Morrison and Balding relishing quest to become first Englishmen to conquer the Cup
And the VRC would have to look no further than past visitors Andrew Balding and Hughie Morrison if any further promotion of the race was required. “Where else would you want to be in November?” said Balding as he confirmed, yesterday, that Duretto and Count Octave were his two likely Cups runners while Brorocco was... Read More
Cross Counter a worthy candidate for Flemington feature
The five-day meeting also gave rise to a number of noteworthy developments looking ahead to the Australian spring, with the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) nominated as the long-term target by trainer Charlie Appleby for the fast-improving Cross Counter (Teofilo) following his success in the Gordon Stakes (Gr 3, 1m4f) on Saturday. Although this contest... Read More
Goodwood provides a gloriously unique style of racing
Genteel too other than when the football supporters from nearby Portsmouth and Southampton instigate a brawl as happened earlier in the year. Not this week thankfully. The Goodwood track is perched atop the hillside which affords panoramic views but does make you wonder who on earth decided it would be the ideal site for a... Read More
Nature Strip and Vega Magic again show their talent with fast sectional times
Vega Magic’s first-up win in the Bletchingly Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Caulfield being sufficiently impressive that slot-holder James Harron subsequently secured a start for the dual Group 1-winning sprinter in our richest race at Randwick on October 13. But the rising young sprinting star Nature Strip remains in the wings, Saturday’s six-length victory in... Read More
Charge (AUS) 2 c Zoustar – Queen Of The Falls by General Nediym
Despite failing to get his head in front as a juvenile, the Chris Waller-trained Charge showed a great deal of promise in his first four starts, most notably when finishing second on his last outing to Godolphin’s Gododdin at Kensington in April. The son of Zoustar (Northern Meteor), who was crowned champion first season sire... Read More
Epaulette has Group 1-winning two-year-old in South Africa
Runner-up was stablemate Alyaasaat (Dawn Approach), both owned and bred in NSW by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Shadwell Stud Australasia Ltd and trained by Mike de Kock. While Soqrat, his trainer’s 117th Group 1 winner, is the first for Epaulette, the sire has Group 3 winners Khulaasa and Meryl in Australia plus stakes... Read More