Saturday November 22, 2008
Withdrawal of big guns takes a little gloss off Miracle Mile
THE field for next Friday night's $500,000 Miracle Mile was decimated yesterday with unbeaten Kiwi Auckland Reactor and defending champion Be Good Johnny both withdrawn from Australia's premier harness race.
Conners gets the votes as form trainer
RUNNING for local council certainly hasn't stopped Marc Conners from training racehorses. The Warwick Farm-based, third-generation trainer has a team of 17 in work and has had 19 winners since the racing season opened on August 1.
Marasco's right at home
WITH market movers and shakers Mark Read and Sean Bartholomew stressing the risk factors with Marasco, the local idol promises to be a worthwhile gamble in the $1 million Railway Stakes at Ascot today.
Friday November 21, 2008
Not enough horses for the merry-go-round
A summit of NSW racing should be called over the poor Saturday fields, a blight on Sydney racing, according to Michael Kenny, the Sydney Turf Club chief executive and the most experienced turf administrator in the state, writes Max Presnell.
Breaking down the barriers
Leading Sydney trainer Gai Waterhouse believes more needs to be done to get races off safely and on time. Craig Young reports.
Interstate raiders hold key at Ascot
LEADING Perth jockey William Pike believes local star Marasco has the home-town horses covered in Saturday's $1 million Railway Stakes.
Moses and Quinnell team up for Randwick treble shot
FORM trainer Kevin Moses and emerging apprentice Jamie Quinnell combine with three quality chances at Randwick on Saturday.
Thursday November 20, 2008
Gleeson called up to help select new board
RECENTLY retired Racing Victoria chief steward Des Gleeson is part of a three-man panel set to select a streamlined Racing NSW board.
Wednesday November 19, 2008
Cummings not going - Tinkler's Warwick Farm offer fails to convince trainer
ANTHONY CUMMINGS has knocked back an offer to head Nathan Tinkler's
Warwick Farm training operation. Tinkler has spent more than $150
million on bloodstock, stables and breeding farms in less than a
year, with the electrician turned mining magnate applying for 140
boxes at Warwick Farm.
Tuesday November 18, 2008
Hernan holds no grudges over tumble
WILLIE HERNAN does not remember the race fall that took his
livelihood but not his life. He figures those seconds are lost
forever, but he will always sport the scars of the day he almost
died.
Rawiller ripe for Railway return
MELBOURNE jockey Brad Rawiller is confident his group 1 warhorse Niconero will be hard to beat in Saturday's $1 million Carlton Draught Railway Stakes - and is aiming to make the Perth carnival his launching pad for a lucrative international campaign.
Monday November 17, 2008
Why Munce should be given his ticket to ride
The sting: WHAT'S going to happen to Chris Munce? The Hong Kong law breaker's immediate riding future possibly rests with Australian racing authorities. If that's the case, Munce must surely be given a permanent jockey's licence - and not one bound by Racing NSW restrictions, as is the case now.
Shinn express is westward bound
STILL basking in the glory of a Melbourne Cup victory, Sydney's leading jockey Blake Shinn heads to Perth this week to ride for the first time in the $1 million Railway Stakes.
Tinkler looks to Warwick Farm
NATHAN TINKLER'S Patinack Farm operation is in the process of securing up to 140 boxes at Warwick Farm racecourse.
Bookies shell out but is it enough?
Winners and losers: PUNTERS have never had it so good thanks
to the competitive aspects of corporate bookmakers. Nor have
bookmakers in recent times done so well out of racing. Yesterday
The Sunday Age divulged the corporates will produce figures to show
they will contribute about $15 million to the sport this financial
year. Is it enough?
Miracle on cards for Special Albert
NEWCASTLE Mile winner Special Albert has been issued a Miracle Mile invitation by the NSW Harness Racing Club after surviving a protest in scoring a knockout win on Saturday night.
Pregnant pause for McEvoy
DARLEY jockey Kerrin McEvoy will be missing from the Sydney riding ranks for the next couple of weeks with his wife Cathy due to give birth to their first child.
Sunday November 16, 2008
The Bluebird of happiness arrives for punters, trainer
PROMISING stayer Coniston Bluebird was a popular winner at Rosehill yesterday, both with punters and his trainer, Bede Murray.
Lees does it again
NEWCASTLE trainer Kris Lees capped off a great Spring Carnival in Melbourne by winning with Captain Bax in the $100,000 Kevin Heffernan Stakes (1300m) at Sandown.
Classic Rodd shows plenty of zip at the right time
ONE of Australia's most powerful owners, Lloyd Williams, yesterday
told jockey Michael Rodd not to "panic" before his veteran
weight-for-age galloper Zipping claimed the $350,000 Sandown
Classic.
All seems sunny for Caymans
SYDNEY three-year old Caymans yesterday ended a luckless Melbourne spring carnival when he won the group 2, $350,000 Sandown Guineas.
Sunline shows her fighting spirit
CHAMPION Kiwi mare Sunline was yesterday showing signs of improvement in her battle to survive a life-threatening hoof condition.
A new belle arrives
HIGH-profile racehorse owner Tony Santic celebrated his recent engagement by winning the Triple M's Rocking Horse Stakes at Sandown yesterday with newcomer Corsaire.
Reactor explodes, killing the critics
SEEING is believing and the doubters must feel like fools. Auckland Reactor - the unbeaten Kiwi four-year-old critics claimed would be shown up the first time he tackled the Grand Circuit - threw out a Miracle Mile challenge to triple Interdominion winner Blacks A Fake when scoring a crushing win in the Woodlands New Zealand Free-For-All (2000 metres) at Addington on Friday.
Fawlty direction leaves NSW racing in the lurch
IN a blaze of publicity on November 29 last year, the NSW Government announced a bold new direction for thoroughbred racing in NSW - the creation of a streamlined, five-member, independent Racing NSW Board to work in conjunction with a Racing Industry Consultation Group to control the industry.
