Racing Confidential: Australian Turf Club throws open the gates for Royal Randwick double-header
The annual Anzac Day meeting, held this year at the Kensington track on Friday, is always a solemn but memorable occasion as the racing industry pays tribute to those who have served in various wars and during peacetime, and particularly the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice in defence of our nation.
The raceday ceremony will feature the Ode of Remembrance, Last Post, national anthem and then a minute's silence.
At Royal Randwick on Saturday, the gates will be thrown open again as the ATC and NSW Bookmakers Cooperative celebrate the seventh annual Bookmakers Recognition Day.
Four bookmakers with more than 200 years of combined experience as licensed on-course operators, Neville Waters, Terry Marskell, Tom Bingle and Jeff Pendlebury, will be formally recognised and have races named in their honour.
Racing returns to Royal Randwick on Saturday for Bookmaker's Celebration Day.
Entry is free with race 1 set to jump at 11.30am.
Fields: https://t.co/2wxWmm42YU
More: https://t.co/UfZmcAgrRs pic.twitter.com/U5kZt0dh4C
— Australian Turf Club (@aus_turf_club) April 23, 2025
•
â– â– â– â– â–
IT WON'T be difficult to find a race meeting somewhere in NSW over the next two days.
There are eight meetings across the state on Anzac Day – Kensington, Gosford, Armidale, Bathurst, Deniliquin, Kempsey, Murwillumbah and Nyngan.
Then on Saturday, there are races at six venues – Royal Randwick, Newcastle, Grafton, Leeton, Merriwa and the Cootamundra picnics.
â– â– â– â– â–
THIS will be the fourth consecutive Saturday at Royal Randwick and understandably the rail has been shifted out 9m from the 1000m to the winning post.
But Randwick track manager Michael Wood said the inside section of the track was recovering well after three successive Group 1 meetings.
The stand-alone Saturday circuit kicks off with Hawkesbury on May 3 followed by Gosford (May 10) and Scone (May 17) before racing returns to Randwick on May 24.
Rosehill will have had two months between meetings before it hosts the final Saturday meeting in May.
🚨TAB Track Report 🚨
The latest on the track at Royal Randwick ahead of back-to-back race meetings with ANZAC Day and Bookmaker’s Recognition Day. @racing_nsw | @tabcomau | @SkyRacingAU | @7horseracing
⛅� Weather Tracker: https://t.co/b7255Dbkog pic.twitter.com/Jz3xOTHmRJ
— Australian Turf Club (@aus_turf_club) April 24, 2025
â– â– â– â– â–
COOTAMUNDRA'S Southern District Picnic Race Club deserves a change of luck for their Cup meeting on Saturday after the feature raceday was washed out the last two years.
But the weather forecast is encouraging for Cootamundra and the track was rated a good 3 late Thursday.
Di Williams from the SDPRC is expecting a bumper crowd for the Cootamundra Picnic Cup as there are plenty of visitors to the region for the long weekend.
The Herald is topweight for the Cup with the steadier of 72kg (11st 3lbs). As a comparison, the highest weight ever carried to win a Melbourne Cup was Carbine with 65.5kg (10st 5lbs) in 1890.
â– â– â– â– â–
WIDDEN Stud's Antony Thompson has confirmed super sire Zoustar's service fee will remain at $275,000 for the spring breeding season.
Zoustar's fee is the highest in Australia although Yarraman Park Stud has not yet revealed the fee for their champion stallion, I Am Invincible, who also stood at $275,000 last year.
Arrowfield Stud's evergreen sire Snitzel is the only other stallion with a comparable service fee which is set at $247,500 for the spring.
🌟WIDDEN 2025 STALLION FEES🌟 #ValleyOfChampions
— Widden (@widdenstud) April 23, 2025
Thompson said Zoustar remained extremely popular with breeders after he was the world's leading sire of winners in 2024. He is on track to defend that title this year.
Zoustar has already sired 12 stakeswinners this season, including Group 1 winners Joliestar and Schwarz, with his progeny's earnings already topping $20 million.
