Reserve Bank skyrockets in value as Jamie Melham claims back-to-back wins in The Goodwood
Gun colt Reserve Bank charged home to claim Saturday's $1m The Goodwood at Morphettville, notching a fourth win in Adelaide's premier sprint for astute trainer Mick Price.
It saw star jockey Jamie Melham nailed another homecoming mission, settling off the pace aboard Reserve Bank ($5.50), before splitting the middle of the field at the 200m, on her way to a brilliant one-length win.
• 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!
'He's a Group 1 winner now as a colt, isn't he? He's a beautiful, sound, big, strong and nice colt,' Price, who trains in partnership with Michael Kent Jr, said.
'I was a bit concerned in the run where he was, I did say to her (Jamie), 'he's a nice, flow along sort of horse, he doesn't like the mixed messages and don't drag him back'.
'I'm sure he was out the back, but thankfully they ran along and he was allowed to use his big stride late and he took off.
'I can only say he's a very good colt, and he's won a Group 1.'
Group 1 glory secured a hat-trick of wins for Reserve Bank, a three-year-old son of Capitalist, who has now won five from nine starts.
Melham admitted that the 1200m race threatened to go pear-shaped early, but it eventually mapped out perfectly.
'Nothing went to plan, he reared out the gates, missed the start, but I just got a dream run, I got a beautiful run in the end,' Melham said.
'Giga Kick was on our outside, I thought if I drag back now and get on his backside, he's going to be too sharp.
'We just rode for luck, the gaps came, I was just a passenger, Mick has this horse absolutely flying, it was a very impressive win.'
Jamie Melham celebrates winning The Goodwood aboard Reserve Bank. Picture: Makoto Kaneko
The win saw Melham defend her Goodwood crown, the hoop won last year's sprint aboard Benedetta.
'I thought, I can't leave Adelaide without getting another Group 1,' she said.
'It's a very special race to win, and nothing's like winning a race back home in Adelaide, my aunty is here, aunty Jan, my family are here – it's very special.'
Local galloper Sir Sway ($61) ran the race of his life to finish second for trainers Sue and Jason Jaensch, while Everest-winning sprinter Giga Kick, a $2.05 favourite, was honest first-up, hitting the line strongly out wide for third.
Read related topics: Adelaide
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
18 minutes ago
- ABC News
Marnus Labuschagne to open for Australia at World Test Championship as Sam Konstas misses out
Six years after his international career took off at Lord's, Marnus Labuschagne has an opportunity to save his spot in the Australian team. Having not scored a century for nearly two years, Labuschagne has been promoted to open the batting for Australia's World Test Championship final against South Africa. The 30-year-old, who was once described as having "opening-itis", won the battle to be Usman Khawaja's fifth opening partner in 18 months over teenager Sam Konstas. Follow every ball of the World Test Championship final with the ABC Sport live blog, and the live commentary between Australia and South Africa at Lord's. Despite making some important contributions as Australia regained the Border-Gavaskar trophy last summer, Labuschagne remains undoubtedly the batter under the most pressure. Since the start of 2023, the Queenslander is averaging 31.54, after going at almost 60 until the end of 2022. But Labuschagne, and Australia, will be hoping a return to the home of cricket will help bring out his best. An unknown quantity heading into the 2019 Ashes, Labuschagne got his chance when he famously became the first concussion substitute in Test history. After a Jofra Archer bouncer concussed Steve Smith, Labuschagne stepped in to top score with 59 in Australia's second innings at Lord's. The right-hander went on to carve out 10 centuries from his next 27 Tests during a prolific period. But as pitches became harder to bat on in Australia, as well as overseas, Labuschagne's form has tapered. "We love when they're busy and putting pressure back on the bowlers," Australia captain Pat Cummins said on Tuesday of the decision to pick Labuschagne as an opener. "That's our message here to Marnus, opening the batting can be tough but it can also be the best time to bat before the Dukes ball actually starts swinging and there's runs to be scored. "So it's keeping that positive intent, (which) is when he's batting at his best. "With Marnus moving, we thought it's one spot up, it's not too different to batting at three. "He's done well here in England in the past." Konstas, one of the brightest talents in Australian cricket this decade, looms large for the three-Test tour of the West Indies should Labuschagne not be able to recapture form at Lord's. Since David Warner retired from Tests in January 2024, Steve Smith, Nathan McSweeney, Konstas, and Travis Head have each joined Khawaja at the top of the order. A new WTC cycle, after this year's final, could allow