Cover image courtesy of Racing Photos

It’s a good thing Leon Macdonald stuck to his guns and defied his parents’ wishes. Despite his father and two uncles being trainers in some capacity, Macdonald’s mum and dad weren’t too keen for their son to become a trainer, and they insisted he first learn a trade.

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Macdonald did just that, working for the South Australian State Electricity Commission until he was 32.

He didn’t enjoy that job too much; in fact, he hated it, and the desire to train horses never waned. So, in 1972, with a little help from Uncle George, he took out his licence and never looked back.

More than 50 years later, the newly retired Macdonald is a 12-time Group 1-winning trainer, a two-time Adelaide Trainers’ Premiership winner, and a member of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame (he was inducted in 2014) and the South Australian Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame (also indicted in 2014).

Macdonald looks back on his career fondly and is proud of his achievements.

“Racing has been great to me,” Macdonald told TTR AusNZ.

“The Group 1s, the good horses and the accolades… there was a lot of success.

“My uncle had a big hand in my career. He was at the end of his career and he had a small stable which he set me up in, then I had to extend it. He was very good to me.”

Macdonald’s first win came via Countess Dassie (Crepone {GB}), who scored at Victoria Park in 1975.

The man from Port Augusta had to wait until 1983 for his first stakes win and it came when Taminor (Estaminet {GB}) claimed the G2 SAJC Sires’ Produce S.

Three years later, Macdonald celebrated his maiden Group 1 triumph, after French Cotton (Estaminet {GB}), - was part-owned by Barry Jarman, a former cricketer who played 19 Tests for Australia between 1959-1969 - took out the South Australian Derby.

“Taminor was a horse I bought and syndicated when I first started,” Macdonald commented. “Both him and French Cotton, they were Adelaide horses. Taminor went to Melbourne and ran second in the Danehill and French Cotton was placed up the straight at Flemington.

“They were really good Adelaide horses.

“Winning the Derby with French Cotton was a great thrill, it was something I didn’t think was possible, to win Group 1 races.”

Not that he knew it at the time, but September 14, 1996 would prove to become a significant day in Macdonald’s life. The trainer saddled two debutants - Umrum (Umatilla {NZ}) and Gold Guru (Geiger Counter {USA}) in Race 3 at Victoria Park - the 900-metre Fulham Park Plate. Umrum won the race, shading his stablemate by 0.1l.

As history shows, Umrum would go on to race a further 80 times. He won 14 races and placed on 20 occasions, earning prizemoney of $1.6 million. Remarkably, Umrum won 11 stakes races, including back-to-back victories in the G1 Toorak H. in 1999 and 2000. It was a race he contested six times.

“Umrum was a pretty important horse for the stable,” said Macdonald.

“I think he would have to be my favourite horse. He was as tough as nails and competed against the best year after year.”

Gold Guru, meanwhile, won eight races from 43 starts, amassing more than $2.4 million in stakemoney. He bagged three Group 1s, all in 1998 - the Australian Guineas, Australian Derby and Ranvet S.

The placegetters in the Australian Derby were the great Tie The Knot (NZ) (Nassipour {USA}) and the brilliant Northern Drake.

In winning the Ranvet S., Gold Guru knocked off the legendary Might And Power (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}).

“He was a brilliant 3-year-old. He beat Might And Power in the Ranvet and then Tie The Knot in the Derby, so it was a pretty decent crop of 3-year-olds,” Macdonald said.

“When he came back as a 4-year-old, he had a chipped bone in his fetlock which they couldn’t get out. He was never the same again.”

Gallery: Some of the elite-level winners trained by Leon Macdonald, images courtesy of Sportpix

In 2004, Macdonald’s filly Dilly Dally (Rubiton) scored a shock win in the G2 TJ Smith S. (now a Group 1) at Randwick, upstaging rivals such as Our Egyptian Raine (NZ) (Desert Sun {GB}) and Regimental Gal (General Nediym).

“Those feature race wins in Sydney with Gold Guru and Dilly Dally were great,” Macdonald remarked.

