Latest news with #MagicMillions2YOClassic
News.com.au
01-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Matt Dunn moves on from Magic Millions disappointment ahead of exciting colt Torque To Be Sure's return at Eagle Farm
After being stuck in a Gold Coast Magic Millions pickle, one of the best youngsters Matt Dunn may have ever trained returns to the races on Saturday. Torque To Be Sure had qualified for the Magic Millions 2YO Classic in January but needed to trial before stewards' satisfaction in race week after a bar was placed on him because of his racing manners. • 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! Torque To Be Sure had started the $1.55 favourite in the Aquis Gold Nugget but finished runner-up after racing ungenerously and being steadied on numerous occasions as well as hanging out. With the Magic Millions only a week away, stewards ordered Torque To Be Sure back to the trials before they would pass him to race. Dunn found a set of Lismore trials on the Thursday – only two days before the Gold Coast Magic Millions – but decided it was too close to the $3m race and instead sent him for a spell. As it turned out, the 2YO Classic was rescheduled to the following week because of torrential rain on race day but Torque To Be Sure was already in the spelling paddock. It was an annoying situation but, regardless, Dunn is sure he has a high-quality colt on his hands. Torque To Be Sure resumes in the Listed Dalrello Stakes (1000m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday where he has been strongly backed from his opening $6 price into the $4 favourite. Quietly Arrogant too good in the Aquis Gold Nugget ðŸ'° @blake_shinn @SnowdenRacing1 — 7HorseRacing ðŸ�Ž (@7horseracing) January 4, 2025 'I was very close to trialling him just before the Magic Millions to try to get him cleared to take his place, but I wasn't quite brave enough,' Dunn said. 'We were looking at trialling Thursday and running Saturday but I couldn't quite convince myself to do it. 'As it turned out, it would have been fine as the Magic Millions was postponed and run seven days later anyway. 'Everything has gone well with this colt since, he trialled a couple of times in April and he was perfect. 'He has got those extra few months of maturity now.' While Saturday's race is over the 1000m scamper, Dunn has aspirations of getting his colt to the 1600m of the Group 1 JJ Atkins on Stradbroke Handicap day in June. With that in mind, he wants jockey Andrew Mallyon to ride the colt back in the field and rattle home on Saturday. 'He is a very good horse, a very fast horse,' Dunn said. 'If you take his last run out of the equation, he has got the right attitude. 'As long as his brain lets him, he has got a pedigree to run a mile. 'Honestly, on Saturday, it's not the end of the world if he gets too far back and gets beaten. 'I'd much rather see him get back and finish at a million miles and hour and just miss, rather than over do things in the race.' Torque To Be Sure is still yet to break his maiden status, having finished runner-up at both starts including on debut in the $250,000 The Debut race at the Gold Coast in December. Dunn had intended stablemate Boom Torque to race in Sunday's $1m The Archer slot race in Rockhampton, in the first plank of a plan to lead to the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap.
Herald Sun
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Herald Sun
2025 Calaway Gal Stakes: Shaun Dwyer with Dragonne Rouge
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Shaun Dwyer enjoyed his 67th birthday on Monday and the wily Sunshine Coast trainer would love nothing better than to cap celebrations with a victory over the big stables in the Listed Calaway Gal Stakes at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The Group 1-winning trainer will saddle up $7.50 chance Dragonne Rouge in the $200,000 contest over 1200m for 2YO fillies, a precursor to the start of the Queensland Winter Carnival on Saturday week. She will go up against the likes of the Tony Gollan-trained star Hi Barbie ($2.90), fellow unbeaten filly Ha'penny Hatch (4.80), trained by Paul Shailer on the Gold Coast, and the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Headbanger ($6). • 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! Dwyer is hoping he can win another Group 1 – 21 years after his last – with Dragonne Rouge, who will be targeted towards the $1m JJ Atkins (1600m) on June 14 at Eagle Farm if she can continue the brilliant start to her fledgling career (two starts, two wins). In his heyday, Dwyer had about 80 horses in work, winning the 2004 Lightning Stakes with flying filly Regimental Gal, the 'Toowoomba Tornado' who the year before captured the rich Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast. These days, Dwyer's stable numbers have dwindled to about 15 and he has become the hunter rather than the hunted. 'I was a big stable once, I had 80-odd horses at Deagon there for a while,' Dwyer said. 