selectors to start fresh with Konstas, who doesn't turn 20 until October. But first, Australia needs to take care of a hungry South Africa, who are desperate to break a drought in ICC tournaments dating back to 1998. The Proteas were crushed the last time they met Australia, only avoiding a 3-0 whitewash in 2022-23 due to the Sydney weather. "Oh that wasn't a good time in Australia," South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. "For a lot of us who were there, it was a little bit of an eye-opener. "Playing against Australia, seeing how their batters went about their business, facing their bowlers and how you're always under pressure and you had to find ways to exert pressure back on them." South Africa won seven-straight Tests to qualify for the final, beating the West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. AUSTRALIA: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (capt), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi. AAP
News.com.au
22 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Broken Hill is being put back on the map by this emerging miner
Broken Hill Mines is planning a listing next month via a reverse takeover of Coolabah Metals It will bring the asset on which BHP was founded back to Australian retail investors for the first time in decades BHM head honcho Partick Walta says Broken Hill has years of life still in it On September 5, 1883, a German-born boundary rider known as Charles Rasp pegged the first block on what became known as the Broken Hill. Originally thought to be a mountain of tin, the intuition of the enterprising Kraut finally crystallised into revelation with the discovery of a rich vein of silver two years later. The result was the formation of BHP (ASX:BHP), now the world's richest mining company after trading in its New South Wales roots for iron ore in the Pilbara and copper in Chile. Yet what became of that original line of lode? It may surprise many investors to know it continues to be tapped to this day at the aptly named Rasp mine. But the project has been hidden in the bowels of Japanese zinc refiner Toho Zinc since 2010. As Toho sought to exit the Aussie mining business, with the 200 miners still working the operation facing the bread line, a white knight emerged. The reimagined Broken Hill Mines, led by Patrick Walta – a metallurgist who almost a decade ago breathed new life into the Century zinc mine in Queensland – acquired the distressed assets in October 2024. It plans to relist through the shell of Coolabah Metals in a reverse float that will include the injection of $15-20 million in fresh capital from investors. Following the launch of a replacement prospectus last Monday chasing that quantum at 35c per share, Walta says the miner has been swamped with interest. Much of it has come from investors drawn to the romance of Broken Hill. " It's pretty cool being able to say you're operating the mine that started BHP. We've literally got the first shaft that was sunk," Walta told Stockhead after the launch of the replacement prospectus this month. " Every single person you talk to says, 'my granddad worked there', or 'my auntie or my uncle was associated with Broken Hill'. " Everyone in the mining community has a history with Broken Hill. "It's such a revered mining town, and the mines there are so well known." The other major producer in the region is the Broken Hill operations mined by Chinese-owned Perilya. " Broken Hill as an orebody has been effectively owned by private Asian interests for a good couple of decades," Walta said. "And there's a lot of patriotism there where they see this as really a story of national significance as much as anything else, about Broken Hill getting back into Aussie hands, being publicly listed, being transparent." Multi-generational Broken Hill has many of the hallmarks of other great mining hubs that have been consolidated by Australian miners in recent decades. The Super Pit at one point had a potential three years in front of it under North American majors Newmont Corporation (ASX:NEM) and Barrick before its acquisition by Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST). Now they are talking about Kalgoorlie's Golden Mile running well beyond the lifespan of anyone prospecting its workings. Cobar's CSA copper mine is heading back into international hands, being acquired by Harmony Gold in a $1.6bn deal after MAC Copper (ASX:MAC) pried it from the labyrinthine portfolio of Glencore. Now BHM is looking revitalise an underinvested asset by not just keeping the operations going but consolidating some of the key deposits around the region. "People are able to actually see what's going on there and it's drawing people back to the town as well," Walta said. "They're not seeing it as a mine that's about to shut down, they're seeing as a potential generational asset that can run for multiple decades. "There's a great saying in Broken Hill that the Broken Hill orebody has had an eight-year mine life since 1885," he added. "It's one of