Lyndhurst Stud announce 2024 fees
Queensland’s Lyndhurst Stud announced their 2024 fees on Tuesday with proven sire Better Than Ready standing for $27,500 (inc GST), while young stallion Barbaric will remain at $8800 (inc GST) for his third season.
“Better Than Ready has had another super season with Steady Ready, (G2 Callander-Presnell winner) Chrysaor and Lim’s Bighorn all winning stakes races, while his yearlings have sold up to $370,000 in 2024 … and that’s on the back of a $530,000 colt bought by China Horse Club, Newgate and Trilogy last year,” Lyndhurst Stud’s Jeff Kruger said.
“Not surprisingly, Better Than Ready is very popular up here in Queensland, particularly given his three Magic Millions winners in Skirt The Law, Alpine Edge and The Odyssey. He covered 213 mares last year.
“Better Than Ready will shortly tick over 350 winners and he’s batting at nearly 70% winners to runners. We reckon he’s terrific value at $27,500 (inc GST) and as I keep telling broodmare owners, if you want an early runner, look no further than Better Than Ready.”
Barbaric’s first yearlings will be at the sales in early 2025. “There’s nothing hotter than Vinnie (I Am Invincible) at the moment and he’s rapidly emerging as a sire of sires when you look at Brazen Beau and Hellbent, not to mention all the hype around stallions like Hawaii Five Oh and Home Affairs.”
Lloyd rides lightweight in Stradbroke for Baker
Exciting apprentice Zac Lloyd will be aiming for his first Group 1 aboard Bjorn Baker-trained filly Stefi Magnetica (All Too Hard) in the $3 million G1 Stradbroke H. “His dad, Jeff Lloyd, won his first Australian Group 1 with my father’s (Murray) horse Nom De Jeu, so it would be nice symmetry if Zac can win his first Group 1 on my horse,” Baker told Racing.com.
Zac Lloyd | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
“She gets in with no weight and hopefully with a good draw, she’ll be right in it. Her mother (Mid Summer Music) also won the Stradbroke, and it would be great if she can too.” Mid Summer Music (Oamaru Force) has five winners from five foals to race including Group 3 winner Hellfest (Fastnet Rock), Group 3-placed city winner Euphoric Summer (Not A Single Doubt), and Group 3-placed winner Stefi Magnetica.
Neasham to run big team in Q22
Speaking with the media after Tuesday trackwork at Eagle Farm, trainer Annabel Neasham confirmed that Doomben Cup winner Bois D'Argent (GB) (Toronado {Ire}) and stablemates Spirit Ridge (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), Fawkner Park (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), Numerian (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and Naval College (GB) (Dartmouth {GB}) are all expected to be among Wednesday's final declarations for the $1.2 million Q22 at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
She will have only one runner in the G1 Stradbroke H.; Mighty Ulysses (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}). “He's a hard horse to be confident with as he's temperamental but he was very good winning here over the mile (two starts ago),” she told Racing.com.
“We then stepped him up to the 1800 (metres) in the Hollindale (Cup) and I wasn't sure he'd settle well enough, and he didn't, but he still ran fourth that day. It was actually Ryan Maloney's idea to come to the Stradbroke. I think he assumed he might get his weight, but he hasn't, so Damien Thornton rides. He's had a couple of sits on him, which has been important because he's pretty headstrong and a hard-going horse.”
Royally bred mare wins on debut at Scone
Tuesday’s Scone meeting saw Clear Thinking (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) win on debut by an impressive 8l. “Things didn't go right at the barriers at Newcastle. A couple of little changes, and she was great today. She jumped well, controlled the race, and sprinted well at the finish,” co-trainer Paul Messara, who trains with Leah Gavranich, told racenet.com.au. The mare, previously owned by the British Royal family, refused to load in the barriers at Newcastle on May 25.
“She is a beautifully bred mare. We bought her as a breeding prospect, but when she got here, we thought she had a bit of racing in her. She has just kept improving, and there is a lot of upside for sure. She is by Dubawi and was owned by the Royal Family. She had a few little problems as a 2-year-old, but they have been ironed out and she is a lovely mare for the future.”
Moroney announces new training partner
Melbourne Cup winning-trainer Mike Moroney is set to enter into a partnership with his assistant Glen Thompson. The news comes after Moroney had made the decision to relinquish his licence in his native New Zealand, with his training partner Pam Gerard to take sole charge of their stable at Matamata.
Mike Moroney | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
“Mike's doing very well,” racing manager Anthony Feroce told Racing.com after announcing the new partnership. “He's back home and he's not far away from coming back to the races. He'll probably take July off, go up north and get some sun and then he'll be ready to go for the spring.”
Thompson and Feroce have been pivotal players in the running of Moroney's Flemington-based stable while the trainer has been battling ill health, as he's recovering from acute pneumonia and a collapsed lung.
Trainers fuming after Bathurst called off at last minute
Bathurst's meeting on Tuesday was called off by stewards only ten minutes prior to the first race. “It's just disgraceful, I was there, and I had my horse ready to go,” trainer Marc Conners told racenet.com.au after he’d driven from Warwick Farm with favourite Rapid Impact (Real Impact {Jpn}).
“We live in an age where we are supposed to be a professional industry, and it's a disgrace. I only found out when we went to get the saddle to saddle up. People don't go to a football game, and it's called off just as they are about to kick off. … He was supposed to race (Monday) at Canterbury and he couldn't get a run, so who knows where we go now.”
“It was rain affected and for that reason Shane Parkinson, the Chief Steward, went down to Bathurst yesterday so he could conduct an inspection early this morning,” Racing NSW acting chief steward Tom Moxon said.
