Kent Jnr: Charm Stone a Group 1-type filly
Michael Kent Jnr, who trains in partnership with Mick Price, has lavished praise on star filly Charm Stone (I Am Invincible) ahead of her tilt at the G1 Golden Rose on Saturday.
Charm Stone, the lone filly in the race, has been in imperious form this campaign, winning the G3 Quezette S. at Caulfield first-up, before comfortably taking out the Listed Atlantic Jewel S. at The Valley.
“She won with authority (at The Valley). It will be a different scenario with barrier one but she has all the hallmarks of a Group 1 type filly,” Kent Jnr told Racing NSW. “She has a good turn of foot, she has stamina and she can sustain a long run. (Jockey) Damian (Lane) has a lot of belief in her and hopefully we get the breaks at the right time.
“She’s going to have a soft run, he’s going to have plenty of horseflesh at the 300-metre mark and we hope things open up for us. She’s quite tactically versatile so she has a lot of things in her favour. The 1400 metres is definitely an unknown but she gives us all the indications it will be no problem.”
Waller thrilled with Shinzo
Champion trainer Chris Waller couldn’t be happier with his Golden Slipper hero Shinzo (Snitzel), who resumes in Saturday’s G1 Golden Rose at Rosehill. Shinzo was sent for a spell following his Slipper triumph. He has been tuned up for the Golden Rose with two barrier trials and a jump-out.
“He’s come back stronger and mentally, he’s fantastic, which I think is great for colts and it’s a sign of who he is,” Waller told Racing And Sports. “He’s a proper horse.”
With James McDonald injured, Ryan Moore will fly to Sydney to take the ride.
Shinzo will be striving to become the first horse to win the race first-up and the first to land the Golden Slipper-Golden Rose double in the same year. Forensics (Flying Spur), the only filly to capture the Golden Rose, won both races in 2007/08 but the 3-year-old showpiece was held in the autumn due to the equine influenza outbreak.
Full field for Underwood Stakes
A capacity field of 16 looks set to contest Saturday’s G1 Underwood S. at Caulfield, after 17 horses accepted for the $750,000 feature.
Tulloch Lodge has accepted with Alligator Blood (All Too Hard), who was second in last Saturday’s G1 Makybe Diva S. at Flemington. Damien Oliver has again been booked to ride the defending champion, who will jump from gate eight.
Impressive last-start winner Soulcombe (GB) (Frankel {GB}) should get a lovely run from barrier five.
The Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Without A Fight (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) resumes and he will break from gate 10, should the lone emergency, Alaskan God (Playing God), fail to get a start.
“He’s forward enough, he’s very fresh and feeling well, the Caulfield Cup is the goal but he’s certainly fresh enough to run a race over nine (furlongs, 1800 metres),” Sam Freedman told News Corp. “He’s won so many races (nine of 20), he’s a winner, so it counts for something when it gets to the business end of good races. He wants to put his head out and win, we hope it holds him in good stead for the spring.”
Stars to square off in Guineas Prelude
Saturday’s G3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude, which serves as a precursor to the G1 Caulfield Guineas on October 14, looks likely to be an absolute beauty, after acceptances were declared on Wednesday.
The field of 13 includes the G1 Blue Diamond S. hero Little Brose (Per Incanto {USA}), the G2 VRC Sires’ Produce S. winner Veight (Grunt {NZ}), the unbeaten Steparty (Artie Schiller {USA}), as well as the highly promising Scheelite (Real Steel {Jpn}).
Little Brose has drawn awkwardly in barrier 12, Veight will break from two, Steparty has gate eight, while Scheelite is drawn in 11.
“I can’t wait to have a go at him … it will be a good duel,” Steparty’s trainer, Paul Preusker, said of meeting Veight. “You just want to see good horses go to war and who puts their hand up at the end of it.”
