Latest news with #PeterMoran
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Sunrays owner Peter Moran confident star filly will be a warrior Princess when she resumes in Sydney this month
Peter Moran, the owner of Queensland galloper Sunrays, is confident the promising filly can fulfil her massive potential at Group 1 level if she can begin Sydney's upcoming Princess Series with a bang. The Kelly Schweida -trained Sunrays will resume in the $300,000 Group 2 Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) on August 23, the first leg of the four-race Princess Series for 3YO fillies at Randwick. The daughter of Hellbent will then be further tested in Group 2 company next month when she contests the Furious Stakes (1200m) and the Tea Rose Stakes (1400m) before her grand final, the $750,000 Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m). 'I think she's up to it,' owner-breeder Moran said of Sunrays, who has won five of six races and $364,000 in prizemoney since making her debut at Doomben on January 22. 'I think she's capable of performing well in a Group 1. 'She came up to Brisbane as a yearling from Widden Stud (in the Hunter Valley) and got a really bad case of travel sickness which knocked the stuffing out of her. 'We were very lucky we didn't lose her. 'She went from being broken in to going to Kelly and then she won three straight races. 'I saw her the other day and she looks enormous. I've bred a lot of horses in my time and she's right up there with the best.' • Melbourne Cup champ Robbie Dolan wins race in Shergar Cup Champion jockey Tommy Berry has been aboard Sunrays in past three races and has been offered the rides for the Princess Series. Sunrays finished a distant runner-up to the Peter Snowden -trained Beadman in the Group 3 Ken Russell Memorial Classic on a bog track on the Gold Coast on May 10. She then stamped her black-type credentials with victories in the Bill Carter Stakes (1350m) at Doomben and the Show A Heart (1500m) at Eagle Farm before going for a well-deserved spell. Schweida, currently holidaying in South Africa, at the time described Sunrays' dominant victory in the Bill Carter Stakes as 'arrogant' while Berry said after the race the filly was 'bombproof and adaptable' with 'improvement to come'. ðŸ'¥ HELLBENT 2YO STAKES WIN ðŸ'¥ She’s tough and she’s good! SUNRAYS (2f) made it back-to-back Stakes wins taking the Listed Show A Heart @EagleFarmRacing ðŸ'° 6 starts, 5 wins including two Stakes wins & second in a G3.. awesome for Kelly Schweida and owner-breeder Peter Moran! — Yarraman Park Stud (@yarramanpark) June 7, 2025 • Beadman may have won the Ken Russell Memorial Classic by eight lengths, but it was in that race that Moran knew he had a Group 1 horse in the making, with Sunrays the only horse to make ground on a heavy track. 'Tommy Berry got off her that day and said 'I'd like to stay with this filly if I can',' Moran recalled. 'For one of the leading jockeys in Sydney to say that, I was pretty happy. 'He does a lot of riding for the big trainers like Chris Waller and I'm only a little fella with one horse but I hope he stays on her (for the Princess Series). 'It'll be a huge step for Sunrays, going from a Listed race at Eagle Farm to a Group 2 at Randwick against the best fillies in Australia.' Given the filly's pedigree – Sunrays is the first living foal of Hiccups, an unraced granddaughter of the celebrated mare Staging – Moran is confident she can win a Group 1. 'She's a bit like Staging in that she's tough, easy to train and she eats her head off,' Moran said. 'She's going to be a lovely filly when she's completed. She'll have these four runs and then we'll give her a break before bringing her back for the Sydney autumn carnival.'
The Australian
07-06-2025
- Sport
- The Australian
Sunrays ends stellar campaign in Show A Heart as trainer resists Group 1 JJ Atkins lure
Champion jockey Tommy Berry believes classy filly Sunrays would have been competitive in next Saturday's Group 1 JJ Atkins but unfortunately he won't get to find out. The Kelly Schweida-trained Sunrays will now go for a spell after winning the Listed Show A Heart for two-year-olds over 1500m at Eagle Farm on Saturday. • 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! Schweida then grabbed a double early in the card, with Cejay Graham piloting $20 chance Vodka Martini to victory in the 1000m Lightning Handicap, ahead of Austmarr ($7) and the Schweida-trained Metalart ($6) Owner Peter Moran may have been tempted to run her in the JJ Atkins (1600m) but he and Schweida will stick to their guns and send Sunrays for a rest. Asked if the supremely gifted filly, who has now won five of her six races, could have been competitive in the JJ Atkins, Berry didn't hesitate in his response: 'If she didn't run today then yes. 'The aim was to run today and then go to the paddock. But running today, I felt like she was on the way down now. I don't think she was at her best today. 'She was a little bit flat in the way she raced and she didn't travel up that well for me off the bridle so she's got improvement 'At her best, if she'd missed today and had the extra week in between runs, for her to run top three (in the JJ Atkins) wouldn't have been out of her means.' It would have been tough for Sunrays to back-up just seven days later in a long campaign that started in late January and finished with Saturday's mighty effort when the $3.20 favourite beat Jenni Gone Bonkers ($10) and Navy Pilot ($5.50) on a Soft 5 track. 'She'll be going straight for a spell now, so that was a great way to sign off her prep,' Schweida said. 'It was a great win, I don't think I've seen a jockey look more confident than Tommy did. 'He was pretty adamant she would be hard to beat, but she still had to tick the 1500m box and also the Eagle Farm box today. 'She's just so tough and she's done it all off her first prep, which is why we elected not to take her to the Group 1 next week (JJ Atkins). She's done a super job.' Sunrays will be sent for a spell after winning the Show A Heart. Picture: Trackside Photography Berry said he felt lucky to pick up the ride from regular jockey Cejay Graham, with the top Sydney hoop guiding her to wins in the Group 3 Ken Russell Stakes (1200m) on the Gold Coast and the Listed Bill Carter Stakes (1350m) at Doomben last month. 'Cejay had done a really good job on her before I picked up the ride,' he said. 'She gave me some really good insight into what she was like to ride, so that made things much easier for me. 'She's a lovely progressive filly, and I still think the best is yet to come with her. 'If you look at her frame she probably hasn't filled into it yet. She's still a bit narrow but there's nothing wrong with her heart, she had to dig deep today. 'It's very exciting to see what she can do over the spring.'
