Named, of course, after the 17th century Dutch painter and not the 2017 Melbourne Cup runner-up. Also found Van Diemen’s name adoring a suburban straat which seems modest recognition for the man best remembered for his efforts to foster exploration of the Great South Land, dubbed New Holland by Abel Tasman whom Van Diemen had... Read More

Aidan O’Brien was shooting for his 40th Irish classic win in the Oaks, represented by multiple runners, but Newmarket mentor William Haggas denied him of the honour when his filly Sea Of Class overpowered O’Brien’s second string, Forever Together (Galileo), earlier winner of the Oaks (Gr 1, 1m4f) at Epsom, close to home after coming... Read More

After being a bit slow to move, Brutal had the pace to recover quickly from barrier three and soon made his way through under Dwayne Dunn to lead. The colt then travelled really comfortably, dashed clear shortly after turning for home and went on to win easily by a big margin from the Lindsay Park-trained... Read More

Osorno justified 3-1 favouritism to score an impressive first-up win in 1200 metre juvenile sprint at Warwick Farm on Wednesday – his first success in six starts to date. He settled in second last place, wide with cover, in the 11-horse field from barrier ten before improving deep nearing the hometurn. The James Cummings-trained colt... Read More

They included Racing Victoria’s recently appointed general manager international and racing operations, Paul Bloodworth and the Melbourne Racing Club’s head of communications, Jake Norton. Perhaps they had the appropriate tickets!   Meanwhile Australian Turf Club director Angela Belle McSweeney was pushing the Everest case.   Consequently there may well be more visitors than locals patronising... Read More