Chief Stipe

Manawatu horsewoman Gloria Kenny has her fingers crossed that Glory Days can cap a memorable... 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

Three days after Crown Prosecutor’s remarkable victory in the Gr. 1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie, his yearling half-sister sold for... 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

Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards will saddle Yourdeel, Aotea Lad and Equinox in Saturday’s Gr. 1 Sistema Stakes, attempting to extend the tangerine team’s remarkable recent dominance of Ellerslie’s juvenile features. 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

When you buy a going horse cheaply – say, for less than $5000 – you don’t have a hell of a lot of expectation... 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

The Thornley family’s harness racing legacy continued when... 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

With six Group One victories between them this season, star mares Melody Belle and Danzdanzdance will meet for the first time in a mouth-watering Gr. 1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie on Saturday. 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

Wanganui couple Harvey and Linda Green would be the first to admit that luck was a major... 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

Trapeze Artist will attempt to erase memories of an Expressway Stakes defeat with a fourth.... 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

Sheriff regained winning form for the first time since that exhilarating New Zealand Derby last year when he outgunned... 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

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A field of 23 will do battle down the Flemington 1200-metre straight in the hunt for victory in the Newmarket Handicap. Chasing a third-straight win in the Melbourne’s premier handicap sprint race, Redkirk Warrior has drawn barrier 19 with Luke Nolen in the saddle, replacing Regan Bayliss who is riding in Hong Kong. Redkirk Warrior shares equal top weight with Santa Ana Lane in the Group One sprint and will start from 10. Brave Smash, runner-up to Redkirk Warrior last year, has drawn barrier 23 while the favourite, Osborne Bulls, has drawn directly inside him. The Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Dothraki has drawn barrier one with last-start Oakleigh Plate winner Booker drawing barrier six. The Australian Cup has brought together a field of 15 for the weight-for-age race over 2000 metres with the favourite Avilius drawing the inside gate. The Lloyd Williams-owned trio, Almandin, The Taj Mahal and Rekindling, are in the field drawing barriers two, three and nine respectively. Mackinnon Stakes winner Traps For Fools, chasing a second 2000-metrefeature win at Flemington, will start from gate six for John Allen. New Zealand-breds Night’s Watch and Shillelagh have drawn gates seven and 10 respectively. View the full article

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In-form Tasmanian stayer Eastender has drawn a wide barrier for his first interstate assignment in the Gr. 2 Adelaide Cup. Eastender has won his past four starts including the Devonport, Hobart and Launceston Cups and has drawn barrier 18 in a capacity field of 20 plus one emergency for Monday’s Adelaide Cup over 3200 metres. The Barry Campbell-trained five-year-old gelding is equal topweight for the A$400,000 race on 58 kilograms along with the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Fabrizio, who he chased down to win the Launceston Cup last start. The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Bondeiger, winner of Saturday’s Lord Reims Stakes at Morphettville, was the $4 favourite yesterday after drawing barrier two with Eastender at $5. The Chris Waller-trained Naval Warfare ($8) has the inside barrier and will be ridden by dual Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Corey Brown. Perth’s premier jockey William Pike has been booked to ride the Mike Moroney-trained Top Of The Range who has drawn the second outside alley. View the full article

The Sir Peter Vela-owned Eminent has landed safely in Sydney and will undergo two weeks in quarantine at Canterbury ahead of his autumn campaign. The son of Frankel has won three of his 11 career starts, including the Gr. 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano and Gr. 3 Craven Stakes and has placed at Group One level. Eminent is now trained by dual gold medal-winning Olympian Sir Mark Todd and is currently in the care of former New Zealand jockey Bruce Herd until Todd arrives in Sydney later this week. Herd said Eminent had handled the trip well and has settled into his new surroundings. “He lost only about eight kilograms on the trip, he’s eating well and drinking well,” Herd told Racing NSW. “It didn’t seem to affect him at all. He’s a beautiful moving horse who will really appreciate the speed on over here.” Eminent is on a course to clash with superstar mare Winx in both the Gr. 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes next month and possibly the Gr. 1 Ranvet Stakes shortly after his stint in quarantine. View the full article

