Last year someone suggested the National Day Cup could be renamed the Howard Cheng Cup, such has been the leading domestic rider’s dominance in the holiday feature in recent years, but the man himself is only “hopeful” of history repeating itself at Sha Tin tomorrow.

Cheng has made the National Day Cup his own since initially landing it on 70-1 outsider Prime Witness for David Hayes in 2003. Last year, he landed another 32-1 upset when Tiber, trained by John Moore, bowled over HK$28 favourite Pocket Money, making it four wins from his last four rides in the Group Three handicap.

After the Prime Witness boilover, Cheng did not have a ride in the 2004 edition of the Cup, won by Town of Fionn (Glynn Schofield), but bounced back the following year to win it on Fokine, trained by Tony Cruz. Ironically, the runner-up there was Tiber.

In 2006 Cheng scorched to a record-breaking win on Flaming Lamborgini, prepared by Danny Shum Chap-shing. On a hard and fast surface, Flaming Lamborgini won three-quarters of a length from Helene Pillaging and stopped the clock at 1:20.4 - course record figures for the Sha Tin 1,400 metres circuit.

Cheng admitted to being “shocked”, in his own words, that Tiber could give him National Day Cup number four last year, and Moore has given him the chance to repeat on the veteran tomorrow. “I have been incredibly lucky in this race - even last year, I did not think I could win the race and yet I won it again - but I cannot say I am confident this year,” Cheng said.

“Tiber is one year older, he’s now eight years old and this is going to be a very strong field. I rode him in a barrier trial the other day and he went quite well after covering some ground in the middle stages.

“I am hopeful, and I am always trying my best. Of course, I would love to win this race again. But realistically, another win would be another big surprise to me.”

Moore is four-handed in the race. He has stable stalwart Joyful Winner (Darren Beadman) carrying the number-one saddlecloth, with the steadier of 133 pounds. He will also saddle up Sunny King (Eric Saint-Martin) and the smart three-year-old Kings Falcon (Mark du Plessis).

Joyful Winner and Sunny King have the benefit of a recent race, with Joyful Winner having finished an honest fifth to Enthused in the Chief Executive’s Cup on September 15, and Sunny King a late-closing third to Egyptian Ra in the Skol Cup 10 days ago.

Kings Falcon, a winner of his last two starts before a break, has not raced since July 1, but did participate in a barrier trial over 1,200m last Friday. Tiber also went around in that trial. The black gelding, a Group One winner of the Classic Mile and runner-up in the Derby as a four-year-old in 2004, is a renowned fresh performer. Last year’s win in this race was achieved first-up, and as a five-year-old he ran second to the great Silent Witness over 1,200m at level weights when resuming.
(Source: SCMP)

The European contingent for Saturday’s Canadian International and E.P. Taylor is in the house, as the final four shippers checked in at about 6 p.m. Sunday.

The fields for the $2 million Canadian International and $1 million E.P. Taylor, both Grade 1 turf races, will be announced at a ceremonial draw here Wednesday.

The 1 1/2-mile Canadian International, for 3-year-olds and upward, and the 1 1/4-mile E.P. Taylor, for fillies and mares, will headline an 11-race card. The supporting stakes, also on the turf, are the Grade 2, $500,000 Nearctic for 3-year-olds and upward over six furlongs and the Grade 3, $300,000 Summer for 2-year-olds at one mile.

All four stakes are Win and You’re In races for their respective Breeders’ Cup events.

Sunday’s flight brought in Doctor Dino, Lucarno, and Mourilyan for the International, and Folk Opera for the Taylor.

Lauro arrived early Sunday morning from Germany, and Quijano and Santiago Attitlan, also based in Germany, have been here since early this month.

Doctor Dino, a Group 1 winner trained by Richard Gibson, will be the probable International favorite under jockey Frankie Dettori.

Champs Elysees and Quijano, the one-two finishers in the Northern Dancer over 1 1/2 miles of turf here Sept. 7, also figure to attract serious support.

Based at Belmont with trainer Bobby Frankel, where he breezed five furlongs over a muddy training track in 1:04.60 last Saturday, Champs Elysees is scheduled to return to Woodbine on Wednesday evening.

All of the entrants for the Canadian International and E.P Taylor must be in their stalls here Thursday under the terms of Woodbine’s stakes race surveillance program, which does not apply to the Nearctic or Summer.

Quijano, Santiago Atitlan drill on Poly

Quijano, a Group 1 winner trained by Peter Schiergen, and Santiago Atitlan, a Nearctic candidate conditioned by Andreas Woehler, got their final three furlongs in 36 seconds while working six furlongs in company in 1:14.40 over the main track here Monday.

Santiago Atitlan also has had a local race, finishing third in a six-furlong classified allowance race on the main track here Sept. 6.
(Source: NTRA)

Frankie Dettori has given up the fancied Cambridgeshire mount aboard Swop after he was diverted to Canada to ride Folk Opera for Godolphin in the E. P. Taylor Stakes. Dettori also picks up the mount aboard Doctor Dino in the Canadian International at Woodbine.

