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.
Tommy Berry’s post race interview on Sky Thoroughbred Central after Saturday’s Gimcrack Stakes tugged many a heartstring. The popular jockey had just won the Gr 3 two year old race on Manaal
Peace Officer’s stylish win in Saturday’s Rosehill Midway completed a week of high elation for Warwick Farm trainer Clarry Conners. Only a few days earlier it was confirmed that the multiple Gr 1 winning horseman will be among this year’s inductees into the Australian Racing Hall Of Fame.
There was a ripple of excitement in the big Dubbo crowd on Sunday when course broadcaster Col Hodges announced that Sizzle Minizzle would appear in an exhibition gallop between races five and six.
Many race watchers were surprised when broadcaster David Fowler mentioned Spaceboy’s prize money tally immediately after the gelding cruised home in Saturday’s open sprint at Doomben.
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.
“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.
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.