'Those premier trainers, you've got to keep it in reality. They've got a lot of horses and the more they get, the better quality they get and they don't come for nothing. 'It's always good to get a horse (Dragonne Rouge) with that sort of ability. She's just so strong to the line and that's what you want.' • 'I was a bit green': Healey's time to shine after Alligator Blood regret Dwyer said he was quietly confident his filly could win on Saturday under the guidance of Andrew Mallyon, who takes the ride in the absence of Damien Thornton (who is riding Ha'penny Hatch) and Michael Rodd (Isti Star). 'When you've got a small team, you're hoping everything goes right and you've done the job,' he said. 'Fortunately I've been here a few times in my life and, yeah, I am pretty confident that if she can get the right ride then she'll go good. 'I think Andrew Mallyon is the ideal rider because he likes those midfield travels and he lets his horses find their feet.' • Video 'crystal clear' on animal cruelty allegation: lawyer Dwyer believed the wide expanse of Eagle Farm would suit Dragonne Rouge even better than her last-start victory at Doomben this month when she wore down odds-on favourite Get Ready Lass over 1110m to get the cash on a soft track. 'We've had the benefit of a couple of solid runs,' Dwyer said. 'I've got no doubt that the 1200m at Eagle Farm is probably going to suit her a lot better. 'She can just travel around on the bit and let down. I think her times the other day (at Doomben) were very good.' Originally published as Sunshine Coast trainer Shaun Dwyer puts a Dragonne Rouge victory in the 2025 Calaway Gal Stakes at the top of his birthday list
News.com.au
23-04-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Sunshine Coast trainer Shaun Dwyer puts a Dragonne Rouge victory in the 2025 Calaway Gal Stakes at the top of his birthday list
Shaun Dwyer enjoyed his 67th birthday on Monday and the wily Sunshine Coast trainer would love nothing better than to cap celebrations with a victory over the big stables in the Listed Calaway Gal Stakes at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The Group 1 -winning trainer will saddle up $7.50 chance Dragonne Rouge in the $200,000 contest over 1200m for 2YO fillies, a precursor to the start of the Queensland Winter Carnival on Saturday week. She will go up against the likes of the Tony Gollan -trained star Hi Barbie ($2.90), fellow unbeaten filly Ha'penny Hatch (4.80), trained by Paul Shailer on the Gold Coast, and the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott -trained Headbanger ($6). Dwyer is hoping he can win another Group 1 – 21 years after his last – with Dragonne Rouge, who will be targeted towards the $1m JJ Atkins (1600m) on June 14 at Eagle Farm if she can continue the brilliant start to her fledgling career (two starts, two wins). In his heyday, Dwyer had about 80 horses in work, winning the 2004 Lightning Stakes with flying filly Regimental Gal, the 'Toowoomba tornado' who the year before captured rich Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast. These days, Dwyer's stable numbers have dwindled to about 15 and he has become the hunter rather than the hunted. 'I was a big stable once, I had 80-odd horses at Deagon there for a while,' Dwyer said. 'Those premier trainers, you've got to keep it in reality. They've got a lot of horses and the more they get, the better quality they get and they don't come for nothing. 'It's always good to get a horse (Dragonne Rouge) with that sort of ability. She's just so strong to the line and that's what you want.' ðŸ�‰ Dragonne Rouge makes it two from two with a win in the opener at Doomben! @BrisRacingClub | @_damienthornton | @dwyerracing — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) April 12, 2025 • Dwyer said he was quietly confident his filly could win on Saturday under the guidance of Andrew Mallyon, who takes the ride in the absence of Damien Thornton (who is riding Ha'penny Hatch) and Michael Rodd (Isti Star). 'When you've got a small team, you're hoping everything goes right and you've done the job,' he said. 'Fortunately I've been here a few times in my life and, yeah, I am pretty confident that if she can get the right ride then she'll go good. 'I think Andrew Mallyon is the ideal rider because he likes those midfield travels and he lets his horses find their feet.' • Video 'crystal clear' on animal cruelty allegation: lawyer Dwyer believed the wide expanse of Eagle Farm would suit Dragonne Rouge even better than her last-start victory at Doomben this month when she wore down odds-on favourite Get Ready Lass over 1110m to get the cash on a soft track. 'We've had the benefit of a couple of solid runs,' Dwyer said. 'I've got no doubt that the 1200m at Eagle Farm is probably going to suit her a lot better. 'She can just travel around on the bit and let down. I think her times the other day (at Doomben) were very good.'
