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Let’s Galahvant to bid for Group 2 glory
Co-trainers Daniel and Ben Pearce are hoping their multiple stakes winner Let’s Galahvant (Galah) can bring his best form to Ascot on Saturday when he shoots for Group 2 success in the Ted Van Heemst Stakes (Gr 2, 2100m). After a slashing fifth at Group 1 level in the Railway Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) last month, the six-year-old produced an uncharacteristic flat run in the Northerly Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m) last time, beating just two home. The son of Galah (Redoute’s Choice) will look to put that performance behind him at the weekend to preserve plans to head to the Perth Cup (Gr 2, 2400m) on New Year’s Day. “It was an enormous run in the Railway and was probably disappointing from the run he got in the Northerly,” Daniel Pearce said on Tabradio. “He came out with a few little issues that we hope we’ve rectified. If the same horse that runs that race in the Railway turns up, he could be right in it. He’s been good and is great today [Friday] and we’ve tweaked a couple of things which we hope can get him back on track.” Pearce is hoping a smaller field of just eight can give Let’s Galahvant a soft passage in running from barrier one. With Shaun McGruddy opting to ride Currimundi (Playing God), Lucy Fiore gets aboard for the first time in two years. Let’s Galahvant is rated an $11 chance to add a 13th career win in the Ted Van Heemst.
Collett set for Brisbane raid
Having ridden at the Gold Coast on Friday, Jason Collett will head to Eagle Farm on Saturday to ride the Ciaron Maher-trained Icarian Dream (Blue Point) in Saturday’s B J McLachlan Stakes at Eagle Farm. “She [Icarian Dream] is probably unlucky not to be three from three,” Collett said. “I sat on her in the Golden Gift and she copped a bad squeeze around the turn and lost a fair bit of ground and momentum but she only got beaten a length or so. Last start she looked to loom up and win and had to go in between a few runners and lost momentum again. I am looking forward to riding her again.” Icarian Dream finished runner-up to the repossessing The Playwright (Written By) over 1100 metres at Rosehill last time and will be bidding to give Maher his second win in the B J McLachlan after the success of Coolangatta (Written Tycoon) three years ago.
Goldman to take on pair of staying features
Gai Waterhouse believes Goldman (Verdi) is ready to recapture his best form as the first of two summer targets set for the stayer comes up on Saturday in the Pakenham Cup (Listed, 2500m). It will be the third run back from a spell for the six-year-old, who finished seventh last start in the ATC Cup (Listed, 2000m) at Rosehill. Goldman is then due to contest the Bagot Handicap (Listed, 2800m) fourth-up at Flemington on January 1. “I think it’s a drop in class for him, we can’t have him any fitter and he’s working really well,” Waterhouse, who trains in partnership with Adrian Bott, told Racing.com. “This is his mission in these summer staying races, and we think he’s ready to find his best form and if that’s the case he can win. You go back to his form when he first came over, he was going super. After that he hit a flat spot. The signs are there in his work that he’s back on track. He’s a very nice horse.”
Bedggood pair chase Pakenham prize
Gavin Bedggood is hopeful rising nine-year-olds Just Folk (Magnus) and Windstorm (Redoute’s Choice) can deliver the memorable afternoon when the Mailbag Bloodstock-owned pair line up in The Supernova (1400m) at Pakenham on Saturday. Just Folk has not raced since his victory in the Lord Mayors Cup (Gr 3, 1800m) at Eagle Farm in June, after a bout of colic that required surgery for a twisted bowel kept him sidelined for the Melbourne Spring Carnival. “He’s had a long, slow build-up,” the trainer said. “He had colic surgery while he was in Brisbane. He had a twist in his bowel and that was all corrected and he had the required time off. He’s come back in and had an incident free preparation. This race presented and where he’s rated, there’s not a lot of options for a horse like him at this time of year, so it was a good fit.” Bedggood also said Windstorm is in excellent order ahead of his first-up assignment and had been targeted at the race, having not raced since early August. “I think he is flying and is one we definitely targeted at the race for a long time,” he said. “He’s had a great preparation. He’s had four nice trials, and I would be disappointed if he didn’t run well on Saturday.”
