Zac booked for mission to score consecutive Stradbroke Handicaps
Young Sydney riding gun Zac Lloyd has a golden opportunity to become the first jockey since the great Jimmy Cassidy more than three decades ago to win back-to-back Stradbroke Handicaps.
But Lloyd, who scored his first Group 1 when pinching last year's Stradbroke on Stefi Magnetica, must help haul three-year-old colt Bosustow back to the imposing form which saw him be a six-length winner two starts ago.
Bosustow, the three-year-old colt who destroyed his opposition in the Gold Coast Guineas, was single figure odds in Stradbroke betting markets before he was well beaten in the rescheduled Group 3 Fred Best Classic at Doomben last Wednesday.
Bosustow started the $2.45 Fred Best favourite but finished sixth, 1-1/2 lengths behind the Toby Edmonds and Stephen McLean-trained filly Spicy Martini which qualified for the Stradbroke with the win.
Annabel and Rob Archibald are pushing on with Stradbroke plans for Bosustow which has now drifted to be a $15 chance in Queensland's greatest race next Saturday.
Managing owner Anthony Mithen points out that Bosustow was beaten about the same margin in the Fred Best as Stefi Magnetica was a year earlier, before that horse came out and won the Stradbroke with Lloyd on board.
Lloyd has been booked for Bosustow and now gets a chance to be the first jockey since Cassidy won the Stradbroke on the mighty Rough Habit in 1991 and 1992 to score consecutive Stradbroke triumphs.
Lloyd will link with Bosustow for the first time and Rob Archibald remains convinced the colt can be a major player in the Stradbroke.
'Maybe the Fred Best run was just a little bit below what we expected, but we weren't too disappointed,' Archibald said.
'He was a month between runs and the race was rescheduled and things were mucked around a little bit.
'He may have been just a touch underdone second-up, but he can certainly bounce back third-up in the Stradbroke.
'He gets into the Stradbroke with a nice weight (51.5kg) although it's all relative I suppose.
'Zac hasn't ridden him before, but he did win the Stradbroke last year and we are really happy to have him on.'
Bosustow wins the Gold Coast Guineas. Picture: Bethany Allday/Trackside Photography.
Lloyd will jet into Brisbane on Tuesday morning and give Bosustow a spin around Eagle Farm at the Stradbroke 'Breakfast With The Stars' trackwork session.
There is a week of fine weather forecast for Brisbane and the prospects of a rain-affected Eagle Farm track on Stradbroke day look slim.
Bosustow was dominant in the Gold Coast Guineas on a heavy (9) track but the camp say he is much more than just a wet tracker.
On the morning of the Guineas, they had even been considering scratching Bosustow because they weren't convinced he would handle the sloppy surface.
'He ended up handling the wet track on the Gold Coast really well,' Archibald said.
'But I don't think we can really say yet what his preferred track conditions are, because he is fairly lightly raced.'
Originally published as Zac Lloyd on rare quest to score consecutive Stradbroke Handicaps
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Herald Sun
4 hours ago
- Herald Sun
Chelsea draw blank in Palace stalemate
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Chelsea suffered a Club World Cup hangover as they were lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace to open their Premier League campaign on Sunday. Palace were denied an early opener when Eberechi Eze's free-kick was ruled out by a VAR reivew for Marc Guehi obstructing the Chelsea wall. New Chelsea signing Estevao came closest to snatching a winner, but the newly-crowned world champions were blunt in attack against a well-organised Palace defence. The Eagles key duo Guehi and Eze started despite mounting speculation the England internationals are set to join Liverpool and Tottenham respectively. Eze thought he had opened the scoring with a blistering free-kick that had too much power for Robert Sanchez. The goal was disallowed for Guehi's role in creating a gap by man-handling Moises Caicedo into the Chelsea wall. Chelsea's demolition of European champions Paris Saint-Germain to win the Club World Cup last month had raised the Blues hopes they can challenge for a first Premier League title since 2017. Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro shone in the 3-0 win over PSG in New York 35 days ago, but were anonymous as Enzo Maresca had to turn to his bench for inspiration. Estevao scored against Chelsea at the Club World Cup in his final game for Palmeiras. The Brazilian has been hyped as one of the world's brightest young talents but lacked the composure to finish when he sliced high and wide from the middle of the box. Nottingham Forest made light of manager Nuno Espirito Santo's pre-season fears with a dominant 3-1 win over a much-changed Brentford. Chris Wood struck twice either side of Dan Ndyoe's debut goal for Forest on a nightmare afternoon for new Brentford boss Keith Andrews. The Bees have lost their manager, captain and top scorer in the off-season. Thomas Frank left to take charge of Tottenham, Mbeumo got his dream move to United and Arsenal secured Christian Norgaard. Yoane Wissa was also missing from the Brentford squad ahead of an expected move to Newcastle. Igor Thiago's first goal for the club from the penalty spot late on was the only consolation for the visitors. Arsenal, runners-up for the last three seasons, begin their quest for a first title in 22 years later away at a revamped Manchester United. kca/pb Originally published as Chelsea draw blank in Palace stalemate
Herald Sun
12 hours ago
- Herald Sun
Athletics news 2025: Claudia Hollingsworth breaks Australian record at Silesia Diamond League, women's 800m, video, highlights
