Dr Clarke on King’s Birthday honours list
One of the founder of Living Legends, Dr Andrew Clarke has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the King’s Birthday honours list.
“On behalf of Racing Victoria, I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to Dr Andrew Clarke, OAM for receiving the Medal of the Order of Australia for his exceptional service to equine welfare as part of the King’s Birthday Honours,” Racing Victoria CEO Aaron Morrison told racing.com.
“Andrew has devoted most of his working life to the care of horses, and this honour is richly deserved. He has enjoyed a distinguished career as an equine veterinarian and I would like to commend him for the exceptional work he has undertaken as the chief executive of Living Legends, a not-for-profit charity which has won several tourism awards.
“In his longstanding role at Living Legends, Andrew and his team have cared for some of the country’s greatest racehorses in their retirement, and so we thank and applaud him for his ongoing commitment to equine welfare.”
Clarke thanked all of those who have helped at Living Legends in the past two decades. “I have been so lucky to work with so many different really good people and teams.
“I’ve just got to thank everyone that has been involved, from the owners and all the supporters. It’s a great team to work with and without them Living Legends just wouldn’t be. The question put up was ‘what if the champion horses didn’t disappear from the public. What if they could stay in the public limelight?
“It’s the legends and heroes of all sports that people relate to. For us, it’s especially the (Melbourne) Cup winners – the respect that people show them, gives us a look into just how important the Melbourne Cup is to the people of Australia.
“In a lot of ways, we are the shop window for life after racing. For the general public, they can’t really get near horses. Yet they come here, they can come for 364 days a year and come and meet some legends and pat a legend and simply get close to a horse.”
Yellow Brick can repeat last year’s Stradbroke run
Second in last year’s G1 Stradbroke Handicap, Yellow Brick (The Mission) comes into the race in similar form for trainers Tony and Maddysen Sears.
“People should totally disregard his last run as he was a bit big going into it, he drew a bad barrier and he pulled very hard in the middle stages of the race which wasn't ideal,” Tony Sears told racenet.com.au.
Yellow Brick | Image courtesy of Trackside Photography
“We have added a crossover noseband to him and he has had two or three pretty serious gallops since his last start and has come on enormously. He will improve out of sight, don't you worry about that. He will be right on his game come Stradbroke day, he certainly won't be short of a run.
“It is the same sort of scenario as last year, he raced bad the start before and then look what he did in the Stradbroke.”
Half Yours reaching distance in Q22
G1 Melbourne Cup winner Half Yours (St Jean {Ire}) should be hitting his straps in Saturday’s Q22 over 2200 metres.
“He’s very, very well. Looks great. He’s shining and I think he’s probably as good as he’s been all preparation,” co-trainer Calvin McEvoy told racing.com.
Half Yours | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“He’s going to need to be. The team up there are super happy. He’ll do one more piece of work next Tuesday morning. The 2200 (metres) is going to be really good and Eagle Farm is going to suit. It’s been the one race out of all the races so far that should be suitable to him.
“I don’t want to sound like we are making any excuses after the fact, but we thought Gold Coast wouldn’t suit and he’d be a little bit vulnerable and Doomben, a little bit similar, and now we are at Eagle Farm, he’s got no excuse.”
Racing Queensland publish 2026/27 calendar
Racing Queensland have published the calendar for the 2026/27 season. There will be 668 Thoroughbred race meetings run across the season with a reduction in the third TAB meeting on Saturdays and an increase in twilight meetings which garner stronger wagering results. Approximately 30 Non-TAB meetings will be converted to TAB status.
Determined Rose wins on debut at Mornington
On King’s Birthday Monday, Graebar Park’s 2-year-old filly Determined Rose (Hellbent) won on debut for trainer Jerome Hunter.
“She's always shown ability,” Hunter said.
“I've just had to tweak a few things with her. That's why I've kept the earmuffs on, because she can get a bit keen. Home track, with the earmuffs on, I think it ticked all the boxes. It was just getting her used to things.”
Sold by the Alma Vale/Kitchwin Hills Partnership at the Inglis Sydney Weanling Sale, Rich River Meats Exports purchased her for $20,000. She is the second foal and first runner for Flora Bel (Bel Esprit) who won three races.
The Barber’s win a lift for Taylor and Wehlow
Rockhampton trainer Alisha Taylor celebrated her biggest win when 2-year-old gelding The Barber (Barbaric) won Saturday’s Townsville Classic. Her husband, former trainer Jared Wehlow works in the mines.
“Jared hasn’t been well and has been in and out of hospital for the past nine months,” Taylor told racingqueensland.com.au on Monday.
“He’s had a gut problem and the doctors can’t pinpoint the cause.
