Vale Pam Cornish

The thoroughbred industry is mourning the death of Torryburn Stud's Pam Cornish.

The Cornish family said in a statement they were heartbroken and devastated after their beloved wife and mother had passed away on Sunday following a long illness.

Pam and husband John, the inaugural Australian Turf Club Chairman, had taken ownership of Torryburn Stud in 2002 and have enjoyed considerable success as breeders, vendors and owners. Pam was mother to Brett and Tania, and grandmother to Jack.

Australian Turf Club Chairman Matthew McGrath paid tribute to Mrs Cornish and sent condolences to the Cornish family on behalf of the thoroughbred racing industry.

“Pam was a wonderful woman who battled illness for many years later in her life but continued that brave fight right to the end,” Mr McGrath said.

“Even two Saturdays ago she was at Royal Randwick in searing heat to cheer on another of the Torryburn team, continuing a life so well lived with her dear and beloved family.

“The Cornish family is not only part of the Australian Turf Club family, but also a highly-respected and popular part of the entire Australian racing industry.

“We send our deepest condolences to John and the family, and especially thank Pam for the great passion and contribution she has given to our Club and racing.”

Chairman of Racing NSW, Russell Balding, also expressed on behalf of Racing NSW, deepest sympathies to John Cornish and his family.

“Pam was a tower of strength to John with her witty and sparkling personality that brightened up the room, and she will be sadly missed by the racing fraternity,” Balding said.

A celebration of Pam's life has been planned for this Friday, February 14 at the North Chapel of the Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens and Crematorium in North Ryde.

The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to support Dr Steven Kao and his team at the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse.

Clouds hover over rescheduled Millennium

The future of Wednesday's Warwick Farm meeting largely depends on the impact of predicted rain on raceday.

As it stood on Tuesday, the track was a heavy 9 and suitable for racing despite over 350mm of rain at the track in the past seven days.

The downpour forced the loss of last Saturday's meeting, with the two feature races from that day, the Inglis Millennium and the Inglis Sprint - 3YO, as well as the Bowness Stud Open H., shifted to the early part of Wednesday's card.

The track continues to improve but the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting up to 40mm of rain on Wednesday.

The track will be inspected early on race morning and then conditions will be monitored throughout the day.

Libertini stays in Sydney

Anthony Cummings has confirmed Libertini (I Am Invincible) will remain in Sydney and contest the G2 Light Fingers S. at Randwick on Saturday.

Libertini does hold an entry for the G1 Black Caviar Lightning, but the prospect of a rain affected track in Sydney doesn't faze Cummings.

“She’s going to stay in Sydney,” Cummings told Racenet. “We had a think about the whole situation and I discussed it with Gerry (Harvey) this morning.

“We spoke about the weather, tracks and God knows what and he said he’d rather take the odds to it, stay here and take what comes.

“Wet track, dry track, if it’s on she’ll be there.”

Nature Strip shines in final hitout

Nature Strip (Nicconi) continues to make strong progress towards Saturday's G1 Black Caviar Lightning at Flemington, with an excellent final gallop on Tuesday.

Trainer Chris Waller was delighted with what he saw from the dual Group 1 winning sprinter at Flemington and all is in readiness for Saturday.

"To my eye, it looked pretty good," Waller told Racing.com. "I haven't spoken to James (McDonald) yet, but it took a while to pull him up and he was nice and relaxed when he did pull up and walked back without a care in the world, so he's a pretty happy horse.

"He's in a good space and his confidence is at an all-time high and obviously, up the straight, his record is impeccable.

"He's had two trials back in Sydney and I think they have been pretty effortless. The horse loves confidence, especially when you are a sprinter running at the highest level of racing."

Werther officially retired

Former Hong Kong Horse of the Year Werther (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) has been retired by trainer Andrew Campbell.

“I galloped him on Saturday and I was going to trial him today (Tuesday) but I wasn’t quite happy with his leg. There was a slight reoccurrence of his injury,” Campbell said.

“I talked to his owner and we didn’t want to risk him.”

Campbell, who co-bred Werther and trained him to win four races in New Zealand as well as the G2 Eagle Farm Cup, before he was sold to Hong Kong owner Johnson Chen, said the decision to retire him was an easy one.

“He has been a fantastic horse,” Campbell said. “Even when we sold him we got a great thrill watching him race in Hong Kong. It has been a hell of a ride.

“He will get the best of treatment and we will get him the nicest home. He is a grouse horse so we will do the right thing by him for sure.”

