Latest news with #QueenslandGuineas
Sydney Morning Herald
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Tom Sherry keen to capitalise again on opportunity in The Coast
After a lucky recent escape, jockey Tom Sherry is looking to again make the most of his opportunity in the $500,000 The Coast. And he believes the in-form Depth Of Character is the right horse to give him back-to-back wins in the feature race on the annual Gosford standalone program on Saturday. Sherry won the 1600m race for three and four-year-olds last year on Magnaspin, for Victorian trainers Leon and Troy Corstens, when the meeting was transferred to Newcastle. The city program is back at Gosford this year after renovations to the track. Since racing has returned there, two meetings have been abandoned because of horses slipping on a problem area on the home turn, but a successful race program on April 25 has paved the way for Saturday's feature card to remain at Gosford. Sherry scored his second-biggest prizemoney win, after the 2023 victory on Unspoken in the $2 million Five Diamonds, when Magnaspin surged late on a heavy Newcastle track last year. 'It's obviously a standalone meeting, and it's always good to win the features in front of a good crowd. They are always good to pick up,' Sherry said. This year he is reuniting with the Annabel and Rob Archibald-trained three-year-old Depth Of Character, which is coming off successive wins at Eagle Farm, including the group 2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) last Saturday. Drawn well in barrier six, Depth Of Character was a $4.20 Sportsbet chance in the headline race and Sherry was hoping he could bring that form back to NSW.
News.com.au
03-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Libertad shocks the punters at $71 in Victory Stakes
Three years ago, Annabel Neasham watched on as her superstar galloper Zaaki was beaten as a $1.24 favourite in the Group 1 Doomben Cup. On Saturday at Eagle Farm, the newly married Annabel Archibald was the queen of the roughie as Libertad was a quaddie killer when stunning punters with a $71 blowout in the Group 2 Victory Stakes. Life just keeps getting better for the trainer, who recently married co-trainer Rob Archibald, as she scored both Eagle Farm Group 2 features after earlier winning the Queensland Guineas with Depth Of Character. Few saw Libertad's win coming. But it was hard not to be impressed in his second run back from a year-long injury lay-off and bookies slashed his odds from $101 to $15 for the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 in a fortnight. Jedibeel ran a narrow second for Brad Widdup and Golden Mile was terrific for James Cummings and Godolphin as a $41 chance in third. A real head bobbing finish in the G2 Victory Stakes at Eagle Farm, and it's the outsider Libertad who gets his nose down on the line! 😮 @ANeashamRacing | @BrisRacingClub | @TrilogyRacing1 — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 3, 2025 The first of the Queenslanders home was evergreen warrior Rothfire in fourth, with trainer Rob Heathcote and connections delighted and indicating they would give him a shot at the 10,000. 'On the strength of that run, we would have to run him 10,000,' Heathcote said. 'There was pressure on inside and outside, was the last man standing and he was entitled to tire. 'He is as tough as Buff (Heathcote's former Group 1 star Buffering).' The Victory Stakes left more questions than answers with equal favourite Far Too Easy finishing second last, fancied Hidden Wealth near the tail and Coleman for the Chris Waller stable nowhere near the winner. • 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! But, for Annabel and Rob Archibald, it was a triumph of epic proportions given Libertad had been to hell and back on the injury front. 'It is great to get him back on track,' Archibald said. 'He's had a couple of setbacks with a septic joint. He is lucky as they can be nasty. 'Then he had a little stress fracture when he came back from that. 'Looking back through his form, he's won some good races and placed behind Joliestar in the Arrowfield so I knew he had the form on the board but I thought he may be a run short. 'I originally had Jamie Mott booked on Lady Laguna and I said this morning 'sorry, she's gone to Hawkesbury instead'. 'I'm sure that when Jamie looked at the (betting) price of Libertad he didn't think he was in with a chance.' Mott now feels sure Libertad can make an impact in Group 1 company in the Doomben 10,000. 'Today he hit the front and got very lost and was like a drunken sailor for a time there until the second horse joined him and kind of headed him,' Mott said. 'To his credit he fought hard and was able to get him on the line. 'With so long off, he should have so much more improvement.'