Kah takes Tuvalu ride
Champion jockey Jamie Kah will ride the Lindsey Smith-trained Tuvalu (Kermadec {NZ}) in Saturday’s G1 Underwood S. at Caulfield after Blake Shinn opted to partner Soulcombe.
“Blake got off him to ride another one, I didn’t lose any sleep over it, jockeys jump off, jockeys get taken off,” Smith told Racing.com.
Smith is confident Tuvalu will relish the step up to 1800 metres, and expects the horse to be at his peak after two runs this time in. Tuvalu finished third in the G2 Feehan S. at his most recent outing.
Jamie Kah | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
“I’ve always had the opinion that 1800 metres wouldn’t be a bad distance for him to be honest,” Smith said.
“I thought he was brilliantly ridden in the Feehan, I thought he was the winner on the corner, but he was probably just half a run off, so that should tighten him up.”
Prowess overcomes setback
The spring campaign of Prowess (NZ) (Proisir) is back on, much to the delight of the Group 1-winning mare’s connections. An abscess ruled her out of her first-up target, the G1 Memsie S. earlier this month, while a stone bruise resulted in her withdrawal from her trial at Taupo last Friday.
“She banged a hock a bit over a month ago,” Robert Wellwood, who trains in partnership with Roger James, told Loveracing.NZ. “We got over that and thought we were back on track, and she was meant to trial at Taupo last Friday prior to the races and unfortunately stood on a stone and put a puncture into her sole.
“We got the farrier there and tidied it up and she is right now. We have had niggly little setbacks. They haven’t been major things and have only stopped us for three or four days, but it has been at pretty crucial times.”
Prowess (NZ) | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Prowess took part in an exhibition gallop at Matamata on Wednesday. Originally set to contest the G1 Cox Plate at The Valley next month, her trainers have been forced to change tack with their spring plans with the mare and will give her one run in New Zealand before heading abroad.
“At this stage (her first-up run will be) on October 7 at Hawera in the (G3) Breeders’ Stakes , but if the weather is terrible, there is a fillies and mares 1400 metre race at Flemington on the same day,” Wellwood said. “We are still hoping to be there Cox Plate Day, albeit not in the Cox Plate. Another weight-for-age Group 2 mile, which will give her a look around The Valley and it will be a good race for her three weeks after her first-up run.
“All going well, we would love to be at the last day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival for the (G1) Champions Stakes (G1).”
Slater celebrates Sandown triumph
Billy Slater - a two-time NRL premiership player and current coach of the Queensland state of origin team - looks to have a nice horse on his hands, after Furious (Redoute’s Choice) broke through at Sandown-Hillside.
Bred by Slater Thoroughbreds, the 4-year-old made $425,000 when offered by Arrowfield Stud at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. He was bought by Hawkes Racing, with Slater retaining a share. The gelding races in the silks of prominent owner Rupert Legh.
From Redoute’s Choice’s final crop, Furious is out of the winning Encosta De Lago mare Inishowen and is closely related to the great Mahogany (Last Tycoon {Ire}) - an eight-time Group 1 winner.
“He is a lovely horse, one of the last Redoute’s, and we know how good Redoute’s Choice was,” co-trainer Wayne Hawkes told Racing.com. “Billy and (wife) Nicole bred the horse and were happy to stay in.”
Furious was first-up, having finished second on debut at Newcastle in April.
“He was immature and should have won his first start. He was three, four, and five-wide the trip and pulled up tired,” Hawkes added. “We put him in the paddock and gave him a good spell, and we have been in no rush with him. We must thank the owners because you need patience when you pay a lot of money for these horses and they are 4-year-olds.”
Skew Whiff heading to Cranbourne
The last-start G1 Tarzino Trophy winner, Waikato Stud’s Skew Whiff (NZ) (Vice Regal {NZ}), will depart New Zealand early next month for Te Akau Racing’s new base at Cranbourne. Co-trainer Mark Walker confirmed the news to Loveracing.NZ on Wednesday.
