Features
Final countdown as departure day looms
“They generally go out on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for exercise but won’t on Thursday as they will have left before their exercise slots,” said Paltridge, managing director of IRT in Europe. “They are only hand-walked on the final day. The trainers decide what exercise they do on Tuesday and Wednesday. Most of their hard work... Read More
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Winston aboard Withhold for gelding’s final piece of work
Trained by Roger Charlton, Withhold has been impressive in winning his last two starts, and is one of the principal contenders towards the head of the market for this year’s Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m), despite not being guaranteed a berth in the Flemington showpiece. “Everything went well, he is really well within himself and... Read More
Count Octave enjoys a quiet day on Side Hill
Meanwhile, connections of Red Verdon were on hand to watch the son of Lemon Drop Kid (Kingmambo) have a single canter around Side Hill, following on from his gallop with the Charlie Fellowes-trained Prince Of Arran (Shirocco) on the Al Bahathri yesterday. “He’s come out of yesterday’s gallop well and has been his usual cheeky... Read More
Nick Williams right to highlight the challenges facing racing in Victoria
Williams this week called for greater leadership from Racing Victoria (RV) and queried the role of the state’s governing body – both reasonable questions and ones which I’d extend Australia wide. Giles Thompson – the affable, generally reserved and capable CEO of RVL – sagely avoided any slanging match with Mr Williams and understandably defended... Read More
Melbourne Cup entrants put through their paces on Newmarket’s Al Bahathri
The Roger Charlton-trained Withhold, who beat Prince Of Arran by two and three quarter lengths in the Northumberland Plate (2m.5f) earlier this year, enjoyed a much quieter piece of work, following on from Ed Dunlop’s Red Verdon who worked upsides Prince of Arran in a noticeably faster exercise. Charlie Fellowes, who trains the latter, was... Read More
Strong pace saw Grunt produce a career-best performance in winning Makybe Diva Stakes
In fact, Timeform reacted by immediately elevating Grunt to a clear lead on their 2018-2019 Four-Year-Old tables after allotting him a high 125 rating after his impressive victory – the only horse to return a higher rating so far this season being Winx (Street Cry) [129+]. Grunt settled nicely under Damien Oliver, back in fifth... Read More