Lane wins Melbourne Jockey’s Premiership
Jockey Damian Lane sits on 88 city winners in Melbourne with one (eight race) meeting remaining in the season and a lead of 13 over fellow star Blake Shinn, Lane’s position as the premier rider is unassailable. “It’s been a long year of hard work and plenty of sacrifice,” Lane told racing.com on Sunday.
Damian Lane | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Lane has won more than $10.6 million in prizemoney in town for connections thus far this season and also leads the overall Victorian jockey’s race on 148 wins, some 30 clear of Blake Shinn.
Mills to call first Group 1 race
Young race caller Ethan Mills will celebrate a milestone moment in his career on Sunday as he calls his first Group 1 race for the G1 Lion City Cup, Singapore's premier sprint race. “I am looking forward to it, I know the horses, it's a small field and I've been here in Singapore for six months now so I'm in the groove and I think I've got enough confidence for it,” Mills told racing.com.
“Just to be given the opportunity to call one is really, really exciting. You do learn to be a little bit more independent when you're overseas for the first time, you're out of home for the first time and you're doing a job that you've always dreamt about. That six-months has been probably the best decision that I've ever made.
“I knew what I was going into when I knew that it was closing down at the end of the year but I'm just very happy that I decided to come here and to improve my race calling, my presenting, my broadcasting and also my knowledge of the sport.”
Group 1 ambitions for maiden filly
Dan O’Sullivan has Group 1 ambitions for rising 3-year-old filly Too Darn Discreet (Too Darn Hot {GB}) this spring. “We’ll probably try and win her maiden first, but she’ll be aimed at the good 3-year-old fillies’ races,” he told racing.com.
“It’s timing-dependent, but if she can win her maiden early, we’ll probably aim for something like the (Listed) Jim Moloney, over 1400 metres at Caulfield. So, we’ll certainly have her going early in the spring, see how she’s going, and then we might need to back off her a bit for the Thousand Guineas – that’s the dream.” Too Darn Discreet has had two starts, second on debut, then a fourth at Caulfield recently. She is a daughter of G1 SAJC Oaks winner Maybe Discreet (Shamardal {USA}).
Double for Cosmic Force at Townsville
On Sunday at Townsville, first season sire Cosmic Force sired the winners of the first two races on the card. Cosmic Force has sired nine individual winners in his first crop.
Cosmic Force | Standing at Newgate
In the first, trainer Graeme Green’s 2-year-old gelding Astra Star took his record to three wins and four placings from eight starts with a strong 1.15l win for jockey Chris Whiteley over Underrated (Under The Louvre) and Kobayastar (Kobayashi).
In the second race, trainer Bill Kenning’s 2-year-old gelding Cosmic Atom won for jockey Lacey Morrison by 1.22l over Magic Intent (Wicked Intent) and Webs (Under The Louvre).
Beau Rain wins Townsville Guineas
3-year-old gelding Beau Rain (Sidestep) survived a protest to win Sunday’s Townsville Guineas for trainer Bill Kenning. Sailor’s Run (Merchant Navy) led all the way down the straight to hold on for second from the fast-finishing Beau Rain, while third placed Parade Ground (Epaulette) was squeezed up between Beau Rain and Sailor’s Run.
Hellbent juvenile wins at Sale
Danny O'Brien made the decision to step 2-year-old gelding Devil Man (Hellbent) back in class on Sunday and it paid off. The gelding debuted in the city but came to Sale for his second start, winning by 1l for jockey Liam Riordan from Legacy Bel (Bel Esprit) and Kaddari (Heroic Valour).
Frosted’s Go Jeanie wins again
Trainer Liandra Gray’s 2-year-old filly Go Jeanie (Frosted {USA})’s win on Sunday at Hobart took her record to two wins from four starts. She was ridden by Craig Newitt and was the $1.60 favourite, winning by 2.75l over 2-year-old filly Sky Eagle (Alpine Eagle) and 2-year-old filly Wild Nights (Stratosphere).
Treble for Maskiell at Sale
Jockey Jason Maskiell rode at treble at Sale on Sunday in three successive races on Susie Wells-trained Gracious Diva (Toronado {Ire}), Paul Worthington trained What A Journey (Toronado {Ire}) and Jason Warren trained Golden Hips (Gold Standard).
