Pike wins WA jockeys premiership despite missing three months
Racing WA reported that Champion jockey William Pike added another milestone to his glittering career record after the completion of the 2023-24 season at Belmont on Wednesday.
William Pike | Image courtesy of Western Racepix
Pike ended the season with a flourish, booting home a treble on Another Love (Lucky Street), Made In Mexico (So You Think {NZ}) and Wayne The Pain (Oratorio), to reach 107.5 metropolitan winners, 14.5 clear of Chris Parnham. He missed three months of the season with a broken heel.
Messara has another good mare for the city
Paul Messara and Leah Gavranich will bring Intervarsity (Mikki Isle {Jpn}) to Rosehill on Saturday. “I think she has a fair bit of ability and I think 1200 metres is the bottom limit of where she’s going to be,” Messara told racingnsw.com.au.
Paul Messara | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“She’s drawn a kind barrier, I think that will be perfect for her, we’ve got a nice rider on top. She’s fit and well, she’s a horse that will be more of a miler than a 1200-metre horse and we’ll find that out this prep.”
Ten finalists in Sydney strapper of the year award
The final nominations for Racing NSW’s 2023/24 Sydney Strapper of the Year award have been announced. Now in its 15th year, this award endeavours to recognise the behind-the-scenes efforts by those strappers that tend to go beyond the call of duty.
A selection panel of racing officials will subsequently choose the winner from the following short-list of finalists to be announced during NSW's Racing's Night of Champions on Thursday, August 29, 2024. The nominees are: Alicia Henderson, Anandha Durieux, Ashish Kumar, Bhojraj Singh, Christine Brincat, Franki Yates, James Dunn, Kirsty Formosa, Taneesha King, and Vinay Raturi.
Singapore jockey to ride in South Australia
Classy Brazilian jockey Manoel Nunes will get his first taste of Australian racing when he rides at Murray Bridge on Saturday.
The five-time Champion Singapore jockey has six rides.
Four new season 3-year-olds win at Cranbourne
On the first day of the racing season, four 3-year-olds celebrated their birthday with a win at Cranbourne. They were Kirribilli (Snitzel), Pieris (Snitzel), Captain Link (Merchant Navy) and Evaporate (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}).
Four winners for Brown at Cranbourne
Jockey Ethan Brown won four races at Cranbourne to open his season in style. He won on Pieris (Snitzel), Sparkling (The Autumn Sun), Half Yours (St Jean {Ire}) and Mantua (Fastnet Rock).
$1.4 million colt Dawn Service wins
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained $1.4million colt Dawn Service (Justify {USA}) won the first at Hawkesbury on Thursday at only his second race day start. Race three at the same meeting was won by Visual (I Am Invincible) who was on debut and is the first foal of Group 1 winner Alizee (Sepoy).
Big Brute heads to Victoria
Trainer Chris Bieg will take Big Brute (Brutal {NZ}) to Flemington on Saturday in search of better ground. “The horse is so well within himself, the opportunity of a small field and likelihood of a better surface, we thought we’d have a crack,” Bieg told racingsa.com.au.
Chris Bieg
“He’ll get first go of the conditions on Saturday which will be a bonus, Jye (McNeil) can give us an indication of what he thinks in terms of his ability. Jake (Toeroek) rode him last start and thought he was still six months away. We’re into the new season now, I’ve got the feeling he’ll miss the spring which won’t be the worst thing for him to go away and mature mentally. He’s an exciting horse for the autumn.” Big Brute won on debut but ran mid-field in his next two starts.
Namazu aiming for third Townsville Cup
They named the grandstand after the last horse to win three straight Townsville Cups and Namazu (Medaglia d’Oro {USA})’s part-owner Pavel Cheimardinov thinks he has the horse to repeat the famous feats of Party King (NZ) (Star Way {GB}) on Saturday.
Party King won the Townsville Cup in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and is the only horse to do it in three consecutive years in the history of the time-honoured event dating back to 1884.
“To win the Townsville Cup again, that has been our goal for a year since his last win up there,” Pavel told racingqueensland.com.au. Namazu has won 13 of his 43 starts and over $1 million.
