Jockeys hospitalised
Jockeys Lachlan King and Neil Farley have been taken to hospital after separate falls at race meetings at Wodonga and Ballarat respectively.
King fell from Ameripark (Americain {USA}) during Race 3 at Wodonga and while he was conscious and was able to move all limbs, was transported to hospital for precautionary scans.
King was later found to have three fractured ribs and a punctured lung.
Lachlan King aboard Johnny Get Angry
Farley parted company with the Nigel Blackiston-trained Sheeza Tilley (Moshe) midway through Race 6 at Ballarat and suffered a suspected broken collarbone.
He was taken to Ballarat Hospital for treatment and is expected to be out of the saddle for some time.
Both falls saw delays at the two Victorian-based meetings.
Headwater's impressive 2-year-old winner
Vinery Stud's Headwater maintained his buffer in the race to be crowned Australia's Champion Second Season Sire with the victory of debutante Head First at Wodonga.
Head First, a $110,000 purchase from the Wahha Thoroughbreds draft at the 2020 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale, is prepared by Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr and impressed with a 5.5l win in the 1100-metre maiden.
The granddaughter of G1 Blue Diamond S. winner True Jewels (Brief Truce {USA}) becomes the 42nd winner for Headwater for the season and seventh from his 2-year-old crop.
Headwater holds a lead of just over $116,000 to Pride Of Dubai in the fight to be crowned Champion Second Season Sire.
Behemoth tracking Group 1 repeats
The David Jolly-trained Behemoth (All Too Hard) will be aimed at the two Group 1 races he won last year, the Memsie S. and the Sir Rupert Clarke S., but Jolly won't be tempted by another shot at The Everest.
Behemoth
Speaking to Racenet, Jolly said that Behemoth is making a steady return to full work ahead of his anticipated return to the track in the G3 Spring S. at Morphettville on August 14.
“It will be a similar preparation to the one he had last year without heading to The Everest and he will take on the Spring S. first-up,” Jolly said.
“There are an array of Group 1s for him there but we will look at something like the Cantala S.”
Hawkesbury meeting cut short
The final three races at Hawkesbury on Sunday were postponed due to the wet weather.
Heavy rain fell during Race 5 on the nine-race meeting and riders advised issues with footing for horses on the track.
Stewards decided to postpone the meeting, with a decision on whether the races are rescheduled to be confirmed in the coming days.
The decision came a day after the final two races at Randwick were abandoned on Saturday due to the conditions.
Glenfiddich on the comeback trail
Group 2 winner Glenfiddich (Fastnet Rock) is set to return to Peter Moody's stables after recovering from a leg injury.
The rising 4-year-old has been undergoing major rehabilitation from what was thought a career-ending injury, and has made strong progress, according to Edinburgh Park's Ian Smith.
"We had to get his leg right to start with anyway, so that's the process we had to do," Smith told Racing.com.
Glenfiddich
"We were always going to go for the rehabilitation stage and his first lot of rehabilitation was more than what we expected of it. After the first scan, you could hardly see there was even a tear there, the alignment was great.
"Obviously, we just kept going through the rehabilitation stages, this is his third lot of rehabilitation now. Lee Evison couldn't be happier with him.
"The worry with him was that he's a colt, he might get too heavy, but he was always an athletic horse, and he certainly hasn't got heavy, and his temperament has not deteriorated to a point where he's too colty, if anything, he's got better with all the handling."
Bosson ready to return
Champion New Zealand rider Opie Bosson is nearing a comeback to the saddle.
Bosson is ready to resume riding trackwork after recovering from an ankle sprain he incurred shortly after returning from riding at the Queensland winter carnival and is eyeing a return to the saddle on July 31.
“Once I’m back riding work again I’m confident I will be in good shape to kick off, which should be on Saturday week,” he said.
Opie Bosson
While most riders would be happy with a season’s return that saw him ride 61 New Zealand winners, with 15 of those coming at stakes level, Bosson admits he was somewhat disappointed with his body of work over the past twelve months.
“It was a good season where I was fortunate to get on some wonderful horses from the Te Akau Racing team,” Bosson said.
“I guess 15 stakes wins is a real highlight, but I actually think I could have done better if I’m honest with myself.
“I had a really slow start last season due to the problems I had with my weight, so I’m preparing for a better start this time around."
Bosson will have his chance to test out some of the Te Akau Racing talent for the new season with Jamie Richards expected to have a big team engaged at the Cambridge trials on Tuesday, July 20.
Early-season plans for Magneto
Trainer Steven Cole is also looking forward to the new racing season with a team of mainly younger horses, headed up by G3 Woburn Farm 2YO Classic winner Magneto (NZ) (Showcasing {GB}).
“Magneto is back in work and he will go to the trials at Cambridge on the 20th of this month for his first serious hitout,” he said.
“As long as he comes through that well, he will have his first raceday start in the G3 Northland Breeders’ S. at Ruakaka on August 21.
“He is making good progress and I’m expecting a good season ahead for him.”
Cole also reported Iffie Shows (NZ) (Showcasing {GB}), who finished fifth in the G1 New Zealand Derby at his last start, was also back in work following a minor wind operation and would most likely step out at the Ruakaka trials on July 30.