The 4-year-old mare will remain in Australia for the foreseeable future. She appeared in a quiet exhibition gallop at Matamata on Wednesday with regular partner Opie Bosson, who said she was “nice and relaxed”.
Skew Whiff (NZ) during her exhibition gallop on Wednesday | Image courtesy of Kenton Wright (Race Images)
Co-trainer Mark Walker, now in partnership with Sam Bergerson, suggested Skew Whiff will target the G2 Rose Of Kingston S. at Flemington on October 7, then will head to the Golden Eagle at Rosehill on November 4.
Acromantula headed for the Moir
The Written Tycoon gelding Acromantula was a creditable sixth in the G2 McEwan S. at Moonee Valley last weekend, and his Karnup trainers, Daniel and Ben Pearce, have opted to keep the 6-year-old in Melbourne for the remainder of his campaign, rather than shipping home to Western Australia. Ben Pearce has told The Races WA that the horse will likely remain at Moonee Valley, even though a few targets in Sydney were considered.
“We were looking at a couple of races, and even thought about going up to Sydney,” he said. “In the end, we thought why not stay in Melbourne and race at Moonee Valley where he’s been successful before. Who knows how the track will play at Moonee Valley (in the Moir). If it’s on-pace, he could be right in it. If he could finish in the first three, we would be over the moon.”
Acromantula won the Listed Carlyon S. two starts ago at Moonee Valley. It’s probable the gelding will chase the key lead-up races into this summer’s G1 Winterbottom S., the Prince Of Wales S. at Ascot on November 4 and the Colonel Reeves S. at the same course a fortnight later.
Clark cleared to return
Group 1-winning jockey Tim Clark, who sustained injuries from a race fall at Wyong on September 1, has received a medical clearance to resume riding.
Tim Clark | Image courtesy of Michael McInally
Clark has advised Racing NSW Stewards he will ride at the Randwick barrier trials on Friday, September 22, before returning to race riding at Rosehill the following day.
Parr concussed
Jockey Josh Parr was dislodged from his mount Ithadtobezou (Zoustar) behind the barriers prior to Race 6 at Warwick Farm. After being assesssed, it was determined Parr had sustained a shoulder injury and a concussion. He was transported to hospital for further examination.
Australian Bloodstock buys Lastotchka
Melbourne Cup-winning owners Australian Bloodstock could have purchased the multiple Group 3 scorer Lastotchka (Fr) (Myboycharlie {Ire}).
The mare, who was last seen winning the G3 Prix Gladiateur at Longchamp on September 3, will be prepared out of Cranbourne by Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr.
“There’s a few things to play out so we are leaving her in Chantilly for more scans at the moment. She’s passed the RV (Racing Victoria) trot-up and they’ve seen the x-rays so far,” Jamie Lovett of Australian Bloodstock told Racing.com.
“We really liked the form. The thing that ticked the last box was that she’s obviously won at a mile and a half (2400 metres) but interestingly enough her two Group 3 wins were at 2800 metres and 3100 metres.”
Lovett said Lastotchka will be aimed towards the G1 Melbourne Cup on November 7.
“She’s bought for that race and she’s come in with 51kgs. She also holds good residual value as a multiple Group 3 winner with a lovely pedigree.”
Karaka breeze-ups looming
It’s less than a month to the New Zealand Bloodstock (NZB) 2023 Ready to Run breeze-ups, which are due on October 16 and 17. All catalogue entrants will gallop on the same turf track at Te Rapa this year, making the NZB Ready to Run Sale the only sale of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere to conduct breeze-ups on turf.
“I definitely believe there is a massive advantage to watching the 2-year-olds breeze up on a turf surface,” said bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo, who buys prominently at this sale. “At the end of the day, you want them to perform well on the grass during a raceday and those bigger Group races, so seeing them on turf gives a great insight as to what they would be like at a meeting.”
