First winner for Super One
Newgate Farm stallion Super One sired his first winner when Superbellaa scored at Canberra on Friday.
Trained by Lee Curtis, the 2-year-old filly made her debut in the 1300Tempfence H. and won by 1.5l with Jay Ford in the saddle.
Superbellaa was Super One’s third runner from his first crop of 2-year-olds.
Super One stands at Newgate for a service fee of $11,000 (inc GST).
Doomben 10,000 in world’s top 100
Racing Queensland believes the decision to increase prizemoney for the G1 Doomben 10,000 to $1 million has been vindicated with the race receiving a world top 100 ranking.
Australia had 20 races rated in the top 100 and the Doomben 10,000 was the only race outside Sydney or Melbourne on the list.
The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities ranks the races based on the ratings of the first four horses in each event. Sydney's Queen Elizabeth S. was the highest-rated Australian race, just ahead of Melbourne's Cox Plate.
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was again ranked the best race in the world.
Raceday to raise money
Special fund-raising initiatives will be in place at Saturday’s Randwick meeting to assist rural communities and participants in New South Wales affected by recent bushfires across the state.
Money raised on Saturday will help towards the care of livestock and other animals where feed and other commodities are in short supply.
There is already a guaranteed $100,000 from sponsors, along with the Australian Turf Club and Racing NSW who have each contributed $10,000 to the Racing for the Bushfires Appeal. There are also several one-off items to be auctioned.
Jockeys Trust raises funds
The annual National Jockeys' Trust charity cricket match has again proven a success, with this year's event raising more than $100,000 for wildlife and livestock affected by the bushfire crisis.
Some of the stars of Australian racing swapped the racecourse for the cricket field in Monday's eighth annual NJT T20, which was held in testing conditions in Melbourne at Williamstown Oval.
The Jockeys' team was victorious over the Racing All-Stars.
Griffiths tests juveniles
Robbie Griffiths will put four of his stable's 2-year-olds to the test in Blue Diamond Previews at Caulfield to determine if they are contenders for Victoria's premier juvenile race.
The Blue Diamond series kicks off on Saturday with the colts and geldings’ Preview over 1000 metres and the fillies’ Preview over the same distance.
Robbie Griffiths
Griffiths, who is back in full swing after recovering from brain surgery, has Glenfiddich (Fastnet Rock) and Mysterious Art (Wandjina) in Saturday's males’ division while Miss Bank Place (Magnus) and Sweet As Scandi (Magnus) will step out in the Fillies’ Preview.
Only Glenfiddich has race experience, and Griffiths believes he is the most likely to make the step up, having had the benefit of a spring campaign when fifth in the Maribyrnong Plate and ninth in the Merson Cooper S.
Stakes placegetter resumes
Ticket To Ride (Vancouver) is set to line up for her first start since a strong-finishing third to Every Rose (Choisir) in the Gimcrack S. in October.
The Michael Freedman-trained filly will clash with some well-credentialled first-starters in Saturday’s Inglis Millennium in 14 Days H. at Randwick.
“Since October last year there has been a lot of nice 2-year-olds step out, both fillies and colts, so tomorrow will hopefully give us a guide on where she sits,” Freedman said.
Ticket To Ride
On track for Derby
Group 1 performer Sherwood Forest (Fastnet Rock) confirmed he is on track for next month’s New Zealand Derby with an impressive win at Te Aroha on Friday.
Stretching beyond 1600 metres for the first time, he scored a tough victory against in-form older opposition in the Counties Function Centre H.
The Tony Pike-trained Sherwood Forest has now won three of his nine starts, and he finished third in the G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas in November. His final Derby lead-up is expected to be the G2 Avondale Guineas at Ellerslie on February 15.
Three out of three
Promising Kiwi filly Levante (NZ) (Proisir) extended her unbeaten career record to three out of three with a dominant performance at Te Aroha on Friday.
After producing flying finishes to win twice Matamata in December, Levante delivered an even more emphatic performance on Friday, charging down the outside and drawing clear to win the ParkMate.co.nz 3YO by four and a quarter lengths.
Trainers Ken and Bev Kelso will now look to step the filly up to black-type level, with the Listed Mufhasa S. at Ellerslie on February 29 and G2 Wellington Guineas at Trentham two weeks later looming as likely options.
Inglis Digital Online Sale launches
Inglis Digital’s first Online Sale of 2020 has opened for bidding, with a catalogue of 315 lots on offer over the next five days.
It’s Inglis Digital’s biggest catalogue since moving to twice-monthly auctions in August 2019, but the platform opted to revert to one sale in December and January to cater for the holiday season.
Among the highlight lots is the stakes winner Royal Symphony (Domesday), entered in the stallion category. Royal Symphony was a dual Listed winner and finished fourth in both the Caulfield Guineas and the 2017 Cox Plate behind Winx (Street Cry {Ire}).
There are also quality entries in the broodmare, racehorse and race fillies and yearling categories.
