Latest news with #EagleFarm
The Australian
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Australian
Kyle Wilson-Taylor steps up for double with trainer Chris Waller at Eagle Farm
The big boys have left town, now it's Kyle Wilson-Taylor's time to shine. With the Queensland winter carnival well and truly over and the star southern jockeys either back home or on holidays, Wilson-Taylor collected a double with a couple of textbook rides on the Chris Waller-trained $11 chances Yet He Moves and Caboche. • 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! Wilson-Taylor steered gelding Yet He Moves to victory in a Benchmark 78 Handicap over a mile before winning on Caboche in an open handicap at the same distance in the next race. 'The carnival is gone and the city jocks have gone home so that gives us a crack now,' Wilson-Taylor said. 'Chris (Waller) had a chat to me during the carnival and said once it goes, I'll be straight back in there. 'It's great to get these opportunities and even better to make the most of them. 'It helps when you draw good gates and have really well-prepared horses. 'I galloped him (Caboche) on Tuesday and he's one of my favourite horses.' Five-year-old gelding Yet He Moves flew down the outside in the straight to beat home Just Flying ($6) and $81 outsider Connecticut. Asked about the son of Adelaide going into the race without a trial after last running in early May over 1835m at Eagle Farm, Wilson-Taylor said: 'You never discount Mr Waller, he's the best trainer in the country for a reason. 'This horse is forward and just needs that sort of variety. He loves to switch off early and present at the right time and it all worked out for me today. 'I probably got there a bit soon and he switched off late but it's good signs going forward. 'Chris has been a really good supporter of mine in recent times and I've been doing a bit of work there and getting the results.' Caboche defeated $2.50 favourite Chica Mojito for a Waller quinella, with the Jack Bruce-trained This'llbetheone ($9.50) in third. There was a sad postscript to Caboche's victory, with the Chris and Corey-Munce-trained gelding Brookhaven being humanely euthanised on the track after breaking down entering the straight.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Matt Dunn three-year-old Neil has potential to sparkle like a diamond
Part-owner Dr Rob Sheahan has revealed the intriguing story of how the Matt Dunn -trained Neil got his name. Sheahan said the name was derived from a mixture of Dunn's respected bloodstock agent Neil Jenkinson and famous American singer Neil Diamond. • 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 gelding's dam happens to be Diamond Fund, whose son is Red Red Wine, a song written and recorded by Diamond in 1967. UB40 recorded a cover version of the song in 1983 that reached No.1 in the UK and No.7 in Australia. Neil, the son of Headwater, will compete in a 3YO Handicap for colts, geldings and entires over 1200m at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The gelding started at $5 in betting markets but had drifted to $10 on Friday, with the Billy Healey -trained Benzou ($2.80) and Chris Anderson's Lead Me On ($4.20) the favourites. 'I named him,' Lennox Head general practitioner Sheahan said about Neil. 'Because he's out of Diamond Fund, Red Red Wine was originally a Neil Diamond song, even though nearly everybody thinks it's a UB40 song. 'I always wanted to call a horse by a stupid name and Neil was from Neil Diamond. 'Matt Dunn's bloodstock agent is Neil Jenkinson so it was quite funny, it was a double entendre. 'I've even got a T-shirt made up for Neil that says 'Neil's doing Neil things'.' Murwillumbah trainer Dunn, who returns home from a business trip to Sapporo in Japan on Sunday, is excited about Neil's potential given the galloper has won two out of his four races and finished runner-up at Eagle Farm this month in a Class 2 over 1000m. 'He's got a bit of talent but he's typical of the Headwaters in that things don't come easy for him,' Dunn said. 'He's still figuring out things properly. He wants to go quick, then slow down, and wants to go left when we need him to go right. 'But he's getting there and doing a pretty good job of it. He's certainly a talented horse and he's lobbed in the right race.' Dr Sheahan described Neil as a 'total goof' in his last start because the gelding 'did everything possibly wrong' but still finished second under Jake Bayliss, who will ride him again on Saturday from barrier two. 'I reckon if he'd won that race then someone from Hong Kong would've been interested in him,' Dr Sheahan said. 'I've actually been debating whether I want to sell him. It's like selling your grandchildren for money, it feels a bit funny.'
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Seven-year-old gelding Galifianakis can continue his remarkable form at Eagle Farm
It's becoming increasingly clear why Deagon trainer Jack Bruce 's foreman calls Galifianakis the 'Benjamin Button' of Queensland racing. The seven-year-old has been in sizzling form since the autumn, winning two and placing in three of his past five races. Galifianakis will run in a Benchmark 78 over 1600m on Saturday at Eagle Farm as an $8 chance, with apprentice Cobi Vitler able to claim 3kg to reduce the weight to 59kg. The Grant Allard -trained gelding Merchant Flyer is the $3.60 favourite in a fairly open race. Galifianakis is coming off a narrow runner-up finish to the Kelly Schweida -trained Deep Respect in a Benchmark 85 (1400m) at odds of $71 on Caloundra Cup day. 'He is the stable's most winningest horse,' said Bruce, who has trained the gelding to all his seven wins from 37 races after taking over from Chris Waller in late 2022. 'I presume he's named after the movie star Zach Galifianakis (from The Hangover films). 'We bought him as a maiden from Sydney. He's just thriving, despite his age. 'My foreman (Ryan O'Connor) calls him Benjamin Button because he feels younger every week. 'He's getting better and he's maturing. He's stronger and happier than he's ever been. 'That's partly me learning how to keep him in the right zone because I've trained him for a while now.' Bruce said he was confident that Galifianakis would run strongly fresh last start at the Sunshine Coast but 'pleasantly surprised' when he almost snatched victory. 'He should've won – he drew barrier seven and had to go back to almost last,' the trainer said. '(Jockey) Ash Morgan said if he'd drawn five instead of seven, he would've won the race which would've been quite something.' • Galifianakis started his racing career at Newcastle in February 2022 under Sydney's premier trainer Waller and while he was consistent, he failed to break his maiden status. Under Bruce, he went on a tear in February and March in 2023, winning four straight races, at the Gold Coast polytrack and Ipswich, to stamp his claims as a rising talent. Galifianakis, who has won just under $335,000 in prizemoney, briefly went up to north Queensland under trainer Tom Button for three races during last year's winter before being transferred back to Bruce's stable. 'Ideally he races well this weekend and it's another stepping stone for his prep and getting him out in distance eventually,' Bruce said. 'Last prep he enjoyed having more runs in the shorter trips and he actually won at the mile (on March 16 at the Sunshine Coast) and ran really well at 1400m. 'I'm going to keep quite an open mind about how I proceed through this preparation but he ran a super race first-up and he's in good health and good order. 'That run didn't knock him around so I expect to go well second-up on Saturday. 'I still think he'll end up getting out in trip but I'm happy to take it run by run.'