Together with Jimmy Fortune, who rides the John Gosden-trained Lucarno in the International, Dettori will fly into Paris on Sunday morning to ride on Arc day. Meanwhile Luca Cumani, who trains Swop, has booked Richard Hughes for the horse who was yesterday promoted to Cambridgeshire favouritism on the defection of Presvis.

“At this stage Swop is my only definite runner,” Cumani said. “We will wait until the last minute with Ask The Butler. He only ran two weeks ago and we want as much time as possible to assess him.” A total of 67 horses have stood their ground, among them Premio Loco and Master Of Arts, for the cavalry charge on Saturday.

The Cambridgeshire brings the curtain down on Newmarket’s three-day meeting, which features a pair of group one races on Friday. Aidan O’Brien has entered both Mastercraftsman and Rip Van Winkle for the Middle Park Stakes, although plans for the pair remain fluid.
(Source: Times)

Joe Allen’s Peppers Pride has entered a six-furlong allowance race at Zia Park on Saturday afternoon in her attempt to set the record for consecutive wins.

The Joel Marr-trained Peppers Pride has won each of her 16 career wins and shares the record for consecutive wins with Triple Crown winner Citation, two-time Horse of the Year Cigar, Santa Anita Derby winner Mister Frisky and the Louisiana-bred sprinter Hallowed Dreams.

“She’s doing well,” said Marr. “She hasn’t raced since April, but has had two works.” The daughter of Desert God won the Foutz Distaff Handicap at SunRay Park on April 26. She has remained in training since that win in Marr’s stable.

Peppers Pride was scheduled to make her record attempt on two occasions this summer at Ruidoso Downs. She was slated to run in the Lincoln Handicap on July 27 but that racing card was cancelled after the remnants of Hurricane Dolly damaged Ruidoso Downs. The Lincoln Handicap was rescheduled for August 31, Peppers Pride was entered and then Marr elected to scratch her due to an off track. She has only raced on fast racing surfaces.

This means that Marr has twice prepared to race and then the 5-year-old mare has not competed, not the optimal training regimen for a racehorse. “It probably has had an effect and we’ll find out Saturday,” Marr said. “But, she has been training well.”

Peppers Pride has raced at Zia Park each of the last three years and is five-for-five over the Hobbs oval.

As a 2-year-old in 2005, Peppers Pride impressed when she made a four-wide rally on the turn to win the New Mexico Classic Cup Juvenile Fillies, the premier race for two-year-old females during New Mexico Cup day.

In each of the past two years, Marr used an allowance race as a prep race for Peppers Pride before the New Mexico Cup program. That is the same strategy he is using this year.

In 2006, Peppers Pride was nearly defeated when she won her prep allowance race by a nose with a late run. She then won the New Mexico Cup Championship for Fillies by a length as the 11-10 favorite.

Last year, when the winning streak was gaining national attention, she won her 12th straight race with a seven-length allowance win at six furlongs and then captured the New Mexico Cup Championship for Fillies and Mares with a late rally to win by one-and-a-half lengths.

Peppers Pride will point to the New Mexico Cup Championship for Fillies and Mares after Saturday’s allowance race, providing she comes out of the allowance race in good order. New Mexico Cup day is November 9 and the $2 million in purses makes that program the richest day for any state-bred racing program.
(Source: The Blood-Horse)

Despite suffering her first defeat in five races, Ginger Punch will shoot for a repeat in the $2 million Breeders Cup Ladies’ Classic at Santa Anita on Oct. 24, trainer Bobby Frankel said. Ginger Punch finished second, beaten a half-length by Cocoa Beach in Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Beldame.

Though Frankel said the undefeated Zenyatta “is a monster” he doesn’t think Ginger Punch has anything to lose by running in what will likely be the final race of her career.

“I think we’re going to go,” said Frankel, who expects to ship Ginger Punch to California next week. “She’s got her reputation already; there’s no pressure.”

Cocoa Beach, who earned a 99 Beyer Speed Figure for her victory, is possible for the Ladies’ Classic, assistant trainer Rick Mettee said. It would cost Sheikh Mohammed al -Maktoum a $180,000 supplemental fee, and he already has Music Note for the race, but Mettee said the Ladies’ Classic would give Maktoum an idea of what to do with the filly next year.

Lemon Drop Mom, third in the Beldame, will not run in the Breeders’ Cup. Trainer Tim Ritchey said Lemon Drop Mom hit herself in the left foreleg and though she is not seriously hurt, she will get 60 to 90 days off and be pointed for a 2008 campaign.
(Source: NTRA)

The return of stable star De Lightning Ridge at Canterbury on Wednesday could not have come at a better time for trainer Keith Dryden.

The one-time Golden Slipper favourite runs in the Gow Gates Handicap (1100m), her first start since a disastrous run at Rosehill in August when her saddle slipped and she only beat a couple of horses home.

A low-grade virus went through Dryden’s Canberra stables recently which put most of his team out of action.

“I was advised by the vet to ease off all of the horses, so we’ve been pretty quiet for the last couple of months,” Dryden said.

“We’re looking forward to getting a win, it’s been a while…the last two Canberra meetings I’ve only had a couple of runners.