Sydney-based trainer John Sargent is expecting a solid showing from New Zealand-bred mare Luvaluva when she lines up in the Gr. 3 Aspiration Quality at Randwick on Saturday. The Group Two winner heads into the race off the back of an unplaced run in the 1300-metre Gr. 2 Millie Fox Stakes and Sargent is looking forward to stepping his mare up to 1600 metres this weekend. “I think she will go well,” he said. “It was a good first-up run, but well short of her best. We are well in at the weights at 53.5 kilograms. She’s won over a mile at Randwick before, I think it should suit her nicely. “She’s about 20 kilograms heavier than she was in the spring. In the last couple of months she has probably matured a lot more.” Sargent said he was pleased with Luvaluva’s work yesterday and he is hoping for a solid pace in Saturday’s contest. “She worked on the course proper over 1200 metres and quickened up the last 300 metres, I was very happy,” he said. “Jay Ford (jockey) knows her well, he has won on her. A hard run mile here on Saturday I think should suit her.” A potential tilt at the Gr. 1 Fiber Fresh New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes at Te Aroha next month could be on the cards for Luvaluva, but Sargent said a decision won’t be made until after Saturday’s run. “I’m waiting to see what happens on Saturday before planning for the rest of the autumn,” Sargent said. View the full article

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Time To Reign has had a searching gallop ahead of the Todman Stakes, which his trainer hopes will confirm his standing as a favoured runner in the Golden Slipper. A brother to 2017 Slipper winner She Will Reign who was also trained by Gary Portelli, the colt upset Slipper favourite Tassort in the Silver Slipper last Saturday week on a soft track. Godolphin’s Tassort is now in doubt for the Slipper with a bruised foot and has been withdrawn from Saturday’s Todman with trainer James Cummings hoping he can be fit for the Pago Pago a week later. Time To Reign worked with older sprinter Vincero at Warwick Farm yesterday morning. “Time To Reign beat Vincero in the gallop and has come on since his Silver Slipper win,” Portelli said. “He is absolutely cherry ripe. He lost two kilos after the race and put it back on within two days. “Now we know he can cope if it’s wet or dry, and we also know he will be going to the Slipper as fit as he can be.” Time To Reign has won three of his four starts, with his sole defeat in the Lonhro Plate won by Bivouac, who is a likely Todman rival. As well as two Slipper qualifying races, the Todman and the Reisling, Saturday’s meeting features two Group One races, the Randwick Guineas (1600m) and the Canterbury Stakes (1300m). The Chris Waller-trained The Autumn Sun heads the market to add the Guineas to his Group One wins in the JJ Atkins, Golden Rose and Caulfield Guineas. Triple Group One winner Trapeze Artist is favourite for the Canterbury Stakes. View the full article

A slight setback has ruled Ardrossan out of a Group One race in Sydney this weekend, but he is likely to line up a week later. Winner of the Gr. 3 Concorde Handicap and placed in the Gr. 1 BCD Group Sprint at Te Rapa in his last two starts, the Redoute’s Choice entire was nominated for Saturday’s A$500,000 Canterbury Stakes at Randwick but will not take his place in the 1300-metre race. “He just had a bit of a spiked temperature when he arrived in Sydney and we had to treat it,” trainer Stephen Marsh said. “The vets didn’t think it was anything to worry about and he’s expected to come right pretty quickly. He won’t run in the Canterbury Stakes on Saturday, but we’ll look to kick off his Sydney campaign in a Group Three 1100-metre race a week later instead (Maurice McCarten Stakes). James McDonald will ride him in that race.” View the full article

Riccarton Scratchings R1: R2: 9 R3: R4: R5: R6: R7: 11 R8: NZ TAB Meeting #6 with the first of 8 races starting at 1:07pm Doubles: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 Trebles: 2-3-4, 6-7-8 Quaddies: 1-2-3-4, 5-6-7-8 Pick 6 starts on Race 3 with a Guaranteed Pool of $25,000 Track conditions: Good 3 Weather: Fine Rail: Out 5m Track: Left hand 2400m Length […] 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

