Latest news with #CountryChampionshipFinal
Courier-Mail
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Courier-Mail
Grafton preview: Looker keen to add to impressive tally
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Country Championship Final winning jockey Ben Looker aims to add the $500,000 The Coast to his resume but not before boosting his extraordinary Grafton tally. The one-time apprentice to local legend and Kosciuszko winning trainer John Shelton, Looker brought up his 1,300th winner when Point Out won at Quirindi 11 days ago. Not surprisingly, Grafton is Looker's most successful track with a current total of 259 wins. The most recent of those came on April 13 when Looker steered the lightly-raced and promising Olivershare to his first win at career start number two. 'He's still learning what it is all about but he was really good to win a Maiden from an awkward gate without a lot of luck in the middle stages,' Looker said. 'When he got to the second horse, he got passed it, then just floated a little bit. The Form: Complete NSW Racing thoroughbred form, including video replays and all you need to know about every horse, jockey and trainer. Find a winner here! 'Going from a Maiden to a 58 is pretty hard to do nowadays with the Benchmark system. 'He's racing horses that have won more than one or two races but he has got a lot of upside and from the one alley he is going to be able to put himself there and he'll look the winner at some stage. 'He's a nice enough horse that I've got a lot of time for.' Looker is naturally eager to reacquaint himself with the well-bred Veandechance in the Brett Bellamy Congratulations On 1000 Benchmark 82 Handicap (1435m). The last time he rode the Colt Prosser-trained relative of Melbourne Cup winner Jezabeel was at her most recent start, winning a slogging mile affair at Taree on March 25. 'She hasn't raced for a bit over six weeks just with all the wet weather there really hasn't been any races for her,' Looker explained. 'Whatever she does over the 1400m, I feel that she is going to improve getting back up to a mile and 2000m down the track. 'But Grafton is rain-affected at the moment and she is very dynamic on a wet track.' Looker's first chance to win on the day comes in Edwards Irrigation Consulting Maiden (1030m) where he pilots the Showtime two-year-old Ol' Mate Coop. 'He went around a while ago at Coffs Harbour,' Looker said. 'Obviously Shaggy won the race and won quite well but the second horse has come out and won a race since and my horse ran third. 'Tony Newing's horses race well at their home track. 'He's a nice horse with a lot of upside.' While Looker's immediate focus centres on Grafton, all roads lead to Gosford on Saturday where the trusty hoop will hop aboard the Dynamic Syndications mare Rapt in a shared quest for the $500,000 The Coast. 'I was meant to ride Overriding in (The Coast) last year but unfortunately Nathan (Doyle) had to scratch,' Looker said. 'Rapt is not a short-price fancy but you can't really fault her form. 'She has raced well at Gosford in the past, she's three from three at the distance, and I thought her run was pretty good in the Provincial Championship Final. 'In a race where not a lot made ground from back in the field, I thought she did a good job to make up the ground she did. 'If she gets the luck, I think she'll beat more home than beat her home.' ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Donna Grisedale has provided an update on her husband/jockey Jon, weeks after a dangerous incident at a set of post-race barrier trials at Grafton. Grisedale, who has ridden close to 1,350 winners, was dislodged from his mount after it reared and fell on top of him while parading behind the barriers prior to the first of two Heats at Grafton on April 13. 'Jon's good,' Donna Grisedale said. 'It's probably halfway through with his broken leg but he is mending well and now it is a just a matter of time, hopefully another three weeks.' Jon Grisedale will be watching on from home as his wife saddles-up two of the string at Grafton, namely the stable recruit Ostracised together with the speedy Super One son, Super Jaie. Ostracised was bought, and sold, for a fourth time in his career, when knocked down for $10,000 at the Inglis February Online Sale in 2024. The one-time Team Hawkes resident has been a model of consistency since his change of address, posting four thirds in his nine starts for Grisedale. 'We haven't had a jumpout or a trial so he is literally going straight into it pretty much raw but he still should run well, he loves the wet,' the trainer said. 'He's a good money-spinner. His first-up run is usually his worst and after that, he is very consistent. 'We've been trying to find a wet track but they just seem to be getting too wet and washed so hopefully Friday is his day.' Super Jaie, meanwhile, seems blessed with a favourable alley (two) in the last of the ten races on the marathon card. 'Ideally a Good 4 would be what he is looking for opposed to a Heavy track but we are going four and five weeks between runs with every horse so I am just losing fitness tremendously with too many of them,' said Grisedale. Grisedale's gelding's three wins career have come at distance ranging from 1106m to 1250m. Super Jaie's broodmare sires read like a who's who of Australia's most recognisable stallions including Snitzel, Century, Vain, Todman and Heroic. On top of all that, Super Jaie's ninth dam is the 1945 Melbourne Cup winner, Rainbird.
