Legarto to miss spring with pulled muscle
Group 1 winning mare Legarto (NZ) (Proisir) will miss the early spring races after pulling a muscle at the trials. “She is on the quiet list. She has been pulled out of Hastings,” trainer Ken Kelso told Loveracing.nz.
Legarto | Image courtesy of Trish Dunell
“It is nothing major, she has strained a muscle which she probably did it at the trials. It is just a setback. She has gone to the water walker and will have two to three weeks off.”
Kiwi filly gets jockey’s vote of confidence for Quezette S.
Ben Gleeson was happy to receive a vote of confidence from in-demand jockey Michael Dee ahead of 3-year-old-filly Bellatrix Star's (Star Witness) Australian debut at Caulfield on Saturday in the G3 Quezette S. “He's been very pleased with her and wants to stick with her, which says a lot,” Gleeson told racing.com.
“She's a lovely filly and she brings arguably the top New Zealand 2-year-old form being around Velocious and Move To Strike. She ran an unlucky fourth in the Karaka Millions and before that she defeated the winner. She's got great form, and it will be interesting to see how that stacks up here.” Winner of two of her five starts at two, she beat both the Group 1 winners mentioned by Gleeson in the G2 Eclipse S.
Warmonger’s connections turn down Hong Kong offer
Connections of G1 Queensland Derby winner Warmonger (War Decree {USA}) have rejected a significant offer from Hong Kong owners to purchase the gelding. “There was one particularly good one, but it was a clear no,” Michael Kent Jnr, who trains in partnership with Mick Price, told racing.com.
“There's a lot of owners in this horse, I've got a lot of friends in the horse. We went to Adelaide, got beat, Adelaide (again), we were disappointed and then everyone was there for the Queensland Derby and that feeling, it's priceless. I think everyone realises that and now we're chasing the Cups dream in the spring. He's not for sale!”
Mr Brightside gallops at The Valley
Tuesday saw Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars) gallop at Moonee Valley as an important part of his build-up towards a mouth-watering first-up bout against Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai) in the G1 Memsie S. at Caulfield on August 31. “He had a nice gallop there with a workmate and we're really happy with his work,” co-trainer Ben Hayes told racing.com.
Mr Brightside (NZ) | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
“It was very kind of Moonee Valley to let us have it. He was on a beautiful surface and he joined in and went to the line nice and strong. He's definitely going to take some nice improvement out of it and he's right on track for the Memsie.”
Tassie runner for Quezette S.
Tasmanian trainer Stuart Gandy is set for a rare interstate mission when he takes unbeaten 3-year-old filly Geegees Mistruth (Wordsmith) to the G3 Quezette S. at Caulfield on Saturday. “You don’t know if you don’t go,” Gandy told tasracing.com.au. at Tuesday’s trials in Hobart.
“We head over today (Tuesday) and will stay with Matt Ellerton before Saturday’s race. You look at the breeding of who is in the field, and we know we’re up against it.” A dual Listed winner and unbeaten in four starts at two, Geegees Mistruth will be first up for the Quezette.
Neasham/Archibald hoping for first Queensland winner
New training partnership Annabel Neasham/Rob Archibald is hopeful of claiming its first Queensland winner at Ipswich on Wednesday with three runners at the meeting, King Potter (Rothesay), Diablo Bolt (Hellbent) and Addriel (Harry Angel {Ire}) whose three wins have all come at Ipswich
“We’re keeping a watch on the weather with the rain around, but Diablo Bolt loves wet tracks,” assistant trainer in Brisbane Todd Pollard told racingqueensland.com.au. “He ran well in a Saturday metro race last start so he’ll appreciate the drop back in class.”
Pride Of Dubai winner at Hawkesbury
Trainer Ciaron Maher’s 3-year-old filly Slick N Quick (Pride Of Dubai) won at Hawkesbury on Tuesday. She was having her second race day start and was ridden by Zac Lloyd for a 1.38l victory.
Treble for Ford at Hawkesbury
Jockey Jay Ford rode a treble at Hawkesbury on Tuesday aboard 3-year-old gelding Mogul Monarch (Capitalist), Threatening (Shamus Award) and Northern Eyes (Zoustar).