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Eagle Farm passes first test without sight screen as trials proceed smoothly
Eagle Farm has cleared its first major test without portions of its 'sight screen', with jockeys and racing officials reporting no incidents at a set of trials on Tuesday. Trackside hoardings covered in mesh, meant to stop horses shying at a building on the point of the turn, were established last year as a method of covering up the construction of the building. But the main building is now finished and parts of the hoarding have come down, although it is still in place in some areas where there is construction. Jockeys dramatically withdrew their services from riding at Eagle Farm for a period after a Robbie Dolan fall last July, with the hoops feeling that some horses were shying at the building. The sight screen appears to have been a success although it was never going to stay forever. A set of seven trials were staged at Eagle Farm on Tuesday without incident. 'There were seven trials featuring 48 runners, of which 24 of those were (trained) from outside Eagle Farm,' Glen Prentice, the general manager of the Queensland Jockeys' Association, said. 'There were no reactions from horses.' One key aspect of racing at Eagle Farm since last year's dramas has been it has been mandatory for horses to be cantered past the 600m mark prior to every race to 'sight' the building. This will remain in place for the time being. 'Pre-race sightings will remain until all hoarding is removed,' Prentice said. 'The blue mesh should come down entirely by about September 30 and there will be a set of trials run again when that happens.' There is a nine-race metropolitan card to be raced at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
News.com.au
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Bred by a billionaire, bought by a battler: The Jackal's remarkable Ramornie legacy
There have been some great horses win the time-honoured Ramornie Handicap; Razor Sharp, Mistress Anne, Cangronde and the greatest of them all, Takeover Target. But why is it that so many people's favourite Ramornie winner – The Jackal – is the same? He's one of four horses to have won the race twice but only the ardent racing scholars could name the other three. Everyone loves The Jackal, the horse bred by a billionaire but bought by a battler. 'He was a life-changer,'' the horse's trainer Paul St Vincent told Racenet 17 years on from The Jackal's second Ramornie win. 'I bought him at the Magic Millions Sale in June (2004) so he was a fairly late yearling by then, nearly turning two. 'Gerry (Harvey) bred (him). I paid twenty grand for him.' Not big money for Harvey but hardly an insignificant sum for any country trainer to spend on an unraced horse at the time. 'That's a fair few years ago and we weren't racing for anywhere near the prizemoney we're racing for now,'' St Vincent says. 'That's why he had to move about a bit and travel, Brisbane, Sydney whatever to chase the rich races.' • Ramornie mission is Boom or bust Time for Heathcote galloper Given St Vincent was stationed at Tamworth, The Jackal wasn't that much further from Eagle Farm or Doomben as he was from Randwick or Rosehill. In fact, 27 of The Jackal's 74 starts were at Eagle Farm. 'He was in some pretty big races,'' St Vincent said. 'The thing about him was that he didn't like it if the track was soft. 'He was fairly sound. Towards the end, he had a few little niggles and has his issues that we had to manage continuously 'It wasn't 100 per cent with nothing ever not going wrong, there was always something happening here and there but that's training racehorses. 'I was lucky because we owned him, we could call the shots and if I didn't like the way he was, if I thought he's got something not right, I didn't go. I could pull him out and I didn't have an owner that I had to explain to.' • For the record. The Jackal won 15 times including the WJ Healy Stakes, Star Kingdom Stakes, Prime Minister's Cup and Falvelon Stakes. But it was his two Ramornie's in 2007 and 2008 that elevated him to cult status. 'That's what country racing can do to horses,'' the man they call The Saint says.' 'When they're owned by country people and trained by country people and come out and beat whatever's the best on offer, they seem to get plenty of coverage from it.' So with another Ramornie nigh upon us, plenty of racing fans of a certain age with tell those younger of a horse named The Jackal. For those of us who admired the son of Bite The Bullet from afar, we think of him every Ramornie day every year. But for The Saint, it's more often than that. • Mitch Cohen's Blackbook: Five to follow from Randwick on Saturday 'I think about him every day cause I've gotta feed him,'' St Vincent said. 'He's still alive, you know. He's at my place at Tamworth. We've got a place out of town and he lives out there. 'He gets looked after pretty well. 'He's rising 23, it's not what you class as old, old, old but it's pretty good I can tell you.' A $20,000 purchase who would go on to win a million bucks and win not just the lifelong devotion of one man but the admiration of so many more. The Jackal, like the Ramornie itself, was always destined to become 'time-honoured'.