“The virus set her (De Lightning Ridge) back a couple of weeks but I’m very happy with the way she’s worked leading up to this race and she’ll go well.”

De Lightning Ridge jumped brilliantly and led at the turn before her last start mishap.

Prior to that the filly did not handle a heavy Canterbury surface and finished near the back of the field in a 1200-metre race won by Maybe I.

“She panicked in that last start because the saddle slipped so badly it was halfway up her back and she didn’t know what was going on,” Dryden said.

“I just want her to get some confidence and learn to settle in her races, hopefully that starts tomorrow.”

De Lightning Ridge, who has won two of her five starts, was installed as the early Golden Slipper favourite after her 6-1/2 length debut win at Canberra in December last year.

But she fell out of favour following her 4-1/2 length win at the same track in February after critics questioned the quality of the opposition, and the emergence of eventual Slipper winner Sebring.

The Tale Of The Cat filly was sidelined with shin-soreness after she was a beaten favourite in the Black Opal Stakes in which she was third to Sarthemare.

“She missed the start that day and since then we’ve been working on getting her out of the gates a bit quicker and now it’s just a matter teaching her to settle and not be too keen,” Dryden said.

“She’s a very talented horse and it’s just a matter of her putting it all together.

“Once she learns a few more things and hopefully wins a couple of races, we can start to step her up to something bigger down the track.”
(Source: AAP)

Sixteen years ago, Educated Risk finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. That mare’s connections are hoping she has finally produced a foal that can do her one better.

Consequence, owned by the Phipps family and trained by Shug McGaughey, will attempt to earn her way into the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf when she heads a full field of 12 entered in Wednesday’s $150,000 Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont Park. The Grade 3 race, postponed to Wednesday from Sunday by track management, is part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program.

“I think she’s that kind of filly,” said McGaughey.

After a weekend of wet weather that prompted the postponement of this race and the Pilgrim, dry conditions prevailed Monday. However, rain was forecast Tuesday into Wednesday, meaning the turf could still be soft. Consequence handled a “good” Saratoga turf course when she won her debut at 5 1/2 furlongs.

“I wasn’t surprised,” McGaughey said about her debut. “She got bumped around leaving the gate pretty good.”

McGaughey said that jockey John Velazquez told him, “She handled all that fine and when he asked her she was there.”

The added distance should be a plus for Consequence - the eighth foal produced by Educated Risk - even if soft turf is an unknown.

“It’s not a concern; it’s just, who knows?” McGaughey said. “If the sun stays out and the wind’s blowing like this and low humidity, and we don’t get the rain they’re talking about Wednesday, the turf should be fine.”

Trainer David Donk sends out a pair of maidens in the Miss Grillo. Pumpkin Shell has gone winless in two sprints on dirt, but she is a half-sister to Pays to Dream, a Donk-trained graded stakes winner on turf. Freedom Rings finished third in a New York-bred maiden turf race before finishing second, beaten nearly 10 lengths, in the off-the-turf Fairway Stakes at Delaware Park.

“I’m pretty confident running both fillies that they’re going to run very well,” Donk said.

Maram, trained by Chad Brown, is the lone member of the field to have won at the 1 1/16-mile distance, though it was for a $75,000 claiming tag.

“She ran like a horse that had a couple of starts,” Brown said. “She’s trained well since and we’re real excited to see how she fits with some of the other grass fillies.”

Casanova Move, who has made all three of her starts on dirt, impressed trainer Jimmy Jerkens with her lone turf work.
(Source: NTRA)

Flemington trainer Danny O’Brien is focusing on Melbourne Cup plans for promising stayer Gallopin and will use Saturday’s Group 1 Metropolitan Handicap in Sydney as a stepping stone.

O’Brien has ruled out a Caulfield Cup start for the emerging galloper, who is equal 36th in order for the race.

Instead, he is likely to go through Saturday’s Metropolitan, then the Moonee Valley Cup before the Melbourne Cup.

O’Brien is convinced the former Kiwi is a much better horse at Flemington and will focus on the Melbourne Cup as his spring goal.

The lightly-raced five-year-old has seven wins from 16 starts, his best being at Flemington in the Listed Bagot Handicap over 2500m at the beginning of the year.

Gallopin has started three times this campaign, finishing a strong second behind Light Vision over 2000m second-up before a close-up fifth in the Naturalism Stakes behind Zagreb last start.

O’Brien is keen to see the gelding back to a mile and a half this Saturday, where he will be ridden by Danny Nikolic.

Sportingbet have posted Gallopin on the third line of Metropolitan betting at $8.00, with Fiumicino.

Red Lord is a $3.60 favourite while in-form mare Bianca is a $7.50 chance.

In the Melbourne Cup Gallopin is a $51.00 chance.
(Source: Racing & Sports)

Papal Bull is an intended runner in Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and a possible rematch with Duke Of Marmalade.

The five-year-old went close to clinching the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on his penultimate start only for Duke Of Marmalade to find something extra to snatch victory before the line.

He then went to Germany bidding for his first Group One triumph but he underperformed with connections blaming the ground at Cologne.