The stallion's yearlings were in hot demand this year with 26 selling for $500,000 or more including sons or daughters a filly that was knocked down for $2.6 million at the Inglis Easter Sale.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
Queensland stars Knight's Choice and Antino on a collision course for 2025 Cox Plate
Knight's Choice and fellow Queensland star Antino could be on a Cox Plate collision course as the Melbourne Cup champion prepares to kick off his much-anticipated spring campaign with a trial at Bendigo on Tuesday morning. It will be the first time since February that six-year-old gelding Knight's Choice has run in an official trial due to southeast Queensland's horror stretch of wet weather. 'He's a little bit hairy but he'll clean up in the next few weeks,' John Symons, who trains his partnership with his wife Sheila Laxon, said. 'He's actually bouncing out of his skin. We couldn't be happier with him. 'He never trials that well though, it's not his caper. Traditionally he always takes a few runs to come right.' Symons and Laxon have nominated Knight's Choice for both the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate this spring as last year's $91 Cup roughie looks to defend his crown on the first Tuesday of November at Flemington. 'Obviously getting back to the Melbourne Cup will be the ultimate goal,' Symons said. 'We haven't got anything set in concrete for how we're going to do that. 'We just want to bring him along to where we're happy, and tomorrow (Tuesday) is the first stepping stone in that process.' Brisbane's premier trainer Tony Gollan is targeting the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley on October 25 as Doomben Cup champion Antino's grand final. Antino and Knight's Choice are battling for favouritism to be crowned Queensland Horse Of The Year at a gala ceremony in Brisbane on Sunday week. Antino is an absolute star! The Queenslander dominates the Doomben Cup for @tonygollan ðŸ�† @blake_shinn — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 24, 2025 • Last year's Cox Plate champion Via Sistina is considered a lock for the Australian Horse Of The Year award. 'I suppose it's out of him (Knight's Choice) and Antino but it depends what people want,' Symons said about the Queensland award. 'For the first Queensland horse to win the Cup in 130-odd years, it's a pretty big achievement. 'I don't know how you line that up with a Doomben Cup or a Toorak Handicap (which Antino won last spring). 'I know what I'd do but I'm in his (Knight's Choice) corner.' Asked about a possible Cox Plate tilt for Knight's Choice, Symons said: 'It's a possibility but the best way we get to the Melbourne Cup will determine what we do. 'I'm not going to say we've got some big plans. We'll let the horse do the talking to us and then we'll run him where we have to, like last spring, to have him ready for the ultimate and that's the Melbourne Cup. 'We were always happy with him last year, even though his form looked terrible on paper, and thank god it was dry on Melbourne Cup Day. 'I suppose the weather will play a big part again because we know he's not competitive when it's wet.' What did we just witness?! 🤯 KNIGHT'S CHOICE holds on to win the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup! 🎥 @wwos | #MelbourneCup | #MelbCupCarnival — Victoria Racing Club (@FlemingtonVRC) November 5, 2024 The spring campaign for Knight's Choice last year went Underwood Stakes, Turnbull Stakes, Caulfield Cup and Bendigo Cup before Brisbane-based Irish jockey Robbie Dolan steered him to the ultimate prize in Australian racing. 'We might need to race him a bit more, not that we want to but that's just how it's turned out with him missing the winter up here (in Queensland) because it's been so wet,' Symons said. 'We've been frustrated for all the winter carnival because we looked at some of those results and we thought he could've beaten those horses.' Symons said Knight's Choice would likely go first-up into the Group 1 $750,000 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield (1400m) on August 30 and then possibly the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on September 13. 'It'll be a similar program to last year but we might swing it around a little bit because he hasn't raced for so long (since last year's Melbourne Cup) and there's going to be some cobwebs there,' Symons said.