those classic, super orebodies where you keep drilling it, you keep investing, you keep giving it the love and it keeps returning." " The orebody currently stands (historically) at 300 million tonnes at 15% zinc and lead and 300g/t silver. " When Charles Rasp came across it as a rocky outcrop in 1883, it obviously wasn't a 300 million tonne orebody. " So it's had consistent discovery and growth over that 140-year life and there's no reason why that doesn't continue on." Scaling up Currently, the mine produces in the order of 25,000tpa of zinc equivalent metal. But it doesn't take long to figure out that there's plenty of opportunities to improve the outlook. Despite the Rasp plant's 750,000tpa capacity, the project has been campaign milled since 2020 and ore feed grades are currently around 6% ZnEq. There are immediate opportunities to upgrade that. "We bought an operating mine, a going concern, we've got 120 staff on day one and a hungry plant," Walta said. "The whole philosophy here is about utilisation of sunk capital. We have this beautiful plant that's really had 500 million bucks spent on it over the years and it's only about 12 years old. " It is only fed by one orebody and it's a relatively low-grade ore body by Broken Hill standards." That ore source – Western Mineralisation – runs at around 8.2% ZnEq, including 4.8% zinc, 3.1% lead and 38g/t silver. Yet the Main Lode grades an impressive 17.7% ZnEq, including some 870,000t of ore at 7.8% zinc, 7.6% lead and 151.7g/t silver. Walta says the mine still made $20 million in operating cashflow last year with a plant running at around 40% of its total capacity. When the Main Lode comes online it will introduce not just more ore, but ore running at 2.5x the grade. Not resting on its laurels, BHM has also struck a deal to share 70% of the profits by exploring and developing the Pinnacles mine some 15km to the southwest. Pinnacles is a true artefact, one of the last major operations in Australia to be run by a local family. First pegged in 1884, the Williams clan has mined the deposit since 1954, aided by a 30,000tpa processing plant. It hosts close to 6Mt of ore in its open pit and underground deposits at a 10.88% ZnEq grade. Drilling is expected to take place over the next two years to bring the mine up to commercial standards before tapping the rich stuff underground in 2027, though an open pit could be expanded to complement production from Rasp before then. "What they've done is nothing short of amazing. They've built up their own operation just through the sweat off their own back," Walta said. " They have a 40m deep open pit, four underground levels down to about 100m. They built their own processing plant. " No engineers, no consultants. This is hand-built stuff. It's very small by corporate standards, it's about 30,000 tonnes per annum. " We've managed to team up with the Williams family, we've got a 70-30 profit share JV over the Pinnacles mine with them, so ultimately we want to get Pinnacles back up and running." Opportunity beckons The company is aiming to return to listing under its new name next month, with demand for the IPO said to have run as much as three times the available shares on offer. Once listed the market cap will run at a pro forma $89-94 million. That's potentially bargain barrel material when similar base metals producers are taken into account. Polymetals Resources (ASX:POL), for instance, which is in the process of commissioning the Endeavor silver and zinc near Cobar has run ~150% higher over the past year to a market cap of ~$210m. Endeavor is an interesting comparison to Broken Hill, being the other NSW mine Toho Zinc acquired in its 2010 takeover of CBH Resources. "When you look at our value proposition, we're at $95m as a comp, Poly's at $200m, Aurelia Metals (ASX:AMI) is at $500, Develop Global's (ASX:DVP) at $1bn. "They've all got very good reasons why they're at those levels. (But) you don't have to do a lot more research to go, there's a bit of value here. "And we deliberately priced it that way. We wanted early stage investors to capture value and we obviously want it to perform well." There's a lot to like in the company's markets as well. Silver recently broke the back of long-term resistance at US$35/oz and is now worth US$36.50/oz, powered by investment demand and close to five years of deficits due to stagnant mine supply and its increasing use in solar panels. Zinc and lead may not have accelerated like copper, lithium, cobalt and rare earths did during the battery metals boom. But they remain large stable markets trading at levels that offer solid and predictable returns for operators of BHM's scale. Walta says the mix of industrial and precious metals also means the mine naturally hedges against different market conditions. "Zinc is a 70 or 80 billion dollar a year industry, lead's a 60 billion dollar a year industry," he said. " These are established industries of commodities that are essentially part of the makeup of every single person's life every day."
