J-Mac, Lane set for Hong Kong trip
James McDonald has been cleared to make a hit-and-run assault on Hong Kong for International Week.
McDonald, who ride a record 10 winners over Melbourne Cup week, is free to travel to Hong Kong with Damian Lane after the Hong Kong Jockey Club were granted an exemption by the government.
Damian Lane
All that needs to be sorted now is travel arrangements with the international jockeys only being able to travel by private charter.
That may mean McDonald and Lane are set to share their own jet at the expense of the Jockey Club for the Invitation series of races on Wednesday, December 8.
Both are then likely to stay on for International Raceday on Sunday, December 12.
Sweet 16 for Maurice
Leading second-season sire Maurice (Jpn) had his 16th Australian winner for the season with the victory of the Matthew Dale-trained filly Allgemeine at Canberra on Sunday.
Maurice (Jpn) | Standing at Arrowfield Stud
Allgemeine relished the heavy conditions to win by 2.3l over 1200 metres for jockey Kayla Nisbet.
She adds another success for Arrowfield Stud resident Maurice, who leads the second-season race when it comes to prizemoney and is now only one win behind Capitalist (17) when it comes to the most winners this season from that crop.
Oaks on agenda for The Perfect Pink
Jamie Richards is plotting a possible G1 Australian Oaks campaign with Saturday's G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas winner The Perfect Pink (NZ) (Savabeel).
“I did think The Perfect Pink was our best chance on the day and she delivered on that. She is going to be flying home to Te Akau on Tuesday and can have an easy time of it for a while," Richards said.
“She has always appealed as an Oaks type of filly so that will be where we head with her, although whether that is here or in Australia is a decision we will make further down the track.
“She is still quite immature and the question is whether she will be strong enough for Australia, but I expect her to really thrive with the trip away and we may see a different filly after Christmas."
Richards trained the first four home in the race, with Shepherd’s Delight (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) also headed for a spell, while third-placed Belle En Rouge (NZ) (Burgundy {NZ}) could train on.
“She could well be set for a race like the Eulogy Stakes (Group 3, 1600 metres) in early December. That is a race that Mark Walker liked to target with these fillies when he was in charge at Te Akau as they can do their build up down in the south before tackling the race on their way back to Matamata.”
Super plans up in the air
The likelihood of a wet track is likely to see I Am Superman (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) dodge the $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange this Saturday.
Co-trainer Paul Snowden told Racenet that the 6-year-old import's plans would be shaped by the weather.
Peter and Paul Snowden
“The horse is going really well but we want to stay on top of the ground with him because he’s much more effective on dry tracks," he said.
“It is a bit of a concern that they had to call Kembla off on Saturday, they’ve had a bit of rain but we’re hoping we don’t get any more and the weather is warming up so hopefully it will dry out down there by next Saturday.
“If Kembla gets more rain or it’s not drying out then we’ll head down to Melbourne,” Snowden said.
“There’s a suitable race down there for him a week later at Caulfield."
Gin set to resume
John Sargent's long-term plan to get promising filly Gin Martini (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) to Group 1 targets in the autumn is set to step up in the coming weeks.
Gin Martini is expected to resume in the coming weeks for a short campaign before being headed towards the G1 Australian Oaks in the autumn.
“I only plan to give her a light prep, a couple of runs and then we’ll back off her again and come the autumn we’ll be right into it," Sargent told Racenet.
“I’d love to tick off a maiden win and then we can look to the New Year. There are some lovely races for her in the autumn. The Vinery and the Oaks are the obvious targets.
“She’s a filly I think has a bright staying future.”
Derby dreaming for Alexanders
Katrina and Simon Alexander believe promising filly La Crique (NZ) (Vadamos {Fr}) could go on a path that will hopefully culminate in a tilt at the G1 New Zealand Derby next March after her win at Tauraga on Saturday.
La Crique won untouched by 3l on the tricky Slow 7 surface and is destined for better things.
“We have always had an opinion of her, so it was good to see her put back-to-back wins on the board in such a dominant fashion,” Katrina Alexander said.