The Arc will provide him with the chance to make amends and after working well last week he is almost certain to take his chance in the Longchamp showpiece.

“We are booking our flights today, but I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet and we haven’t started getting nervous,” said David Stack on behalf of the Papal Bull Syndicate.

“Michael picked out the King George and the Arc for him earlier in the year and he’s done the first one and is on course for the second.

“The German track just didn’t suit him last time and Ryan Moore wasn’t too hard on him once his chance had gone.

“We want goodish ground ideally but he is a good, hardy competitor and he has run well on soft ground before too.

“Michael is happy with him and he is an intended runner.”

Whether he has the chance to exact revenge on Duke Of Marmalade depends on the ground with Aidan O’Brien hoping for good underfoot conditions.
(Source: Setanta Sports)

A top-class line-up featuring the likes of Lush Lashes, Darjina and Nahoodh is in prospect for Saturday’s Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket.

Lush Lashes is a triple Group One winner this term and she could bid to add to her haul in this mile event, although trainer Jim Bolger does have an alternative option in Sunday’s Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp.

Darjina has finished second on each of her five starts this term and she could represent Alain de Royer-Dupre, while Mark Johnston’s Nahoodh will be hoping to reverse recent Irish form with Lush Lashes.

Aidan O’Brien has his usual strong hand, with Irish 1000 Guineas and Nassau winner Halfway To Heaven, Listen and You’resothrilling still in the mix.

Other Irish interest comes courtesy of John Oxx’s Arch Swing, Mad About You from Dermot Weld’s yard and the Frances Crowley-trained Cheyenne Star.

Mick Channon can pick from Majestic Roi, Sweet Lilly and Eva’s Request, with James Fanshawe’s Spacious and Sir Michael Stoute’s pair of Heaven Sent and Visit also taking the eye.

The 21-strong list of possibles is completed by Baharah, Barshiba, Harvest Queen, Lady Gloria, Festoso and Royal Confidence.
(Source: Sporting Life)

Marcus Tregoning has spoken of his high hopes for Finjaan as his charge gets set for his first crack at Group One company this week.

The Royal Applause colt is one of 13 possibles for Friday’s Shadwell Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket.

He has been off the track since his Group Three success in the Molecomb Stakes at Glorious Goodwood in July.

But Tregoning says his charge, who also won on his debut, is in fine form as he attempts the step up to six furlongs for the first time in his race-course career.

The Kingwood House handler said: “He’s on course, all’s well with him and he’s in very good order. I like the horse a lot and he must have a good chance.

“I think the six furlongs will be fine for him. I would have liked to run him in the Mill Reef at Newbury but there was only 13 days between the two races.

“Last year’s Newbury first and second were also first and second in the Middle Park so it is perfectly feasible to do it, I just think he’s not the type of horse for it though.”

Finjaan will face a tough field in the Middle Park, including Prix Morny winner Bushranger.

Tregoning added: “Bushranger would be an obvious danger if he runs, but the thing about our horse is that he has bags of speed and I’m pretty confident he will run a good race and if he gets beat, he gets beat.”

Dark Angel won last year’s Middle Park before going on to contest the Dewhurst and Finjaan could attempt the same double on 18th October if all goes well on Friday.

“Because of the gaps we’ve given him in the year, he would probably be able to do both if we think he is the right horse.

“We’ll wait and see how he gets on in the Middle Park first though,” said Tregoning.
(Source: Sky Sports)

CHAMPION jockey Damien Oliver may renew his association with English-based trainer Luca Cumani in a bid to win a record-equalling fifth Caulfield Cup.

Oliver confirmed yesterday the Cumani-trained Mad Rush was one of his options for the $2.5 million race on October 18.

Seven times Melbourne’s leading jockey, Oliver said he had not finalised his cup mount, but expected to be in a position to do so after Saturday’s Flemington meeting.

Cumani’s daughter, Francesca, said her father favoured a local jockey to ride Mad Rush, who with stablemate Bauer and Godolphin’s All The Good arrived in Melbourne on Saturday.

Asked about Oliver, she said: “We were very happy with Damien’s ride on Purple Moon in last year’s Melbourne Cup.”

Oliver produced a perfect ride on Purple Moon, but it was not enough to stave off the winner Efficient, who swamped him in the final 100m.

The late Scobie Breasley holds the record with five Caulfield Cups, one more than Oliver, who has partnered Mannerism (1992), Paris Lane (1994), Doriemus (1995) and Sky Heights (1999) to victory.

Francesca Cumani said Mad Rush and Bauer had settled in well at Sandown, their home for the next six weeks.

She said both horses had returned to their pre-travel weights - Bauer 458kg and Mad Rush 440kg - despite a 29-hour stable-to-stable trip that featured stopovers in Copenhagen, Dubai and Singapore. “They’re already back to their weight at home,” she said.

Cumani said Mad Rush was similar to Purple Moon in that both horses were “rangy and long-legged” and lengthened well when asked.

She said Mad Rush won a handicap at Haydock, England, similar in quality to the Ebor Handicap at York, which Purple Moon won last year, and was then beaten a short head in a 3000m Group 2 race in Deauville, France.

