Even with serious adversary Gytrash in the Concorde Stakes, Chris Waller’s Nature Strip has bookies reeling in the odds with the speed machine entering Winx-like terrority in betting.

August 31st 2020

Nature Strip will be at “Winx-like odds” when he clashes with Gytrash in the Group 3 $160,000 Concorde Stakes (1000m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

TAB Fixed Odds price assessors have framed an all-in market on the Concorde with Nature Strip at $1.40 favourite to make a winning comeback to racing — even though the super sprinter has been beaten when resuming at his two previous preparations.

Gytrash is next in Concorde betting at $3.50. The ­Adelaide sprinter upset a first-up Nature Strip (fourth) in the Group 1 Lightning Stakes this year.

Nominations for the Concorde have been extended with only six early entries including Ball Of Muscle, Dirty Work, Fiesta and Splintex.

WALLER’S CHELMSFORD STRANGLEHOLD

Chris Waller, trainer of ­Nature Strip, has 11 of the 23 ­nominations for the Group 2 $250,000 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m).

Waller, who is chasing his sixth Chelmsford in eight years, has entered Brimham Rocks, Danzdanzdance, ­Finche, Kinane, Kolding, Life Less Ordinary, Miss Sentimental, Mister Sea Wolf, Shared Ambition, Wu Gok and Yulong Prince.

Verry Elleegant, winner of the Winx Stakes when resuming last month, wasn’t among the stable’s Chelmsford entries with Waller keeping the mare fresh for the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) at Royal Randwick on September 19.

Godolphin’s Avilius has been installed as the $3.50 favourite to win the Chelmsford ahead of stablemate Colette plus Angel Of Truth, Miss Siska and Zebrowski, all at $8.

WON’T BE SEEING YOU SOON

Promising filly See You Soon has run her last race after she again refused to be loaded into the barriers at the Rosehill Gardens trials session on Monday morning.

Trainer Jean Dubois said See You Soon is too valuable to risk and would be retired to stud, just in time for this spring breeding season.

TREKKING ON THE BURST

Trekking, also from the Godolphin stable, was the star turn at the Rosehill Gardens trials on Monday morning.

A minor placegetter in The Everest last year and winner of the Group 1 The Goodwood beating Gytrash in May, Trekking was having his first trial of the new season and after travelling wide in his 896m heat forged clear under Josh Parr to beat the smart Greyworm by a half length.

The training partnership of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace produced another of their gun three-year-olds at the trials session with the classy Prague impressing with a half-length win.

Team Hawkes had four winners at the trials from Testifer, Artic, Little White Lies and Jenga, and trainer Gary Moore produced three good heat winners with Petronius, Princess Zeddy and Private Cheetah.

– Ray Thomas, The Daily Telegraph

Trainer Michael Freedman speaks with jockey Tommy Berry at Kembla Grange after they had a victory on August 6. Picture: Adam McLean

August 21 2020

The Freedman brothers have accepted with eight from their stable for Saturday’s extended nine-race program at Newcastle and Richard left no doubt as to which was their best chance.

“La Tigresa will run in the 1400-metre maiden handicap and she is clearly the best of our team at Newcastle,” said Richard, who trains in partnership with Michael.

“Her first-up performance in a very strong maiden at Newcastle two weeks ago was outstanding.

“The mare got back in the field and after being eight lengths off the lead at the 700, La Tigresa unwound down the straight to get within three-quarters of a length of the winner.

“She has trained on well and we have taken the blinkers off her. She has drawn well and has performed well in stronger races.

“I have a high opinion of our colt Exhibition in the second last race, the 1400m benchmark 64 handicap. He is a last-start Randwick winner in June, and he has had a couple of quiet trials since.

“We have been tossing up whether to run Exhibition from the wide barrier, but if he does run, he will be hard to beat with a little luck.

“I give Express Princess a chance with the claim in the 1400m handicap.”

