly what he did. He ate up the big spacious Randwick straight and really flew the last bit. “I was worried I was too far back. They were putting the race on solidly from the half mile. He was in a nice rhythm but at the 600 metres I thought ‘far out, I’m a long way off them.’ “At the 400 I asked him for a supreme effort and that’s exactly what he gave me. He is a superstar for sure. He’s got a great temperament and it’s going to be great to see him race on – or I’d like to see him race on.” Dual New Zealand Group One winner Madison County turned in what looked like a solid Rosehill Guineas trial running on late from the rear to finish fourth, 2.7 lengths from The Autumn Sun. View the full article

Blake Shinn has ridden Trapeze Artist to an all-the-way win in the Gr. 1 Canterbury Stakes, a ride that means more than most. The win was a fourth at Group One level for Trapeze Artist, whose regular rider Tye Angland has been confirmed quadriplegic after a race fall in Hong Kong in November. Shinn suffered a serious neck injury in a barrier trial fall last year and spent five months recovering. “All the jockeys in this race are riding for Tye. This is his horse. It’s pretty emotional really to be given the opportunity,” Shinn said. “It could have been me in Tye’s position, having a fall and breaking my neck. My heart goes out to him and I’m very honoured to be able to ride this horse and ride in these silks in support of Tye.” Trapeze Artist’s owner Bert Vieira is also dealing with the aftermath of a traffic accident in September last year in which his wife Gai was seriously injured when her car was hit by a speeding police vehicle. She remains in a coma in hospital but is responsive to family members. Trapeze Artist’s win was therefore one to savour following his failure in the Expressway Stakes, after which Vieira was on the verge of retiring him. Trainer Gerald Ryan kept faith and Trapeze Artist delivered by a length and half over Shoals in 1:14.19s, bettering the 1300-metre course record set in the race last year by Happy Clapper, who was also ridden by Shinn. “It’s the most Group Ones I’ve won with a horse,” Ryan said. “We’ve got two more to go, the TJ and the All Aged.” Trapeze Artist won both races last season. Ryan said the idea was not necessarily to lead on Saturday but to be up on the pace. “With Blake riding him in the two trials then the way the field was made up today, we were going to be a little positive on him, not necessarily lead,” he said. “With the map we didn’t know where we’d end up. Blake said he’d just take his time until the half-mile and then work it out from there, and that’s exactly what he’s done.” Punters were wary after Trapeze Artist’s last start failure and sent Kementari out the $3.30 favourite but he finished last of the seven runners with jockey James McDonald saying he “just battled”. View the full article

Star filly Sunlight has given jockey Barend Vorster a memorable start to his new life in Australia, with the pair combining to win the Gr. 1 Newmaket Handicap at Flemington. The South African jockey had ridden successfully in Singapore for the past 15 years and only arrived in Australia late last week to take up a role as stable jockey for trainer Tony McEvoy in South Australia. Vorster was called on by McEvoy to ride Sunlight in today’s A$1.25 million Newmarket in Melbourne as the star filly’s light weight of 50.5kg was below the range of her regular rider Luke Currie but in Vorster’s comfort zone. In a star-studded field of 22 runners, which included seven individual Group One winners and a host of up-and-coming sprinters, Sunlight showed her customary speed before calling on her tenacity to hold off all challengers. “Australia is my new home now and what a way to start it off,” Vorster said. “When I saw the post become available (with McEvoy) I put my name in the hat. “Singapore has been good to me but I just felt a change was coming. And what a change to have. He’s a good trainer and he’s got good horses, so I like to be associated with that.” After taking up the running on Sunlight , Vorster let the filly stride along coming to the 400-metre pole and then she quickened away when he asked her to extend. The favourite Osborne Bulls flashed home late to finish three-quarters of a length away in second while Brave Smash ($26) was another short half-head away third. Sunlight, who also boasts a Magic Millions Classic win as a two-year-old and the Gr. 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes among her nine victories from 14 starts, is the first three-year-old filly since Alinghi in 2005 to win the Newmarket. “Isn’t she something special?” a proud McEvoy said. “She’s an incredible filly. She keeps stepping up to the plate and the further she gets into her preparation the better she gets. “She was so strong at the end of 1200 metres today. I know she only had 50.5 kilos, but she is a three-year-old filly and they were touting it to be one of the best fields. “She’s proven to be a star before today, and she has confirmed it again today.” View the full article