“On form, he’s probably a bit better than Purple Moon,” Cumani said.

The stable identified Mad Rush earlier in the year as a horse that fitted the necessary criteria to perform well in the Melbourne Cup.

“It’s better to come out here with a horse that is on the way up,” Cumani said.

She said her father would run Bauer in the Caulfield Cup if he gained a start, but if not the Geelong Cup would provide him with his lead-up run to the Melbourne Cup.

Former Godolphin No. 2 Kerrin McEvoy will ride All The Good, who has not started since winning the transferred Ebor Handicap at Newbury on August 22.

McEvoy said he had ridden All The Good in trackwork, but had started his new role as No. 1 stable jockey for Peter Snowden in Sydney by the time the horse posted his emphatic 3 1/4- length win at Newbury.

He said he planned to refamiliarise himself with All The Good in at least one track gallop before the Caulfield Cup.

Tommy Strang, travelling foreman for Godolphin, said All The Good and Book Of Music, a possibility to run in the Saab Quality or Queen Elizabeth Stakes at the VRC four-day carnival, had taken no harm from the flight.

Strang said All The Good would make his first appearance on the Sandown track on Wednesday.
(Source: Herald Sun)

Rainbow View’s season may not be over after all with John Gosden considering sending her to Santa Anita for the Breeders’ Cup.

The unbeaten filly enhanced her already lofty reputation with a smart victory in the Meon Valley Stud Fillies’ Mile at Ascot on Saturday, and future plans are under review.

As it stands the daughter of Dynaformer is guaranteed a place in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, but Gosden is contemplating a tilt at the Juvenile Fillies, which is run on an artificial surface.

“I wouldn’t want to be making any decisions for the next week or so - there is no rush,” Gosden reported.

“She’s a tough girl. I’ve been real happy with her and we can entertain the thought of going there to America and just have a good look at it. We are no more than considering it at this stage. You want to see how horses come out of a race before you jump to big conclusions.

“I tend to look at the big one [Juvenile Fillies]. It’s on a synthetic surface. It’s not like running on dirt. She goes well on that kind of surface at home so I wouldn’t be hesitating on that necessarily.”
(Source: Setanta Sports)

Ralph Johnson’s Sand Cove, ridden by Richard Dos Ramos, set a track record in winning Sunday’s featured $162,800 Ontario Derby at Woodbine, his second consecutive stakes score.

At the finish of the mile and one-eighth test over the Polytrack, Sand Cove prevailed in a stretch battle with Secret Getaway to win by a neck in 1:49.38, knocking 0.17 seconds off the former mark of 1:49.55 set by Leonnatus Anteas last October.

Secret Getaway and jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson actually poked a head in front at the sixteenth pole, but Sand Cove dug in and came back to tally.

In his last start, on August 31, Sand Cove, trained by Hall of Famer Roger Attfield, tried the turf for the first time and scored a half-length win in the Vice Regent Stakes.

Sand Cove battled for the early lead with Catch Air before tucking in behind the pacesetter until the far turn, when he unleashed his move, as Sligovitz geared up on the outside.

Down the lane, Sand Cove was joined by Secret Getaway on the inside, as the pair dueled to the wire, while Sligovitz retreated to third, almost five lengths in arrears.

“It was a bit of a cat and mouse game, because I didn’t really want to be on the lead,” said Dos Ramos. “He just dug in and through the lane he just ran his eyeballs out. Roger told me this horse would run a big race today. And whatever he says, I say, ‘Okay.’”

“The race wasn’t unfolding the way I wanted it to or the way Richard had wanted it to early on, but it all worked out,” said Attfield. “When the horse (Sand Cove) got his head passed at the 70-yard pole, he just said no, didn’t he? He’s just a very nice, genuine horse. He’s a very versatile horse and I’m very lucky to train him.”

Attfield indicated Sand Cove may go next in the turf Bunty Lawless Stakes, October 12. “We’ll see how he comes out of this race, talk it over and see where we go from here.”

Sand Cove, who picked up $99,000 for the win, his fifth in 15 career outings, as he pushed his bankroll to $344,949, paid $13.20, $5.40 and $2.70, teaming with Secret Getaway ($5.10, $2.60) for a $48 (7-1) exactor. A 7-1-3 (Sligovitz, $2.10 to show) triactor was worth $96.30 while a $1 Superfecta [7-1-3-5 (Delaforce)] was worth $180.50.
(Source: Woodbine Entertainment)

Weekend Hussler heads a star studded line-up of entries for this Saturday’s feature race at Flemington – the Group 1 Patinack Turnbull Stakes (2000m).

Sydney’s Randwick meeting will be centre stage with a superb card of 10 stakes races, including four Group 1’s – the Epsom Handicap, the Metropolitan, the Flight Stakes and Spring Champion Stakes.

But Melbourne’s Flemington meeting also will be a bumper line-up with 10 races, eight of those stakes races including the Gilgai Stakes for the sprinters, the Bart Cummings Stakes for the stayers, and the Edward Manifold Stakes for the fillies heading towards the Thousand Guineas.

