Month: March 2025

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Saturday’s A$5 million Gr.1 TAB Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill capped an extraordinary day for Grangewilliam Stud’s stallion roster. The world’s richest two-year-old race was won by the lightly raced filly Marhoona, who is by Snitzel out of the unraced Encosta de Lago mare Salma. Marhoona became the third individual stakes winner for that outstanding broodmare, who is also the dam of Grangewilliam Stud stallion Hilal. A son of the influential Fastnet Rock, Hilal won three races himself including the Gr.2 Stan Fox Stakes (1500m). He also placed in the…

Another powerhouse front-running performance by Grinzinger Belle in Saturday’s A$300,000 Gr.2 Packaging Needs Sunline Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley has earned her a Group One opportunity in Sydney. The fillies and mares’ feature was the fourth stakes win for the New Zealand-bred Shamexpress mare, who had previously won the Gr.2 Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m), Gr.3 The Vanity (1400m) and Gr.3 Ladies’ Day Vase (1600m). She is now in line for a shot at the Gr.1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on April 12. “We could potentially give…

Two hours after his close relative Vegas Queen won Saturday’s Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m) at Trentham, quality New Zealand-bred gelding Gringotts took the family’s day to even greater heights with an Australian Group One triumph in the A$1 million George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill. Gringotts was bred by Totara Park Stud and is by Little Avondale Stud’s outstanding sire Per Incanto out of the Savabeel mare Miss Bluebell, whose half-sister Miss Vegas is the dam of Vegas Queen. Herself unraced, Miss Bluebell is a daughter of Operavega, a half-sister…

Another commanding performance in Saturday’s A$500,000 Gr.2 DCE Alister Clark Stakes (2040m) at Moonee Valley has booked rising star three-year-old Shanwah a shot at the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) ahead of his move to Hong Kong. A $750,000 Karaka yearling purchase by Cameron Cooke Bloodstock on behalf of owners Kevin and Vikki Payne, Shanwah commenced his career as a colt and was a placegetter at Canterbury in the spring. Gelding has proved to be the making of the three-year-old, who has now won four races in succession. He was a…

New Zealand-bred mare Basilinna capitalised on the reprogramming of the Yarra Valley Cup (2040m) to Moonee Valley on Saturday, scoring a hard-fought win in her first start of a new campaign. The Yarra Valley Cup was originally scheduled to be run over 1950m last Sunday, but the meeting was called off after one race due to rain and deteriorating track conditions. The Yarra Valley Cup was instead added as an 11th race on Saturday’s Moonee Valley programme, and it was Basilinna who came out on top. “We were the big…

A day of high-quality racing and tight finishes at Trentham was topped off by another ding-donger in the last race as the favoured pair of Glamour Tycoon and Platinum Attack went head-to-head in the Listed Bill Tito Book Repair Specialist Lightning Handicap (1200m). Neither four-year-old was prepared to give an inch, however it was the Stephen Marsh-trained filly Glamour Tycoon who thrust her head down at the perfect moment to deny the Lisa Latta-prepared Platinum Attack and register her second victory at Listed level after claiming the O’Learys Fillies’ Stakes…

Leica Lucy signed off the New Zealand stage of her career with a Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand Oaks (2400m) victory that showcased all of the class and courage that has made her this season’s standout filly. The Taranaki superstar arrived at Trentham on Saturday with a near-flawless record of five wins and a second from six starts. After running first and second in a pair of 1400m races in the spring, Leica Lucy strung together four consecutive victories with increasingly impressive performances in the Gr.3 Eulogy Stakes…