Four years later, Macdonald had a hand in a piece of history. His 3-year-old Rebel Raider, under Clare Lindop, who Macdonald was a longtime supporter of, caused a huge upset in the G1 Victorian Derby, bolting in at 100/1. Much to Macdonald’s delight, Lindop became the first female jockey to win the Classic.

“It was a very special moment,” he said.

“I was so proud of Clare and so rapt for her, she really deserved it. She held her own against anybody. She rode a lot of winners year after year.

“He was 100/1, but I don’t know why. Maybe because he drew the outside gate.

“He had run third in the Derby Trial and he did have better form than a lot of others in the race.”

Before embarking on a successful career at stud, Rebel Raider added a second win at the elite level, taking out the 2009 SA Derby.

In 2011, Macdonald lifted the Caulfield Cup after his talented mare Southern Speed (Southern Image {USA}) won the Group 1 affair in the hands of Craig Williams. The beaten brigade included top-class stayers Green Moon (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), Manighar (Fr) (Linamix {Fr}) and Lucas Cranach (Ger).

In 25 starts, Southern Speed won $2.8 million in prizemoney. She was victorious on seven occasions and finished in the minor money a further six times.

“That was a great thrill. The Caulfield Cup is such an iconic race with plenty of history and tradition,” Macdonald said.

One of the most enigmatic horses Macdonald trained was Dalasan, who has found a home at Riverbank Farm and will stand for $5500 (inc GST) this spring. The son of Dalakhani (Ire) won eight races, including the G2 Danehill S. in 2019, amassing earnings of $3.5 million.

Dalasan competed in 22 Group 1s, finishing in the top three four times.

“He didn’t quite reach the heights I thought he would, but he was a talented horse, an enormous horse,” he said.

Mixing it with the best

It’s a huge testament to Macdonald that he was able to make a first of it when Bart Cummings, Colin Hayes, Graeme Heagney and John Hawkes all had a stable in Adelaide.

A modest Macdonald gets embarrassed when mentioned in the same breath as that quartet.

“I shouldn’t be compared to those trainers, they’ve done so much in the game,” he remarked.

“It was a great era and racing has changed a lot.

“Bart and Graeme had about 45 horses each; they were the first of the big trainers, most other trainers had about eight or 10 at the most.”

Macdonald was full of praise for Cummings, saying he was always up for a chat… and a laugh.

“I used to talk to him a bit. He was about 10 or 15 years older than me. He helped me when I was starting out, he was always there to talk to. He told me I should have been an accountant, not a horse trainer.”

Sadly, the glory days of South Australian racing seem a time of the past. Prizemoney has stalled, tracks such as Victoria Park and Cheltenham have been closed, and small crowds during carnival time have become the norm.

Macdonald is more hopeful than confident that the sport can reinvigorate itself.

“Racing has changed a lot and I don’t know that it will ever return to the halcyon days,” he said.

“I sure hope so, time will tell.”

What the future holds

Macdonald never relied on an alarm clock during his decades as a trainer, and the early starts didn’t bother him as much as many other industry participants. Now that he’s retired, though, Macdonald can choose to have a lie-in, should he feel like that.

“I won’t miss the alarm clock because I never used one, I would just wake up,” said Macdonald.

“If I go to bed and don’t have anything to get up for, I can just stay in bed.”

The 81-year-old has a broodmare - Uninhibited (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}) - and plans to have a bit of fun breeding from her.

“I’m 82 next year, if I start breeding horses I won’t see them race,” he quipped.

Uninhibited will be covered by Dalasan this spring.

Cover image courtesy of Rosemont Stud

With four stallions on their roster, Rosemont Stud, one of Victoria’s leading farms, will be keeping more mares at home than ever before, in a show of support.

“This year we won’t send as many mares up north as typically we would,” McEvoy told TTR AusNZ. “We’re taking the view that we’ve got some stallions here that we have a lot of faith and confidence in.”

The four sires are at rather different stages of their careers, with Shamus Award - a proven Group 1 producer - the only to have runners on the track. Emerging this year, however, will be Strasbourg’s first crop of juveniles, which adds to the excitement for Rosemont ahead of this year’s breeding season.

“We have had plenty of excited owners that have had feedback from their trainers about the natural level of precocity they're showing,” McEvoy said.

