Regal Power out
All-Star Mile winner Regal Power (Pierro) will head back to his home state of WA and miss the rest of the spring after he was found to have a lung infection.
Owner Bob Peters confirmed the news after the gelding was withdrawn from Saturday’s G2 Feehan S.
Regal Power
"He'll be coming home," Peters said. "He's got some sort of lung infection.”
Regal Power had two starts this spring but failed to fire, finishing ninth in the G2 PB Lawrence S. and 12th in the G1 Memsie S last week.
Berruti off the mark
Berruti (Medaglia D'Oro {USA}) got his career off to the perfect start with a win on debut at Muswellbrook on Thursday.
The regally bred 4-year-old, who is trained by Kris Lees, started the short-priced favourite and raced greenly, taking the length of the straight to run down the front runners and eventually won by 0.5l.
Berruti is out of Listen Here (Elusive Quality {USA}), making him a half-brother to Darley sire Shooting To Win and Newgate resident Deep Field.
Fasika ready to go
Fasika (So You Think {NZ}) is set to return to the races after an impressive trial win at Warwick Farm on Thursday.
Ridden by Brenton Avdulla, the 5-year-old mare cruised to a 1.3l win at her third trial of the preparation and is set to resume in the G2 Sheraco S. at Rosehill on September 12.
McEwen bid
Peter and Paul Snowden’s 3-year-old colt Rulership (I Am Invincible) will take on the older horses in Saturday’s G2 McEwen S. at The Valley with the trainers opting to roll the dice and boost his value with a Group 2 on his CV.
Rulership
"They get in well at the weights and that's some important relief," Peter Snowden told Racing.com. "The 1000 metres is his speed so we'll just roll the dice.
"It sets up as a nice race for him. There's good speed and he's got the draw (barrier 3) to get a nice run and get his chance if he's good enough, and let's just see if he is.”
Guineas path
Instant Celebrity (Not A Single Doubt) will make her Melbourne debut in the Listed Cap D'Antibes S. at Flemington next week with trainer Phillip Stokes opting to send the undefeated filly on a path to the G1 Thousand Guineas.
“She’s going for the 1100 metres fillies race down the straight,” Stokes told Racing.com. “We will probably just go the Guineas preludes, the traditional thing.
“She’s always shown us really good things. We’ve always had a high opinion of her.”
New jockey
Temperamental filly Parlophone (I Am Invincible) will have a third new jockey in as many starts when she next heads to the races after bucking during her last run under Damien Oliver.
Parlophone
"It's been a merry-go-round with jockeys, we had Jamie Kah booked but she's suspended, we don't really have another female option, so we've decided to go with Jye McNeil, who's a lovely lightweight rider and rides with soft hands," co-trainer Michael Kent Jnr told Racing.com.
"The Listed Cap D'Antibes S. next weekend is a nice option for her.
"She looks amazing the filly, she had a jump-out after her last start, she's trained on beautifully, she's really muscled up and Flemington suits her."
Tendon surgery
News Girl (Magnus) will miss the spring with trainer Geoff Duryea announcing she is set to undergo surgery to repair an injured tendon.
"She's at the Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital and she is awaiting to be operated on later this afternoon," the trainer told Racing.com.
"They (owners) decided not to retire her and so she's having a tendon operation to give her a chance to come back and race. She's only had the 18 starts but if it doesn't work, then she'll go straight to stud.
"But I wish I had another one like her."
Cartwright to Queensland
Apprentice jockey Georgina Cartwright has relocated to Queensland from Victoria for the spring and is completing 14 days of mandatory quarantine in search of some better riding opportunities.
The 27-year-old will go on loan to leading Queensland trainer Tony Gollan for three months.
"Last year I was thinking about going on loan in Queensland during the spring but I never got around to it,” she told Racing.com.
"But coming to the conclusion of my apprenticeship at the end of the year, I thought it was pretty much now or never.
"I have one win left to drop my claim to 1.5kg and then it's another 30 winners after that to outride my claim - I'd love to try and do it but it will obviously be a bit of a challenge.
"I've actually applied for an extension on my apprenticeship and I'm just waiting to hear back."
Extreme trial winner
Extreme Choice's first trialler came away a winner at Rotorua on Thursday with a colt trained by Jamie Richards making the perfect start for the Newgate stallion.
Carrying the Te Akau colours, the unnamed 2-year-old jumped away well and sat on the speed before kicking clear in the straight and winning the heat by 0.75l.
The colt is out of Unrevealed (USA) (Forest Wildcat {USA}) and was purchased by David Ellis for NZ$85,000 at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale.
Full book
Cambridge Stud announced on Thursday that their shuttle sire Almanzor (Fr) is booked out for 2020.
“We are delighted that Almanzor’s book is full again,” said Cambridge Stud CEO Henry Plumptre.
“Our thanks go, particularly, to our shareholders but also our annual breeders, most of which are using him for the third consecutive year.
“New Zealand breeder support has been very strong and we are pleased for them that results for Almanzor’s sire Wootton Bassett continue to support his best son, as does the recent sale to Coolmore.”
Taroni to kick off
Karaka Million placegetter Taroni (NZ) (Showcasing {GB}) will kick off her G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas bid in the G3 WRC Northland Breeders’ S. on Saturday, and trainer Lance Noble is hoping for a solid performance from his charge after her pleasing trial last month.
“She had a trial just on a month ago and we were happy with that,” he said.
“We will just follow the normal pattern to the 1000 Guineas. The G3 Soliloquy will be the next logical step after Hastings.
“We are not quite sure whether she will get 1600 metres. She is quite a speedy filly, but we will be trying to see if we can get that distance of the 1000 Guineas.”