It’s a yes to the Golden Slipper for trainer Chris Waller, who has his best chance yet after the Todman Stakes at Randwick. Yes Yes Yes, having his first start for Sydney’s leading trainer after coming to the stable when the disqualified Darren Weir’s horses were dispersed, is now $6 equal favourite with Reisling Stakes winner Tenley. Ridden by Blake Shinn, Yes Yes Yes sat back before gathering his rivals in to beat the leader Bellevue Hill by half a length with Dubious another three-quarters of a length third. The favourite Time To Reign crossed the line sixth after never looking likely. Waller has had few Golden Slipper runners in the past but now has a genuine contender in Yes Yes Yes. “It’s good to be able to take over a horse like this with prize-money in the bank for the Slipper,” Waller said. “We’ve had him for a number of weeks now. We picked out this race and full credit to the team where he has come from, they’d done a good job educating him well.” Waller said he would not have to do too much with Yes Yes Yesleading into the Slipper. “I don’t have to make him run faster,” he said. “I think he’ll come through the race pretty well the way the race was run.” Time To Reign was briefly favourite for the Slipper after Godolphin colt Tassort was officially withdrawn this morning with a foot problem. Trainer Gary Portelli could not hide his disappointment. “I’m as stunned as anyone,” he said, Time To Reign’s jockey Jason Collett said the colt did not pick up as he expected. “He just didn’t have the turn of foot when they sprinted,” Collett said. View the full article

Godolphin may have lost its No.1 seed for the Golden Slipper but still has plenty of ammunition with Tenley confirming she is on target with victory in the Reisling Stakes at Randwick. Long-time Slipper favourite Tassort has been ruled out for the rest of autumn after failing to recover sufficiently from a bruised hoof which kept him out of today’s Todman Stakes. Trainer James Cummings was smiling again after Tenley came from back in the field to win the fillies’ qualifying race one and a half lengths from her Magic Millions-winning stablemate Exhilarates. Brisbane filly Vincere Volare was another half-length away in third place. “Tenley has just improved out of sight like you would not believe,” Cummings said. “Since she has gotten to the stable she has just been flying. She hasn’t let us down and improved and improved. She is a pretty serious filly.” The daughter of Medaglia D’Oro remains unbeaten from three starts, while Exhilarates now has two wins and three seconds from her six races. “Exhilarates was very good off a break,” Cummings said. “Having not raced since January it is perfect for her. She has a little touch of the Capitalist about her two weeks out from the Slipper ready to bounce back to her very best.” The 2016 Magic Millions winner, the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Capitalist, was beaten in the Todman before going on to win the Slipper. Cummings is taking a philosophical outlook on having to spell Tassort. “To be honest I’ve got 200 horses in great shape and I have one horse who has to go to the paddock,” he said. “It’s not a bad position to be in.” View the full article

Tim is a good sportsman. In teenage rugby he kept an All Black out. Great family as well

