Freedman trains half the card
Trainer Mitchell Freedman won four of the eight races at Swan Hill on Tuesday. He opened proceedings with 3-year-old Cicconi Rain (Nicconi) who won her maiden at start three. Then he won races three and four with maiden winners Budjik Queen (Churchill {Ire}) and Wazza (Ghaiyyath {Ire}).
Freedman ended the meeting by winning the last on the card with Sacremental (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}) who took his record to four wins from 20 starts.
Racing Queensland to address field sizes
Racing Queensland will bring in a range of measures to address field size issues across the state. “Competitive field sizes continue to be a primary driver of commercial returns from wagering,” RQ Acting CEO Lachlan Murray told racingqueensland.com.au.
“Large scratching volumes negatively impact wagering levels and as a result, returns to industry. This has been driven through punter uncertainty and reduced confidence in wagering, particularly when early markets are offered.
“In May, we announced TAB meeting optimization measures in racing season 2026/27 as the first measure to grow field sizes and these next steps in a staged approach are aimed at further improving field sizes whilst simultaneously reducing the number of scratchings.”
One measure is to introduce progressive acceptances and cap emergencies at five. “Progressive acceptances has been well received in other jurisdictions so we see this as a positive for race meetings in Queensland,” Queensland Australian Trainers Association Executive Richard Andrews said.
“Ultimately, trainers must give their horses and owners the best opportunity to perform well, so poor draws will result in scratchings in any given race and rail placements add to this. The ATA looks forward on working with RQ on other initiatives including programming, particularly in SEQ, to further enhance field sizes.
“Like with any initiatives or reverting to previous systems, we look forward to seeing how it improves the current situation and will work closely with RQ to analyse the effects of these.”
Stokes becomes a partnership
Trainer Phillip Stokes will launch a training partnership with his son Tommy in the new season. “We made him earn it. He's been waiting a long time. He wanted to do a full season over here before he came in. He's got a good handle on it so he's ready to go,” Phillip Stokes told racenet.com.au.
Phillip Stokes | Image courtesy of Phillip Stokes Racing
“Ever since Covid, and I couldn't go over (to Adelaide), Tommy has been running the stable for about three seasons now and won premierships. He worked in Japan, for Darley in Japan, and he has travelled.”
Stokes’ other son Kerrin will continue to run the Adelaide stable for now. “I'm hoping to send my younger son over to Ireland later this year to work for Joseph O'Brien to get more grounding.”
Boomtown Boss set for Aurie’s Star
Tony Gollan-trained Boomtown Boss (Spirit Of Boom) will head to Melbourne for the G3 Aurie’s Star this weekend. “He's a horse that I think a bit of travel will bring him on quite a lot. He's a very busy horse at home and very comfortable in his own environment and I've noticed with a few of the horses that are like him, if you can get them away and get them into a new area, it brings them on mentally and that's what I feel like I can do with this bloke,” Gollan told racingandsports.com.au.
Tony Gollan | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“On his best form he is up to a race like this, as you can see by his runs during the winter, and I just thought travelling him would be ideal for him. He's a horse that likes a bit of room, that can get into his gallop and unleash a good turn of foot.
“Without him being down the straight, and it being an unknown, he probably profiles well enough from what we've seen on big tracks like Eagle Farm, to really enjoy the straight. I've had him in down in Melbourne for a while and got him into Ciaron's (Maher) stable at Cranbourne and the longer he's been there, the more he's picked up.”
Victoria introduces digital entry
All race meetings in Victoria next season will have digital tickets for owners with a runner on course which can be downloaded from Racing Victoria’s Owners Digital Ticketing Platform. Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association (TROA) are pleased with the change. “TROA welcomes the launch of owners race day digital tickets, which represents a real step forward for the race day experience of Victorian owners,” Munz told racenet.com.au.
“This is an exciting initiative that will allow owners to access and share tickets straight from a mobile phone – making members enclosure and mounting yard ticket access faster, easier and more convenient for owners right across Victoria – no queues, no waiting for physical tickets.
