Vinnie’s Garibaldi takes out Goldmarket
The Tony Gollan-trained Garibaldi (I Am Invincible) added a richly deserved stakes race to his CV when he landed the Listed Goldmarket at the Gold Coast on Friday.
The son of I Am Invincible stayed on strongly to defeat Axe (Written Tycoon) by 0.1l, while Ef Troop (Spirit Of Boom) was another 0.8l away in third.
Garibaldi was purchased by his trainer, Boomer Bloodstock (FBAA) and Aquis Farm at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in 2018 for $475,000, making him the second highest priced lot of the sale that year.
The Listed win handed Garibaldi’s Yarraman Park-based sire I Am Invincible with his 81st stakes winner.
Price and Kent Jnr’s 3-year-olds impress at Pakenham
A pair of 3-year-olds from the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr stable impressed at Pakenham Synthetic on Friday.
Three Rings (Zoustar) produced an eye-catching performance to break his maiden at the first time of asking at Pakenham-Synthetic on Friday.
Trained by Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr, the gelding led home a quinella for his sire Zoustar when he defeated Star Humma by 1.3l.
Purchased by Aramco Racing for $160,000 at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, the gelding is out of the Listed-placed mare Brulee (Hinchinbrook) and she is herself a daughter of Listed winner Custard (Lonhro), who also produced Group 3 scorer Serene Majesty (Fastnet Rock) and stakes winner Curdled (All Too Hard).
Meanwhile in the next race on the card, Kaygeebee (Russian Revolution) surged clear to beat Berardino (Real Impact {Jpn}) by an impressive 3l.
The gelding was picked up by Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA) and Price for $140,000 at the 2021 edition of Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and he is out of Listed winner Iggimacool (Savoire Vivre {GB}).
Exhibition gallop for She’s Extreme
Racegoers at Rosehill on Saturday will have the added bonus of seeing Group 1-winning filly She’s Extreme (Extreme Choice) gallop in between races.
The Anthony Cummings-trained daughter of Extreme Choice will cover 900 metres in her exhibition gallop which will take place after Race 1.
Cascadian eyes third Group 1
The James Cummings-trained Cascadian (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) will attempt to add a third Group 1 to his record when he tackles the G1 Memsie S. at Caulfield on Saturday.
"He's coming into the race nicely first-up but with stacks of improvement in him," Cummings told Racing.com. "We've deliberately given him a few weeks since that trial (third) at Warwick Farm on a very Heavy track.
Cascadian (GB) | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
"He's had a couple of lung-burners since then but, by and large, we've kept things pretty easy for Cascadian in order to have him fresh for the seven-furlongs assignment in the Memsie (Stakes). He's just got to rely on a tempo that looks there on paper.
"In my mind, I think there's a way he can get up and win, but he definitely improves with racing."
Nonconformist commences Caulfield Cup campaign
The Grahame Begg-trained Nonconformist (Rebel Raider) will commence his G1 Caulfield Cup campaign in the G1 Memsie S. at Caulfield on Saturday.
Saturday's Group 1 race at Caulfield will be the first time Nonconformist has been to the races since finishing second to Incentivise (Shamus Award) in last year's G1 Caulfield Cup.
Spelled straight after that contest with a view to campaigning in Sydney and Brisbane during late autumn and winter, Begg instead kept Nonconformist in Melbourne to prepare for the spring.
"He may be a little ring rusty but he's in good form, and he's shown at home that he hasn't lost anything," Begg said. "Getting back to the races, 1400 metres at weight-for-age, it might be a bit sharp for him, but he'll gradually creep up in distance and his form will gradually improve as he goes through his prep.
"We've been patient with him. He's a 6-year-old that has had 19 starts. He's been lightly raced so he's got to start growing up."
Neasham looking forward to Exile’s return
Trainer Annabel Neasham is looking forward to getting Swiss Exile (Pariah) back at the races and the Group 2-winning colt will kick off his 3-year-old preparation in the G3 San Domenico S. at Rosehill.
"He's one of the ones I'm most excited about," Neasham said.
Swiss Exile | Image courtesy of Michael McInally
"He won the Group 2 Champagne up in Brisbane. He's got to take another step forward to match it with the Sydney colts, but certainly from his trials and what we've seen of him at home, he's an impressive colt.
"He's got an awful lot of speed and seems to be able to sustain that throughout a run, as we saw him do in Brisbane."
Shalatin ready for Up And Coming task
Shalatin (Shalaa {Ire}) was unlucky not to break his maiden as a 2-year-old, but he will be given the opportunity to get his head in front when he lines up in Saturday’s G3 Up And Coming S. at Rosehill.
"I'm a big advocate for not racing my 2-year-olds because I believe you can sometimes do more harm than good," Pride said.
"But in this horse's case, he handled it all really easily and all it did was toughen him up and season him.
"Now he's ready to take on whatever he needs to take on, which could be a Spring Champion Stakes, or a Golden Rose."
Tijuana kicks off big spring
The Lindsay Park-trained Tijuana (American Pharoah {USA}) will kick off a preparation that is likely to be geared towards the G1 Caulfield Guineas when he takes his chance in the G3 HDF McNeil S. at Caulfield on Saturday.
"The Grand Final that we have set for him is still quite a way away," co-trainer JD Hayes said.
Tijuana
"He's got a lot of improvement to come, but as long as he's doing his best work late, we'll be very happy and he's a quality horse, so it's good to see him back at the races.
"The pie in the sky is hopefully the Caulfield Guineas, but at this time of year there's a million races around that could be suitable if that doesn't eventuate."
Catalyst return delayed
The wet weather at Te Rapa has forced trainer Tony Pike to delay the much-anticipated comeback of Group 1 winner Catalyst (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}).
Having not been seen since September 2020, the son of Darci Brahma (NZ) was set to make a reappearance in the G2 Foxbridge Plate on Saturday, but the rain sodden track has seen Pike shelve the plan.
"We left him in hoping the track was going to improve a touch but with the amount of rain we have had in the Waikato in the last 24 hours I would say it is very unlikely that he will run fresh-up on an extremely heavy track," Pike said.
"With spring in New Zealand, it is what it is, but that track tomorrow is going to be extremely heavy and testing and fresh-up after two years on that sort of surface wouldn't be ideal, so we will just have to wait for another couple of weeks."
Egan in hospital after fall
Billy Egan was transported to Pakenham hospital on Friday evening with possible leg and arm fractures.
Egan, 32, fell heavily from Tagomago (Written Tycoon) in the final of nine events at Pakenham and after he was attended to on course was transferred to hospital for x-rays.
The Victorian Jockeys Association reported that Egan had ‘possible leg and arm fractures’.