“It was identified during the inspection that there was an area of concern near the 1000 metres, approximately three horses off the fence. Two horses galloped this morning, and they were ridden by a senior rider, who was riding at the meeting. The feedback from the rider was, although the area of concern was more affected than the majority of the track, they were confident the meeting could go ahead.
“And then when the senior riders in the first race arrived, they were taken around to examine this section of the track and the majority of those riders formed the view that it wasn't safe to proceed.”
Russian Revolution juvenile quinella at Sale
Trainer Craig Blackshaw combined with jockey Sheridan Clarke to win the juvenile race at Sale on Tuesday with debutant filly Don’t Russia (Russian Revolution) by 1l over 2-year-old colt Supervise (Russian Revolution) with Almighty Jab (Jabali) a further 5l away in third.
Russian Revolution | Standing at Newgate Stud
Russian Revolution has two winners from his third crop, while he has 11 stakes winners from his first two crops who are currently 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds.
Million-dollar colt Railway Man resumes on Wednesday
2-year-old colt Railway Man (I Am Invincible) will resume at Kensington on Wednesday and is in need of the experience. “Whatever he’s doing now we know he’s going to be a much better horse in six months' time,” trainer Ciaron Maher told Racingnsw.com.au.
“He has it there. The dam (Booker) got better with age and that will be the case with him. There’s no rush. He could be a spring horse, but it’s a matter of getting him there slowly.” He ran 5th of 7 at his only start in January and was a $2.5million purchase by his trainer from Coolmore Stud at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Bott looking for good winter from Zoustar filly
Co-trainer Adrian Bott believes 3-year-old filly Zouphoria (Zoustar) is in for a good winter as she resumes at Randwick-Kensington on Wednesday. “We were struggling to find a suitable place to kick Zouphoria off,” Bott told Racingnsw.com.au.
“It wasn’t entirely suitable, but it got her up and going, I thought she ran well. She’s improved nicely off the back of that and probably looks better placed. Potentially we could try to stretch her a bit further if we need to this preparation, out to a mile, but that (1400 metres) looks like her sweet spot.”
Trainer Cairns hoping for historic Battle Of The Bush win
Dual Battle of the Bush winning trainer Olivia Cairns needs this season’s charge Fire King (Worthy Cause) to qualify before she attempts a historic third win. “He hasn't qualified for the Battle of the Bush because he hasn't won a qualifier yet,” Cairns told Racingqueensland.com.au.
Olivia Cairns | Image courtesy of Racing Queensland
“We considered sending him up north for another qualifying race before deciding to stay here.” He runs at Doomben on Wednesday. “There's still a chance he can still make the Final, but we need something from one of the regions not to accept so he can get in. If he doesn't get it, he's run in enough country races to get into the Country Cups Challenge Final later on.” Fire King won the Country Cups Challenge Final last year.
Trading trainer has runners on Wednesday
Cambridge trainer Samantha Logan is looking forward to her local synthetic meeting on Wednesday where she will be represented by two thirds of her racing team. “We are doing a lot of young horses for the breeze-up sale, so we don’t have too many in the racing team at the moment,” she told Loveracing.nz.
“We have got seven (rising 2-year-olds) in partnership with Riversley Park. It has been good working alongside them and learning more about the trading side. We have moved more toward trading and trialling to sell. We have had three nice, young horses sell this year, that is just how it has worked out.”
Her runners on Wednesday are Aussie Betty (NZ) (Embellish {NZ}) and Wry Smile (NZ) (Mongolian Khan).
NZ trade mission to Malaysia
New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters visited Selangor Turf Club over the weekend during his trade mission to Malaysia to help strengthen ties between to the two nations. “He is a shrewd operator and he spoke so highly of the New Zealand racing scene and how it is going ahead. He is really optimistic and said the work has only just started and there is a long way to go,” ex-pat Kiwi trainer Simon Dunderdale told Loveracing.nz.
“He also spoke about the relationship we need to develop between New Zealand thoroughbred racing and Malaysia, and he was speaking on ways to get trainers and owners to the sales in New Zealand more. Everyone was listening with their ears pricked. I enjoyed the time.
“He came and visited my stables and had a look at the horses, particularly the New Zealand-bred horses. Unfortunately, he was here on a non-race day, but he was very well received by the committee and invited guests, and some other dignitaries came along.”
Fun With Flags sells at Arqana Digital
Nicolas de Watrigant of Mandore International Agency had the final say for Fun With Flags (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) at the Arqana Online Pop-Up Sale, the Listed winner bringing a final bid of €630,000 (AU$1.03million). When asked for details, de Watrigant could not divulge the name of his client but said the filly will target the G1 Belmont Oaks in America on July 6.
Derby runner-up heads to Irish Derby
The G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh on Sunday, June 30 has been confirmed as the next port of call for Epsom runner-up Ambiente Friendly (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), with Robert Havlin again booked to ride.
Ambiente Friendly (Ire)
“After the dust settled, we were very keen to keep him at a mile and a half and, as importantly, stay against his own age group,” said co-owner Tim Gredley. “It was the only option really and I'm really looking forward to it and I think the race will suit him. We want to do what is right by the horse and the conditions of the Irish Derby seem a lot more favourable than going to the Eclipse.”
Changes at Horseman’s Advisory Group
Craig Bandoroff, proprietor of Denali Stud, D J Stables' Jon Green, L&N Racing racing manager and part-owner Michael Levinson and trainer Todd Pletcher have been added to the HISA Horsemen's Advisory Group, the organization said Monday.
The new members replace the outgoing Mark Casse, Tom Drury, Jr., Linda Gaudet, Fred Hertrich III, David Ingordo and Tom Robbins. The Horsemen's Advisory Group is a group of racing industry participants formed in 2022 to provide formal feedback to HISA's executive team and Standing Committees.