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Engineer by day, giant-slayer by night: The Heidelberg soccer team living a fairytale
But the Wanderers result was still a genuine 'Cup-set'; the A-League team boasted Socceroos squad member Lawrence Thomas in goal and past Socceroo Josh Brillante in midfield. 'You watch these guys on the TV, then all of a sudden, you are up against them,' said Fulton, a 22-year-old originally from Tasmania. 'We just came out, played freely and when we got that first goal, I thought 'we might be on here'. 'You can't match that feeling. It was awesome to see so many people out in the weather supporting us and to enjoy the win with them after it was special.' Fulton works for commercial construction and plumbing company PAD Civil, where his job is a mix of office and on-site work. Having supportive bosses means he can balance a 50-hour working week with four or five nights of training or analysis sessions, and matches all over the city. 'When I started at the club, I looked at the schedule and thought working full-time as well would be a big ask but things all sort of fell into place with work being five minutes down the road, which I'm pretty stoked about, as I could be driving an hour across town,' he added. 'I wouldn't really change it for anything else. 'I love the lifestyle, I love the grind, or whatever you call it – it's been really rewarding in that aspect, especially when we get the results like the other night.' After a post-match souvlaki at Heidelberg's historic Olympic Village home ground, celebrations in the change rooms and a match debrief, Fulton got to bed at about midnight. 'But you are still buzzing so much that you toss and turn and don't get to sleep for hours – then the alarm goes off at 6am,' he said. 'I was at work at 7am the next morning. You just make it happen in both lifestyles, and you don't want to let either of them down. It's back to reality pretty quick.' Last week's upset was Heidelberg's third win over an A-League side in Australia Cup games; they have the equal most wins with Sydney powerhouse APIA Leichardt. They will try to do it all again against Wellington. The Phoenix are full of confidence after beating South Melbourne in the previous round but Heidelberg are unbeaten at Olympic Village this season. Fulton will have done a full day's work by the time he gets to the ground to begin his preparation. Then he will 'switch off and focus on the game', which kicks off at 7.30pm. Loading 'Hopefully, I will get home before midnight and get more than six hours sleep,' he said. 'That would be nice.' Fellow NPL team Avondale FC are also in the Australia Cup quarter-finals, hosting Brisbane City at Green Gully Reserve on Wednesday at 7.30pm.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
Engineer by day, giant-slayer by night: The Heidelberg soccer team living a fairytale
But the Wanderers result was still a genuine 'Cup-set'; the A-League team boasted Socceroos squad member Lawrence Thomas in goal and past Socceroo Josh Brillante in midfield. 'You watch these guys on the TV, then all of a sudden, you are up against them,' said Fulton, a 22-year-old originally from Tasmania. 'We just came out, played freely and when we got that first goal, I thought 'we might be on here'. 'You can't match that feeling. It was awesome to see so many people out in the weather supporting us and to enjoy the win with them after it was special.' Fulton works for commercial construction and plumbing company PAD Civil, where his job is a mix of office and on-site work. Having supportive bosses means he can balance a 50-hour working week with four or five nights of training or analysis sessions, and matches all over the city. 'When I started at the club, I looked at the schedule and thought working full-time as well would be a big ask but things all sort of fell into place with work being five minutes down the road, which I'm pretty stoked about, as I could be driving an hour across town,' he added. 'I wouldn't really change it for anything else. 'I love the lifestyle, I love the grind, or whatever you call it – it's been really rewarding in that aspect, especially when we get the results like the other night.' After a post-match souvlaki at Heidelberg's historic Olympic Village home ground, celebrations in the change rooms and a match debrief, Fulton got to bed at about midnight. 'But you are still buzzing so much that you toss and turn and don't get to sleep for hours – then the alarm goes off at 6am,' he said. 'I was at work at 7am the next morning. You just make it happen in both lifestyles, and you don't want to let either of them down. It's back to reality pretty quick.' Last week's upset was Heidelberg's third win over an A-League side in Australia Cup games; they have the equal most wins with Sydney powerhouse APIA Leichardt. They will try to do it all again against Wellington. The Phoenix are full of confidence after beating South Melbourne in the previous round but Heidelberg are unbeaten at Olympic Village this season. Fulton will have done a full day's work by the time he gets to the ground to begin his preparation. Then he will 'switch off and focus on the game', which kicks off at 7.30pm. Loading 'Hopefully, I will get home before midnight and get more than six hours sleep,' he said. 'That would be nice.' Fellow NPL team Avondale FC are also in the Australia Cup quarter-finals, hosting Brisbane City at Green Gully Reserve on Wednesday at 7.30pm.