Newcastle trainer Paul Perry has a couple of promising young stayers in his stable and one of them, Olympic Gaze, will contest the 1885m maiden plate. This is the three-year-old’s fourth start and he put the writing on the wall with a fast-finishing second over 1600m at Gosford on August 11.

Country apprentice Tyler Schiller, on loan to Mark Newnham, will claim three kilograms and Olympic Gaze will carry the seemingly luxurious weight of 52.5kg.

Champion trainer Chris Waller will send six to Newcastle. Canadian Spice, Seleque, You Too and Mo’Unga will all be well-fancied.

Canadian Spice, a three-year-old filly, was placed in the $500,000 Inglis Nursery at Randwick in December and was never on the track when a close fourth at Newcastle on August 8. She runs in a 1250m maiden on Saturday.

Seleque is on debut after a nice trial at Warwick Farm and she has the rails barrier in the 1250m maiden handicap.

You Too is a runner in the 1400m benchmark 64 handicap on Saturday and she is ready after two recent starts. Last prep she won a Hawkesbury maiden and was a close third on the Kensington track.

Mo’Unga is a Kiwi-bred colt which won his only start on the Gold Coast in June. He has accepted for the 1400m benchmark 64 handicap.

Kris Lees has only three starters at Newcastle and all should run well. They are Shootingforthesatar (Race 1), Wild Sheila (race 2) and Hard Lady (race 7).

Rosehill trainer Gerald Ryan and his foreman Sterling Alexiou are the latest to form a training partnership and the latter could be off to a flying start when Zell contests the 1250m benchmark 68 handicap. The son of champion sire I Am Invincible has been runner-up in both starts this prep, at Newcastle and Kembla. He is an on-pacer and is fitter now.

– Gary Harley, Newcastle Herald

Image Via SEN

20th August 2020

The high quality of New Zealand’s three-year-old crop last season is illustrated by the finalists for the Champion Three-Year-Old category at the NZ Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards.

Eight horses, including five fillies, are finalists in the three-year-old division, which will provide the voting panel with plenty to mull over.

Seven of the eight contenders won a Group One race in the 2019-20 season and between them the finalists recorded 29 wins and 29 placings from 67 starts.

The Kiwi three-year-olds made a mark on both sides of the Tasman, with Probabeel and Quick Thinker winning Group One races at the Sydney autumn carnival. Quick Thinker became the fifth New Zealand-trained winner of the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) in the past eight years.

Two Illicit, who never finished further back than third, did not win a Group One race but still presented a compelling case to be a finalist. The filly won two Group Two races, including a runaway victory in the Waikato Guineas (2000m), and finished a brave second in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m).

In a rare situation, Te Akau’s Jamie Richards is the sole nomination for Trainer of the Year, after experiencing an extraordinary season, that included 11 Group One wins and more than $7 million in stake earnings.

The Te Akau stable will be represented by five of the 20 individual horses who will be finalists in the flat racing categories. Cool Aza Beel, Probabeel, Avantage, Melody Belle and Te Akau Shark will fly the flag for Te Akau, with Melody Belle and Avantage nominated in two categories.

Two Cambridge stables will each provide three finalists. Tony Pike will be represented by (The) Bostonian, Loire and New Zealand Derby winner Sherwood Forest and the Baker-Forsman partnership by Quick Thinker, True Enough and The Chosen One.

The Horse of the Year Awards dinner will be staged at Claudelands, in Hamilton, on Sunday, October 11.

The finalists for the categories that will be decided by the voting panel are:

Champion Two-year-Old: Cool Aza Beel, Play That Song, Vernazza.

Champion Three-Year-Old: Catalyst, Jennifer Eccles, Loire, Probabeel, Quick Thinker, Sherwood Forest, Two Illicit, Travelling Light.

Champion Sprinter-Miler (up to 1600m): Avantage, Bostonian, Julius, Melody Belle, Te Akau Shark.

