Features
Overflowing Hunter Valley braces itself for more rainfall
With a whopping 242mm of rain falling in Scone for the month of November, the highest amount ever recorded for this time of year, something eventually had to give and late last week the country’s breeding capital’s surrounding rivers and creeks ran bankers causing 48 hours of mayhem for some of the area’s biggest stud... Read More
More from Jo McKinnon Column
Yearlings contend with ‘worst in decades’ flooding in Hunter
In recent days parts of Australia’s thoroughbred breeding heartland in the Hunter Valley of NSW were hit by the worst rain event experienced in decades. The deluge caused flash flooding and serious disruption to some of the region’s biggest farms, including Willow Park Stud located just outside of Scone, whose draft of yearlings are the... Read More
Bright Blue Sky (AUS)
Bright Blue Sky (AUS) 2 f Fastnet Rock – Blue Blue Sky by Lonhro O: Te Akau 2021 Fillies’ Breeding Syndicate B: Katom T: Jamie Richards S: David Ellis and Andrew Williams Bloodstock V: Coolmore Stud P: $600,000 W: Fasttrack Insurance 2YO Stakes (Listed, 1100m), Te Rapa, November 20 Champion trainer Jamie Richards could well... Read More
Count De Rupee
The beauty of yearling sales is they’re like the lolly display in the old corner shop: there’s something for everyone. Japanese sires have proven a little hard to market in Australia. And many buyers might eschew lightly-framed horses, or unraced dams. But those factors meant three big ticks for Rob Price at the Gold Coast... Read More
Golden Sixty needs a sterner test to enhance his international profile
Golden Sixty’s (Medaglia D’Oro) latest demolition of the best milers Hong Kong can scrape together has left the gelding’s trainer Francis Lui hoping that a serious challenger will enter the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s ‘racing bubble’ to take on his stable’s champion when he bids for a second Hong Kong Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) victory... Read More
25 for Churchill
New winners Churchill (pictured) – Bouchra (2 f ex Morzine by Miswaki) gave her sire Chuchill (Galileo) his 25th individual winner when she stayed on well to win the Hendaye Maiden Stakes (2000m) at Pau. Trained by Didier Guillemin, the two-year-old filly broke nicely from stall eight and made all under six-pound claimer Clement Merille... Read More