Two jockeys hospitalised after Warren fall
Jockeys Izzy Neale and Diego Montes de Oca have both been taken to hospital following a fall at Warren on Sunday. Montes de Oca has a suspected broken leg, while Neale was reported to be unconscious for an unknown period. Racing NSW reported that Neale’s mount Marnoo (Holler) was euthanised after sustaining a foreleg injury. There was no report on Montes de Oca’s mount Shadow Dane (Rebel Dane).
The last at Warren was abandoned.
Autumn Glow update
After winning the G1 Champions Mile on Saturday, Horse Of The Year Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) pulled up with a bruised foot.
“I've had good news this morning, she will be ok, it is nothing serious, and that is the main thing,” jockey James McDonald told Big Sports Breakfast Weekend on Sunday morning.
Autumn Glow | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“It was good to have her down in Melbourne and thunder up that Flemington straight. It is iconic, one of the great racecourses in the land, and to do it over that carnival was special for her.”
Cup week hits several milestones
The Bart Cummings Medal winner for leading trainer over the last week in Melbourne went to Chris Waller with seven wins, while James McDonald earned the jockey title with six wins. Over the four days, 307,889 people attended Derby Day, Cup Day, Oaks Day and Champions Day.
King Of Light wins G2 WA Lee Steere Stakes
On Saturday evening, Dan Morton-trained King Of Light (Earthlight {Ire}) made it eight wins from nine starts in the G2 Lee Steere Stakes. He’s unbeaten this time in, with all three wins in stakes class, and took his earnings over $920,000. “He just knows how to win races,” Morton said.
“Bring on two weeks (G1 Railway Stakes). He’s the real deal. He needed to be bang on today, I thought. You’ve only got two weeks to maintain him to get to a mile. He’ll probably naturally improve a little bit and probably needs to.”
Listed Luckygray Stakes won by Aberdeen Flyer
Saturday’s Listed Luckgray Stakes at Ascot was won by Aberdeen Flyer (Astern), whose only two wins have both come in Listed races. The Sean and Jake Casey-trained 4-year-old gelding now has earnings over $310,000.
He is the first foal of Templates (Teofilo {Ire}) whose 3-year-old filly Dixie Doo (Shooting To Win) has won twice.
Back-to-back Ararat Cups for Cable Dancer
Charlotte Littlefield-trained Cable Dancer (Cable Bay {Ire}) defended his Ararat Cup crown on Sunday. He took his record to seven wins from 45 starts with earnings over $300,000.
“It’s just so bloody good coming to this track. I love country racing, I love these country cups,” Littlefield told racing.com.
“For him to go back-to-back is sensational. When a plan comes off, and you set a horse for a race, and it delivers, there’s nothing better.” Grand Syndicates paid $6000 for him from Ellora Stud’s 2021 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale draft. The stakes-placed galloper is one of seven winners for Fairytale Dancer (Danehill Dancer {Ire}).
Barrier issue causes York abandonment
WA's York meeting on Sunday had a partial abandonment when there was an issue with the barrier gates.
Better Be Done wins juvenile race
Donna Stanbridge-trained 2-year-old filly Better Be Done (Better Than Ready) won at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday for Mishani Enterprises. Second went to Swim Up Bar (Spirit Of Boom), with Mishani Jazz (Kobayashi) third.
Mishani Enterprises paid $80,000 for Better Be Done at the Magic Millions March Yearling Sale from KBL Thoroughbred’s draft. She is the fourth winner for We’s Done (Court Command), who is a winning half-sister to Group 2 winner Dynamic Love (Brave Warrior) and Listed winner Key Bar Nights (Anabaa {USA}).
Juvenile winner for Hello Youmzain
In New Zealand on Sunday, Guy Lowry and Leah Zydenbos-trained 2-year-old filly Le Zain Bolt (NZ) (Hello Youmzain {Fr}) won on debut over 1000 metres. Uncorked (NZ) (Hanseatic) was second and Choosin Texas (NZ) (Hello Youmzain {Fr}) third.