Rae partnership splits
Kenny Rae will start a new chapter in his training career on Saturday, with his successful term in partnership with daughter Krystal Williams having come to an end.
“She’s decided she wants to have a go on her own, she’s been good in partnership but it’s her idea and I support that,” Rae told Loveracing.nz.
“It’s always been a family operation for me, I wouldn’t mind having my other daughter in with me or Lisa again if they wanted. Even if they aren’t working with the horses, they’re always helping with the kids on the farm or at the races.
The Buffer | Image courtesy of Race Images South
“I’ll still have horses of my own down there that she’ll look after for me. I’ve got 25 here and between my six or seven and her own, she’s got about 15 to 18, so we’ve still got plenty to do.
“She will race The Buffer, he’s partly hers as when Richard Bishop passed away he gave him to us. I’m sure he’ll be happy to have her training him, he’ll give her a nice start as you always need one flagbearer going good races.”
International weekend for Go Racing
Germany, France, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Kazakhstan – it reads like the list of competitors in an obscure Olympic event, however, these are the countries involved with Go Racing’s runners this weekend.
“When I started Go Racing 20 years ago, I never thought I would go into a weekend like this,” Go Racing director Albert Bosma told Loveracing.nz. “We’ve got a Group 1 runner by an Australian sire in Germany, a German-bred horse debuting in Ireland, a horse we purchased in England and another we purchased in France, and two New Zealand-breds running in Australia.
“It’s a sign of the global nature of the sport that we can embrace but it’s also something we’re really proud of. Go Racing has attacked the game globally and to have a weekend like this it’s quite remarkable.”
G1 Sussex S. won by Notable Speech
Putting his G1 St James's Palace S. flop firmly behind him, Godolphin's Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) rattled home in style to dominate Wednesday's G1 Qatar Sussex S. at Goodwood, a “Win and You're In” for the G1 Breeders' Cup Mile.
“Full credit to the team. They've done such a fantastic job to get him back after a disappointing run in the St James's Palace S., where we knew it was too bad to be true. He's a horse that really excites you and it's a real privilege to ride him,” said jockey William Buick.
New stakes for Mohaather in Molecomb
The RP Racing-Michael Appleby axis annexed last year's edition of Goodwood's G3 Jaeger-Lecoultre Molecomb S., with G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint hero Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), and connections struck again as the maiden 2-year-old colt Big Mojo (Ire) (Mohaather {GB}) edged a three-way thriller in this year's renewal of the five-furlong dash. A new stakes winner for his first season sire, Big Mojo now has a win from two starts.
“I couldn't split Big Mojo and Mr Lightside, I worked them together on Saturday and couldn't pick between them,” Appleby said. “They are both very good and wouldn't be far behind Big Evs either as two-year-olds. They could both go to America for the Breeders' Cup, but Big Mojo will go to the (G2) Gimcrack first.”
Protest determines G3 Oak Tree S.
Shadwell's homebred Listed Cathedral S. winner 3-year-old filly Raqiya (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) flashed past the post a head adrift of Jabaara (Ire) (Exceed And Excel) in Wednesday's G3 Visit Qatar Oak Tree S. at Goodwood, but was awarded the seven-furlong distaffers' heat in the stewards' room after that rival was deemed to have caused interference in the closing stages.
Raqiya now has four wins from seven starts. “Roger (Varian) is one of my best mates and it is never nice to win one like that,” said trainer Owen Burrows.
USA Jockey Club rebrand
The Jockey Club will rebrand its wholly-owned commercial subsidiaries–The Jockey Club Information Systems, The Jockey Club Technology Services, and InCompass Solutions Inc. - under a single commercial brand called TJC Innovations, according to a late afternoon Wednesday press release from the organization.
“To more efficiently meet the evolving demands of customers looking for comprehensive datasets and solutions that span the entire breadth of our businesses from breeding to racing to sales to retirement, TJC Innovations can service the customer with one call,” said James L Gagliano, president and COO of The Jockey Club.
