Knobelas ready for Group 1 challenge
Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained Group 3-placed Knobelas (NZ) (Belardo {Ire}) will stretch to 2000 metres for Saturday’s G1 Herbie Dyke Stakes at Te Rapa. “She's a very progressive mare but the big unknown is 2000 metres, but this is certainly a good chance to find out,” Kent Jnr told Loveracing.nz.
Knobelas (NZ) | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
“We're very hopeful she does get the 2000 metres, but you never know until you try it. She’s certainly had the right preparation and she'll be fifth-up on Saturday. We've got a good jockey in Daniel Stackhouse and a good barrier (two). Daniel's a prolific winner over here, he's looking for his first Group 1, and it'd be nice if we could supply him with that.”
Last start G1 Zabeel Classic winner Kingswood (GB) (Roaring Lion {USA}) also runs for Aussie trainer Gavin Bedggood who will be at Te Rapa to support his Caulfield runner Hedged (Capitalist). “Hedged has won twice (for the stable) and both times I haven’t been on course,” Bedggood told racing.com.
Baker happy with Profitabelle for Millennium
Trainer Bjorn Baker is happy with R.Listed Inglis Millennium runner 2-year-old filly Profitabelle (Profiteer) who is one of two runners for her first season sire, a winner of this race himself. “She jumped better in her last trial, Regan (Bayliss) knows her well and gate one is always the quickest way home,” Baker told racingnsw.com.au.
Bjorn Baker | Image courtesy of Bjorn Baker Racing
“Her first run was very good where we did draw wide and had to get back further than envisaged. She’s a high class quality filly with a big frame. It’s definitely not straightforward, it’s a tough race, but she’s well. There’ll be plenty of speed on and there’ll be breaks for her at some stage.”
Wodeton kicks off in G3 Eskimo Prince
Group 1-placed 3-year-old colt Wodeton (Wootton Bassett {GB}) will kick off his autumn campaign in Saturday’s G3 Eskimo Prince Stakes. “He’s going pretty good, he worked well (Monday) morning. I’ve kept him pretty fresh but fit,” Waller told racingnsw.com.au.
Wodeton | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“He is a colt by Wootton Bassett and he just needs to tick off that big Group 1. He’s run second in a Golden Slipper and second in a Golden Rose so we have to win a Group 1 with him. With those good colts they normally get retired after the end of their 3-year-old year so we try to win as many as we can before they get retired.”
O’Brien buys unraced Blue Diamond prospect
Trainer Danny O’Brien and owner Sean Buckley have purchased unraced 2-year-old colt Closer To Free (Street Boss {USA}) on the back of his trial win on January 29. “We purchased him off Adrian (Corboy) after the trial at Caulfield. I saw him in the trial that day and Adrian, he’s a trader, so I made him an offer, and he was bought that day,” O’Brien told racing.com.
Danny O’Brien | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“I just thought he was a lovely horse. Physically, he was there and obviously he trialled very well that day. He’s got a great pedigree. He’s out of a 2-year-old stakes winner and he’s by Street Boss so he had a lot of things going for him.” The second foal of Listed Cinderella Stakes winner Lady Naturaliste (Choisir) will debut in Saturday’s G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (c&g) and holds a nomination for the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes.
Crooks to unveil another promising juvenile
Owner Mike Crooks hopes his 2-year-old filly Mishani Rozay (Kobayashi) can win on debut at Doomben on Saturday to add to his QTIS Jewel arsenal. “She is pretty much on audition on Saturday to see how good she is, to let us know whether we should target the Jewel,” Crooks told racenet.com.au.
Mike Crooks | Image courtesy of Racing Queensland
“The mare (Mishani Shiraz) hasn't really thrown any good horses yet with her foals, but I'm thinking this filly could be one. I really like Lindsay Gough, he does the right thing, and he and I get on bloody well. I have had a couple of slow horses with Lindsay before, but he is a great guy and I will continue supporting him.”
The Debut winner Toorak Jewel (Tassort) also heads to the Jewel. “I would prefer to go to the Jewel with her, she has only had one start. It takes a very good horse to go to Sydney and compete with $2m youngsters. But if she races well up here there is a chance we could then go to Sydney, with a race like the Percy Sykes a small possibility.”
Better Than Ready juvenile leads sire double
Better Than Ready celebrated a double at Rockhampton on Thursday. Kris Hansen-trained 2-year-old filly Ready Marea won on debut against a field of two and 3-year-old maidens. She is owned by Fred Noffke, of Sheza Alibi (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) fame, and was purchased by him for $25,000 from Kenmore Lodge’s Capricornia Sale draft.
Ready Marea is the fourth runner and second winner for Heavenly Anna (Duporth) who won five races in NSW, including two in Sydney.
Better Than Ready’s other winner on the card was Glenda Bell-trained 4-year-old gelding Ready Lightly.
Leopard Shark wins at Pakenham
Clayton Douglas-trained 2-year-old filly Leopard Shark (Churchill {Ire}) won the opening event at Thursday’s Pakenham night meeting by an impressive 2.75 lengths. She’d run sixth in the G3 Blue Diamond Preview (f) last start.
Leopard Shark was sold by Gippsland Bloodstock at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale for $26,000 to Sharnee Rose Bloodstock. She’s a half-sister to Ballistic Blue (Blue Point {Ire}) won his maiden four days ago to make it a good week for their dam Stylish Missile (Smart Missile).
Stylish Missile won four races and is from the family of tough 15-race winner and dual Listed Conquering Stakes winner I’m Wesley (I Am Invincible).
Race caller Matt Hill set for Olympics
Victorian race caller Matt Hill will join Channel 9’s Winter Olympics coverage which begins on Friday. “It’s my eighth Olympics, if you count summer and winter,” Hill racing.com.
