I barrack for Essendon (haven’t had much to cheer about for 20 years) and I was as parochial as you can get in the Ashes, supporting the Aussies against the Poms in the five Tests just gone during the current English summer. There’s also a passing interest in the State Of Origin in the rugby... Read More

With cost-of-living pressures dominating the headlines over the past 12 months, By The Numbers looks at how the thoroughbred industry has been historically impacted by high inflation. You would have to be living under a rock to have not realised that the global economy is undergoing a major challenge with inflation over the past year.... Read More

We’ve all been struck by it, at various points in our lives: that sight that barges into the mind’s landscape, arresting the eye, setting the pulse thrumming a little faster. Sometimes it’s a person. For many, it’s a horse. Breeder Verna Metcalfe has been around thoroughbreds for probably more decades than she’d care to remember.... Read More

The influence of international bloodlines among Australia’s top stallions has grown significantly in the past 30 years and was especially strong at the top end of the 2022-23 first-season sires tables. When Justify (Scat Daddy) stood his first season at Coolmore Australia’s Jerrys Plains in 2019, he was part of the smallest cohort of shuttle... Read More

New winners Blue Point – Darley Stud shuttler Blue Point (Shamardal) scored a double last week, taking his tally of northern hemisphere winners to 21. The double was kicked off by Shady Lady’s (2 f ex Akrivi by Tobougg) victory over 1400 metres at Compiegne on Monday. Having run fourth on debut, Shady Lady showed... Read More