Champion Middle Distance (1601m-2200m): Avantage, Melody Belle, True Enough.

Champion Stayer (2201m and further): Platinum Invador, Roger That, The Chosen One.

Champion Jumper: Bad Boy Brown, It’s A Wonder, Wise Men Say.

Trainer of the Year: Jamie Richards.

Jockey of the Year: Opie Bosson, Lisa Allpress.

Jumps Jockey of the Year: Shaun Fannin, Aaron Kuru, Shaun Phelan.

Owner of the Year: Joan Egan, Hermitage Thoroughbreds, Kevin Hickman, JML Bloodstock, Dick Karreman, B J & J E Lindsay Partnership, NZ Thoroughbred Holdings, OTI Management Ltd, Trelawney Thoroughbred Ltd, Sir Peter Vela.

-NZ Racing Desk, SEN

Group One performer Charles Road. Photo: Race Images Palmerston North

August 3rd 2020

Quality gallopers Charles Road and Dragon Leap are making good progress ahead of their spring campaigns.

Lucrative Sydney targets are high on the agenda for the duo should COVID-19 immigration challenges to enable staff to travel from New Zealand to Australia be overcome.

“Charles Road and Dragon Leap are both in the same boat, we’re trying to get to Australia,” O’Sullivan said.

Group One performed stayer Charles Road was back in action at the Te Rapa trials last week, where he finished sixth in a 900m heat under a quiet ride.

The seven-year-old gelding has performed well in Sydney previously and finished third in both the Gr.1 Metropolitan Handicap (2400m) and the A$500,000 St Leger (2600m) and a similar program will be followed this term.

“He’ll head back to Sydney and target the same sort of races as last season, hopefully the Metropolitan,” O’Sullivan said.

“He looks great and he is coming up really well. He did a fair bit of pre-training at David Archer’s (owner) place and we’re happy with him.”

Talented four-year-old Dragon Leap will step out at the Rotorua trials on Thursday and last season’s winner of both the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) and Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1600m) is likely to be aimed at mile to 2000m targets this preparation, after having his stamina reserves tested when fourth in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m)

“He is going to trial on Thursday and he will just jog around and finish in the second half of the field,” O’Sullivan said.

“He is developing but he has still got a wee way to grow believe it or not. He is still bum high but he is doing well.

“To be fair he is probably a mile to a 2000m horse. I know he won over the 2100m of an Avondale Guineas but it wouldn’t surprise me if he came back and was a good miler.”

The Gr.1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick on October 3 and the A$7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill on October 31 shape as likely options for the son of Pierro who is owned by Hong Kong owners Hermitage Thoroughbreds.

“Those are the two races that we are hoping to get to but we have got to come up super and do everything right,” O’Sullivan said.

“It’s not a given that we get into those races. We are going to have to perform to get into those races.

“The owners want to qualify him for Hong Kong under the replacement permit of 85 and despite winning the two Guineas races he hasn’t met that rating.

“We have got him for his spring racing and then after that we will reassess. They are terrific owners to work for and they don’t put any pressure on us and they let us decide the program. They are very easy to train for.”

Another Hermitage-owned galloper in O’Sullivan and Scott’s Wexford Stable is Group Three winning sprinter Spring Heat.

The lightly-tried six-year-old has won five of her 13 starts and also boasts a placing in the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m).

“We race her sparingly and we would like to give her the chance to run in the Railway (Gr.1, 1200m) and the Telegraph (Gr.1, 1200m) if possible,” O’Sullivan.

The Matamata training partnership are yet to have a raceday runner since the COVID-19 hiatus but it looks likely Tweedledee, Divine Duke and Aero De Paris will line-up at Te Rapa on Saturday.

“It’s very difficult as they go in open entry races, depending on what lines up,” O’Sullivan said.

“It is hard to get back racing seriously until we have got our grades again. That is why we haven’t been in much of a hurry and it’s a long season.”

– Micahel Guerin, NZ Herald