The longest three weeks in Waverley farmer Bill Thurlow’s life ended in victory as Glory Days became the second Taranaki mare in two years to race away with the Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup. Three weeks ago Thurlow brought the plain little bay north for her first right-handed test in the Avondale Cup and he went home buoyed by a narrow but impressive win in the 2400-metre race. Knowing Glory Days needed minimal hard racing, he backed that confidence with the decision to stay close to home and rely on trackwork to keep her at peak fitness for the biggest race of both his and the five-year-old’s career. “I talked it through with Kevin Myers and he said so long as I get the miles into her legs she would be ready,” Thurlow reflected as the gravity of today’s big win sunk in. In the end it was as comprehensive a performance as anyone could wish for as Glory Days more than emulated 2018 Auckland Cup winner Ladies First. Sam Collett adopted the same tactics that had won the Avondale Cup, settling Glory Days at the back of the field and then edging her forward from the 800-metre mark. This time the progress was not quite as rapid and it wasn’t until she had balanced up at the top of the straight that Glory Days hit the front. From that point it was a forgone conclusion as the Waverley mare charged on to score by two lengths from Five To Midnight, as brave as ever as he notched yet another big race placing. The Awapuni gelding took second by a nose from Avondale Cup runner-up Blue Breeze, with more than five lengths to fourth placegetter Dee And Gee, who was brave after setting the pace. Melbourne stayer Vengeur Masque tried hard for fifth in ground that was much wetter than he prefers, while Gundown and Charles Road headed the remainder. “I could see a long way out that things were panning out as we had hoped, she was travelling so well,” added Thurlow. “At the top of the straight it looked like she was home, so I know it sounds crazy but in the end it was easy.” Thurlow planned to be in the road once Glory Days had cooled off and would leave a decision on immediate plans until monitoring her through the start of next week, but he rated her chances of making it to Randwick for next month’s Sydney Cup as “pretty good”. If he needed any encouragement to take on Australian’s best autumn stayers he needed only to turn to the throng of Waverley supporters who had come north to cheer for their latest equine hero. “There must be about a hundred of us here,” commented one of their number over the birdcage fence. “We wouldn’t miss this for anything, so we’re going to give Auckland town shake tonight!” For winning rider Sam Collett, this was the ultimate victory, a first Group One in the race that her parents Jim Collett and Trudy Thornton quinellaed in 1991 and the perfect complement to last season’s jockeys’ premiership. “I couldn’t wish for any other race to crack my Group One,” said the popular jockey. “It’s the Auckland Cup, it’s Ellerslie and I’ve won it for some wonderful people. “At no stage did I have any worries, she settled beautifully and when it came time to go she dragged me into the race. I wish they were all that easy, but this is the win I’ve been waiting for a long time.” View the full article

One race after combining to win the Sistema Stakes with Yourdeel, the unbeatable Jamie Richards-Opie Bosson duo completed a Group One double when Melody Belle upstaged Danzdanzdance at the end of an epic battle in the Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes. The weather might not have played its part on Ellerslie’s big day, but none of that mattered as the two mighty mares went to war with 300 metres to run in the weight-for-age feature. Melody Belle might have been the favourite with punters and the racing public, but Danzdanzdance was up for the challenge and gave no quarter. But even when Melody Belle was narrowly headed she would not be denied, lifting for a final effort that got her home by a neck, taking her Group One tally to six. Five of those elite wins have been this season, beginning with the Tarzino Trophy and Windsor Park Plate at Hasting in the spring and added to in February by the BDC Group Sprint at Te Rapa and Haunui Farm Group One Classic at Otaki. That sequence placed Melody Belle equal on Group One tallies in a single season with dual Horse of the Year Seachange, who won four Group One races in the 2007-08 season, and today’s victory put her in hallowed company as she lodged a serious claim for her own Horse of the Year title. A special record belonged to Bosson as well, having equalled Lance O’Sullivan’s record of 62 New Zealand Group Ones when he took the Sistema Stakes on Yourdeel and now he stands alone with 63. “I tucked her in to get a bit of cover because she was pulling a bit hard early and she relaxed once I did that,” he said of the early stages of Melody Belle’s first middle-distance test. “I slowly eased myself away from the inside and when I saw Vin De Dance coming off the bit across the top I thought I’d get out underneath him, so it worked out quite well. “I saw the grey head (of Danzdanzdance) come up beside me and thought we’re in for a fight here. I thought she might have had me, but my little mare, she just doesn’t know when to lie down.” The Bonecrusher Stakes was added to Melody Belle’s big season partly to gauge her spring prospects, and Richards was left believing that he has every right to consider a tilt at the Cox Plate. “She will have a nice break and will be back in on the 1st of May. We will try to take the same route as we did last spring but hopefully we might go to Melbourne for a bit of a look around as well. “It (the Cox Plate) has got to be the target as hopefully the mare of the world (Winx) might be retired by then which would make things easier.” Danzdanzdance has more immediate Australian target, the Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill in two weeks’ time followed by a possible clash with Winx in that mare’s anticipated fin al race, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. “That was massive,” said the grey’s co-trainer Chris Gibbs. “There’s no denying Melody Belle, she’s a wonderful mare, but we have to be happy with our mare ahead of Sydney.” View the full article