News.com.au
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Gunnedah preview, inside mail and tips: Family matters to Inverell trainer Todd Payne
Inverell trainer Todd Payne arrives at Gunnedah on Monday with suitable assignments on the agenda for both the younger and older siblings of his undisputed stable star Lisztomania. Dream Ahead's son Lisztomania went within inches of running down last month's $1 million Country Championship Final winner Know Thyself in what was another now typically barnstorming effort from Payne's six-year-old. On Monday at Gunnedah it will be the turn of his seven-year-old half sister, Kalahari Heart and five-year-old half-sister Desert Cougar to uphold the family honour in their respective races. Desert Cougar, a daughter of Golden Slipper winner Capitalist, came from midfield to wind-up a close and closing fourth when she resumed at Tamworth on April 24 in a 1000m Country Maiden. 'She had a few little niggles when we first got her so we gave her a run and then we put her in the paddock and she's come over everything and I was really happy with her run the other day,'' Payne said. 'She's probably just looking for 1200m but another 1000m run will top her off. 'This is just another stepping stone but I am happy with the way she has progressed after Tamworth. 'She's a nice horse going forward.' And while Desert Cougar is making her Gunnedah racetrack debut, Kalahari Heart is much more familiar with the venue, located three hours south of her Inverell address. The daughter of the four-times Group 1 winner Show A Heart has raced at Gunnedah four times for a win and a second. 'She loves Gunnedah'' Payne said. 'She was sort of unlucky, every time we went somewhere through this prep, it was either washed out or there was a fire or something happened, so she went a long time between runs and there was no racing around so we were forced to go to the unsuitable 1100m last time but back to 1400m and blinkers on, I think she'll be thereabouts.' Kalahari Princess' is a very reliable broodmare for her former trainer, breeder and owner Mark Taylor given she has produced foals at each of her past four seasons at stud. For the record, she delivered a Nicconi gelding in 2021, a Cosmic Force colt in 2022 and a filly by the Inglis Nursery winner Acrobat in 2023. Her 2024 foal is a colt by North Pacific and will be offered at Lot 56 at the Magic Millions Weanling Sale on May 25 on the Gold Coast. â– â– â– â– â– RACE 4 Justice Please is by Justify out of a Camelot mare which equips her to run 1600 to 2000m at some stage. Third-up here at 1400m off a 1200m then 1300m, both were Provincial maidens. Drawn wide but surely, she stands up in this grade. Stablemate Oakfield Mercury has trialled rather well and has Aaron Bullock to help with the wide alley. Mad Harry is 21 start maiden but has placed eight times. Bet: Justice Please to win, quinella 2,9. RACE 5 Interventionist is unplaced in all five previous first-up runs but they haven't all been bad and this race looks within his reach. That said, he has a wide draw so one would expect he is going to be giving away a fair start. Fleetly, on the other hand, has barrier 1 coupled with the race-fitness being a last start winner. Harder here but capable of taking the next step. Bet: Interventionist each-way or if scratched Fleetly to win, Daily Double 1st Leg 3, 2nd Leg 12. Lady Olenna was costly when beaten at $1.45 on debut. That said, the winner that day is above-average. As for Lady Olenna, she won back her fans with an emphatic win in a 900m Maiden at Scone with Aaron Bullock on from a good draw; same story here. Eighty Eight Stars won at Gunnedah last preparation. Has some respectable country form to support him. Market the best guide. Bet: Lady Olenna to win. RACE 7 Exceedaqa is a Kris Lees-trained filly whose record reads; eight starts for a win, a second and two thirds. The two glaringly obvious highlights are her debut third at Doomben behind stablemate Miss Busslinger no less and a fourth at Kempsey one day to Sumo Fish which made it to last month's Country Championships Final. Placed to win here. Tigers Roar has only managed to win once in 17 starts but he has placed six times and has some provincial form. Wasted Days looks to be closing in on his second win. Bet: Exceedaqa to win, exacta 12 to beat 2. â– â– â– â– â– BEST BET Race 3 No. 12: Miss Arisa Well-bred filly that has looked the part in her trials. NEXT BEST Race 1 No. 1: Musumeci Can build on a meritorious recent debut at Tamworth. VALUE Race 4 No. 9 Justice Please Suited dropping back to country grade and stepping up to 1400m. QUADDIE Race 4: 2,9 Race 5: 3,7,13 Race 6: 4,6,9 Race 7: 2,5,12
