Latest news with #InFlight
News.com.au
a day ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Grit and determination leads to a stunning win by Joe Pride's smart mare In Flight Randwick feature
In Flight, racing's pin-up girl, wasn't entitled to win at Royal Randwick on Saturday. The track wasn't as wet as she prefers, she was slow to begin and the race tempo was against her but the flashy mare was still able to find a way to beat a classy field in the Listed $200,000 Bob Charley AO Stakes (1200m). There might have been better horses to win the Australian Turf Club's feature winter sprint but few who try as hard as In Flight. The venerable Charley was there to watch the race named in his honour. He has seen all the great champions win on the famous track over his celebrated 70 years in racing but even he was full of admiration for the mare's determination. ' In Flight looked like she was going to run a good second but you had to like the way she really dug deep to win,' Charley said. 'Earlier in the day, Joe Pride told me this was a race he had never won before but he felt he could do it with this mare. 'I'm happy for Joe because I think he's an outstanding trainer and he's got a good horse with In Flight.' But Pride, who trained a hat-trick of winners to close out the Randwick meeting, started his stable winning streak with In Flight but admitted he was concerned when the winter sunshine resulted in the track being upgraded to a Soft 7 prior to the Bob Charley Stakes. 'When this track started drying out, I was a little bit concerned as the best version of this mare is on really wet tracks,' Pride said. 'The times they are running today aren't too slow at all so for her to come back from winning on a heavy track in Brisbane and get the job done is a very good effort. 'She has earned her crack at this level of racing but that was harder than what we would have liked today. A tough win to In Flight in the Listed Bob Charley AO Stakes at Randwick for @PrideRacing! 🚀 @ProvenTbreds @aus_turf_club â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 7, 2025 • Payne's unique methods shine again as Shohisha salutes 'But she is up at the right time of year and we will see how she pulls before making any more plans. She is doing a great job.' In Flight, ridden by Jay Ford, was backed into $2.35 favourite but she made her supporters sweat before she reeled in topweight Brudenell ($21) near the line to win by a long head with Contemporary ($12) just over a length away third. Ford also admitted he was concerned mid-race when the speed slackened and In Flight was conceding Brudenell a considerable start on the turn. 'To be quite frank, I thought they would go quicker than what they did,' Ford said. 'In the first furlong or so, they spread right out but then the speed backed off. 'I just had to bide my time with cover then present her but she still had it all to do which just shows how genuine she is. 'The second horse laid up outside the lead off a controlled tempo but she was still able to run him down. She was brilliant, just brilliant.' Ford said In Flight 'feels on song' this preparation: 'It's easy to say now she has two stakes wins to her name but she is just oozing confidence,' he said. In Flight is a rising five-year-old mare and was purchased for $220,000 as a yearling by Jamie Walter's Proven Thoroughbreds of Private Eye and Think About It fame. Headley Grange wins first up to give @PrideRacing a Randwick double! 🙌 @aus_turf_club â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 7, 2025 • Hidden Motive digs deep for narrow victory at Randwick Her tough Randwick win improved the mare's race record seven wins (and five placings) from 17 starts and nearly $700,000 prizemoney. Pride believes we haven't seen the best of In Flight yet. 'In Flight is going to keep getting better with age. This time next year she will be a better horse again,' he said. 'But she's a pretty thing. Look at her tail, there are so many different shades of grey in it, she's a beautiful filly. 'I love her. I wouldn't see she is a sweet thing, she can be a bit of a 'tart' but she has all the attributes a good mare needs.' Pride then completed a race-to-race double when Headley Grange ($3.70) came with a powerful late surge through the pack to score by three-quarters of a length from Green Shadows ($15) and Dark Glitter ($21) to win the Singapore Pools Handicap (1300m). Headley Grange was held up for a run from the top of the straight and would have been a good thing beaten but jockey Adam Hyeronimus persevered, found a gap and the Pride sprinter did the rest. In-form sprinter Storm The Ramparts.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Trainer Joe Pride sets sights on clean sweep of Randwick quaddie on Saturday