“We also trained her mum and you can see a lot of similarities in this filly as she loves to freewheel at a high work rate and she really is a very clean winded and efficient mover.
“We did have some concerns about the ground and had the race been later in the day, we would have seriously thought about pulling the pin with all the track downgrades, but seeing as it was race 2, we managed to get away with it.
“Because we want to take her on a Derby path, I don’t see her having too many more starts before we tip her out and give her a short break."
American Pharoah mare Skygaze wins G3 Maple Leaf S.
Skygaze (USA) (American Pharoah {USA}), one of four Mark Casse trainees in this field of 10, saw out the 2000 metres best to win the G3 Maple Leaf S. at Woodbine.
Skygaze was trying the longest distance of her career after six consecutive outings over 1700 metres. Backed as the lukewarm favourite amongst a bunch that seemed hard to separate, Skygaze broke well enough and sat glued to the fence from the pocket into the first bend.
Given her cue into the final turn and guided through a seam and into the clear, she took over rapidly approaching the straight and leveled off powerfully from there to pour it on impressively.
Skygaze becomes the 12th Graded/Group winner for her Triple Crown-winning sire and is one of 23 stakes winners.
Arqana figures on par
Arqana staged the second renewal of its November Yearling Sale on Saturday, with figures in line with its 2020 edition held amid the pre-vaccine pandemic.
Last year, 215 yearlings were offered and this year it was 207. More were sold this year, 167 compared to 155, allowing the clearance rate to rise to 80.6 per cent from 72 per cent. The aggregate settled at €1,057,500 (AU$1.65 million), while the average was down slightly at €6332 (AU$9885) and the median was the same at €5000 (AU$7800).
The top price was €30,000 (AU$46,800) and that amount was paid twice by Guy Petit for the joint top lots: colts by Zelzal (Fr) (Lot 100) and Dawn Approach (Ire) (Lot 172).
The action continues in Deauville next week with the three-day Arqana Autumn Sale.
Rougir added to Arqana December
Haras de la Gousserie's G1 Prix de l'Opera winner Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}) is one of three wild cards to have been added to Arqana's Breeding Stock Sale in December, along with Eudaimonia (Fr) (Vision d'Etat {Fr}), who was third in the same race.
Winner of the G3 Prix des Reservoirs and placed in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac at two, Rougir progressed this season to take fifth in the G1 Prix de Diane, finishing just 1.5l behind the winner. She was then just 0.5l off the same filly when finishing fourth in the G1 Prix de Rothschild in August before claiming her own top-level spoils in Paris on Arc weekend.
Final sale for Tattersalls Ireland
Tattersalls Ireland concluded its 2021 slate of sales on Saturday with the single-session November Flat Sale of foals, yearlings and mares. From 141-head offered, 82 were sold for €567,000 (AU$885,000) at a clearance rate of 58 per cent. The average was €6915 (AU$10,800), and the median was a record for the Sale at €5500 (AU$8600).
Thomond O'Mara, under the Kilronan moniker, signed for the Sale's top lot, a €29,000 (AU$45,000) yearling colt by first-crop sire Tasleet (GB) from Lumville Farm. The colt (Lot 1372) is out of the Listed Dragon S. runner-up Ejaazah (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}).
Lexitonian to stand at Lane's Farm
Grade I winner Lexitonian (USA), a son of Speightstown (USA), will stand the 2022 breeding season at Lane's Farm and will command a fee of US$10,000 (U$13,600).
Winner of the G3 Chick Lang S. as a sophomore in 2019 and beaten a nose in the 2020 G1 Bing Crosby S., the Calumet Farm homebred defeated the likes of next-out G2 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. winner Special Reserve (USA) (Midshipman {USA}) and 2020 champion sprinter Whitmore (USA) (Pleasantly Perfect {USA}) in the prestigious G1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga this July.
“He's a horse who fights," said trainer Jack Sisterson. “He has the talent, the will and the heart. He's a class act winning and placing second in multiple Grade 1 races. I've had a tremendous amount of confidence in him throughout his career because you can run him over any track, and he always knows what to do.”
