Marzemino winning at Te Aroha. Photo: Race Images Peter Williams is harbouring Group One ambitions with talented Per Incanto mare Marzemino (NZ). The Byerley Park trainer will produce Marzemino fresh-up in Saturday’s Roger Gill Agriculture 1200 at Pukekohe, the first step of a campaign that could lead to multiple Group One races this season. “We’re very happy with her. She’s trialled up well in preparation for this,” said Williams, who trains in partnership with his wife Dawn. “She had a couple of quiet trials, one at Avondale and one at…
Month: October 2019
Star Kiwi mare primed for Flemington feature
A sparkling trackwork gallop at Flemington on Tuesday has given Matamata trainer Jamie Richards all the assurance he wanted from stable star Melody Belle (NZ) (Commands) as she heads in to Saturday’s Gr.1 $A1 million Empire Rose Stakes (1600m). The Commands five-year-old mare is a $3.40 favourite for the weight-for-age fillies and mares feature despite drawing barrier 13 as she chases the tenth Group One win of her career. “She’s in good form,” Richards said. “She worked well at Flemington on Tuesday morning on the course proper. It looked to…
Mansour keeping positive ahead of surgery
Jockey Donavan Mansour will undergo surgery today after suffering a broken pelvis in an incident around near the starting barriers at Te Aroha on Wednesday. “Donavan was on his horse behind the barriers ready to load into the starting gates. The horse reared up and went over backwards and came down on top of him,” Mansour’s riding agent Tony Raklander said. “He was in a lot of pain and on the track for an hour or so before they could get a helicopter in to pick him up and get…
Melbourne Cup not about celebs: premier
Premier Andrews has shrugged off celebrity withdrawals from the Melbourne Cup, amid cruelty claims. The Melbourne Cup is about everyday people and not celebrities, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says, as a number of stars shun the race that ‘stops the nation’. Singer Taylor Swift revealed last month she wouldn’t be going ahead with a planned performance, while actress Lana Condor pulled the plug on her attendance last week, with both citing scheduling issues. There is speculation that Tuesday’s race is losing popularity amid well-publicised animal cruelty revelations. “The Melbourne Cup…
Trainer disputes scan findings on Marmelo
English trainer Hughie Morrison disputes the results of scans on Marmelo which have prompted his withdrawal from the Melbourne Cup. Racing Victoria stewards said the results of a standing CT scan indicated Marmelo had incomplete fractures in his near fore and off hind cannon bones. On Wednesday, they ordered his withdrawal from the Cup along with Godolphin’s Ispolini who had an issue with a right front cannon bone. Morrison said stewards should have inspected Marmelo, runner-up in last year’s Cup, before he left Newmarket. The trainer said he had sent…
Morrison to appeal Marmelo Cup withdrawal
English trainer Hughie Morrison will appeal the Victorian stewards’ decision to bar Marmelo from the Melbourne Cup after the horse failed a veterinary test. Marmelo, second in last year’s Cup to Cross Counter, was ordered out after a CT scan showed he had incomplete fractures in his near fore and off hind cannon bones. Fellow English visitor, Godolphin’s Charlie Appleby-trained Ispolini, has been taken out of Tuesday’s race after also undergoing a standing CT scan at the University of Melbourne Equine Clinic. Ispolini’s X-ray indicated pre-fracture pathology within the horse’s…
Marmelo, Ispolini ruled out of Cup by vets
Marmelo (above) and Ispolini have failed vet tests and will not run in the Melbourne Cup. Last year’s runner-up Marmelo and Godolphin’s Ispolini have been ruled out of the Melbourne Cup after failing veterinary scans. After showing signs of soreness, Marmelo had been referred to the University of Melbourne Equine Clinic to undergo a standing CT scan which indicated an incomplete fracture in his near fore cannon bone and another in his off hind cannon bone. Racing Victoria stewards studied an RV veterinary report and one from trainer Hughie Morrison…
NSW appeal panel to decide Boss Cup fate
Glen Boss will appeal the severity of suspension that has put his plum Melbourne Cup ride at risk. The hopes of three-time Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Glen Boss riding the favourite in this year’s race rest with the NSW Racing Appeal Panel. Boss was suspended for six meetings for careless riding at Randwick last Saturday but has appealed the severity of that decision. His ban was due to start on Sunday but the appeal has not been scheduled until Monday morning, the day before the $8 million Melbourne Cup in which…
Top Of The Range wins Group 3 Bendigo Cup
Top Of The Range (right) has denied Brimham Rocks in the $400,000 Bendigo Cup. The Chris Waller-trained Brimham Rocks has fallen agonisingly short of a chance at securing a Melbourne Cup start with a narrow defeat in the Bendigo Cup. Ridden by leading Perth jockey William Pike, Top Of The Range ($8) denied Brimham Rocks ($6) by a long head in the 2400m Group Three race on Wednesday. Brimham Rocks was No. 37 in the Melbourne Cup order of entry leading into Wednesday’s race and needed to win and receive…
Aristia aims for another Flemington G1 win
Four-year-old mare Aristia will aim for another Flemington Group One win in the Empire Rose Stakes. A year after winning the VRC Oaks at Flemington, four-year-old Aristia is set for another of the Group One features during the Melbourne Cup carnival. Trained at the course by Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra, Aristia runs in Saturday’s Group One Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) when she will be striving to register her first win since taking out the Oaks (2500m) 12 months ago. Aristia won twice during last year’s Melbourne Cup carnival in…