News.com.au
37 minutes ago
- News.com.au
‘Never seen a better jockey': James McDonald closes in on Miracle Malcolm Johnston's mark
Hall of Fame jockey Malcolm Johnston is adamant James McDonald will claim his national riding record for most Group 1 wins in a season – it's just a matter of when. And Johnston also declared McDonald could ride an unthinkable 200 Australian Group 1 winners before the end of his riding career if he remains based in Sydney. These were Johnston's comments when interviewed by Racenet as McDonald closed in on his 16 major race winners in a season – a national record that has stood unchallenged since 1979-80. Just a week after trainer Chris Waller set a national record with 19 Group 1 winners for a season, McDonald is also poised to rewrite racing history at Eagle Farm. McDonald has ridden 15 Australian Group 1 winners this season and can equal or even break Johnston's longstanding record at Eagle Farm on Saturday when he partners Rothfire in the $3m Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) and Hidden Achievement in the $1m JJ Atkins (1600m). 'Records are made to be broken and J-Mac has the opportunity to set a new mark on Saturday that will probably stand the test of time,'' Johnston said. 'If he doesn't break my record this weekend then I'm sure he will one day – if it is not this year it will be in the years to come because he is going to break all the riding records.'' But like the time when Australian cricket captain Mark 'Tubby' Taylor decided to declare on 334 not out so he wouldn't surpass the legendary Sir Donald Bradman's highest Test score, Johnston is hoping McDonald equals but doesn't break his national riding record. • J-Mac confirmed for Rothfire's incredible Stradbroke bid 'I'd be very proud to share the record with J-Mac because I've never seen a better jockey,'' McDonald said. 'He's as good as Darren (Beadman), as good as Mick (Dittman), as good as Ronnie (Quinton). 'If James gets to 16 Group 1 wins then when you look at the replays of his next couple of Group 1 rides that will be me swinging off their tails. 'But to be fair, J-Mac has had a phenomenal season. He didn't have a Kingston Town like I had to win six Group 1 races in a season for me but he did have Via Sistina to help him.'' McDonald rode Via Sistina to win five Group 1 races during the season but did miss another two of the mighty mare's majors. The jockey chose to rode Fangirl in the Winx Stakes only to finish third behind Via Sistina and then he was in Sydney for Epsom Day but missed riding a Group 1 winner while the champion mare won the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington. But McDonald's outstanding 2024-25 season has also included six international Group 1 wins to increase his Australian tally of majors to 92 and his overall career record to 119 Group 1 wins. • Johnston said it was remarkable to think McDonald was still only 32 years of age and rode his first Australian Group 1 winner on Scarlett Lady just 14 years ago. 'If J-Mac stays in Sydney, he could ride 200 Group 1 winners before he retires – and I'm not counting his international wins,'' Johnston said. 'I hope James does stay here because we are privileged to watch one the greatest ever do his thing each week but I believe he will eventually go to Hong Kong. 'Once he breaks 'Ollie's' record (125 Australian Group 1 wins and 129 in total) then I suspect he will consider going to Hong Kong because he might be looking for a new challenge. 'But he has the best of both worlds at the moment because he can go and ride in Hong Kong when he wants to and he still gets the best of the rides in Australia.''