The Patinack Turnbull Stakes is a $500,000 set weights and penalties race, where Weekend Hussler is among 24 entries, among them a host of Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup hopefuls.

Weekend Hussler , Australia’s top-rated horse, lifted his season’s Timeform figure to 129 with his win in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes last start.

The win was significant as it was his first try beyond a mile and he will no doubt be under the microscope again as he gets to 2000m for the first time, although the way he won over his Underwood rivals few would doubt he couldn’t run the extra journey.

Also significant, though, was his Timeform rating was still a pound short of his Master figure of 130 from last season – an ominous warning to his rivals he is still yet to peak, and that’s not accounting for any level of improvement.

The Turnbull will prove a pivotal race for a number of the spring hopefuls.

David Hayes has five entires including last year’s Victoria Derby winner Kibbutz as well as Naturalism winner Zagreb and Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes winner Guillotine.

Lloyd Williams and trainer John Sadler have four entries, including last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Efficient, who could well be using the race as his last run towards this year’s Cup.

Last year’s Caulfield Cup winner Master O’Reilly is among entries, along with Pompeii Ruler, Littorio and Maldivian, who finished second, third and fourth behind Weekend Hussler last start respectively.

Classy Sydney mare Tuesday Joy is also among entries, along with Brisbane Cup winner Viewed.
(Source: Racing & Sports)

Street Hero went from maiden to Grade 1 winner with a determined rally in the stretch to win the $250,000 Norfolk Stakes (G1) on Sunday at the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita Park.

The Street Cry (Ire) colt finished on the board in each of his first four starts but entered the 1 1/16-mile race for two-year-olds without a victory to his credit. That changed in the final furlong of the Norfolk, in which he outfinished three opponents in the closing strides to prevail by three-quarters of a length under jockey Alex Solis.

Trained, owned, and bred by Myung Kwon Cho, Street Hero earned an automatic starting spot in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) with the win in the Norfolk, which is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” series. The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile will be contested at the same distance on October 25 on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita.

“I can hardly talk, I’m so excited,” Cho said. “I’m really happy today. This is the best day of my life. Down the stretch, my heart was pumping. This is my biggest win, and I’ve been training around 17 years.”

Del Conte set an uncontested pace through a half-mile in :47.02 as Street Hero stalked from third then fourth. Street Hero accelerated on the far turn but was forced to wait behind traffic entering the stretch. He split horses willingly when an opening developed and gradually put away three challengers to prevail in 1:42.12 on the Pro-Ride surface.

“I was in a tough position from the five-sixteenths [pole] to the top of the stretch,” Solis said. “Finally, I had enough horse to get out. He’s still a little green. He’s still learning.”

Runner-up Midshipman closed from sixth and edged third-place finisher Believe in Hope by a nose. Believe in Hope edged Del Conte by a nose in a three-way photo finish for second and third. Previously unbeaten multiple graded stakes winner Azul Leon rallied from last to finish sixth.

Street Hero entered off a third-place finish on September 3 in the Del Mar Futurity (G1), which was won by Midshipman. After the race, Solis recommended Cho try Street Hero with blinkers and the rider felt the move paid dividends in the Norfolk.

“I really liked him at Del Mar,” Solis said. “Right away, I noticed this horse could use blinkers and I told Mr. Cho. I told him, ‘We’re going to win the Norfolk.’ He was much better today and he’s just learning how to run.”

Street Hero has earned $206,360 with one wins, two seconds, and two third-place finishes in five career starts. He is out of Grade 3-placed winner Squall Linda, by Summer Squall.
(Source: Thoroughbred Times)

Brett Prebble quietly wondered last night just how awesome a fully sound Tchaikovsky might have been after the Snippets gelding returned to competition with a typically brave win that will send him to the cusp of Class One.

It was celebrations all round after Tchaikovsky, starting at 11-1, held off Douglas Whyte on High Point and Darren Beadman on favourite One World to win the Sha Tin Racecourse 30th Anniversary Cup (1,200m).

Tchaikovsky is owned by Sidney Chiu Yung-sit, described by Prebble as “a champion owner”.

Chiu names all his gallopers after famous composers and musicians, with perhaps his best-known horse being the former Derby contender Beethoven.

Tchaikovsky, who came to Hong Kong with David Hayes, but transferred to David Hall after Hayes’ return to Australia in 2005, was resuming from the automatic ban incurred from a bleeding attack in February.

Prebble said, however, he had the utmost confidence that Hall had the seven-year-old right again.

“I was never concerned about the possibility of him bleeding a second time because the horse has never been sounder since David has had him,” the jockey said.

“At the end of his last preparation, he wasn’t entirely comfortable and, in my opinion, it was the stress created by his leg issues that caused him to have the bleed. But David has done a wonderful job to get him back in this sort of form. His action hasn’t been this good since he was a young horse, and you couldn’t ask a horse to trial better than he did here two weeks ago.”

Tchaikovsky has now won eight races, from just 30 starts, and banked almost HK$6 million in prize money, but having won this Class Two race, off a rating of 94, he will probably be a 100 horse after handicapper Nigel Gray takes the marker pen to him this morning.

