There were 78,500 people at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day 1976. Those still living, hold indelible memories of their visit to the historic course on the day mother nature threw a tantrum.
The famous hit song “Some Days Are Diamonds” has struck many a chord with horse trainers since John Denver first propelled it to the top of the charts in 1981.
While farmers on the western side of the Great Dividing Range are already nervous about the possibility of an impending dry spell, NSW coastal dwellers are wishing the rain would go away.
The significance of Greg Hickman’s Midway win with Glounthaune (Ire) on Saturday was lost on many racing fans. It’s likely that Greg himself had forgotten he’d trained the winner of the very first Midway ever staged on July 3rd, 2021.
A veritable army of people performing specialist duties play a vital role in the running of high profile race meetings. From jockeys, trainers and strappers to general stable staff.
Everybody was talking about Private Harry long before Yulong Investments tied up fifty percent of his ownership under a deal reported to value the colt at sixteen million dollars.
Many commercial horse trainers drive themselves to the races while their horses are transported by major floating companies. Life’s a bit different for Rebecca Dunn.
Darryll Kell was still pinching himself on Sunday morning in the wake of Mahogany Girl’s gutsy win in the Polytrack Provincial-Midway Championship Qualifier at Hawkesbury.
As El Morzillo swamped the opposition to win Saturday’s $1 million dollar Inglis Sprint, it was hard to believe this was only her second win and a full thirteen months after the first.
“It’s a good feeling to take a horse to the races and know he or she will give you optimum performance win, lose or draw,” was the quote from trainer Nathan Doyle
It’s not hard to imagine the reaction in homes, pubs and clubs when Grant Buckley coaxed La Bella Bondi to a narrow win in Saturday’s 1200m maiden at Newcastle.
It wasn’t until last Friday that Michael Cahill started to question his decision to retire from race riding - a decision he’d been tossing around for the last four or five years.
