Messara resigns as Racing Australia chair
A tumultuous 24 hours for Racing Australia has culminated in the resignation of chairman John Messara last night, a day after chief executive Myles Foreman foreshadowed his departure in June. Arrowfield Stud principal Messara, who was appointed in May in an attempt to mend the thawed relationship between Racing NSW and Racing Victoria, conceded defeat... Read More
Williamsburg
In the space of 80 minutes one day at Randwick a few years back, descendants of remarkable blue hen Denise’s Joy won three races in a row. That’s fairly astounding. But wait, there’s more. One of them was a Group 2. The next two were Group 1s. Jeez, Denise. No need to show off. That... Read More
Unwala hedges bets with colts portfolio headlined by Inglis Sires contender Warby
Hellbent juvenile to take his place on likely rain-sodden Randwick in juvenile Group 1 When agent Suman Hedge teamed up with trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace on the Gold Coast last year to buy a colt by first season sire Hellbent (I Am Invincible), fellow agent Jimmy Unwala had no hesitation in immediately taking... Read More
High-flying but little seen Acrobat to stand at Coolmore
Record-breaking Inglis Nursery-winning son of Fastnet Rock has service fee set at $13,750 Coolmore will break from its well-founded model by standing lightly raced colt Acrobat, the son of the stud’s own champion sire Fastnet Rock (Danehill), with those behind the one-start Inglis Nursery (RL, 1000m) winner convinced that the retired stallion prospect had what... Read More
Japan’s international investment to the fore after domination in Dubai
The headline act of the recent racing carnivals in the Middle East was indisputably Japan, and we should no longer be surprised. Of the 14 races open to international participation spread across the feature race meetings in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, nine went to Japanese-trained runners. At Riyadh they were dominant, before making an international-assembled... Read More
Four for Almanzor
New winners Almanzor (pictured above) – Cambridge Stud shuttler Almanzor (Wootton Bassett) sired his fourth southern hemisphere bred first-season scorer when the Liam Howley-trained Virtuous Circle (2 c ex She Is Stryking by Stryker) produced a shock win in the Sires (1500m) at Mornington on Saturday. Last seen running ninth on debut at Pakenham, the... Read More