To assist buyers, NZB will implement a range of measurements during the Breeze-Ups, including multiple verified timings for each lot, penetrometer readings of the track each day and an outline of the weather conditions, including a wind anemometer reading. This data will be displayed on the NZB website against each juvenile’s gallop.
The NZB Ready to Run will take place at Karaka on November 22 and 23. The breeze-ups will commence at 10am NZDT on October 16 and 17 and are open to the public.
Epsom-Metropolitan re-handicapped
Racing NSW has re-handicapped a small number of horses for its big spring targets, the G1 Epsom H. and G1 The Metropolitan, each to be run on September 30 at Royal Randwick. The new weights were issued in light of the weekend’s results.
In the Epsom, Democracy Manifest (Flying Artie) was penalised 1.5kg after his G3 Cameron H. victory at Newcastle last Friday. He will now carry 51.5kg. There were no further adjustments to the Epsom weights.
In The Metropolitan, Military Mission (Ire) received a 1.5kg penalty after his win of last Friday’s G3 Newcastle Cup. Just Fine (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who won the G3 Kingston Town S. at Randwick on Saturday, and Mostly Cloudy (Ire) (Harzand {Ire}), who won the stayer’s feature at Flemington the same day, were not eligible and not penalised for the race respectively.
New winners for second-season sires
The Kelly Schweida-trained Action King (Harry Angel {Ire}) shed his maiden tag at Doomben, and in doing so, became his sire’s fifth individual winner this season.
Grunt (NZ), Ardrossan and Justify (USA) also had new winners on Wednesday. Be Brave (Grunt {NZ}) scored at Strathalbyn, Cannon Hill (NZ) (Ardrossan) was first home at Matamata, while Pleasure Cruise (Justify {USA}) was a debut winner at Belmont.
Vale Greg Hook
Racing NSW was informed on Wednesday of the death of the Rylstone trainer Greg Hook, who was 63 years old. Hook died as a result of a trackwork accident on his property, with Richard Callander, president of the NSW Trainers Association, sincere at the news of the tragedy.
“Greg was the essence of country racing and he was a very talented horseman who loved being part of the racing industry,” Callander said. “He was highly respected by his fellow trainers, and he always had a smile, was always up for a chat, albeit not a long one. All our love and thoughts are with Greg’s wife, Robin, his family and friends.”
Hook kept very small numbers in his stable. His last winner was the 9-year-old gelding Blue Collar Boy (Denmarket), who won at Orange back in March.
New riches for Sunshine Coast
The Sunshine Coast Turf Club (SCTC) has unveiled its new TAB Friday Night Racing season, kicking off on September 29 and concluding in early March (dates to be confirmed). The highlight of the series is the TAB 100's and 1000's race series, featuring seven $100,000, 1000-metre races scheduled over seven Friday night meetings.
“The series promises a cracking start to the weekend for racegoers,” said John Miller, CEO of the SCTC. “Working with our major sponsor and partner, TAB, the SCTC is planning a dynamic lineup of activations to attract and entertain racegoers at the end of the work week. We aim to deliver the ultimate Friday night experience for the general public.”
The leading trainer of the series will have the chance to win a trip for two to the 2024 Melbourne Cup carnival next year, complete with hospitality in the Birdcage.
Swansong for Red Can Man?
Steve Wolfe, trainer of the 7-year-old veteran Red Can Man (Gingerbread Man), is hoping for a last hurray from his old gelding. This season is likely to be the horse’s final after a career that has netted something to the tune of $2 million in prizemoney (including bonuses).
Red Can Man | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“He’s ticking along very well and he’s had a good spell,” Wolfe told TABradio. “He hasn’t won for two years but has still competed at the highest level, and I’m sure he’ll still win. This will be his last roll of the dice, but he will still be amongst the big races. If we get the right luck, we can win one, for sure.”
Ripcord returns
The exciting WA star Ripcord (Written By), a stakes winner and last-start third in the G2 Karrakatta Plate from just two starts, will make his 3-year-old debut this Saturday at Belmont. His trainer, Luke Fernie, told TABradio that all the early signs are good for the untapped gelding.
