Father set to cash in

Mark Newnham’s father John is in for a tidy collect if Shadow Hero (Pierro) justifies his favouritism in the G1 VRC Derby.

"Coming up to Father's Day this year, I thought he's got enough golf shirts so I bought him a $100 futures ticket on Shadow Hero in the Derby at $26,” the Warwick Farm trainer said.

"I hope he wins, but I hope he's not expecting $2600 every Father's Day. He'll be watching at home. He'll probably be cheering louder than anyone."

Newham has long had confidence Shadow Hero had Derby potential and nothing the colt has done in the lead-up has made him think differently.

"It's been about a three-month plan and his preparation to date has been absolutely faultless," he said. "He was always just going to have the four starts so he should be peaking at the right time.”

Waller staying put

Torn between two major venues, Chris Waller has opted to stay at home for the Golden Eagle meeting at Rosehill over Flemington's Derby day.

Waller-trained stars Arcadia Queen (Pierro) and Kolding (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}) will represent him in the inaugural 4-year-old event worth $7.5 million.

With four Group 1 races at Flemington on the same day, Waller would usually be in Melbourne and has been back and forth this week to supervise both teams.

"I can't be everywhere and I've decided, with the inaugural running, I want to throw my support behind Rosehill," Waller said. "It (the Golden Eagle) means a lot to me being out west.

"That was one of the main ideas of the race, to support the western side of Sydney, which is probably the heart of Sydney. That's where I live, that's where I train.”

Colt on for bonus

A lucrative prize beckons G1 Caulfield Guineas placegetter Groundswell (Fastneck Rock) if he can win the G3 Carbine Club S. at Flemington.

The Anthony Freedman-trained colt is the early favourite and one of three runners eligible to claim a $1 million bonus.

The winner of the Carbine Club can win the bonus if they have competed in either the G2 Stutt S., G3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude or G2 Thousand Guineas Prelude, the G1 Caulfield Guineas or G1 Thousand Guineas.

Groundswell has finished third in both the Caulfield Guineas Prelude and Caulfield Guineas, while the other two eligible runners are second favourite Dalasan (Dalahkani {Ire}) and Conqueror (Fastnet Rock).

Baster calls time

Jockey Stephen Baster has announced he will retire at the end of the Melbourne spring carnival.

He rode the first of his 14 Group 1 winners aboard Mookta (Jugah {USA}) in the Oakleigh Plate and the most recent on Pinot (Pierro) in the VRC Oaks.

"I wish nothing but success for my colleagues, peers, supporters and the racing industry," Baster said.

"It has been an utter privilege to be part of Australian racing and I will always look back on my career with fondness and pride."

A -team reunited

Damian Lane has teamed up with Mer De Glace (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) for the first time since they won the G1 Caulfield Cup.

He was at Werribee on Friday morning to partner the stayer ahead of a tilt at the G1 Lexus Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.

"He was out there for a stretch of the legs and seemed in pretty good order," Lane said.

"If anything, he was a little bit brighter than when I worked him at Caulfield before he won the Caulfield Cup.

"I was confident before the Caulfield Cup as that was around his distance range. What we have to take in this time is it's the first time he's raced as close as two and a-half weeks as most of his runs have been two months apart.”

Derby dream

Already a G1 Melbourne Cup winning owner, Fergus Doyle has put his ultimate racing dream in the hands of New Zealand trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman.

The champion Cambridge pair will saddle Doyle’s homebred 3-year-old Long Jack (So You Think {NZ}) in Saturday’s G1 Victoria Derby at Flemington.

“It’s very exciting to have a Derby runner,” Doyle said. “I wasn’t so excited when we drew barrier 16, but that’s the way it goes in racing sometimes. I’m not going into the race with a huge amount of confidence, but you have to be in it to win it.”

Doyle was born and raised in Ireland, then moved to Australia in 1967. He worked in construction, starting out as a contractor before rising through the ranks to the point of running his own business.

Success in racing ownership followed, most notably a share in the 2014 G1 Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}).

Ten Sovereigns to Coolmore

Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never {USA}), winner of the G1 Middle Park S. at two and the G1 July Cup this year at three, has been retired from racing and will stand alongside his sire at Coolmore next year.

Ten Sovereigns was unbeaten in three runs at two, winning the G3 Round Tower S. a week after his Curragh debut. Trainer Aidan O’Brien switched the focus to sprinting after the colt failed to see out the mile of the Guineas, and the horse’s team was rewarded with a 2.75l score over Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) in the G1 July Cup.

Ten Sovereigns is the seventh successive horse in his direct male line to have won a Group 1 race as a juvenile.

“Ten Sovereigns has great power and great presence,” said Coolmore’s David O’Loughlin. “He’s the second fastest July Cup winner and the third-fastest Middle Park winner of all time and is by a seriously good sire in No Nay Never. I have no doubt that breeders are going to love him.”

Hawkbill to Darley Japan

G1 Coral-Eclipse and G1 Dubai Sheema Classic winner Hawkbill (USA) will relocate to Darley Japan for 2020 after standing his first season at Dalham Hall Stud this year at £7,500 (AU$14,090). The former Charlie Appleby trainee is the leading money earner by his sire, Kitten’s Joy (USA).

“Hawkbill is a big good looking and correct horse and I believe he will very much suit Japanese mares. If his progeny look like him, then they certainly will be popular at the sales,” said Harry Sweeney, President of Darley Japan.

Successful surgery

Injured jockey Donavan Mansour is in good spirits after a successful operation on his broken pelvis at Waikato Hospital on Thursday.

The popular jockey sustained the injury after his mount reared up and fell backwards on to him at Te Aroha on Wednesday.

“The results were fantastic, the surgery went really well,” Mansour’s riding agent Tony Raklander said. “He looks a different person, he has all the colour back in his face.

“The surgeon was really happy with the results. He said everything went to plan so they don’t see any issues going forward.”

Yearning for stakes win

Group 2 performer Yearn (NZ) (Savabeel) will kick-off her 6-year-old season in the Roger Gill Agriculture 1200 at Pukekohe on Saturday, beginning her mission to try and add an all-important stakes victory to her resume.

She has won six of her 31 starts and has been placed on three occasions at stakes level, including second in the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint and third in the G2 Westbury Classic and G2 Easter H.

“She is really well, she had a trial on the 15th at Te Rapa and she performed extremely well and has come through it great,” trainer Karen Fursdon said.

Yearn’s first tilt at a stakes race this season will be the G2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ S. on November 23.

Australian connection to Breeders' Cup

Queensland-based bloodstock agent Craig Rounsefell from Boomer Bloodstock will be represented by a runner in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf on the first day of the two-day race meeting at Santa Anita.

2-year-old colt Hit The Road is by Vinery Stud's More Than Ready, who stands at Winstar Farm in the northern hemisphere. He was a $160,000 purchase from Keeneland September.

Hit The Road is trained by Californian-based Dan Blacker, who studied on the same year of the Godolphin Flying Start course with Rounsefell.