“I'm not suggesting that a bunch of them are going to get to the Breeders’ Plate, but certainly the feedback is that they're all pretty willing and natural horses, so that's exciting.”

High-profile purchases

G1 Robert Sangster S. winner Bella Vella (Commands) was a $1.9 million purchase for Rosemont at the 2021 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. She’s from a fast, American family, with her dam, Forget The Weather (USA) (Stormy Atlantic {USA}) twice a 1000-metre winner in the States, and a half-sister to three stakes winners.

“She failed to conceive that spring, she was such a sound mare and looked so well that the team were keen to give her one more spin,” McEvoy said.

Rosemont was rewarded with the decision to put her back in training when she captured the G3 RN Irwin S., adding a fourth stakes win to her resume.

“She got to spend a bit of the off-season back in training, and she enjoys that environment, but we were certainly relieved to see her go in foal on her first cover last season.”

That mating was to Victoria’s Champion Sire Written Tycoon, but this year Bella Vella will go interstate and visit Zoustar - a horse McEvoy knows well.

“I like that mare, with her speed profile, to Zoustar,” McEvoy said. “I had a little bit to do with him in the early part of his career at Widden.

“Primarily we look at type,” he said of Rosemont's mating strategy. “Then, second to that is, ‘Does that mare's whole profile work with that stallion?’

“Zoustar has worked particularly well with Danehill-line mares; a large number of his stakes winners are from granddaughters of Danehill.

“I think he's a sire that does his best work with a mare offering that sort of speed, so we expect to breed a fast one.”

Another high-profile purchase for Rosemont at the same sale, Fiesta (I Am Invincible) commanded $1.35 million. Despite that she never quite managed to break through at Group 1 level, what really appeals to the Rosemont team about her profile is consistency of her stakes appearances.

From the moment she placed in the Listed Gimcrack S. in September of her 2-year-old year, Fiesta was a tough and handy stakes horse for Chris Waller and Denise Martin’s Star Thoroughbreds.

On top of the G2 Silver Shadow S., she won three Group 3s. But, like Bella Vella, she failed to conceive in 2021.

“That year we had a target mare in mind and the majority of our mares that we bought that year fitted a similar criteria,” McEvoy said. “She was a high-class 2-year-old, had a lot of speed, but trained on as a 3-year-old as well.

“She beat some of the best 3-year-old fillies of her year. The good 2- and 3-year-olds that are winning big races now are more often than not out of mares that share a similar profile to Fiesta.

In her Classic year, Fiesta won the Darley Princess Series, her prize being a free nomination to Pinatubo (Ire) that the Rosemont team decided to take up.

“Pinatubo is a horse that we certainly like here,” McEvoy said. “On paper it looks brave, but there was the benefit of a free nomination to a Darley stallion.”

Whilst McEvoy is excited by the prospect of her first foal, this year sees a slight change of tack, and Fiesta will head to Arrowfield Stud’s Dundeel (NZ).

“We thought about this mare a lot,” McEvoy recalled. “He (Dundeel) has just had such an exceptional 12 months, he’s done a super job with his 2-year-olds - for a stallion that’s perhaps not noted as a 2-year-old sire he’s clearly done a great job.”

Close to home

Homebred and raced by Rosemont, Brooklyn Hustle (Starspangledbanner) is a mare close to their hearts. A Group 2 winner of the Dane Ripper S., Brooklyn Hustle was also placed in a trio of Group 1s - the Moir S., Manikato S. and Oakleigh Plate.

“Probably an underrated 2-year-old,” in addition to that accomplished CV, McEvoy recalled the immense impression she created when beating Yes Yes Yes on debut.

Served by Zoustar for her maiden cover last year, Brooklyn Hustle has a date booked with Australia’s Champion Sire this year.

“There's a foal there that's about to be born that's going to have a really big turn of foot and plenty of speed,” McEvoy said.

“She’s a mare that really suits I Am Invincible. She's a granddaughter of Choisir, and of course In Secret is I Am Invincible out of a Choisir mare.

“Vinnie's had a few stakes winners from Choisir and Danehill Dancer-line mares, and we’re excited to think that, with her second foal, she'd throw a beautiful, big, Vinnie.”