“In this sort of form, I don’t think he’s finished yet,” Prebble continued. “My guess is that David will wait around for a month or so and give him another race. Spacing his runs like that, I can’t see any reason why he wouldn’t hold his form.

“It makes you wonder, though, just how good he might have been had he been totally sound.”

The other key ingredient in the win was Hall’s decision to remove the blinkers from Tchaikovsky’s racing gear.

“It was something David and I discussed at length,” Prebble said. “Tchaikovsky has tended to get a bit nervous and excited before his races and, having had the bleed last season, we were keen to do what we could to help him relax more.

“He’s a free-running horse anyway so I didn’t think he really needed the blinkers to make him concentrate. But having them off today worked perfectly.

“He went forward and settled beautifully for me when those two leaders [My Time and Team Work] went out at a fast pace.

“By the time he had to do his own bit of work at the top of the straight, he’d had a nice, soft run and had plenty left in the tank.”

High Point ran a solid race to close late and get within a short head of Tchaikovsky, with One World just peaking on his run to wind up a close third, ahead of the impressive Deferential (Olivier Doleuze).

Beadman felt there is improvement still to come from One World, who was also having his first run for the season after winning five from 11 as a two and three-year-old.

“I didn’t think he trialled quite as well as he had when at his top last season, so to run as well as he did was encouraging,” Beadman said.

“He’s a colt and still quite round, so he should improve with that run under his belt.”
(Source: SCMP)

Hyperbaric gave jockey Garrett Gomez the 3,000th winner of his career Sunday in the $200,000 Oak Tree Mile Stakes. Another career milestone could await Gomez if Hyperbaric starts in the Breeders’ Cup Mile here on Oct. 25, a race that Gomez won at Belmont Park in 2005 with Artie Schiller.

Hyperbaric won his first graded stakes in the Grade 2 Oak Tree Mile, wearing down pacesetter Tropic Storm in early stretch and holding off a late run from Tybalt to prevail by a neck. Tropic Storm, who set early fractions of 23.82 and 47.81 seconds, finished third in the field of eight. Hyperbaric ($5.20) was timed in 1:33.62.

The Oak Tree Mile was part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, giving Hyperbaric an automatic berth to the BC Mile, subject to entry fees. Trainer Julio Canani would not commit Hyperbaric to the BC Mile after Sunday’s race. “We’ll play it by ear,” he said.

A 5-year-old gelding by Sky Classic, Hyperbaric has won 6 of 11 starts and $414,476. The Oak Tree Mile was his third consecutive win, a streak that includes the restricted Brubaker Handicap at Del Mar in August.
(Source: NTRA)

Already a graded stakes winner overseas, Godolphin Stable’s Tam Lin became a grade II winner on American soil when he wore down Forefathers in upper stretch and sped away to a convincing 4 1/4-length victory Sept. 28 in the $250,000 Kelso Handicap on the Belmont turf.

Ridden patiently by Javier Castellano, Tam Lin pressed the pace set by Forefathers for six furlongs and despite going wide into the turn, took over before the eighth-pole. The 5-year-old gelding pulled away with ease in the final furlong. The final time for a mile on the ‘soft’ turf was 1:39.13.

Stalingrad, who entered off a narrow defeat in the Fourstardave Handicap (gr. IIT) at Saratoga and was sent off as the lukewarm 2-1 favorite, gave chase in the stretch but settled for second under Channing Hill. Operation Red Dawn rallied from last to get third in a field of six.

Tam Lin entered the Kelso off a disappointing ninth-place finish in the Aug. 23 Play the King Stakes (Can-IIT) where he went off as the favorite. Prior to that he was second to Kip Deville in the Poker Handicap (gr. IIIT) July 13 at Belmont and in June won the ungraded Scottish Monk Stakes by a nose over Cosmonaut on the same ground.

The son of Selkirk shipped to the states for the first time at the beginning of the year and was placed in the barn of trainer Saeed bin Suroor. In England, he won the group III Totesport.com Winter Hill Stakes in 2006 and was 4-2-1 from 10 starts for trainer Michael Stoute.

Forefathers fought for the early lead under Kent Desormeaux and had things to himself while posting splits of :23.81, :47.85 and 1:14.06. Tam Lin was just behind in second, with Stalingrad, Giant Wrecker and Media Play giving chase. Tam Lin drew even with the leader nearing the three-sixteenths-pole and pulled away from the field when he reached the top of the lane.

“This horse isn’t easy to ride, but I get along with him,” said Castellano, who rode him in the Scottish Monk score. “Today, he was very relaxed and comfortable. And in the post parade, he was so kind. I think (assistant trainer) Rick Mettee did a great job with this horse. The key to the race today was that he was so relaxed. We expected to be four or five lengths behind the lead, but when we were right behind the leaders, I didn’t want fight with him. Just let him enjoy the trip. I guess he really liked the course today.”

Mettee said: “He really likes it here at Belmont Park. He really doesn’t corner that well. We thought the one-turn, seven-eighths (at Woodbine) would be good for him, but he never settled. He’s a tough horse to ride because he runs with his head up and pulls hard.

