It was 18 37. Queen Victoria began her long reign. Lord Melbourne was Britain’s prime minister, and European free settlers on the north bank of the Yarra had, two years earlier, named their township after him. Charles Darwin had just published his history-changing work on the origin of all species and, south west of London... Read More

Farmers are all about growing things, and horse farmers are no exception, and nature being what it is, sometimes things don’t grow according to plan. But for two men in the game, those sorts of earlier disappointments have borne some very promising fruit, which was on show again last Saturday. Magic Time, a three-year-old filly... Read More

Longwood Thoroughbred Farm’s Michael Christian knows a bit about breaking droughts. As an AFL footballer, he was a member of the Collingwood side that in 1990 finally ended the giant club’s long wait for a premiership, one prolonged through 32 years and countless heartbreaks – even a drawn grand final and lost replay in 1977.... Read More

Some generational depth of both the human and equine variety has come to the fore in Kote, the headstrong son of Choisir, who’s emerging as a sprinter to watch for his trainer – and breeder – Anthony Cummings.   As a teenager in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, Cummings would travel to stud farms... Read More

Choisir (Danehill Dancer) may be gone, but the grand stallion is still giving and it appears certain his influence will be felt for many years to come, both here and abroad. Coolmore’s former dual-hemisphere titan, who died last December aged 22, notched his 103rd stakes winner on Saturday when the Grahame Begg- trained Cardinal Gem... Read More