Oh Too Good bidding to end year on a high
Kevin Daffy is hopeful his stable star Oh Too Good (All Too Hard) can end her successful year on a winning note in Saturday’s VOBIS Gold Bullion (1400m) at Pakenham before the mare heads to the paddock. “I think it’s a really suitable race for her, that’s why we went that way, being a VOBIS Gold horse,” the Pakhenham-based trainer told Racing.com. “If I had to put a race on for her, that’d be exactly the race that I’d program myself, so I’m very happy, I think she’ll acquit herself very well.” The five-year-old will be partnered by Daniel Stackhouse for the first time in the 1400-metre contest, although the rider was in the saddle for her gallop at Pakenham on Tuesday and has done a lot of work with her behind the scenes. “He knows her very well, he actually rode her in her very first jump-out,” Daffy added. “There were some missed opportunities where he had other commitments early in the piece but now he’s finally got the chance to get on her and it’s really good.”
Global Harmony ready for Australian return
After a stint in Hong Kong, Global Harmony (Shamexpress) has returned to training with Ben, Will and JD Hayes and is set to kick off his latest campaign in a Benchmark 84 (1400m) at Pakenham on Saturday. The gelding was banned from Hong Kong after failing to leave the barriers in two race starts. He has been given two jump-outs at Wodonga and Wangaratta and a Traralgon trial in preparation for his race return, as well as spending time with Shaun Nolen for some remedial work, and connections are confident he will put his best foot forward. “We had him before he went to Hong Kong, so we trusted him a lot,” Will Hayes said. “We sent him to Shaun Nolan, who does an incredible job with a lot of our horses that we like to tinker with. He only had him for a short time and said he was good to go, so with his touch, we go to the races with a lot of confidence.”
Stakes-race trial for In Flight
Joe Pride has no doubt In Flight (Flying Artie) has the potential to develop into a stakes-class sprinter and the mare will be given an opportunity to earn her way back into that grade in a Benchmark 94 (1100m) at Randwick on Saturday. The four-year-old had her first taste of black type level in the Starlight Stakes (Listed, 1100m) last time out, where she finished a solid fourth behind all-the-way winner Eagle Nest (Shalaa). Victory on Saturday will earn the daughter of Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) a shot at the Canterbury Sprint (Listed, 1200m) on New Year’s Day. “One hundred per cent she is a stakes grade horse in the making, it’s just a matter of when,” Pride said. “It’s a good, even field on Saturday and it will be tough to win, but she is a nice horse on the up. I thought if she could win on Saturday she could go to the Listed race on New Years’ Day but she would need to be winning.” In Flight has built an impressive record of five wins from just 11 starts, with a further two runner-up finishes. All of her victories have all come on rain-affected tracks, which she will not be met with at Randwick, but Pride is more concerned about her wide draw in barrier ten. “Her big weapon is her ability to handle wet tracks and that’s why I ran her in that stakes race first-up,” her trainer added. “But she is still effective on the dry and she’ll go well on Saturday, although she has a tricky draw.”
Theodore hoping to continue good form
Trainer Stephen Theodore is looking to Divine Fire (Divine Prophet) to keep his impressive strike-rate going when she aims for a third straight win on Saturday. After victories at Morphettville and Gawler, Divine Fire runs in the Christmas Cup (1600m) at Murray Bridge with Jacob Opperman in the saddle. Since returning to training ranks at the start of the season after a five-year hiatus, Theordore has prepared 14 winners at a strike-rate of 21.2 per cent. A daughter of Divine Prophet (Choisir), Divine Fire has produced four of those victories, and Theodore said it was remarkable that she was still performing at her peak after 13 runs this campaign. “She’s really hit her straps and as the old adage goes, when they’re racing well you don’t change anything and they can keep going,” Theodore said. “When she joined she showed a lot of promise but we were learning the track when starting out at Murray Bridge, while at the same time as learning about her and I was getting the tactics wrong. She’s free running and now we’ve identified that’s the way to ride her, she’s running through her grades quickly.” Divine Fire faces a class rise on Saturday, jumping from Benchmark 64 grade to a Benchmark 80. “With the minimum again at home and an extremely fit animal, you know if there’s any chinks in the armour of the others you’re going to expose them,” Theodore added. “She’ll take running down again.”