Another who raced in the Rosemont red is the Sebring mare Nanagui, who was originally a $450,000 buy at the 2021 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale. From just eight lifetime starts, she was a winner of the Listed Cap d'Antibes S. last spring, having twice placed at Group 3 level as a juvenile.

“She struggled with a bit of a back complaint for most of her career,” McEvoy revealed. “Nothing serious, just some niggles, but she was so impressive when winning that Listed race.

Now a 4-year-old, Nanagui will visit Starspangledbanner this year for her maiden mating, a stallion that has stood at Rosemont in the past.

“Starspangledbanner is a horse that we do have a small involvement in and he does a reasonable job with a maiden mare. We thought that was a really nice option to kick her off with.”

A Classic comeback

At the head of Rosemont’s roster, Shamus Award stands at $60,500 (inc GST) this year, after siring six stakes winners in the season just gone. It’s a dip from his $88,000 (inc GST) service fee from 2022, but there’s a good explanation.

“By his standards, he’s perhaps had a quieter last six months,” McEvoy said. “You could put that down to his very low 3-year-old numbers.

“In his last season in the Hunter, it was his smallest book, so we’re dealing with a 3-year-old crop of about 50.”

Covering 149 and 177 mares in 2019 and 2020 respectively, Shamus Award is due a resurgence as a larger group of Classic-aged horses run for him this season.

“We think he's too good a stallion to not kick back and add to his Group 1 tally… We’ll be supporting him with up to 20 of our best mares.”

One of those is Celebrity Girl (Starcraft {NZ}). She was another Rosemont purchase at the 2021 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, where she cost $400,000.

It looked a more than fair price at the time, however, as it was only earlier in the same month that her fourth foal, Instant Celebrity (Not A Single Doubt), won the G1 Robert Sangster S. and finished second in the G1 The Goodwood H.

“I thought we bought her really well,” McEvoy reflected. “But, she was in foal to Pierata on a December cover.”

Now a 2-year-old, the Pierata filly will soon go into work, having been retained by Rosemont. After taking a break in 2021, Celebrity girl is due to Shamus Award this year, before the same mating is repeated.

“We’re really excited about that mating,” McEvoy added. “We bought her with a view to go to Shamus, so we’re keen to see what she can produce.”

A half-sister to Lean Mean Machine, She’s A Sweetheart (Show A Heart) also looks a value purchase from the same sale at $275,000. She was bought in foal to Fastnet Rock (which produced a colt), was rested in 2021, and then put in foal to Snitzel the following year.

“She’s had three to the races for two serious horses,” McEvoy said. “One being Ballistic Missile, the other one being Swift Sweet, the stakes-placed Snitzel.”

After Swift Sweet (Snitzel) placed in the G3 Magic Night S., Snitzel seemed a natural choice for She’s A Sweetheart, who this year will get her turn with Shamus Award.

“Shamus Award over Show A Heart has been a real bit of a cross,” McEvoy added. “He's had two stakes winners and a couple of stakes placings from it.

“This is just another example of the quality mare we're keen to support this stallion with.”

'He's got some beauties'

With his first crop now officially yearlings, Hanseatic will be receiving plenty of support from Rosemont in 2023. On numbers alone, he received huge support in his first two years, covering a total of 370 mares.

“I expect he'll cover about 150 this season - we'll certainly cap him at that,” noted McEvoy. “He’s been an unbelievably popular horse. He's got a sexy profile - he was obviously a very dynamic 2-year-old, won his first three starts in really impressive style.

“He’s by a terrific source of speed in Street Boss, from the family of Black Caviar and he's a beautiful type to boot.

“He's got some beauties. We had the Magic Millions guys out this morning, and I expect we'll have four or five of them just in the Rosemont draft.”

Hanseatic stands for $17,600 (inc GST) this year, and Rosemont certainly aren’t leaving it to other breeders to support him; the mares they’re sending his way this year include dual Group 3 winner Teleplay (Written Tycoon). Her dam, Special Episode (Redoute’s Choice), is a half-sister to First Seal (Fastnet Rock), Australia’s Champion Female Sprinter in 2015/16.