Trainer Joe Pride can become the 'Quaddie King' if his stable quartet of Cool Jakey, In Flight, Headley Grange and Storm The Ramparts sweep the final four races at Royal Randwick on Saturday. In three of the four Quaddie legs, Pride has the early TAB Fixed Odds favourite including brilliant mare In Flight ($3.40) for the Listed $200,000 Bob Charley AO Stakes (1100m). In Flight scored a breakthrough stakes win in the Listed Bright Shadow Quality at Doomben last start and Pride has brought her back to Sydney for the Australian Turf Club's feature winter sprint. 'I just feel this is the right race for her,'' Pride said. 'She is a little ripper, I love taking her to the races because she has some serious talent and the outstanding thing about her is her ability to handle wet tracks.'' In Flight is having only her fourth run back this preparation and Pride plans to keep her going over the winter months. 'I want to make the most of the fact she is up for winter as she is such a good wet tracker,'' Pride said. 'I'll wait until after Saturday's race and then work out what we do with her. The Ramornie Handicap is a chance although I'd like it to be on a wet track. 'But the Queensland carnival goes on forever so I would be surprised if there wasn't a race up there on a wet track that is suitable for her.'' In Flight finds clear air to win the Magic Millions Bright Shadow for @PrideRacing! ✈ï¸� — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 17, 2025 • In Flight might be working into her winter preparation but stablemate Cool Jakey has already had an extended race campaign but seems to be improving with every start. Cool Jakey started his campaign in midsummer and is about to line up for his eighth run this time in when he contests the Sydney Roosters Partners Handicap (1600m). The Pride-trained 'miler' is the $2.80 favourite after finishing a close last start second to Hollywood Hero – with Nellie Leylax third – over the same course and distance two weeks ago. But the big difference this time is Cool Jakey, with the benefit of apprentice Jace McMurray 's claim, meets his two rivals significantly better at the weights. 'Jace can ride at 52kg and can use a fair bit of his claim for Cook Jakey,'' the trainer said. 'So, he is 5kg better off against Hollywood Hero and a couple of kilos better off against the third horse. 'You rarely hear me talking about weights particularly in sprint races, I don't worry about them too much, but when they are on a wet track over a mile they (weights) mean something.'' Hollywood Hero takes the inside alley and wins well at Randwick! ðŸ'� @BBakerRacing @djgibbons22 — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 24, 2025 Storm The Ramparts, a half-brother to Pride's 2022 Bob Charley Stakes winner Dragonstone, is the $4.60 favourite for the closer, the Toyota Forklifts Handicap (1000m). Pride said Storm The Ramparts had done well since winning over the Randwick 1000m course two weeks ago. 'He will be thereabouts again, he loves the mud,'' the trainer said. Storm The Ramparts leads from start to finish and wins at Randwick! ðŸ'Œ Hippo gets his double! ✌ï¸� @PrideRacing — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 24, 2025 Pride also has Cosmonova entered for the final leg of the Quaddie but conceded the mare was an unlikely starter on a heavy track. This leaves the remaining Quaddie leg, the Singapore Pools Handicap (1300m), where Pride has four entries – Headley Grange, Testator Silens, Estadio Mestalla and Accredited. Although Accredited ($6) is the shortest in betting of the stable's four runners, Pride said the sprinter would not run on a heavy track. 'Accredited and Cosmonova will come out on a heavy track and I couldn't see how it wouldn't be heavy,'' he said. This means Headley Grange ($6.50) is looming as the Pride pick given the gelding's penchant for rain-affected going. It's a double for Adam Hyeronimus! HEADLEY GRANGE gets the better of them late to take out race 6 from @WyongRaceClub. @PrideRacing — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) January 11, 2025 • 'It's a good race for Headley Grange, he's an extremely genuine horse and his share of talent,'' Pride said. 'He is a good horse on any track but he's very effective on wet tracks. He was unlucky one day earlier in his career at Kembla on a heavy track and ran into Briasa! 'Testator Silens ($17) has had the right preparation for this race. He's had two runs back, that probably counts for a bit and he is massively down in the weights from last start. He is a bit underestimated by the market for sure.''