Don't miss out on the headlines from Olympics. Followed categories will be added to My News. Australian middle-distance runner Claudia Hollingsworth has shattered the women's 800m national record, achieving the feat during the Silesia Diamond League in Poland. The 20-year-old Victorian, coached by former Australian champion Craig Mottram, crossed fifth with a time of 1:57.67. That beat the previous national record — Catriona Bisset's 1:57.78 in 2023 — by 0.11s, with Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson from Britain taking gold. Fellow Australian Abbey Caldwell finished sixth in 1:57.70, while Bisset crossed tenth at 2:00.64. Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1 > 'It's pretty sick! To come down the home straight and not be sure but to look up at the big screen and see it was really exciting,' Hollingsworth said. 'To share it with Abbey and Catriona was so special, having three Aussies in a race like this is awesome. Claudia Hollingsworth has shattered the Australian 800m record. (Photo by) 'I got into this mentality that they are quick races now and if you want it to be quick, you have to be in it to win it. 'I'm trying to be more aggressive and try different ways of racing leading into (the world championships in) Tokyo because those heats are going to be quick leading into the semis and hopefully the final. 'I had a look at myself in the mirror the other week and said that I don't want to be predictable. I don't want to just sit in during races and do my classic 200m kick. 'I want to be able to do that no matter where I'm positioned and if that's up the front then I want to try that.' Elsewhere, Australian Nicola Olyslagers won silver in the women's high jump with a 1.97m clearance. Following a six-week hiatus, the dual Olympic medallist ended up on the podium alongside reigning world champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh from Ukraine, who cleared 2.00m on her second attempt. Kurtis Marschall soared over 5.90m on his second attempt to finish equal-third in the men's pole vault alongside the Netherlands' Menno Vloon, with the duo bettered by Sweden's Armand Duplantis and winner Emmanouil Karalis from Greece, who cleared 6.10m. 'I had a bit of a tummy issue in the last couple of days, so to come away with a 5.90 on a scrappy day, I'm very happy,' Marschall said. 'We are going straight to Lausanne from here and hopefully we can get 10 centimetres higher.' Meanwhile, 34-year-old Linden Hall notched a personal best in the women's 1500m with 3:56.39, while Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay won gold at 3:50.84. The Diamond League series resumes next weekend in Lausanne, Switzerland. Originally published as Rising 20yo star Claudia Hollingsworth shatters Aussie athletics record
Courier-Mail
14 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
Owner collects $15,000 bet with Cyber City's Doomben win
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Cyber City's owner Andrew Knox is laughing all the way to the bank after he collected more than $15,000 for a $200 outlay when his roughie caused a huge upset at Doomben on Saturday. The David Murphy-trained gelding paid $51 when he crossed the finishing post a whopping seven lengths ahead of the fourth-placed $3 favourite Idyllic Affair in a 3YO Handicap over 1350m. Pro Tips View All Heath Pope - Last 28 Days Profit Profit 0 * ROI 0 Strike Rate 0 Units Tipped 0 Avg. Winner Odds 0 • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'The (2.1) multiplier on the Queensland TAB app gave me odds of 102/1 for a $100 bet,' a cashed-up Knox said on Sunday. 'Then I had $100 on at Ladbrokes for $51. Ladbrokes offered me an owner's bet – for up to $2000 you get your money back if the horse runs second or third. 'The night before when it came through on my phone it was $61 so I was kicking myself I didn't get on at that price. 'I picked up $15,000 for $200. I went and bought a carton of beer, I've got it in the fridge now. 'When he turned into the corner, I knew he had them because I was watching all the horses behind him and they just weren't progressing forward. 'I thought 'we've got this' and then when he started to kick around the 200m mark I thought 'this is over'.' • Maloney warms up for Melbourne mission with Doomben double Knox said he wasn't surprised at Cyber City's victory, believing the gelding should have won his previous race after being caught wide in a Maiden Plate (1100m) at Ipswich on July 31. Before that, Cyber City finished sixth to the Paul Shailer-trained filly Ha'penny Hatch, who went on to run in the $1m Group 2 BRC Sires Produce Stakes (1400m) at Eagle Farm in late May. 'If you go back and watch the replay, my horse could've beaten him that day or at least it would've been a fight at the end,' the 61-year-old Knox said. 'Cyber City got caught in a bunch of horses and got boxed in. He pulled up a little bit sore after the race so we put him in the paddock. 'He comes from a really good family. I've had the mare (Star Council) since about 2003 – I bought her as a yearling from the Brisbane Bloodstock sales.' The David Murphy-trained Cyber City wins at big odds at Doomben on Saturday. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography • Concussed jockey 'should never have been allowed to go home' After saluting at Doomben on Saturday at 52kg, jockey Taylor Marshall said Cyber City had 'plenty of potential, he's very untapped and raw'. Murphy was worried that the 'aggressive' galloper would go too hard early but Marshall did well to get him into a nice rhythm. 'Once he gets a bit of experience then he'll settle down because he's like a bull at a gate at the moment,' said Knox, who was born and raised in Longreach and now flies between Brisbane and Western Australia as a FIFO mines worker driving road-trains. 'I know he'll get to a mile because the whole family have been really good milers. 'Longshoreman (whose dam was Star Council) was a very good horse over a mile, he won a Balaklava Cup (in 2014). 'Next year he'll be a really good winter carnival horse, that's what David's opinion was.' Originally published as Cyber City's owner Andrew Knox is laughing all the way to the bank with $15,000 collect for $200 bet