“She's a lovely mare,” said McEvoy. “She's got quite a bit of length about her and Hanseatic is a real Australian sprinter, short-coupled type, that we thought they would work well together.”

Teleplay’s first foal, a Deep Field 2-year-old, will soon be heading into work for Rosemont, whilst her Bivouac yearling colt has been earmarked for the Gold Coast.

Anjana (Sepoy), winner of her first three races as a 2-year-old before capturing the Listed Incognitus S. as a 3-year-old, is another heading to Hanseatic this year. She has a Snitzel yearling filly and was covered by Shamus Award last year.

“The Snitzel filly will find herself on the Gold Coast or at Easter, she’s got a bit of style about her,” McEvoy said, “We like Sepoy mares, I think he’s going to work as a broodmare sire, and she (Anjana) was a really quality filly.”

Proven quality going the Warrior's way

With his first crop of foals appearing this year, Rosemont has lined up their support for their very own Extreme Warrior, anticipating some good-looking progeny from the son of Extreme Choice, who stands for $19,800 (inc GST).

“He’s a stallion with an enormous profile,” said McEvoy. “A really fast 2-year-old, who trained on. He’s now a good-looking horse who’s just continued to mature.”

Electing to send him some proven quality from their broodmare band in what can be a tricky second year for stallions, Extreme Warrior will be visited by G1 Queen of the Turf S. winner Amanpour (Northern Meteor), who is due to Hanseatic.

“She can certainly throw a good one,” McEvoy said, highlighting her million-dollar yearling Journalism (I Am Invincible).

“She's a big, stretchy sort of mare, and Extreme Warrior is a real speedball, a real bullet. So, physically, they look like they'd complement each other.”

There will be a repeat visit to Extreme Warrior for another of Rosemont’s elite producers too. Soft Landing (Al Maher) has a smart pedigree as well, being a half-sister to Group 1-winning siblings Universal Prince and Universal Queen (both by Scenic), and also Personal Service (Zabeel {NZ}), dam of G1 Queen Elizabeth S. winner Think It Over (So You Think {NZ}).

She’s also the dam of Krone (Eurozone), a G1 Coolmore Classic winner. Incidentally, Krone is Rosemont’s first and so-far only foal of 2023, having produced an I Am Invincible colt this week.

Table: Some of the matings Rosemont Stud is planning for the 2023 season

Cover image courtesy of Goodwood Racecourse

It’s a typically magical affair, with car park picnics similar to Royal Ascot, held in the grounds of the UK’s only remaining privately owned racecourse. For those interested in the increasingly connected international racing and breeding scene, Glorious Goodwood provides no shortage of impactful racing to keep an eye on.

Day 1 in review

In 2019, Pinatubo (Ire) was a sensational 5l winner of the G2 Vintage S., which is run over 1400 metres for 2-year-olds on the first day of Glorious Goodwood. In the past, the race has been won as a prelude to glittering race careers - Highland Reel (Ire) a notable winner from 2014, and Shamardal (USA) a decade before him.

This year’s winner was provided by the Irish National Stud’s first-season sire Phoenix Of Spain (Ire), a son of Lope De Vega (Ire) who won the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas in his own racing days.

Trained by Richard Hannon, Haatem (Ire) became his sire’s first stakes winner, holding off the challenge of Iberian (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) to score by 1l, with Ballydoyle’s Mountain Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never {USA}) back in third.

Prior to appearing at Goodwood, Haatem had lost out (by 6.5l) in Newmarket’s G2 Superlative S. only to the mightily impressive City Of Troy (USA) (Justify {USA}), an Aidan O’Brien trainee for Coolmore.

“I thought this was his day and could be his Derby, but he will get better as the year goes on,” trainer Richard Hannon commented. “He is a horse big enough for next year and is not just about being a 2-year-old.”

Also amongst the headlines from the first day of the meeting, ‘Aussie Tom’ Marquand taught his fellow jockeys an embarrassing lesson when winning the two-mile G1 Goodwood Cup aboard 6-year-old gelding Quickthorn (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}).

