Two year olds Tenley (Reisling Stakes) and Yes Yes Yes (Todman Stakes) were explosive in their Randwick wins on Saturday, while The Autumn Sun deserved every accolade that came his way.  Their performances stole some of the spotlight from a dazzling win by Princess Posh in the Group 3 Newcastle Newmarket twenty four hours earlier.

I deeply regret the fact that I met Les Carlyon only once, and the finest details of the encounter remain very clear in my memory.

Goulburn trainer Tash Burleigh has developed a routine, which she believes is worth at least two lengths to her horses.

When Zardoro burst between horses to grab the lead, 100 metres out in Saturday’s TAB Highway, his usually reserved trainer Terry Robinson allowed himself a fleeting moment of jubilation.

Siggy Carr looked anything but a reluctant jockey, as she skilfully coaxed The Inevitable to a narrow win in the C.S.Hayes Stakes (Group 3) at Flemington.

While the potential autumn stars were stealing the limelight, a hard working jockey called Chad Lever was accumulating an impressive sequence of ten winning rides in the space of eight days on country and provincial tracks.

Apart from a mild case of the race day jitters experienced by all horse trainers, John Thompson spent a pretty relaxed Saturday afternoon at Rosehill Gardens.

This is the time of year when exciting two year olds start popping up like mushrooms after rain. It’s been head spinning stuff these past six weeks, trying to get a handle on several promising juveniles who’ve recorded brilliant wins in NSW and Victoria.

At a rough estimate, about 140 races were run across the nation on Saturday. It’s possible the best ride of the day was produced by veteran Peter Graham, who landed a winning double at Tuncurry Forster on the NSW Mid North Coast.

Many of us watch an endless flow of races from all parts of Australia, the majority of which do little to get you on the edge of your seat. Once in a while you spot a performance that sends you scurrying to the replay button. 

“Life is what happens to us, while we are making other plans”.  That quote is credited to a man called Allen Saunders and aptly applies to Queensland jockey Michael Hellyer.

Andrew Gibbons’ hard work has paid off handsomely in recent years. In the 2016/17 season he won 79 races in NSW, another 65 in 2017/18, and he’s currently chasing Greg Ryan with 67 winners in the state.

Cameron Crockett didn’t know where he was, in those first surreal moments after Ori On Fire had flashed past the post to win the TAB Highway on Saturday.

The last time I saw John Marshall was at a Cessnock race meeting in May of 2014. His son Taylor had rides at the meeting and he had driven the apprentice from Ron Quinton’s Randwick stables.

Billy Prain struggled with mixed emotions as he walked off Warwick Farm racecourse on Wednesday November 28th - his last day as a trainer. He’s been saying for a long time, that he’d retire when his valued owner and friend Fred Peisah decided to call it quits.

There’s a maiden galloper racing in Sydney currently, whose name rings a giant bell for me.

He’s called Triplicate, a logical name for the son of a mare called Tripled, a non winning daughter of General Nediym.

A couple of astute judges came away from the Albury meeting on October 27th, convinced they’d seen a pretty promising four year old in action. The horse in question was a big, raw chestnut gelding by the name of Noble Boy, who made very short work of thirteen others in an 1175m Maiden.

Winona Costin doesn’t remember riding a pony called Midgey on a farm in Cambridge NZ, when she was only three years old, but her mother has never forgotten it.

Received an email during the week from popular owner Eddy Boas, who wishes to share the most touching horse story in recent memory. I’m sure you’ll remember Eddy’s hardy campaigner Stony Bay, and like me you’ll be surprised to learn that nineteen years have passed, since the tough gelding was retired.

Raquel Clark knew she wanted to be a jockey from the first adrenaline charged moments of her maiden fast gallop.