Yourdeel (left) proves too tough for Aalaalune and Aretha in the Sistema Stakes. A wide and keen passage through the early stages was still not enough to blunt a determined Yourdeel as he claimed the first Group One two-year-old race of the season at Ellerslie today. Yourdeel jumped from the outside gate as the odds-on favourite in the Sistema Stakes and with Rainbow Dash charging through to take the early lead, he proved a handful for his rider Bosson as he attempted to match strides with the filly. Whereas Rainbow Dash stayed down towards the inside rail, Bosson maintained a wide run in the hope of better ground, but after turning for home with a narrow lead, he looked a sitting duck. Bavella threw out the most likely challenge as Leith Innes angled her to the very outside and she hit the front with 250 metres to run. Inside her, however, Yourdeel was still in for the fight, as was Aretha, while Aalaalune was looming with her trademark late finish. All the while Bosson was waiting and waiting, and just as Aalaalune threatened a big result for trainer Jacob McKay and rider Reese Jones, Yourdeel fought back and wrested back the lead by a short head, with another long head to Aretha. It was a classic Bosson ride, one that took him equal with Hall of Fame jockey Lance O’Sullivan on 62 New Zealand Group One wins. For winning trainer Jamie Richards it was a third Sistema Stakes victory from the last four editions. “He pulled so hard early that I thought it would be too much for him in this ground,” Bosson said. “He wasn’t going to be beaten though, he’s just a good tough horse.” Yourdeel, a son of New Zealand Horse of the Year Dundeel, is owned by a three-way partnership comprising Horowhenua horseman Chris Rutten, who selected him as a $100,000 Karaka yearling, John Norwood and Rod Preston. This was a second Sistema (Diamond) Stakes win for Rutten and Norwood after their 2008 winner Vespa, who had won the Karaka Million at his previous start. Yourdeel’s effort to deadheat for third was one of eye-catching runs of this year’s Karaka Million, and he franked that form with a runaway win in last month’s Waikato Slipper at Matamata. Richards labelled one more target this season for the showy bay, the Gr. 1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes at the end of the month, with his long-term goal next spring the New Zealand 2000 Guineas. View the full article

Queensland mare Winter Bride has added a third Group Three win to her record with a narrow but convincing victory in the Wenona Girl Quality at Randwick. Trained at the Gold Coast by former Sydneysider Toby Edmonds, Winter Bride won two races at the same level in Melbourne during the spring, in one of them beating recent Oakleigh Plate winner Booker. She was given a break after her unplaced run behind Osborne Bulls over the straight 1200-metre track at Flemington. Today’s 1200-metre race was her first since and with Tommy Berry aboard, Winter Bride ($6.50) powered home late to beat the favourite Spright by a short neck, with Resin another half head third. “The trip to Melbourne during in the spring has done her the world of good,” Edmonds said. “Both trials this time in have been super. One was an official trial and one was a jumpout and she was super in both and we were confident she would run well.” Edmonds said Winter Bride had been a slow-maturing type but she was now showing the benefits of time. “These mares get better as they get older,” he said. “She was quite weak early in her career. Tom rode her beautifully. “I was a bit concerned with the 58kg as an anchor but she is so game and tenacious.” Edmonds said he and owners Segenhoe would look at options, of which there are many. “There are a stack of races for her,” he said. “We’ll go home and talk about it and then work out where we go.” Berry, who grew up at Warwick Farm where Edmonds used to train, was happy to ride a winner for his old friend. “She knows what she’s got to do and she’s a winner, plain and simple,” Berry said. “She’s won nine from 18. She knows where the line is and she got there today, which is nice.” View the full article

Correction it wasn't soccer. It was Ice Hockey. The Anaheim Fucks vs the Canadian whatsits.

I watch the Sistema Stakes with my 80 cents in the account because I like horse racing. Race finishes and I do the back tab thingi expecting to end up on racing. Lo and behold I'm on some odds for an obscure soccer game in a place that I have no idea where it is. I thought the R in NZRB was spelt RACING.