Adopting the horse’s usual front-running tactics, he slipped the field by such a gaping margin from the off that it was a one-horse show all the way to the line, by which time he was still 6l ahead of Emily Dickinson (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Wednesday, Race 3, G3 Molecomb S., 1000m - 12am (Thursday) AEST (3pm local)

Prizemoney: £100,000 (AU$193,600)

The G3 Molecomb S., a 1000-metre dash for the 2-year-olds, has been won by a host of successful sires in recent years - Havana Grey (GB), Cotai Glory (GB) and Bungle Inthejungle (GB) to name a few.

One who’s trying to build a similar profile, and is helping to establish his first-season sire, is Big Evs (Ire). The son of Blue Point (Ire) became his sire’s first Royal Ascot winner when he took the Listed Windsor Castle S. back in June.

The Mick Appleby-trained colt was the sharpest of eight into stride on Wednesday, and seized an immediate lead racing underneath the stands' side rail. Comfortable on the front, he held of the challenge of Purosangue (GB) (Aclaim {Ire}) inside the final 200 metres.

“I don't think he really liked the (heavy) ground, but he has toughed it out and done that very well,” said Appleby. “He is as tough as anything and very quick, but that ground just blunted his speed. I think the (G1) Nunthorpe is a realistic target, but a 2-year-old has not won the Nunthorpe since Kingsgate Native (in 2007).

Big Evs is one of three stakes scorers for Blue Point, but his win here would gave the Darley shuttler a first Group winner. He returns to Australia this year, ahead of his first Southern Hemisphere crop debuting, to stand at Darley’s Northwood Park for $44,000 (inc GST).

Wednesday, Race 4, G1 Sussex S., 1600m - 12.35am AEST (Thursday) (3.35pm local)

Prizemoney: £1 million (AU$1.94 million)

The peerless Frankel (GB) twice appeared at Glorious Goodwood, and twice he annexed one of Europe’s premier mile events, the G1 Sussex S.

The race also provided the final (winning) appearance for Darley shuttler Too Darn Hot (GB), who proved for the second time that he could see out a mile in elite company.

Stamping himself as Europe’s best current miler, Aidan O’Brien’s Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) was unbeaten in five starts this term, three of which were at Group 1 level. After stepping up to 2000 metres to beat older opposition for the first time in the G1 Coral-Eclipse, he returned to a mile here and had no problem in getting the job done.

Paddington was able to dictate and dominate in Goodwood's heavily rain-softened ground on Wednesday, and register a fourth straight top-level success. While his 1.5l victory over Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}) wasn't his best this season, he never looked in danger.

“He is thriving on racing and is a very uncomplicated horse,” winning jockey Ryan Moore said. “He's won on fast and very bad ground here over a mile and a mile-and-a-quarter and you can ride him however you like, it doesn't matter.”

A place on Coolmore’s roster is already assured, and his own sire has already provided them with a Champion 3-Year-Old in St Mark’s Basilica (Fr), who will return to Coolmore Australia this year at $44,000 (inc GST), as his first Southern Hemisphere foals hit the ground.

Famous Down Under for the exploits of Amelia’s Jewel, the Aga Khan Studs’ Siyouni (Fr) gained his 10th Group 1 winner only last weekend courtesy of Mqse De Sevigne (Fr) in the Prix Rothschild at Deauville.

It’s been an extraordinary season for Siyouni, which has included siring the Irish Guineas double. He is available for limited Southern Hemisphere-time covers in 2023, at a fee of €60,000 ($96,400).

Thursday, Race 2, G2 Richmond S., 1200m - 11.25pm AEST (2.25pm local)

Prizemoney: £175,000 (AU$339,000)

A race for the juveniles over 1200 metres, the G2 Richmond S. will see a dozen 2-year-old colts and geldings do battle on Thursday. It may not be a race he’s renowned for winning, but Aidan O’Brien has the leading contender in Wootton Bassett (GB) colt Unquestionable (Fr).

Last month, Unquestionable finished second in the G2 Railway S. at the Curragh, but was beaten only a short head and is expected to improve for the experience.

Coolmore purchased Wootton Bassett from Haras d’Etreham in 2020, after this colt was conceived, and he runs in the silver jacket of co-owners Al Shaqab.

