Mark Minervini’s love affair with Randwick racecourse began when he was a race mad teenager growing up in Adelaide. He knew everything there was to know about local horses, but was also a regular listener to racing in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Gayna Williams was quietly chuffed late last year when asked to take over the training of Overlord from the Chris Waller stable.

“I can always tell when he’s ready to run a big race,” said trainer Sara Ryan of Friday’s Coffs Harbour Gold Cup winner Attractable. “When he’s at the top of his game he’s a nightmare as he comes off the training track at Kulnura.

Some jockeys do nothing more than politely raise their whips or doff their caps as they return to scale on a Group 1 winner.  Others look likely to execute a double somersault at any moment.

With five runners engaged at Doomben on Saturday Matthew Dunn elected to head north from his Murwillumbah base, while long time deputy Holly Julius made the long trek to Rosehill Gardens with lone representative Eaglemont.

The proposed closure of Singapore racing in October 2024 wasn’t a factor in Danny Beasley’s decision to return to Australia in January.

As the field straightened for home in Saturday’s Midway Hcp Oakfield Waratah seemed happy enough to chug along behind the leader Lemaire.

Modern day prize money has reached undreamed of levels, but you’ve still got to have a horse good enough to win it.

Luke Pepper’s usually a sound sleeper but he forsook a few valuable hours last week in weighing up options for his exciting three year old filly Opal Ridge.

There’s no quick way to calculate Norm Gardner’s winning strike rate over twenty five years of training, but there’s little doubt it would compare favourably with that of most small stables.

Keen observers of NSW western districts racing were surprised when Wendy Peel made the trip from Brisbane to ride at Coonamble’s Country Championship Qualifier Sunday meeting on March 12th.

“She lifted her head out of the feedbin, walked to the stable door and looked me straight in the eye,” said owner breeder John Muir as he recalled the day Magic Time was passed in at the 2021 Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Thanks largely to her ability to ride at a featherweight, Rachel King is one of Sydney’s busiest jockeys. When acceptances were declared for last Saturday’s Rosehill meeting she’d been locked in for a whopping nine rides.

The creation of the Black Opal Stakes in 1973 triggered a buzz in racing circles. A major two year old race in the national capital sandwiched in between the Blue Diamond and the Golden Slipper made good sense.

Saturday’s 1000m TAB Highway at Randwick may have produced the most impressive winner in the restricted sprinting ranks anywhere in Australia.

“He’s nice to have around in the stable and professional in everything he does,” said trainer Mark Newnham of Saturday’s Parramatta Cup winner King Frankel.

Garry McQuillan has lost a lot of sleep since late October when his beloved Tuncurry-Forster Jockey Club was given the green light to stage the opening Country Championship Qualifier for 2023.

Albert Stapleford can’t lay claim to being Australia’s oldest active horse trainer but he’s probably running a close second. There’s a remarkable 95 year old in South Australia called Bob Hannigan.

Now in her fourth decade as a trainer, Helen Page was chuffed to win Saturday’s Sunshine Coast two year old race with Trifling in the colours of long time clients and friends Frank and Christine Cook.

There wasn’t a neater race ride anywhere in Australia on Saturday than Harry Coffey’s display on High Emocean in the Sally Chirnside at Flemington.