“I think The Barber will make an even better 3-year-old, so he’ll be going for a spell now. I think three races as a 2-year-old is enough and he needs to mature a bit more.”
Darmanin returns with a win
Jockey Anthony Darmanin returned from injury to ride a winner at Hobart on Sunday aboard Geegees Mercedes (Wordsmith) for trainer Stuart Gandy.
“It’s been tough. I’ve missed it, and I didn’t think I would. It’s great to be back. I’ve got to work a bit on my weight, which will be a priority in the next week,” Darmanin told tasracing.com.au.
Twice the Tasmanian Champion Jockey, Darmanin was sidelined with a back fracture. Geegees Mercedes is a full sister to stakes placed Gee Gee Red Prince.
Sixpence wins G1 Yasuda Kinen
Making yet more history for the legendary jockey Yutaka Take, Sixpence (Kizuna) gained his first success at the top level when coming out on top in a thrilling finish to Sunday's Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo. The race is a 'Win and You're In' for the G1 Breeders' Cup Mile in October.
Edging ahead entering the final 50 metres, he ultimately gained the verdict by a neck from World's End (Lord Kanaloa) and the fast-finishing Gaia Force (Kitasan Black), who shared a dead-heat for second. Seiun Hades (Silver State) was just a neck further back in fourth, with it being the same distance again to Panja Tower (Tower Of London) in a blanket finish for the first five places.
For Take, it was a fourth career victory in the Yasuda Kinen, having previously struck with Oguri Cap (1990), Heart Lake (1995) and Vodka (2009), while this latest win also made him Japan's oldest Group 1-winning jockey at the age of 57.
“I was called up at a short notice to ride the horse for the first time, but I'm relieved to have been able to get my job done,” said the winning rider. “I did my homework, contacting his previous riders and, of course, the trainer who told me that he was capable of maintaining good speed to the wire. My plan was to have him up front, even lead if necessary, and although the front runners were pretty tenacious in the final stretch, with horses also coming from behind, Sixpence was very responsive. He has shown his true strength, with a lot to look forward to in his coming races.”
Sixpence is one of two winners from as many runners out of the G1 Madison Stakes heroine Finley'sluckycharm, who was purchased by Katsumi Yoshida for US$1.5 million (AU$2.1 million) at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. The daughter of Twirling Candy won 11 of her 19 career starts, with her other victories including the G2 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes and G2 Honorable Miss Handicap. Finley'sluckycharm, in turn, is out of the stakes performer Day Of Victory (Victory Gallop), while Sixpence's third dam is a half-sister to the multiple top-level winner Pure Clan (Pure Prize) and G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes scorer Greater Good (Intidab).
Nighttime has Group 1 target next
Christopher Head trainee and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere runner-up Nighttime (Wootton Bassett {GB}) may have hit a bump in the road when sixth in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains, but he remains firmly on course for next month's G1 Prix Jean Prat after overcoming eight foes in Sunday's G2 Prix Paul de Moussac at ParisLongchamp.
“I am so happy because I love to see sons of Wootton Bassett win Group races at Longchamp,” the winning trainer.
“He's really a very nice horse, he's been incredible as a 2-year-old and he's becoming more incredible at three. I can't wait to see him in his next race, which will be the (G1) Prix Jean Prat (at Deauville on July 12). That's what we're concentrating on for now.”
Starspangledbanner filly set for Royal Ascot
Exciting 2-year-old filly Senorita Bonita (Starspangledbanner) has made headlines once this year when stealing the show at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale. Consigned on behalf of the Gaffneys by Mark Flannery of Egmont Stud, she was knocked down to Anthony Stroud for 900,000gns (AU$1.78 million), following what Flannery described as an “exceptional breeze”.
Breeder Michael Gaffney admits that relief was the overriding emotion when Senorita Bonita carried the Victorious Forever silks to a last-gasp debut victory at Nottingham last Wednesday. “It was really brilliant,” Gaffney says of that performance.
“Starspangledbanner is our go-to sire. He's been a fantastic sire for us over the years and given us loads of black-type horses, including Castle Star, Unexpected Issues, Midnight Strike, King Of Stars and Two Stars.”
Further Ado rebounds to winner’s circle
Spendthrift Farm's Further Ado (Gun Runner), last seen finishing a disappointing 11th as the favourite in the G1 Kentucky Derby, got some consolation under the Twin Spires with an authoritative victory in the G3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sunday.
“He broke very well today, which is something he didn't do quite as well in the Derby,” said winning trainer Brad Cox. “He was able to put himself right into the race and he finished up very well with a big run.”
Further Ado's next target will likely be the July 18 G1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park. “We've had this race as a target after the Derby and he came into it training well. We felt like this was a good steppingstone to try something like the G1 Haskell at Monmouth next.”