“Saeed and I did not discuss what is next for him. Obviously, a two-turn race at Santa Anita with a full field would be completely different and I don’t know if that would really suit him.”

The winner paid $6.90, $3.50 and $2.50. The exacta (3-6) returned $21.40, while the trifecta (3-6-5) netted $43.20.

Bred by Gainsborough Stud Management and out of the Rainbow Quest mare La Nuit Rose, Tam Lin is now 6-3-2 from 16 starts and has earned $406,818.

Forefathers was fourth, followed by Giant Wrecker and Media Play.
(Source: The Blood-Horse)

All of a sudden, the billing of the Breeders’ Cup as the World Thoroughbred Championships no longer seems quite so mendacious. In recent years, the international credibility of the meeting has been strained, becoming exorbitantly dependent on the continued commitment of Ballydoyle. Last year, things reached a ghastly nadir in New Jersey, where a two-day deluge ended in tears for one of that stable’s most cherished horses, George Washington. As things have turned out, however, his demise in the Monmouth slop may prove the sort of crisis that forces everyone back to first principles.

Nobody could have made such a claim before the weekend. Connections of Curlin, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year, had been candid in their reluctance to run him on the new, synthetic surface at Santa Anita on 25 October. Here, meanwhile, it had been decided that the Derby winner, New Approach, would instead be trained for the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes, staged a week earlier at Newmarket. The most valuable prize in the American sport seemed in danger of losing its identity altogether.

How different things seem now. At Ascot on Saturday Raven’s Pass finally won the elite prize his talent has warranted, in the process emphatically settling a few old scores with Henrythenavigator. And yesterday John Gosden confirmed that the colt, previously considered an ideal candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, is likely to try a new distance and surface in the Classic.

In the meantime, moreover, Jess Jackson had responded to a record-breaking success in New York by declaring that Curlin would defend the Classic after all. The owner made his announcement less than an hour after Curlin had glided across a mire to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup, so becoming the first thoroughbred ever to pass $10m in prize-money. (In the equine equivalent of Bradman’s Test average, Cigar had retired just $185 short.)

The Americans will already be building up the Classic as the race of the century, perceiving it as a straight match between Curlin and the younger champion Big Brown. But what gives that billing some substance is the fact that the European challengers will no longer be making the sort of giddy leap in the dark that always awaited them on dirt. The new surface represents a middle way, one that has required soul-searching and compromise among American traditionalists, but one with thrilling potential to redeem the fading ideals of the Breeders’ Cup.

It must be said that Jackson’s prevarications had seemed incongruous next to the immoderate claims he has been making about Curlin’s global “legacy”. It had not been all talk, either, as Jackson took him to Dubai in March and then tolerated an unsuccessful experiment on turf at Belmont in June, with a crack at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in mind.

That race could yet identify Ballydoyle’s chosen candidate for the Classic, as heavy support for Duke Of Marmalade intimates that he will be taking his chance in Paris on Sunday. Henrythenavigator looks rather less eligible following his second successive defeat, not least given the way Raven’s Pass was going away again in the closing stages at Ascot. At one stage the Irish colt had closed within a neck of the winner.

Few would have countenanced the Classic for Raven’s Pass earlier in the season, when he was ridden as a doubtful stayer even over a mile. Certainly his pedigree offers no guarantees for the extra two furlongs, but his sire, Elusive Quality, does offer one for the surface. His progeny seem to handle anything from ricefields to broken glass.

John Gosden will of course be very much at home in California, where he began his training career, and may yet take Rainbow View to the meeting as well. She confirmed herself the best juvenile filly in Europe on the same Ascot card, coming off the bridle for the first time to beat another excellent prospect in Fantasia. But it would also seem significant that Raven’s Pass, one of many stallion prospects expensively conscripted by Sheikh Mohammed over the past 18 months, runs in the same colours as New Approach. The latter had looked a formidable candidate for the Classic, but Raven’s Pass is arguably finishing the campaign better than any other member of the Classic crop.

It seems too late for the Sheikh’s principal stable, Godolphin, to salvage anything from the European season, albeit Diabolical failed only by a neck to catch King’s Apostle in the John Guest Diadem Stakes at Ascot yesterday. There was more criticism of the watered ground, incidentally, and it must be granted that the most interesting sport of the afternoon was at the Curragh.

For while there were only six runners in the Beresford Stakes, none should mistake the top-class potential of Sea The Stars. Trained by John Oxx, who won this race with Alamshar and Azamour, the Cape Cross colt travelled strongly before betraying inexperience as he saw off his stablemate Mourayan and one of the nicest staying juveniles at Ballydoyle, Masterofthehorse.

“The ground is probably a bit dead for him,” Oxx observed. “And we are still not quite sure what his trip is, despite the fact he is a half-brother to Galileo and out of an Arc winner [Urban Sea]. The spring will tell us more, but he will have a Guineas entry.”

As for the enormous prizes later on the card, restricted to graduates of the Goffs yearling sales, none could match Richard Hannon either for his shopping, or his training. He won the colts’ race with Soul City, and then had the first two home in the fillies’ version in Minor Vamp and Baileys Cacao.
(Source: Independent)