“TROA has been lobbying for many years to have this implemented and further improvements and enhancements are scheduled to be introduced over time. We thank Racing Victoria and the Victorian race clubs for their work and look forward to owners across the state enjoying the benefits next season.”
Eviction Notice looking for maiden win
Stakes placed 2-year-old gelding Eviction Notice (Stay Inside) is ready to run at Kensington on Wednesday and comes off a last start second at Warwick Farm. “I thought it was honest, there was improvement to come off it,” co-trainer Adrian Bott told racingnsw.com.au.
Eviction Notice | Image courtesy of Georgia Young Photography
“I still have a lot of belief in the horse, there’s a lot of talent and potential there and I don’t think we’ve been able to unlock the best of him just yet. That’s going to take a bit of racing, even though he’s been to the races on a few occasions I think he’s still maturing. Hopefully now as a gelding, with racing, it’s going to fall into place.”
Russian Camelot winner honours Michelle Payne
Patrick Payne-trained 2-year-old filly Ride Like Michelle (Russian Camelot {Ire}) was named to honour Patrick’s sister Michelle who was the first woman jockey to win the G1 Melbourne Cup. On Tuesday at Swan Hill, the filly made her debut and won by three-quarters of a length under jockey Alana Kelly.
Owned by So Bloodstock, Ride Like Michelle was bought by John Foote Bloodstock (FBAA) from Rheinwood Pastoral’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale draft.
She has plenty of Cups connections in her pedigree as the first foal of Nana Jenn (Star Witness) who is a winning half-sister to G1 Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare (Declaration Of War {USA}) as well as Group 3 winner Litzdeel (Dundeel {NZ}) who won the Australian Heritage Cup this season and was fifth in the G1 Sydney Cup. Nana Jenn’s full brother Lycurgus won the Listed Galilee Series Final.
Juvenile winner for Astern
Astern, who was exported to Türkiye in 2025, celebrated a juvenile debut winner at Bathurst on Tuesday with Pat Murphy trained 2-year-old gelding Let Up. Let Up is one of three winners out of Modesty (I Am Invincible) whose three wins included one at Moonee Valley. She is a half-sister to stakes placed Knowable (Hinchinbrook).
Record breaker has bold global plans
Balastier (Brazen Beau) set a new Darwin 1200 metre track record of 1:06.79, shaving 0.3sec off the previous record in July and his owner Sean Buckley has big plans. “This is the fastest dirt sprint horse in the world, I think he will show that on Saturday and break the track record again,” Buckley's racing manager and senior consultant Tony Khoury told racenet.com.au.
“They simply won't beat him. The horse's times are unbelievable and he has improved by two lengths since he smashed them the other day. We sent him to Darwin because we knew he goes really, really well on the dirt and you are limited in Melbourne and limited in Queensland with that sort of stuff.
“He just loves the dirt, he was handy on the grass, but he's a different animal on the dirt. He will win by at least two lengths on Saturday.
“We are hoping to get an invitation from Dubai to race in one of their sprints, because this horse's times on the dirt here are unbelievable. We could also consider taking the horse to America to race on the dirt.”
Century for Williams and Gibson
Triple Crown Syndications congratulated owners John Williams and Judy Gibson who celebrated 100 wins with horses through Triple Crown when Freddie Bassett (Wootton Bassett {GB}) won at Warwick Farm. “Our first horse was Mossenta when we started out with Triple Crown back in 2009, but he wasn’t the fastest of horses,” Williams said in a press release on Tuesday.
“We didn’t win a race until our second horse, Tabliope. We shared ownership in her with Darren King and his mum Marjorie who were some of the first owners we met, and we are still in horses with them today.
“Freddie’s win was special because, although we knew it was coming, it took a little while to crack the nineties. We had a great group of owners there to enjoy the occasion, which made it even better.”