Arabian Summer shines ahead of Sunlight
Arabian Summer (Too Darn Hot) produced a stellar warm-up for next month’s inaugural Magic Millions Sunlight 3YO Plate (1100m) when she resumed at Friday’s floodlit meeting on the Gold Coast, where the filly ran out a dominant winner of the 3YO Plate (1000m). The Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained three-year-old notched her fourth win from seven starts under Harry Coffey, defeating Cosmic Fire (Cosmic Force) by three lengths, with Petticoat (Better Than Ready) another 0.8 lengths back in third. The daughter of Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) was returning from a six-month break following victory in the $1 million Magic Millions National 2YO Classic (1050m) at Doomben in May. At her next start, Arabian Summer will look to boost her prize-money earnings further in the $3 million Sunlight 3YO Plate, also under lights at the Gold Coast on January 4.
Vein Girl takes The Debut
Blue Point (Shamardal) filly Vein Girl made a striking debut on Friday night at the Gold Coast, winning the $250,000 Magic Millions The Debut 2YO (1000m) for trainers Chris and Corey Munce under Cejay Graham. The juvenile was prominent throughout the contest, and kicked clear off the home bend before holding off the late-closing Torque To Be Sure (Shamus Award) by 0.2 lengths. Forgotten Spirit (Spirit Of Boom) was third, another length and a half away from the pair. Vein Girl was a $60,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase for her trainers and Arthur Houeau from the Three Bridges draft. She is the third foal and first winner out of dual winner Last Vein (Unencumbered).
Coeur Volante set for autumn return
Group 2 winner Coeur Volante (Proisir) is nearing her race return, with a series of Group 1s to be considered for the four-year-old in the autumn. The Mike Moroney and Glen Thompson-trained mare is a two-time Group winner but has not been seen since a couple of unplaced efforts at the Brisbane carnival in June. “She is ready for a jump-out either next Friday or the following,” said Anthony Feroce, Moroney and Thompson’s racing manager. “She went into the Thousand Guineas last spring off a very small break then we went up to Queensland and things didn’t quite go as planned. We faced another short break into the spring. At some stage we had to take some pain and we decided to this spring. She spelled in Queensland and now she’s ready to get going again.” Coeur Volante’s stakes wins have come in the Scarborough Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at The Valley and the Thousand Guineas Prelude (Gr 2, 1400m) at Caulfield. She then progressed to the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), where she finished on the heels of the placegetters in her first try at a mile. “The Coolmore for fillies and mares over 1500 metres looks a great race for her, but there are races like the All-Star Mile and she could go through races like the Orr and Futurity,” Feroce said of possible future targets.
RQ appoint David Brick as general manager of racing
Racing Queensland (RQ) has appointed David Brick as its general manager of racing. The highly regarded administrator will take charge of all three codes from January 20, 2025, overseeing strategy and operations. The appointment follows the retirement of Adam Wallish in July, who previously boasted executive responsibility for the three codes. RQ will soon commence advertising to backfill Brick’s current role overseeing harness racing. “I was bitten by the racing bug the day I drew Kiwi in the [Melbourne] Cup,” Brick told Racing Queensland. “I have since progressed this passion to include ownership across the three codes, as well as working in a variety of roles across the industry. I look forward to working with clubs, participants, punters, business partners and other stakeholders to service, innovate and continue to grow racing throughout Queensland.”
Changes to race meetings due to extreme heat
The hot weather forecast in the days ahead has triggered changes to two Western Australia race meeting schedules to ensure the safety and welfare of participants. The meeting at Ascot on Saturday will commence at 9:04am and finish at 13:44, while the meeting at Pinjarra on Sunday, December 22 has been relocated to Bunbury Racecourse. “Our hot weather policies are based on the principle that animal and participant welfare always comes first,” Racing WA chief racing officer Hunter said. “When the forecast is 38°C or higher, officials consider racing earlier or later to avoid the hottest time of day, or rescheduling races to other days, times or venues.”
Gosford meeting transferred to Newcastle
The Gosford race meeting scheduled for Friday, January 10, 2025 has been transferred to Newcastle. Click here to view the amendments to distances.
Townsville meeting abandoned
The Townsville Turf Club meeting scheduled for Saturday December 21, has been abandoned on advice from Racing Queensland (RQ) following continuous heavy rain in the region. The potential for the meeting to be rescheduled is unlikely but is being explored by RQ.