Daily News Wrap

Mr Brightside uninjured in fires

After several worried messages to the Lindsay Park social media about nine-time Group 1 winner Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars), co-trainer JD Hayes has informed fans that the star galloper was never in danger. “He’s just arrived back,” JD Hayes told dailytelegraph.com.au.

“He was housed at Noorilim safe and sound (during the fires) recovering from surgery. He was safe and sound and never in any danger. The king has returned.”

Dwyer’s Guineas filly could thrill

Trainer Shaun Dwyer will run 3-year-old filly Dragonne Rouge (Dracarys) in Saturday’s R.Listed Magic Millions Guineas. “She’s a very good filly and I can’t see why she can’t go on to better things in black type races,” Dwyer told racing.com.

Winner of the Listed Calway Gal Stakes at two, she resumed with an eighth in the Listed Nudgee Stakes last start. “We drew the outside in the Nudgee and ended up on the fence which was the worst part of the track. She was second 50 metres past the post.”

Rosehill resumes after rehabilitation

Rosehill racecourse has undergone a six-week rehabilitation and racing will resume there on Saturday with the Listed January Cup. “The Rosehill Gardens surface has come through in super order after its major renovation over the past six weeks,” Australian Turf Club General Manager of Racecourses, Michael Wood told racingnsw.com.au.

“The entire circuit was significantly mowed and then scarified before being cored, swept and top dressed with 550 tonnes of washed sand. This removes organic matter and significantly improves moisture movement capability, bringing with it a fresh coverage of grass and uniformity.”

Hickman’s double for Magic Millions day

Trainer Greg Hickman will head to Saturday’s Magic Millions race day with two strong contenders. Private Legacy (The Autumn Sun) runs in the Magic Millions Subzero and 3-year-old filly Alabama Charm (Alabama Express) in the maiden event. “(Private Legacy) was ridden upside down last start and it just burnt her out in the end,” Hickman told racenet.com.au.

“Jason Collett gets back on her on Saturday, and we just want the race to have a genuine bit of pace. Everything she's shown me is that she still has the will to race but not much has gone right at her last few starts. She's settled in well up here and I'm pretty happy with how she's going ahead of Saturday.”

Unbeaten Jewel Bandit heads to Flemington

Trainers Mark and Levi Kavanagh will test their unbeaten 3-year-old gelding Jewel Bandit (Pierata) at Flemington on Saturday. He has won two from two. “It is a pretty strong race. It would be good to see where he's at,” Levi Kavanagh told racenet.com.au.

“It's going to be good for us to see him up against some horses with some really good form. The topweight has won three in a row and there's a few others that are only lightly raced that have had wins and placings and things like that.”

Alligator Blood case continues

Alligator Blood (All Too Hard)’s original owner Allan Endresz has indicated he will make a High Court challenge to a Supreme Court of Queensland appeals decision. The horse was stripped of his Magic Millions Guineas victory after positive swab to the banned substance, altrenogest, in 2020.

An initial court appeal found the owners hadn’t been given due process and the disqualification was overturned, however, Racing Queensland indicated they would re-try to the case. Endresz took the case back to court and on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal in Queensland dismissed Endresz’s case to stop the second investigation, and awarded costs to the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission and other parties.

This allows Racing Queensland to open a new inquiry into the matter, and Endresz’ is planning to appeal to the High Court to stop this inquiry.

Excluded person seeking retired racehorses

Racing NSW has written to inform racing participants to be wary about Katherine Brown who is on the excluded list and is currently seeking retired racehorses. “Industry participants are reminded that persons on the Racing NSW Excluded List are prohibited from participating in racing activities, including involvement in the acquisition, transfer, or rehoming of retired racehorses where such involvement may constitute a breach of Racing NSW rules or conditions of exclusion,” said the industry notice.

“If you are contacted by any person using the above names or social media identifiers, or by anyone acting on her behalf in relation to retired racehorses, you are requested to contact the Racing NSW Integrity Department prior to entering into any discussions or arrangements.”

TAB manual error at Seymour quickly fixed

When betting opened for Seymour on Thursday, punters were surprised to see last start winner The Sweeney (Sizzling) open at $1.85. For a short time, until it was corrected, this caused punters to seek out good value options with the rest of the market moving with the short favourite. The last start winner is currently at $126.

“A manual error had caused the wrong price to be initially posted about The Sweeney at Seymour,” a TAB spokesperson told racenet.com.au.