Sonar ready for Ryder Stakes
The Listed Ryder Stakes for juveniles was shifted to Thursday and that will suit The Oaks Stud-owned Sonar (NZ) (U S Navy Flag {USA}). “He has worked really well and I couldn’t be any happier with him,” trainer Debbie Sweeney told Loveracing.nz.
“He was a little bit green at Te Aroha when he won but it was a gutsy win from him and Lynsey (Satherley, jockey) changed her whip over and it was a good ride from her as well. We will just get through Thursday and see what Rick Williams (Karreman’s racing manager) decides what they are going to do with him. If he goes nice enough, he will be targeting those nicer 3-year-old races.”
Bow Echo and Gstaad set for Sussex
Wednesday's G1 Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood has attracted a field of 12, with Bow Echo (Night Of Thunder) and Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) set to go head-to-head for the third time this season.
First and second in both the 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes, the George Boughey stable star and Ballydoyle heavyweight have fared well with the draw, with Bow Echo in four and his nemesis in one as they face their elders for the first time.
Horse slaughter, Clenbuterol, and the World Cup
During this summer's World Cup, an intriguing story was almost lost amid the carnival. As many as eight Tunisian football players tested positive for Clenbuterol, a drug banned in human sports and regulated in horse racing due to its anabolic properties.
The players were stationed in the Mexican city of Monterrey, and the positives have been largely linked in the news to the consumption of drug contaminated meat. Indeed, the UK's Times reported that the “trace” levels were below a threshold “introduced owing to the sheer number of cases involving contaminated meat–in particular in Mexico.”
The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) did not respond to multiple requests for comment into what kind of investigation it had conducted into the incident.
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)'s factsheet raises two possible scenarios from the detection of low concentrations of these drugs in human athletes. One is that they reflect the “tail-end of excretion of a steroid used for doping purposes.” The other is that they are due “to the consumption of contaminated meat.”
While the management of food animals is strictly regulated in the U.S. to ensure banned drugs don't enter the food chain, “the U.S. Department of Agriculture does not have a system to remove horses administered banned substances from the slaughter pipeline,” notes a paper published by the AVMA.
Virtually all slaughter-bound American horses sent to Mexico and Canada are eaten by humans, their meat either consumed locally or shipped globally.
A 2019 Clenbuterol-focused story in Science Direct found 10% of beef samples in Mexico included DNA from horses. “Clenbuterol was observed in all of the raw meat samples containing horse meat,” the study notes.
“Through all of our different research, the number one reason we believe more horses were slaughtered in 2025 than 2024 was constraints on the beef supply in Mexico,” said Pat Cummings.
“Given the clear research that exists recognizing the degree to which horse DNA has been found spread across Mexican beef, dating to 2019, it reasons that with substantial constraints on Mexico's domestic beef supply and with rising costs on legitimately sourced beef, the underregulated market is very likely filling orders with meat sourced via horse slaughter.”
At the end of May, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the BUILD America 250 Act which included a ban on transporting American horses for slaughter in Canada and Mexico. The broader BUILD America bill is now awaiting a vote in the House.
While versions of the SAFE Act have been knocking around for years, “this would be the second-closest this has gotten to passing,” said Cummings, who, under the auspices of his and Mike Repole's National Thoroughbred Alliance, has been working to push through this legislation.
Scott hit with whip ban
Rowan Scott has been handed a 40-day ban, nine of which have been suspended for six months, for a fourth breach of the whip regulations within the past six months. Scott, who is employed by Amo Racing as second jockey to David Egan, was found guilty under the 'totting up' procedure for a third referral since the new rules came into effect in March, 2023.
Scott went one over the limit when riding Jez Bomb at Pontefract on June 29 and as it was a fourth breach in six months he was liable to an extended ban. His two most recent breaches were on the same day.
Judicial panel member HH James O'Mahony said, “Perhaps on the day of his training and generally, as a well intentioned piece of advice, Mr Scott must reflect that there is, at present, something not right as to his management of the Rules in relation to use of the whip.”