Werther won six races in Hong Kong for trainer John Moore, including the Hong Kong Derby and three Group 1 races, while he finished second in the G1 Takarazuka Kinen in Japan.

Alligator on the improve

Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) is poised to make a major impression in his first Victorian start on Saturday, but jockey Ryan Maloney believes there is a lot more to come from the star 3-year-old.

The gelding, a winner of eight of his nine starts, takes on Kiwi star Catalyst (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) in Saturday's CS Hayes S. and while Maloney is rapt where he is at, he feels he will just continue to improve.

"He is really starting to mature and come around and know what it's all about," Maloney told Racing.com. "The penny is really starting to drop with him. He's a real competitor."

After Saturday, Alligator Blood will have a shot at his first Group 1 win in the Australian Guineas before targeting the $5 million All-Star Mile.

Rain suits top class mare

Sydney's wet weather has been heartening for the connections of Group 1 winning mare Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}), who resumes in Saturday's G2 Apollo S. at Randwick.

The 4-year-old is headed on a path towards the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. and former trainer Nick Bishara, who retains an ownership share, said she is ready to make an impression this autumn.

"Chris is a lot happier with her this preparation," Bishara said. "She was just not licking the bowl clean in the spring, but she still managed to win the Hill S., so that was pretty cool.

"She was off her game in the Cox Plate but I don't think she would ever beat the Japanese horse (Lys Gracieux) anyway. She was very impressive and was the best-rated turf horse in the world.

"She has had two quiet trials and is a noted wet-tracker. It is shaping as a good field (on Saturday), but I think she will appreciate the wet track, especially over a shorter distance like the 1400 metres of the Apollo."

Dragon Leap to tackle Avondale Guineas

Dragon Leap (Pierro) will contest Saturday’s G2 Jamieson Park Avondale Guineas after overcoming a minor setback which saw him scratched from last weekend’s G2 Waikato Guineas.

The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained 3-year-old remains on track for the G1 New Zealand Derby on February 29 should he run out the 2100 metres of Saturday's race strongly.

“He appears to be fine,” O’Sullivan said. “We had some bloods taken and it came back showing no ill-effects so we have been given the all-clear to continue as per normal.

“He looks bright, he’s eating and he looks back to normal.”

O’Sullivan said so long as Dragon Leap was finding the line well at the end of 2100 metres.

Opie Bosson will ride this Saturday but the ride in the Derby, for which he is $3.20 second favourite, is up for grabs.

Over Emphasize tops Fasig February opener

The multiple stakes placed broodmare prospect Over Emphasize (USA) (Overanalyze {USA}) topped the opening session of the two-day Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale Monday with a final bid of US$150,000 (AU$223,600) from bloodstock agent Andre Lynch.

The day’s top short yearling was a US$140,000 (AU$208,680) son of Connect (USA), purchased by Brian Graves on behalf of the Blue Sky Stable pinhooking partnership.

“It is hit or miss at a smaller sale like this,” Graves said. “February sales are up and down. There is not as much quality as November and January. I think there is fair value for a good one when they bring it in there.”

A total of 180 horses changed hands Monday for a gross of US$3,369,200 (AU$5.02 million), with eight horses earning six-figure price tags. The median was US$8000 (AU$11,924) and the average was US$18,718 (AU$27,900). Seventy-three horses failed to meet their reserves for an RNA rate of 28.9 per cent.

During the 2019 opening session, 146 head grossed US$4,677,200 (AU$6.97 million). The average was US$32,036 (AU$47,752) and the median was US$18,000 (AU$26,830).

“Clearly, if you looked at the catalogue and analysed it, tomorrow is the much stronger day in terms of quality offerings,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr.

“I thought today went as expected. For the pages you turned down in your catalogue before the sale and said, ‘There should be good interest in this one,’ there was good interest in that one. For the horses you thought won’t be easy, it wasn’t easy. It is just a reflection of the reality of the marketplace. There are just some horses we offer that have limited commercial value.”

Dam of Bayern dies

Alittlebitearly (USA) (Thunder Gulch {USA}), dam of G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern (USA) (Offlee Wild {USA}), died at Helen Alexander’s Middlebrook Farm after producing a healthy filly by G1 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist (USA). The 18-year-old mare was bred by Alexander in partnership with her mother, Helen Groves, and sister, Dorothy Matz.

Bayern, purchased by Kaleem Shah for US$320,000 (AU$477,000) at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale, won the 2014 Classic, as well as that year’s G1 William Hill Haskell Invitational S., G1 Pennsylvania Derby, and G1 Woody Stephens S.