Worthy result
Fire King gifted Clear Mountain Fairview Stud sire Worthy Cause with his first win of the season when saluting in the third event at Mackay on Thursday.
The 3-year-old gelding finished 1.3l the better of Attackabeel (Counterattack) and Still Feeling It (Sepoy) in the 1100 metre Class 2 H.
Worthy Cause will stand the upcoming breeding season for a service fee of $5500 (inc GST).
Currie claims ride
Trainer Sam Freedman hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Luke Currie sticking with resuming G1 Blue Diamond S. hero Artorius (Flying Artie) for the remainder of his spring campaign.
Mark Zahra who rode the colt to victory at Sandown in January had been booked to replace Currie aboard Artorius on resumption in Saturday’s G3 McNeil S. at Caulfield but was forced to the sidelines after suffering an elbow injury when falling from Second Slip (NZ) (Alamosa {NZ}) on the way to the barriers at Flemington on August 7.
"Luke will ride him Saturday and then we can do it as a run-by-run thing (but) if he won on him or gave him a good steer, it would be difficult to change that," co-trainer Sam Freedman told Racing.com.
Boss booted
Champion hoop Glen Boss has been forced to forego his spring bookings aboard current G1 Caulfield Cup favourite Incentivise (Shamus Award) and G1 Cox Plate contender Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) after being demanded to leave Darwin’s Howard Springs quarantine facility.
Glen Boss
Boss announced the news in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
"The changing landscape of the world we live in at present sees my quarantine period in the Northern Territory cut short and I will be returning to Sydney with immediate effect. I have the utmost respect for our state and territory governments that manage the risks associated with border travel and the health and welfare of the communities that reside within those is paramount,” Boss said.
"I am extremely grateful to the connections of Incentivise who have afforded me the flexibility to make every possible endeavour to relocate to Melbourne this spring and I am eagerly looking forward to my return to Sydney where I am focused and determined for success ahead of what promises to be a wonderful spring carnival."
Kah, Melham stood down
Four jockeys – including Group 1 winners Jamie Kah and Ben Melham - have been stood down for at least 14 days for breaking COVID-19 regulations.
Racing Victoria stewards have alleged in a report on Thursday that Kah, Melham as well as Ethan Brown and apprentice Celine Gaudray “were present at an ‘Airbnb’ in Mornington after 9pm AEST with two other non-licensed individuals” on Wednesday night.
Current Victorian government guidelines prohibit leaving your home for anything other than essential work or activities, while a strict 9pm AEST curfew has also been imposed.
All four now have been given a 14-day ban from race tracks and licensed premises on the advice of the chief health officer.
Nature Strip sizzles
Star sprinter Nature Strip (Nicconi) was in cruise control when taking out his 900 metre Group and Listed trial in a time of 54.94s at Rosehill on Thursday.
The Chris Waller-trained gelding beat home stablemates Subpoenaed (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), September Run (Exceed And Excel) and Madam Rouge (Zoustar).
"Obviously, he's top quality, he jumped from the barrier, he jumped really quickly, he didn't try and over-race or run through the bridle, he was nice and collected on the wet ground on the course proper today,” rider Glyn Schofield told Racing.com.
"He seems to be in great order, Chris (Waller) has obviously got him in fantastic shape, he looked a picture and trialled accordingly."
Known Agenda to Spendthrift
St. Elias Stables' Known Agenda (USA) (Curlin {USA}) winner of this year's G1 Florida Derby, has been retired from racing and will take up stud duty at Spendthrift Farm in 2022. The chestnut, who will stand for an introductory fee of US$10,000 S&N (AU$13,770), will be offered through the farm's “Share The Upside” program on a limited basis. He is available for inspection by appointment.
“Any time you can add a Florida Derby winner by Curlin with his looks and pedigree, you jump at the opportunity,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “Known Agenda ticks an awful lot of boxes, and the Florida Derby has produced a lot of very good sires, especially in recent history.”
Kah and Gollan to reconnect
The G1 Kingsford-Smith Cup-winning combination of Jamie Kah and Tony Gollan will be on display at Flemington during the spring carnival with Kah booked to ride the in-form Jonker (Spirit Of Boom) in the G2 Bobbie Lewis Quality on September 11.
The former boom galloper has recaptured his juvenile brilliance this year with victory in January’s $1 million Magic Millions Sprint and a third-placed performance in March’s G1 The Galaxy at Rosehill.
Jamie Kah
Sword scratched
Trainer Jamie Richards has opted to scratch Group 1-winning colt Sword Of State (Snitzel) from Saturday’s G3 San Domenico S. at Kembla Grange due to the current Heavy track conditions.
Plans in place
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing is currently working on contingency plans in the event the four meetings scheduled for this weekend are unable to proceed following Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s upcoming announcement on Alert Level this Friday.
Attempts will be made to reschedule meetings where practical and the planning will also take into account any potential impact on the timing of the spring feature race schedule.
Next Tuesday’s Hawera meeting will feature a number of maiden races and possibly some higher stake races if the Manawatu meeting doesn’t proceed on Saturday.
Nominations for the Cambridge Synthetic meeting next Wednesday will also close at 11am NZT on Saturday, August 28 and a NZ$12,000 1300-metre maiden has been added to the program.
Best kept fresh
Co-trainer Andrew Forsman expects stable star Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}) to measure up bearing the speed is on in Saturday’s G1 Memsie S. at Caulfield.
Forsman, who trains in partnership with Murray Baker, said the G2 Hobartville S. winner is most effective racing on the fresh side.
Aegon (NZ)
“A few of the horses that will roll forward have drawn outside of us, which helps a little bit,” Forsman said.
“I think they will work forward, find their spot and ideally if we were midfield and one-off, that is the best you could hope for from there.”
Forsman said the stable will allow the dust to settle post-race before plotting the 4-year-olds path towards October’s $7.5 Golden Eagle at Rosehill.
One meeting protocol to continue
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA) announced on Wednesday that the one-meeting per day protocol for jockeys will continue into 2022 after consultation with jockeys and other key stakeholders.
“Jockeys played a key role in ensuring racing’s return in 2020 was a success, adapting to a new way of working in unusual circumstances while still producing at the highest level on the track,” Richard Wayman, chief operating officer of the BHA told TDN Europe.
“It is our job to do everything we can to ensure the welfare of jockeys and it has become clear over the last year that the overwhelming majority of jockeys appreciate no longer competing at multiple meetings per day, and having to contend with the physical and mental pressures this placed upon them.”
