Group 1 winner to be sold online

Group 1 winner Hasahalo (NZ) (Savabeel) will be sold through online auction site gavelhouse.com as broodmare prospect.

The Stephen McKee-trained 5-year-old mare was recently retired from the track having taken her Go Racing syndicate on a fantastic ride including her 4l win in the G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas in 2017.

“As a yearling she was hard to fault and I only had a few things noted down about her in my catalogue, which is a good thing,” Go Racing’s Albert Bosma said.

“All I put was that she had a sweet filly’s head and was very balanced and light on her feet.

“There’s been a lot of interest in her as news of her retirement’s filtered out and I know gavelhouse.com is the right place to sell her as the timing is right with a good lead into the breeding season for people to plan their matings.”

Hasahalo also won the G3 Eclipse S, as a 2-year-old before running second behind Melody Belle (NZ) (Commands) in the Karaka Million 2YO.

She is out Halloween (Encosta De Lago), the half-sister to Generous Nature (Carnegie {Ire}), the dam of Group winners Savvy Nature (NZ) (Savabeel) and Addictive Nature (Savabeel).

“We’re thrilled to have been entrusted with presenting such a high class mare to the market and having seen her last week, she looks magnificent and has the physical attributes to back up her outstanding race record and pedigree,” gavelhouse.com General Manager Haylie Martin said.

“She’s a must see for all serious investors in mares and we expect there to be strong international interest in her over the coming days.”

The auction closes from 7pm on Monday March 16 and features 111 lots in total.

Race-free week, no Christmas Eve racing, for Victoria

Racing Victoria has announced that it will implement a race-free week in July 2021 as part of a major overhaul of the racing calendar aimed at boosting participant welfare.

Racing Victoria also confirmed that as well as the blank week in the calendar, to run from Monday, July 26 to Friday, July 30 in 2021, it will also no longer having racing on Christmas Eve, while there would be an increase in race-free days and an earlier finish to night meetings.

It comes after industry participants, led by the Australian Trainers Association, Victorian Jockeys Association and racing clubs, asked for changes to be made to avoid burn out and fatigue.

The finish for night meetings at Pakenham on Thursdays and Cranbourne on Fridays for the next two months will be standardised at the earlier time of 9.30pm, while the remaining five night meetings this season will now finish at 9pm.

Probabeel to meet Funstar again

Star fillies Funstar (Adelaide {Ire}) and Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel) will meet for a fourth time in Saturday's G2 Phar Lap S. at Rosehill.

Probabeel's trainer Jamie Richards has decided against taking on the older mares in the G1 Coolmore Classic and she will instead reprise her rivalry with Funstar, who leads their head-to-head battles 2-1, but who was edged out by the Kiwi filly in the G1 Surround S. last time out.

“She is just badly weighted under those weight-for-age conditions,” Richards said. “She is probably carrying two or three kilos more than she would be under that scale and we are mindful that she is a young horse."

“The weight is a reflection of the depth of the race and it hasn’t been won by many fillies before. It’s usually the older horses, which didn’t fill us with confidence. A number of different things swayed us but we will keep her against her own age.”

Vale Trevor Stuckey

The thoroughbred industry is mourning the death of racehorse owner Trevor Stuckey, who died aged 91 in Sydney.

Stuckey had great success as an owner with the likes of Racing To Win (Encosta De Lago), who won five Group 1 races including a Doncaster H. and an Epsom H., who was trained by John O'Shea.

Stuckey and his long-time partner Penny Yan also raced horses with Peter and Paul Snowden, highlighted by Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor), who won the 2014 G1 Caulfield Guineas.

Stuckey, a one-time harness driver, became a bookmaker before his successful foray into thoroughbred ownership and breeding.

He will be farewelled at a funeral service on Friday.

Melody on song ahead of All-Star

Jockey Opie Bosson couldn't be more impressed with star mare Melody Belle (NZ) (Commands) ahead of Saturday's $5 million All-Star Mile at Caulfield.

Melody Belle had her last proper hitout ahead of Saturday's race at Caulfield on Tuesday morning with Bosson flying in to take the ride.

“She worked outstanding really, for her,” Bosson told Racing.com. “She changed legs at the right time and she felt really good.

“I just couldn’t get over the improvement from when I rode her last time until the gallop today.”

Having drawn perfectly in barrier five and with rain predicted later in the week, Melody Belle is a clear second favourite behind Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) for the race.

Marquand returns for Prague ride

Tom Marquand flies back into Sydney on Saturday to ride Prague (Redoute's Choice) for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace in Saturday's G3 Pago Pago S.

The colt needs to win the race to get into the following week's G1 Golden Slipper and Marquand, who rode him to victory in the G2 Canonbury S. on February 1, will fly in to ride him for his owners, Aquis and Phoenix Thoroughbreds.

The jockey will likely get a ride in the following week's Golden Slipper regardless of how Prague performs with Maher and Eustace having several chances in the race.

The English jockey is also engaged to ride Spanish Whisper (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in G1 Coolmore Classic should she accept.

Roger stays put after Cup win

Trainer Antony Fuller won't be tempted to campaign G1 Auckland Cup winner Roger That (NZ) (Shinko King {Ire}) in Australia.

Fuller had briefly considered bringing the 7-year-old across the Tasman after his excellent win last Saturday but said he would instead find races for him at home.

“We have given it a fair bit of thought, but Sarah and I both don’t see how it could successfully work, so we will give it a miss and stick to our original plan," he said.

"He will be having a couple of weeks off and prepare for a winter campaign here.

“He is going to get a bit of weight, but I’d rather have a horse that has got a problem with the handicapper than one that can’t beat a three-legged donkey home.”

Ontario to act on Clenbuterol

The HBPA of Ontario released a statement Monday speaking out against the abuse of clenbuterol, saying that it has passed a motion “supportive of stopping the abuse of the medication clenbuterol” and is requesting the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency and Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario “take immediate action thereupon.”

The statement comes on the heels of Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse calling for a ban of the drug last week in the TDN.

The statement continued: “We feel that all owners and trainers deserve a level playing field and that bettors have the right to rely on the fairness of the races upon which they choose to wager. The H.B.P.A. of Ontario is committed to work with industry members, racetrack partners and regulators to identify and stop any abuse of our equine athletes. Please know that, in this current environment, it is of utmost importance that we all work together for the common good of our horses and our industry.”

Hennessy to relive Cox Plate triumph

Gary Hennessy will get to relive the glory of Ocean Park's (NZ) (Thorn Park) win in the 2012 G1 Cox Plate at Matamata on Wednesday.

The South Waikato Racing Club’s meeting is the second raceday stop on the New Zealand leg of the promotion to celebrate this year’s 100th running of W.S. Cox Plate at Moonee Valley and the specially designed $200,000 gold trophy will be on display.

Hennessy, the last New Zealand-based trainer to win the famous race, will also be there to mark the occasion.

“I’ll take along the dress rug we won and also our Cox Plate trophy and hope to get my hands on this year’s trophy,” Hennessy said.

“It’s great Moonee Valley is doing the promotion over here. It’s a race New Zealand has got so much history with and New Zealand-bred horses have won it on 36 occasions.

“People recognise the Cox Plate all around the world and, when they realise you have won it, they really want to get to know you,” he said. “Through winning it, Ocean Park took us to Dubai and on to England and opened the doors to meet so many people, top trainers like Mike de Kock and Aidan O’Brien.

“I couldn’t believe it when we came back to New Zealand afterwards. I didn’t realise how much enjoyment people got from seeing us win it. The recognition from other people was amazing. It’s quite humbling.”