“I’m doing the alpine skiing, so some of the blue ribband of the Winter Olympics is first-up on Saturday night, the men’s downhill. There’s something really quite exciting about the downhill because the skiers get one go at it, they get one run down the hill and that’s it, the fastest wins. It’s an exciting sport to call.”
Matt Hill | Image courtesy of MattHill.com
Yargi-trained horse safe after escaping
Trainers Amy and Ash Yargi have thanked the public for assisting in catching a loose horse from their stable who dumped the rider at the beach in the morning. The name of the horse was not released in the statement. “He’s just feeling really well and got in the water, started to buck, dropped the rider, then continued to buck in the water and on the sand and then took off down the road,” Amy Yargi said on socials.
“He’s absolutely fine, which is the most important thing, and no one was hurt, thank goodness. We’re really grateful for the help of a number of people. We had four horses there, so the other three were loaded on to the truck and our three staff took off with the help of bystanders in their cars, they jumped in the cars and took off after the horse as well.
“He ran around a little bit and caused a bit of a scene but thankfully… he was captured and not injured at all, and neither were any civilians either. He goes to the beach twice a week and he’s an absolute pet, generally speaking, but he’s just feeling really well.”
Three successive Million Challenge wins for Hayes
Trainer David Hayes won his third successive DBS x Manulife Million Challenge on Wednesday night at Happy Valley with Romantic Son (Smart Missile). His previous two winners were Soleil Fighter (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) and Tomodachi Kokoroe (Written Tycoon). “It was very exciting to see Romantic Son win it – he’s my syndicate horse and they’re a great bunch of people, it’s such a thrill,” Hayes told scmp.com.
David Hayes | Image courtesy of The Hong Kong Jockey Club
“It’s been tough at home but nothing has been wrong here, we’re up there now in the premiership and are certainly right in the hunt now – long may it continue.”
Highview Stud to hold on-farm dispersal sale
New Zealand Bloodstock announced on Thursday that they will conduct an Unreserved Deplenishing Sale of around 50 lots for Highview Stud on Sunday March 15. “There’s a changing of the guard at Highview, with my son Kurtis now taking a more prominent leadership role,” Highview’s Brent Gillovic said.
“We’ve accumulated a lot of horses so this is a genuine reduction process to trim the operation back to around 30 to 40 mares before I hand over the reins. We have held a couple of these deplenishing sales previously back in the early 2000s which were quite successful. While it goes against the trend in today’s day and age, for us it is just easier to manage this many horses in one go, here onsite, and sell them all in one hit.
Brent Gillovic | Image courtesy of Highview Stud
“We’ve got a number of sires represented including some nice young horses by the likes of Wrote, Santos, Divine Prophet, Sword of State, Xtravagant, Hello Youmzain, Sweynesse, Vadamos and more. There will be something for everyone. At the end of the day, our main goal is to find these horses good homes, we’re not expecting the world for them. It will be a nice Sunday afternoon, with plenty of opportunity for everyone.”
Tattersalls to alter catalogue starting letters for 2026
After an announcement that starting letters would be harmonised across sales companies in 2026, a change in position by one of those sales companies has resulted in a revision to the Tattersalls Group's starting letters for this year.
All Tattersalls sales in Newmarket will are catalogued alphabetically, either by lot name or dam name and will remain on F, apart from the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale which will revert to its unique starting letter of K. Tattersalls Ireland will revert to starting letter P for Flat sales at Fairyhouse and letter F for all National Hunt sales.
Dubawi colt for triple Group 1 winner Nashwa
The three-time Group 1 winner Nashwa (Frankel) has delivered her first foal, a Dubawi colt, at Blue Diamond Stud. “We are delighted with Nashwa's first foal, a good strong colt with an attractive head and plenty of quality,” Imad Alsagar said of the new arrival.
“Nashwa is extremely special to us as a homebred champion from a family that we continue to develop. She will now return to Dubawi.”
Imad Alsagar's homebred Nashwa retired at the end of the 2024 season as the winner of five of her 18 career starts for John and Thady Gosden. Most notably, she won the Prix de Diane and Nassau Stakes as a 3-year-old, before returning the following year to add the Falmouth Stakes to her top-level tally.
A look through Keeneland’s new Paddock Building
As an unrelenting stretch of icy winter cold hangs over the Bluegrass, the thought of a sunny spring day of racing at Keeneland with the dogwood trees in bloom sure feels like a welcome reprieve.
At the upcoming Spring Meet, Keeneland will celebrate the grand opening of the interior hospitality spaces in the new three-story Paddock Building. To help chase away the winter cold, Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin sat down with TDN to share more details on Keeneland's five new venues before tickets go on sale on Tuesday, February 17.
“All the rooms are furnished and we're just finalizing, going through a punch list with our contractor and getting everything wrapped up,” Arvin told TDN writer Katie Petrunyak. “We spent a lot of time looking at the history of design at Keeneland, which goes back to the days of Mrs. [Alma] Haggin, who really was in charge of it at the beginning.”
New Paddock Building at Keeneland | Image courtesy of Keeneland
“One of the reasons that it was so important to us that Matt Carter be involved was because I feel like he has really looked at the history and understands what the feel of Keeneland should be, but at the same time can focus on modernizing it and adding in some fun touches.
“Part of the reason that we built the Paddock Building was because we didn't have enough supply for the demand, which is an incredible problem to have, and we do not take it for granted. So we want to be sure that we can fulfill as many requests as we can. We expect that it will be very well received and we're still going to run out of inventory pretty quickly, honestly, but that's 1000 more people per day we can seat, which is great.”