Wootton Bassett immediately began shuttling to Coolmore Australia, and his first Southern Hemisphere-bred crop are now yearlings. He returns to Australia this year, offered at $93,500 (inc GST).

Thursday, Race 4, G1 Nassau S., 2000m - 12.35am AEST (Friday) (3.35pm local)

Prizemoney: £600,000 (AU$1.16 million)

A smaller field of just six will contest the G1 Nassau S. over 2000 metres. Restricted to fillies and mares, it’s a race that attracted Japan’s fan-favourite Diedre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), who won it back in 2019.

Churchill’s (Ire) Blue Rose Cen (Ire) leads the betting, and receives a notable 8lbs (3.6kg) allowance as one of only two 3-year-olds in the race.

A bold showing is also expected from Nashwa (GB), with the John and Thady Gosden-trained Frankel (GB) 4-year-old attempting back-to-back victories.

In notching the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) and G1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) double earlier this year, Blue Rose Cen ensured that Churchill had produced a Group 1 winner in each of his two Classic-aged crops. Expected to retire this year to the Aga Khan Studs, their homebred Vadeni (Fr) was his first.

Churchill returns to Coolmore Australia for the sixth time in 2023, and is available at $22,000 (inc GST).

Friday, Race 2, G3 Thoroughbred S., 1600m - 11.25pm AEST (2.25pm local)

Prizemoney: £100,000 (AU$193,600)

Won in 2021 by Shadwell’s Baaeed (GB), the G3 Thoroughbred S. is run over a mile for the 3-year-olds.

Kingman’s (GB) Nostrum (GB), a homebred for Juddmonte, is the leading fancy, having scored by 3l at Listed level on his belated return to the track last month. A Group 3 winner as a juvenile, he holds an entry for the G1 Champions S. in Ireland later this year - with Friday’s engagement surely fateful in that respect.

OTI Racing also has a live chance in the race with Docklands (GB), who is by Shadwell’s Massaat (Ire). Docklands won the Britannia S., a heritage handicap, at this year’s Royal Ascot, a race which often takes more than a handicapper to win.

A colt from the single crop of the ill-fated Roaring Lion (USA), Embesto (GB) finished behind Nostrum last time out, whilst Kingman is also represented by Epictetus (Ire), who lost his way at Royal Ascot lately.

Kingman’s reputation is growing fast in the Southern Hemisphere. This year also saw his breakthrough Southern Hemisphere Group 1 winner courtesy of King Colorado in the G1 JJ Atkins S.

Alongside Frankel (at £125,000/AU$243,000), Kingman was made available for Southern Hemisphere-time coverings this year, at a fee of £40,000 (AU$77,700).

Friday, Race 4, G2 King George Qatar S., 1000m - 12.35am AEST (Saturday) (3.35pm local)

Prizemoney: £300,000 (AU$583,100)

Meanwhile, the G2 King George Qatar S., a 1000-metre sprint, features Night Of Thunder’s (Ire) Highfield Princess (Ire) as an odds-on favourite.

In her last appearance, the 6-year-old mare finished 1.5l ahead of Artorius when third in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee S. at Royal Ascot, with The Astrologist (Zoustar) behind them in fourth.

There’s no Australian representation in the race this year, but it was a race won by Paul Messara’s Ortensia (Testa Rossa) in 2012, on her way to winning the G1 Nunthorpe S. at York.

Saturday, Race 4, Stewards' Cup, 1200m - 12.35am AEST (Sunday) (3.35pm local)

Prizemoney: £250,000 (AU$486,400)

An historic feature of the meeting having first run in 1840, the Stewards’ Cup is run on Goodwood’s straight course, famous for its downhill start, and is usually a blistering affair.

With a maximum field of 28, it typically attracts well over 20 runners and picking the winner is no easy task. The only horse in single-figure odds for this year’s renewal is Charlie Hills’ Caravaggio (USA) colt Orazio (Ire). He arrives in the race having run respectably in similar handicap company at Royal Ascot.

Also by the one-time Coolmore Australia shuttler, William Haggas’ Tiber Flow (Ire) has a leading chance. Unsuited to his drop back in trip last time out, he goes again under Tom Marquand, who will be as shrewd as any in staying out of trouble.