Mogul Monarch and Northern Eyes are trained by Kim Waugh, while Threatening is from the Joseph Pride stable.
Two 3-year-old winners at Ballarat
Tuesday’s Ballarat meeting saw two winning 3-year-olds and both were ridden by jockey Harry Coffey. Tony and Calvin McEvoy trained filly Twin Engine (Flying Artie) won the 1400-metre maiden by a smashing 5.25l at her third race day start.
Matt Laurie trained filly Patriot Star (Deep Field) won the 1200-metre maiden by 0.5l and had placed in both her two starts prior to Tuesday’s win.
North Pacific service on offer at Goulburn Cup meeting
Sunday week’s Goulburn Australia Goulburn Cup meeting will feature the 10th edition of The Guy Walter, a race named in honour of the Hall of Fame trainer. Newgate Farm will sponsor the race and this year Newgate Farm is offering a major incentive for winning connections in the form of a complimentary stallion service to exciting sire North Pacific.
North Pacific | Standing at Newgate Farm
"Our relationship with the Newgate Farm team on The Guy Walter is a valued one and we welcome their generous support in 2024. The Guy Walter is an integral part of our Cup Day program and reaches a ten-year milestone this year. The race carries a torch for the legacy of Guy, both as a trainer and mentor,” Goulburn District Race Club's President, Ken Ikin told racingnsw.com.au.
First runner for Barkla
Matthew Barkla will saddle up his first runner when Radiant Knight (So You Think {NZ}) steps out at Murray Bridge on Wednesday. The former jockey and trackwork rider has also trained and driven harness horse winners. He purchased Radiant Knight at an Inglis Digital auction.
“His work has been good, he’s drawn a nice barrier and has a good jockey (Jess Eaton) on board so hopefully he can run well,” Barkla told racingsa.com.au.
Hearn back from retirement
Jockey Alex Hearn who commenced his apprenticeship in 2011 and retired from the saddle nearly a decade ago, returns to the riding ranks at Pinjarra on Wednesday. “I have been back in WA for about five years and have been around horses doing some farrier work,” Hearn said to Racing WA.
“I was watching the races one day and thought what’s stopping me from giving it another crack. It was about six months ago that I started getting an itch to get back into it. I am one hundred per cent in and want to give it a proper go.
“I actually lost 32kg to make the comeback. I had quite a bit of weight to lose and it took every bit of four months. I’m at about 56kg and can ride 54kg. I’ve had a couple of good hit outs at trials and it felt pretty easy.”
St Mark's Basilica and Victor Ludorum lead new stallions at Arqana
Six as yet unproven stallions are represented by yearlings scheduled to go through the ring at Arqana. They include St Mark's Basilica (Fr), who seems destined to take star billing in this category if sheer weight of numbers alone is anything to go by. With 12 lots by St Mark's Basilica in the catalogue, he is the most heavily represented of the first-season sires, ahead of fellow French Classic winner Victor Ludorum (GB) with 10.
St Mark's Basilica (Fr) | Standing at Coolmore
Catalogues released for Books 2, 3 and 4 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale
The catalogues for Books 2-4 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale are now available online.
Book 2 comprises 773 yearlings and takes place from October 14-16, while 571 lots are scheduled to go under the hammer from October 17-18 when Book 3 takes centre stage. Book 4 has a further 81 yearlings also selling on Friday, October 18, immediately following the conclusion of Book 3.
Chad Brown buys US$370k Quality Road colt at Fasig
Fasig-Tipton concluded an impressive week of work in Saratoga with the second and final session of the company's New York-Bred Yearling Sale Monday at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion. The auction finished with a sale-record median and the third-highest average in its history.
Trainer Chad Brown, bidding on behalf of Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stable made the sale's highest bid when going to US$370,000 ($561,048).
During the two-day New York-bred sale, 182 yearlings grossed US$19,095,500 (AU$28.82million) for an average of US$104,920 (AU$159,000) and a median of US$86,500 (AU$131,200). The median for 2023 was US$75,000 (AU$113,800).