Rule Number(s): 869(4)Following the running of Race 7, the “Aitken Transport/M Dodunski Concrete Mobile Pace” Information A10592 was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Mulcay against Open Horseman Mr K Marshall alleging, “that he drove “Notorious” in a manner that caused interference to “Lady Ameera” near the 250m with resultant ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

He’ll admit to taking a cautious glance at it every now and then, but don’t think you can lead John Morrison into a debate about his chances of winning the junior drivers’ premiership this season just yet. The in-form young horseman now sits level with Sheree Tomlinson with 36 wins for the season at the top of said premiership but with five months of racing still to come, he’s not getting too far ahead of himself and preferring to take things week by week. And this weekend, he’s even allowing himself a bit of time off. Instead of trekking down south like he has for almost every meeting this season, Morrison has instead decided to stay on the West Coast for the weekend. “I’ve got a couple of my own in over there,” he said. “If I had a really good book of drives, I would have done it (gone to Invercargill too), but I was looking at maybe just the one or two so I decided I’d stay on the Coast and have a bit of a break.” But while he won’t be there this weekend, don’t expect it to happen too often for the rest of the season. Especially now the lure of travelling to meetings in Southland has been made that much more appealing. Announcements last week by both Air New Zealand and then Jetstar are set to cut costs for drivers heading down South for meetings by almost 50 per cent. “You’d be looking at about $400 return normally, but it’s considerably less than that now by the looks of it. “That makes it great for heading down there because there’s not as much pressure to get a win or two to make it worthwhile.” Morrison’s weekend will still be busy enough though without heading to the deep south. He’s at Forbury on Thursday night with a big book of drives before heading back to Christchurch and then packing up for the Coast on Friday morning. While not exuding confidence, Morrison is quite hopeful of a forward showing for his two chances at Patterson Park, Kiwi Bloke and No Fears. “They’re both good enough to be a chance in their races, but they might need that ounce of luck. “I’ve been really happy with Kiwi Bloke’s last two runs; he just needs things to fall into place and No Fears, well we know he’s got the ability he just needs to do it right.” As well as his own two runners Morrison will also have high hopes for his drive in Friday’s feature, the Margo Nyhan and Peter Davis Kawatiri Cup, Di Caprio. The Brian O’Meara-trained runner was a last start winner of the Hororata Cup and looks a prime chance to make it three wins in a row. “Brian wouldn’t be taking him all the way over there for nothing and he’s got to be a good chance. “But I think he’s going to be even better next year; he’s pretty exciting.” View the full article

Multiple Group One-winning jockey Tye Angland has been confirmed a quadriplegic as a result of injuries he suffered in a fall in Hong Kong. Angland damaged his spinal cord in the incident at Sha Tin on November 25 when his mount stumbled coming out of the barriers. After undergoing surgery in Hong Kong, Angland came home to Sydney just before Christmas and had further surgery at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital. The Australian Jockeys’ Association issued a statement on behalf of Angland and his family today, saying the spinal cord injury could not be repaired. “Tye has some movement in the arms but is unable to walk,” the AJA said. “Together the family are currently working with a range of stakeholders in terms of co-ordinating and financing Tye’s ongoing care and the family’s long-term needs. “His wife Erin, and the couple’s three children Alexis, Addison and Rylan continue to be amazed by the support they have received and wish to say thank you to everyone who has reached out to them.” The 29-year-old is in the Royal Rehabilitation Centre in Sydney, where he is continuing treatment and rehabilitation. Angland’s biggest wins include the 2017 Victoria Derby on Ace High and three Group One wins last season on star sprinter Trapeze Artist. View the full article

Really? Has David Ellis got his cheque book out?

Well here we go again. Lets make it simple. Do you want turnover or revenue?

So what's the difference between nags on Thursday and nags on Saturday?