News.com.au
07-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Sunrays heads for well-earned spell after ending successful campaign with victory in Show A Heart at Eagle Farm
Champion jockey Tommy Berry believes classy filly Sunrays would have been competitive in next Saturday's Group 1 JJ Atkins but unfortunately he won't get to find out. The Kelly Schweida -trained Sunrays will now go for a spell after winning the Listed Show A Heart for two-year-olds over 1500m at Eagle Farm on Saturday. Schweida then grabbed a double early in the card, with Cejay Graham piloting $20 chance Vodka Martini to victory in the 1000m Lightning Handicap, ahead of Austmarr ($7) and the Schweida-trained Metalart ($6) Owner Peter Moran may have been tempted to run her in the JJ Atkins (1600m) but he and Schweida will stick to their guns and send Sunrays for a rest. Asked if the supremely gifted filly, who has now won five of her six races, could have been competitive in the JJ Atkins, Berry didn't hesitate in his response: 'If she didn't run today then yes. 'The aim was to run today and then go to the paddock. But running today, I felt like she was on the way down now. I don't think she was at her best today. 'She was a little bit flat in the way she raced and she didn't travel up that well for me off the bridle so she's got improvement 'At her best, if she'd missed today and had the extra week in between runs, for her to run top three (in the JJ Atkins) wouldn't have been out of her means.' ☀ï¸� Sunrays adds the Listed Show A Heart to her win list at Eagle Farm! @schweidaracing @TommyBerry21 @BrisRacingClub â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 7, 2025 It would have been tough for Sunrays to back-up just seven days later in a long campaign that started in late January and finished with Saturday's mighty effort when the $3.20 favourite beat Jenni Gone Bonkers ($10) and Navy Pilot ($5.50) on a Soft 5 track. 'She'll be going straight for a spell now, so that was a great way to sign off her prep,' Schweida said. 'It was a great win, I don't think I've seen a jockey look more confident than Tommy did. 'He was pretty adamant she would be hard to beat, but she still had to tick the 1500m box and also the Eagle Farm box today. 'She's just so tough and she's done it all off her first prep, which is why we elected not to take her to the Group 1 next week (JJ Atkins). She's done a super job.' Berry said he felt lucky to pick up the ride from regular jockey Cejay Graham, with the top Sydney hoop guiding her to wins in the Group 3 Ken Russell Stakes (1200m) on the Gold Coast and the Listed Bill Carter Stakes (1350m) at Doomben last month. 'Cejay had done a really good job on her before I picked up the ride,' he said. 'She gave me some really good insight into what she was like to ride, so that made things much easier for me. 'She's a lovely progressive filly, and I still think the best is yet to come with her. 'If you look at her frame she probably hasn't filled into it yet. She's still a bit narrow but there's nothing wrong with her heart, she had to dig deep today. 'It's very exciting to see what she can do over the spring.'
News.com.au
24-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
2025 JJ Atkins on horizon for Sunrays as betting plunge pays off in Bill Carter Stakes at Doomben
Sunrays does not hold a Group 1 JJ Atkins nomination but connections will consider paying a late entry fee after the filly was the subject of a betting plunge to score in arrogant fashion at Doomben. Kelly Schweida 's two-year-old filly was backed from $2.45 to $1.80 in the Listed Bill Carter Stakes (1350m) and backers rarely raised a sweat as Tommy Berry smoked his pipe on the filly who blew away her rivals in the straight. It made it four wins from five starts for the filly who is owned by Queenslander Peter Moran. The filly races in the same colours as Staging, who finished second in the 1998 Doomben 10,000 won by Chief De Beers. Staging was the mother of gallopers such as Duporth, Excites and Tickets and further down the family tree Sunrays is now staking her claim as a highly promising two-year-old. Not only was it a valuable Stakes victory for Sunrays at Doomben, but it also got Schweida and Moran thinking about potentially paying a late fee to race in the JJ Atkins next month. There seems little chance Sunrays will back up in next Saturday's Group 2 BRC Sires' Produce Stakes, but she would surely be a strong contender for the JJ Atkins if connections decided to go that way. SUNRAYS shines brightest in the Bill Carter Stakes, storming home to cap a training double for @schweidaracing! 🌟ðŸ�† #QLDisRacing — RaceQ (@RaceQLD) May 24, 2025 'I'll talk to the owner about whether we pay a late fee for the JJ Atkins,' Schweida said. 'She was arrogant, really, at the finish today. 'She got back a bit further than we thought she might, but she looked like she was smoking and you know that she was going to be strong late. 'Tommy Berry looked like he had them covered on the corner.' Whatever Schweida decides to do with Sunrays, Berry predicted she has a big future. 'She still had a bit of a star gaze when she got to the front so she's got more improvement to come,' Berry said. 'She is a bombproof sort of filly and she is very adaptable and put them to the sword quite quickly.' There were few excuses among the beaten brigade although Chris Waller 's filly Chatterley ran well to finish runner-up at just her second race start.