“The error was spotted and the market reset. There was no material impact to turnover. We pride ourselves on leading the market in racing. We're first to market for most domestic races which gives our customers first opportunity to bet.” Several bookmakers followed suit with the early short price and have since corrected. The 4-year-old gelding has won once from nine starts.

Launceston Guineas won by Dad And Dave

Time Test (GB) gelding Dad And Dave (NZ) was victorious in Wednesday night's Listed Launceston Guineas at the night meeting in Tasmania. The 3-year-old is trained by Ciaron Maher from his Cranbourne base, and made the trip across after breaking his maiden at Kyneton. He beat locally trained Crack The Shutters (Alpine Eagle) by a length and a quarter.

A NZ$55,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run purchase for Maher, Dad And Dave is the first foal out of a Rip Van Winkle (Ire) half-sister to G3 Lexus Stakes winner Cismontane (NZ) (High Chaparral {Ire}).

Experience pays off for Sussex Duchess

On Wednesday at Geelong, Andrew Noblet-trained 4-year-old mare Sussex Duchess (Hellbent) used her race day experience to cope with a barrier issue, false start, and subsequent re-start to record her first win. “Maybe that bit of race experience that she had over the dangers has been on her side, but it’s really good to that maiden out of the way,” stable representative Simon McCartin told racing.com. She was having her seventh start.

“The owners have had to be a little bit patient, but we’ve always liked her. She’s a well-bred mare now, and she looks to be in for a good prep.”

Two horses broke through the gates, in two separate incidents and were both scratched, before the gates opened incorrectly when the race finally jumped 8 minutes late. All remaining runners were pulled up quickly, inspected by the on-course veterinarian, and reloaded for a second attempt.

Victoria launches rich maiden series

Racing Victoria announced a rich maiden series, Sportsbet Up & Coming Stars Series, with seven heats leading to a final at Caulfield in April. “The inaugural Sportsbet Up & Coming Stars Series offers yet another opportunity for maiden horses to turbocharge their racing careers by landing a significant windfall for their connections,” Racing Victoria Chief Operating Officer Vaughn Lynch told racing.com.

“With the Up & Coming Stars set to build on the success of the Emerging Stars and the Future Stars, there has never been a better time to own a maiden horse here in Victoria. In conjunction with Sportsbet, we are hopeful interstate trainers will also target some of these rich heats as we build towards the inaugural final at Caulfield in April.” The $300,000 final headlines the $925,000 series.

First foals for Auguste Rodin and City Of Troy

First foals by Epsom Derby winners Auguste Rodin and City Of Troy arrived in Europe on Monday, Coolmore announced.

Group 1-winning juvenile Auguste Rodin's first foal was a bay filly out of the Millenium Stud-owned Only In Dreams (Le Havre). She arrived at Haras de Pierrepont and was described as “a quality filly”. The son of Deep Impact shuttled to Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand in 2025.

Also a Group 1 winner at two, City Of Troy welcomed a colt later that same day. Out of Listed-winning 2-year-old Ritournelle (Camelot), the bay colt was born at Coolmore. City Of Troy shuttled to Coolmore’s Hunter Valley base in 2025. “He's a very good first foal. A quality colt with scope and strength; a great start for both the mare and the stallion,” said Coolmore's Eddie Fitzpatrick.

HISA suspends two veterinarians over banned substances

Two racetrack veterinarians who are the principals of Maryland Veterinary Group (MVG) have been served with notices of violations and were given provisional suspensions that started Jan. 12 after Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) searches of that practice's offices at Laurel Park and Delaware Park allegedly turned up “banned” substances that, under Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) rules, are never to be found in any covered Thoroughbred or possessed on any HISA-regulated grounds.

Dr. Nicholas Meittinis and Dr. Adam Lockard are both alleged to have violated HISA Rule 2215 (“No Covered Person acting alone or in concert with another person shall compromise the welfare of a Covered Horse for competitive or commercial reasons…”) and Rule 2271(a)(1) (“Use of physical or veterinary procedures to mask the effects or signs of injury so as to allow training or racing to the detriment of the Covered Horse's health and welfare.”).

TDN emailed both veterinarians on Tuesday to get their sides of the story. Meittinis wrote back and said, “as our hearing has not yet been scheduled, I withhold any comments at this time. I'll be happy to comment after the hearing.” Lockard did not reply prior to deadline for this story.