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Trebles for Bobbin and Gordon at Casterton
At Casterton on Sunday, trainer Andrew Bobbin enjoyed a treble with Schabau (Ger) (Pastorius {Ger}), who was ridden by Tom Ryan, as well as Mighty Oasis (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Pulveriser (Preferment {NZ}) with the latter two ridden by Will Gordon.
Gordon also enjoyed a treble with his other win being on Symon Wilde trained Freddy The Eagle (Free Eagle {Ire}).
Wilde’s Wishlor Lass returns from surgery
Symon Wilde will set Wishlor Lass (Mshawish {USA}) for the spring after she was successfully operated on for a kissing spine, an operation that Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) had prior to winning several Group 1 races. "We found she'd been carrying those issues for a little while. I'm hoping the operation has worked as if it has, we will have some fun with her," Wilde told racing.com.
Wishlor Lass has won six of her 11 starts including two Group 3 races last spring.
12 meeting suspension for McNeil
Jye McNeil will miss the first 12 days of the new racing season after copping a suspension on Bletchingly S. Day at Caulfield reported racing.com. McNeil was on Amoursirra (I Am Invincible) in race five. The Stewards report noted, “near the 300-metre mark made contact with the hindquarters of Sunset Dreaming when endeavouring to improve between that horse and Santasia, where there was insufficient room to do so.
“As a result, Sunset Dreaming became unbalanced and Amoursirra (Jye McNeil) was checked before shifting out around the heels of Sunset Dreaming to continue into clear running near the 200 metres.”
Update on injured jockeys from Bundaberg
Racing Queensland issued an update on injured jockeys Kelly Gates and Erin Molloy who were taken to hospital for further examination after a fall at Bundaberg on Saturday.
Gates has a broken collarbone and two broken ribs, while Damian Browne reported that Molloy is resting at home, feeling battered and bruised, and thankfully has fortunately escaped more serious injury.
Brilliant day out for Myers on Sunday
Kevin Myers was at his masterful best at Waverley on Sunday winning all five of the jumping events on the card, and if that wasn’t enough, he produced three quinellas to boot. “Kevin is a master at his work, he knows how to get his horses perfectly fit and jumping brilliantly which he has been proving for years with so many winners. We’ve got a fantastic team which helps, but Kevin’s processes are just superb,” jockey Joshua Parker told Loveracing.nz.
“He cares a lot about his horses and he’s extremely intelligent. Speaking to him, he loves to have a laugh and joke around, but he’s usually just testing whether we know what we’re talking about. He works very hard doing the cows then onto the horses then back to the farm work, you wonder how he keeps up with it all. But it’s just second nature to him and that’s reflected in how successful his operation is.
“He can read a race unbelievably well, even before it’s been run. I’m only riding one horse, but he knows what every other horse in the field is going to do. There is never a dull moment with Kevin Myers around.”
He won with Mugshot (NZ) (Echoes of Heaven), Go Butch (NZ) (Mongolian Khan), Run Jakko Run (NZ) (Jakkalberry {Ire}), Lochwinhoch (NZ) (Rios {NZ}), and Call Me Jack (NZ) (Jakkalberry {Ire}).
Thorpedo Anna to run in Travers
With one dominating win after another so far this season, it was time for a new challenge for the imposing 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna (USA) (Fast Anna {USA}). Her trainer Kenny McPeek gave it to her on Saturday when he announced that Thorpedo Anna will make her next start in the G1 Travers S. at Saratoga Race Course on August 24.
“We are headed to the Travers, and I'm going to give you a list of reasons why,” said McPeek, who urged fans attending Travers Day who are rooting for Thorpedo Anna to wear pink to the races that day. “I spoke to David O'Rourke last Sunday or Monday, reached out to him, you know how do we approach this if we do this? I'm a big believer that the sport needs stars. It needs to be promoted, it needs to be lifted. She can do that and we're lucky that she's there to do that. The Alabama was a race that is going to be really boring if I run in it. Nobody is going to run against me, I'm pretty sure of that. She could go out there and knock out a third one for us, but I don't think that's a big enough challenge for her.”
