James McDonald gets treble and Jockey’s Premiership
Jockey James McDonald won his eighth Sydney Jockey’s Premiership on Saturday with a treble, to give him 89 Sydney winners for the season with one meeting to go. He won on Godolphin trained Tarpaulin (Harry Angel {Ire}) and Fleetwood (Encryption), as well as Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou-trained Green Shadows (Menari).
He has won six Sydney premierships in succession.
James McDonald | Image courtesy of the HKJC
Clarken and O’Shea win South Australian Trainers Premiership
Will Clarken and Niki O’Shea have claimed the 2023/24 South Australian Metro Trainers' Premiership, grabbing a double at Morphettville on the final day to secure the title by two wins.
They started the day with 43 wins, equal with Richard and Chantelle Jolly, and won with Sachem (Street Boss {USA}) and Second To Nun (Akeed Mofeed {GB}).
“It’s been a long, hard season, we’ve trained consistently well and changed so many things up,” Clarken told racing.com.
“I’m so proud of Niki, he’s come on board and we’ve had to adapt different systems, we’ve had to work through it, but it’s been a strong effort. The support we’ve had this week – this morning my phone was just lit up. It’s been a bit of a David and Goliath battle going the whole way – we started with half the horses and ended up getting the chocolates.”
Schiller tops $20million in prizemoney
Tyler Schiller joined an elite club when at Royal Randwick on Saturday he became the third jockey in Australia this season to ride the winners of more than $20 million in prizemoney when he won on Peter and Paul Snowden trained Enotis (Stratum Star). James McDonald and Blake Shinn are the other two. “It's been a great season and I've got a lot of owners and trainers to thank for their support,” Schiller told racenet.com.au.
“The job ahead is to match my achievements next season and possibly even better them.” This season, he has ridden 126 winners including two Group 1 victories aboard Celestial Legend (Dundeel {NZ}) in the G1 Doncaster Mile and Lady Laguna (Overshare) in the G1 Canterbury S.
Inazuma Boy wins at Toowoomba
Trainer Pat Webster’s 2-year-old gelding Inazuma Boy (Kobayashi) won the first at the Toowoomba night meeting on Saturday at his second start. Ridden by apprentice Olivia Webb, he was having his second start and became the eighth juvenile winner for his sire this season.
Group 1 targets for Dusty Road
Dusty Road (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) gave trainer Graeme Cameron his first taste of Group 1 racing last year, and will head there again after a dominant win at Te Rapa on Saturday. “I don’t know if I’m going over the top or not, but I’m looking at the Tarzino,” Cameron told Loveracing.nz.
“I think he deserves a go in that race. We’ll go straight there, rather than running in the Foxbridge Plate. This horse is just a ripper. I think the 4kg claim did wonders for him today and it was a really good win.” Dusty Road has now won four of his 21 starts and ran 11th in his only Group 1 start to date, the 2023 G1 Levin Classic.
Century for Marsh
Trainer Stephen Marsh topped $5 million in stakes won for the first time in his training career to date this season, and on Saturday Hula Beat (NZ) (Redwood {GB}) gave Marsh his third successive season with 100 wins. “We have had a few people here on course and in the box with us and it’s fair to say it erupted a bit,” Marsh told Loveracing.nz.
“It does mean a lot as it was going to be a tough battle and I’m rapt for the team and everyone involved. It’s just nice to go out with this for the year as I would hate to end on 99 wins.
“This horse has been going really well and we wanted him to go back (in the running) which he did. It was a beautiful ride by Ace (Lawson-Carroll), and I said to him just get his breathing right and he did. I was worried he would get squeezed out of a gap, but he rode a beautiful race, a mature race.” Hula Beat has five wins from 23 starts.
World Record smashes opponents in G2 Amsterdam
Siena Farm and WinStar Farm's 3-year-old colt World Record (USA) (Gun Runner {USA}), third last out in the Maxfield Stakes at Churchill Downs June 30, received a much more aggressive ride from Flavien Prat on Friday and ran a compact–but talented–field off their feet in the G2 Amsterdam S. at Saratoga on Friday.
He has won two of his four starts and this was his first stakes win.
Emily Upjohn added to Nassau S
Dual Group 1 winner Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) has been supplemented at a cost of £40,000 to the G1 Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood on Aug. 1.
Her addition brings the field to 12, with her rivals including both John and Thady Gosden stablemate Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}), and trainer Aidan O'Brien's Group 1 winner Opera Singer (USA) (Justify {USA}).
HISA reports continued downward trend of fatalities
The second quarter of 2024 (April 1-June 30) continued the downward trajectory of the rate of racing-related equine fatalities in the industry, according to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA)'s 2024 Second Quarter Metrics Report.
Since the implementation of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program on May 22, 2023, which represents the point in time when HISA became fully operational, the fatality rate has declined for four consecutive quarters, including an approximate 49% decrease year over year in the second quarter of 2024. Racetracks operating under HISA's rules and running races in the second quarter reported 0.76 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts, compared to 1.48 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts in the second quarter of 2023.
“Thoroughbred racing is consistently getting safer with HISA's involvement and the commitment of our racing stakeholders, especially the horsemen and veterinarians who work so diligently under HISA to keep horses safe,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus.
More industry participants take aim at HISA
Eight individual owners, trainers and other Thoroughbred industry licensees in Oklahoma on July 24 filed what is now the sixth federal lawsuit in three years to try and get the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) declared unconstitutional.
“As with other litigation making similar claims, we will vigorously defend our ability to implement HISA's safety and integrity rules,” a spokesperson for the Authority stated Friday in an email to TDN.
The plaintiffs in this new case are Joe Offolter, Danny Caldwell, Elizabeth Butler, Randy Blair, Bryan Hawk, Scott Young, Boyd Caster and Michael Major. The complaint describes most of them as licensed participants for the upcoming Thoroughbred meet at Remington Park in Oklahoma City that starts August 16.
