Ballarat trainer Archie Alexander can look forward to the autumn with the spring carnival having franked the form around several of his leading contenders: It was with just a tinge of disappointment that Archie Alexander watched Villermont (All Too Hard) storm to victory in last Saturday’s Sandown Guineas (Gr 2, 1600m). After all, the Aaron... Read More

Flying home from the rear of the field Hasahalo (Savabeel) drew clear by four lengths to win last Saturday’s New Zealand 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) at Riccarton. A stakes winner at two last season, Hasahalo relished the dry track to dominate her rivals and give three times champion New Zealand sire Savabeel (Zabeel) his... Read More

The official announcement of invited runners to the 2017 Hong Kong International races (HKIR) won’t be made until next Wednesday, but early intelligence indicates the four race numbers will be strong despite the absence of runners from Australia and New Zealand, and the Hong Kong Vase (Gr 1, 2400m) may well have greater gravitas than... Read More

2 c Exceed And Excel – Shatters by Lonhro O: Godolphin T: James Cummings B: Darley W: #theraces Handicap, 1100m, Rosehill, 11 November The Godolphin-raced colt Dynamited impressed in scoring in really good style on his racecourse debut at Rosehill last Saturday. The son of Exceed And Excel (Danehill) began well from barrier five under... Read More

One of the highlights on the final day of the VRC’s Melbourne Cup Carnival was the Darley Classic (registered as VRC Stakes) (Gr 1, 1200m) – an event that jockey Kerrin McEvoy probably won in the first 200 metres of the race. With a field of high class sprinters, a quick pace throughout was expected... Read More

In a season when Aidan O’Brien surpassed Bobby Frankel’s record of 25 Group / Grade One winners in a calendar year, it was perhaps not the greatest surprise that the Irish champion trainer proved the dominant force on the European two-year-old scene. O’Brien saddled the winner in four of the five British Group One races... Read More