Who doesn’t love a story about a horse that defies the odds and reaches stardom on the racetrack? It’s the stuff that inspires us all, whether we are breeders, trainers, owners, punters or simply racing fans. The latest such tale is that of last Saturday’s Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2200m) winner Gypsy Goddess (Tarzino). An... Read More

New winners Caravaggio (pictured above) – One-season Coolmore shuttler Caravaggio (Scat Daddy) earned his third individual southern hemisphere-bred winner when Merisi (2 c ex Count The Dots by Cape Blanco) narrowly defeated his elders to win a maiden plate at Newcastle over 1200 metres. The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained colt prevailed by a nose... Read More

Elliptical (AUS) 2 c Dundeel – Marquise Da Rossa by Testa Rossa O: B J Lindsay, Mrs J E A Lindsay, R I Chapman, No One Cares (Mgr: L Hunter), M J Symons, G Timmins, Dr T P Brennan, Mr Pony Racing (Mgr: J L Bourke), M J Catanzariti, C L Marks, Ms K P... Read More

They do things big in Western Australia. A few years ago, south coast boutique breeder Craig Thompson bought a boat and named it after his wife – Rosemary. That sounds very lovely, but it’s the kind of boat – not that he’d want to try this – that wouldn’t fit into the MCG. Thompson, the... Read More

Appropriately enough, this weekend, we look forward to three consecutive days of blue riband racing after last Sunday’s death of the great, 30 times British Classic–winning jockey Lester Piggott. Piggott’s home soil tally included a record nine Derbys and was supplemented by a further 22 Classic wins in France and Ireland and this weekend we... Read More

From a Kiwi perspective, the late Tavistock (Montjeu) has done much to invigorate the success of New Zealand breds among the staying three-year-olds in Australasia, with the stallion playing a major part in the bloodlines belonging to the final two Australian state Derby winners, in South Australia and Queensland, while New Zealand’s only Derby fell... Read More