“I’ve seen enough at home to suggest he doesn’t need to go to the trials,” Fernie said. “His fitness levels are pretty good. Everything is on track for him to go to the races. I haven’t really made a plan yet (for the rest of the spring). Whether we go to the Placid Ark (on November 18) a little bit fresher, it’s all up in the air. I’m still taking in each day what suits him best.”
Pinnacles build-up for Be Optimistic
Be Optimistic, the 5-year-old Blackfriars mare, also for Ascot trainer Luke Fernie, will begin her build-up to The TABtouch Pinnacles in this Sunday’s Listed Boulder Cup over 2100 metres. Be Optimistic was a last-start third in the Coolgardie Cup earlier this month, and Fernie said she was ready to be tested over the staying distances.
Be Optimistic | Image courtesy of Western Racepix
“Her run was super last weekend,” the trainer told TABradio. “She dropped the bit out and relaxed, which is probably the most encouraging thing for me. She’s been getting on the steel probably a bit too much, and it put a bit of doubt in my mind that running the trip out would be harder than I first thought. She will take natural progression going up in trip.”
Be Optimistic has won four races in her 24-race career. She was third in the Listed Belmont Oaks last year and third very early in her career in the R. Listed Magic Millions WA 2YO Classic.
Lope De Vega filly tops Tatts Ireland
The opening session of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale was headlined on Tuesday by a Lope De Vega (Ire) filly from the Acclamation (GB) mare Drumfad Bay (Ire), and, as such, she was a half-sister to the recent Naas debutante winner Bluedrum (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}). Lot 119 was offered by The Castlebridge Consignment and she went the way of Conor Quirke for €190,000 (AU$315,000).
“She was a standout for me and ultimately the half-sister got her over the line,” Quirke said. “This filly is lovely and was well-placed here, the breeders are good at their job. We like the sire too and it all made sense.”
A Kameko (USA) yearling was one of the session’s best sellers when going for €115,000 (AU$190,000) to Edgar Byrne. The colt is heading to Norway, while the single Wootton Bassett (GB) of the day got plenty of attention, going the way of BBA Ireland’s Mick Donohoe for €82,000 (AU$135,000). She was offered by Norelands and was bought on behalf of a Middle Eastern client.
Day 1’s clearance reached 86 per cent, which was down five per cent on last year, but the aggregate, average and median were all up for what was a slightly bigger book (13 more yearlings than last year). The aggregate sat at €6,729,500 (AU$11.2 million) and the average was €32,827 (AU$54,330).
Twirling Candy colt stands out at Keeneland’s Book 4 finale
A colt by Twirling Candy (USA) broke clear of the pack when selling for US$925,000 (AU$1.4 million) to Jim and Dana Bernhard’s Pin Oak Stud during an otherwise steadily consistent conclusion to the Book 4 section of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Tuesday in Lexington.
Through both sessions of Book 4, Keeneland sold 606 yearlings for US$46,078,000 (AU$71,389,000). The book average of US$76,036 (AU$117,800) declined five per cent from last year, while the median dipped 8.3 per cent to US$55,000 (AU$85,000).
During last year’s Book 4 section, 609 yearlings sold for AU$48,726,500 (AU$75,489,000). The section’s average was US$80,011 (AU$124,000) and the median was US$60,000 (AU$93,000).
With just 55 horses reported not sold on Tuesday, the session buy-back rate was 15.45 per cent.
Paramount Sales, which sold the session topper, was the session’s leading consignor with 26 yearlings sold for US$2,529,000 (AU$3.9 million).
“We had a fantastic day,” said Paramount’s Pat Costello. “I think we only had three or four RNA’s, you can't beat that. It’s a great sale, all in all, really. And it’s still coming on. I didn’t think it would be this strong, but it is.”