Cambridge Stud sold Le Zain Bolt to Game Lodge for NZ$15,000 at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale. She is the first winner, from three to race, for Mink Fashion (Ire) (Big Bad Bob {Ire}).
Santagada wins G1 Preis von Bayern
Gestut Park Wiedingen's five-time Group 3 winner Santagada (Soldier Hollow) had failed in both prior attempts in Group 1 company and made the breakthrough in Saturday's G1 Grosser Allianz Preis von Bayern at Munich.
“She likes fast run races, and she is absolutely perfect at the correct trip and on the right going,” said trainer Peter Schiergen. “She is a high-class filly, she has never disappointed us, and the going and conditions were absolutely in her favour today. Getting third place was our target, and she really is very special.”
Santagada, who becomes the eighth Group 1 winner for her sire, is the leading performer out of the stakes-winning Salve Venezia (Areion), herself kin to Listed Prix Michel Houyvet victor Sun Of Gold (Golden Horn). Salve Venezia has a weanling filly by Study Of Man to come.
The winner's third dam is G1 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) heroine and G1 Deutsches Derby second Salve Regina (Monsun), herself the dam of three black-type performers headed by G2 Ballston Spa Handicap victrix Salve Germania (Peintre Celebre).
Salve Regina is a full sister to G1 Deutsches Derby-winning sires Schiaparelli and Samum and to the dams of G1 Deutsches Derby hero Sea The Moon (Sea The Stars) and G1 Premio Lydia Tesio heroine Sortilege (Tiger Hill). The latter is kin to the dam of multiple Group 1 winner Sosie (Sea The Stars).
Tap To Open wins G2 Mother Goose Stakes
Whisper Hill Farms homebred Tap to Open (Tapit), the beautifully-bred full sister to Grade 1 winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Charge It, rebounded off a fourth in the G1 Cotillion to win Saturday's G2 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park under Manny Franco.
“Brad was a little bit sceptical of the one turn, but he liked the way she was training down in Kentucky,” said Dustin Dugas, assistant to winning trainer Brad Cox. “He shipped her up here and mentioned that she's a bit of a stayer–she's not one that will give you that big kick, and Manny [Franco] just had her in a good position right when the running was going to start. When he tipped her down to the inside, she was in the position that she was, and she fired. He [Franco] was happy with everything that she gave him when asked.”
Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm went to US$2.2 million (AU$3.2 million) to secure Tap To Open’s dam I'll Take Charge, an Indian Charlie daughter of Grade 1 winner and Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady, at the 2013 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Take Charge Lady is the dam of Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song), Take Charge Indy (AP Indy), who won the G1 Florida Derby, and Grade 1 winner As Time Goes By (American Pharoah).
Tap to Open, who left the ring unsold on final bid of US$1.45 million (AU$2.1 million) as a yearling at Keeneland in 2024, has a 2-year-old unraced half-brother named Charge Me (Into Mischief) and a yearling half-brother by Gun Runner.
Blue Jay wins G2 Keio Hai Nisai Stakes
Carrot Farm's undefeated Blue Jay (Siskin) struck gold with a first stakes win in the G2 Keio Hai Nisai Stakes by a nose over Fraochan (Blue Point) on Saturday. It was the third consecutive win in the race for jockey Christophe Lemaire and sixth overall.
A 2.5-length winner on debut at Sapporo in August, he took his record to two-for-two with a half-length victory over Fraochan later that month going this trip.
The winner is the fifth stakes winner and third Group winner for Siskin, a paternal grandson of Unbridled's Song. Blue Jay joins Master Soarer, a winner of the G2 Shion Stakes and G T Maika, successful in the G3 Chukyo Nisai Stakes, as the leading runners by the G1 Phoenix Stakes-turned G1 Irish 2000 Guineas-winning former Juddmonte runner.