News.com.au
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Noel Callow seizes second chance from Annabel Archibald with big win on Depth Of Character in Queensland Guineas
After thinking he'd never ride for Annabel Archibald ever again, in-form jockey Noel Callow earned the call-up on for the top Sydney trainer and in a sliding-doors moment, he duly saluted on Depth Of Character in the Group 2 $350,000 Queensland Guineas (1600m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday. With champion jockey James McDonald serving a suspension and Ryan Maloney unavailable, Callow pounced on the chance to win the Guineas on Depth Of Character ($7.50) ahead of the Nathan Doyle-trained filly Churchill's Choice ($8) and the late-surging roughie Beau Dazzler ($34). Callow, who rode a treble at Eagle Farm last weekend, reflected on that ride for Sydney-based Archibald (nee Neasham) about a year ago. 'It's the second ride (on Saturday) I have ever had for Annabel,' Callow said. 'The first one was a pick-up one one day in a maiden at Sunshine Coast and I absolutely gave it a (no good) ride. 'I picked it up because Brodie Loy couldn't make the weight and I was the only bloke in the jockeys' room who could make the weight. 'I couldn't get out (in the race) and I was desperately unlucky and I thought 'I'll never ride for her again' because I'm not on that merry-go-round. 'I never have been and I just got lucky. I got the same again today. J-Mac was booked to ride the horse. Ryan Maloney's manager took another ride for him because he'd won on him the start before. 'So then J-Mac gets suspended in Hong Kong, (Andrew) Mallyon's got a ride, (Damien) Thornton's got a ride. 'From the top eight, bang, here he is and boom. I showed that I can do it.' Gelding Depth Of Character firmed from $15 into the $8 equal favourite to win the $1m Group 1 Queensland Derby (2400m) on May 31 at Eagle Farm while the Tony and Maddy Sears-trained Beau Dazzler went from $11 to $9. Churchill's Choice dipped from $6 to $4.50 in the Queensland Oaks betting for the $700,000 Group 1 contest over 2200m at Eagle Farm on June 7. Archibald, who got married late last month to co-trainer Rob, said she thought the bookies got it wrong on Depth Of Character. 'I thought he might have been a little shorter in the market,' she said. 'With his Sydney form and two starts back he was behind Evaporate and Swiftfalcon (in the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes at Randwick early last month). 'He was still pretty good in the (Randwick) Guineas as well but not as good as the Broadsidings of the world. 'It was a lovely ride by Noel. He did his research and knew he could get a bit fired up. 'I was a bit worried he was travelling too well but once he peeled him out at the top of the straight it was just a matter of holding him together and pressing the button at the right time. 'We'll see where we go to now. There's no real mile races. It is whether you go up or down (in distance). I'm not sure you go up.' Maddy Sears said Beau Dazzler would next head to the $250,000 Group 3 Rough Habit Plate (2000m) in two weeks' time at Doomben. â– â– â– â– â– Floozie on silk road to bigger and better races Trainer Tony Gollan 's exciting mare Floozie will back-up in next Saturday's $160,000 Listed Silk Stocking on the Gold Coast after her dominant victory at Eagle Farm on Saturday. Gollan now has eyes on the 1400m Silk Stocking (fillies and mares) for his rising star Floozie next Saturday on the Glitter Strip on Hollindale Stakes Day. 'I quite like her,' he said about the daughter of Group 1 Blue Diamond winner Catchy. 'Her ratings are not as such yet where it's uncomfortable for her, she's still going through her grades, but the plan was always to try and get her to stakes level races during the winter. 'As soon as we started working with her, she gave me such a good feel. 'Once I put the blinkers on her, which was her race gear, she's a different beast.' Gollan said Floozie's two-length victory in a Benchmark 70 race over 1200m at Eagle Farm two weeks ago 'opened my eyes up that she could be a carnival horse'. 'We just have to get her rating up so we can get into the (bigger) races and hopefully it's the Silk Stocking next week,' he said. Jockey Angela Jones was patient in the straight before unleashing on red-hot favourite Floozie, who firmed from $1.60 to $1.45 in the lead-up to the race, to finish ahead of the Chris and Corey-Munce trained Heroic Miss ($14) and Rob Heathcote's En Pointe ($15). "She's not cheap, she's classy!" ðŸ'‹ Floozie wins again at Eagle Farm for @tonygollan! @BrisRacingClub â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 3, 2025 'She was dominant and she definitely made it her show out there today,' Jones said. 'It was nice to see. She's such a lovely big mare and it fills you with confidence when you get on her. 'It was just about getting the luck. She's a perfect push-button horse. She does whatever you ask her and when she goes she has a great turn of foot.' Gollan said Floozie reminded him of stablemate, six-year-old mare Comrade Rosa, who will compete in Sunday's $1m The Archer slot race in Rockhampton. 'It was so sweet for Ange,' Gollan said. 'She finds a spot just off the speed and she has that really good turn of foot that she can stretch out to 1400m and there'll be no problems for her. 'She has come on significantly in a fortnight. She is a big, strong girl and we are nowhere near the bottom of her. 'She is an exciting mare and reminds me a lot of Comrade Rosa a couple of winters ago.' Floozie was trained by Victorians Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr before being transferred to Gollan's stable.
News.com.au
02-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Adrian Bott doubts whether Gai Waterhouse will be up in the early hours of the morning in the US to watch Shangri La Spring in the Queensland Guineas
Adrian Bott doubts whether his high-profile training partner Gai Waterhouse will be up in the early hours of the morning in the United States to watch classy colt Shangri La Spring run around in the Group 2 Queensland Guineas at Eagle Farm on Saturday. But Waterhouse, who is in the US to attend the famous Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville on Sunday morning (AEST), will be there in spirit at least as favourite Shangri La Spring looks to strike an early blow for the powerful stable in the $350,000 race over 1600m. Bookmakers have listed the last-start Frank Packer Plate winner as the $4.80 favourite ahead of the Nathan Doyle-trained filly Churchill's Choice ($5), Victorian gelding Wonder Boy ($5) and Depth Of Character ($5.50) from the Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald stable. Judging by her social media posts, Australian racing's queen of the turf Waterhouse looks to be having a ball in Kentucky. But whether she will still be awake at around 1.40am on Saturday (Kentucky time) to watch the winning horse cross the post in the Queensland Guineas remains to be seen. 'If it's that time of morning, I doubt it,' Bott said. 'She is awake at odd hours so never say never but it does make it difficult. 'The coverage of Australian racing over there is pretty good so there's plenty of exposure. 'I think she's really enjoying her time there so far. We don't have any horses over there but there are plenty of clients who race in Australia that we train for and I think it's important to spend some time over there and appreciate the industry.' Tim Clark will again ride Shangri La Spring on Saturday after he led all the way for a convincing victory as a $16 chance in the Group 3 Frank Packer Plate (2000m) at Randwick on April 19. 'It opened up a few more options for him, going out to the 2000m,' Bott said. • 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! 'He's the type of horse who seems to have plenty of tactical and natural speed. 'I'm hoping that can offset him dropping back to the mile off that run. 'I think he can be effective in doing that but we'll plan on stretching him out again after the run on Saturday.' Bott said the plan after Saturday was to run Shangri La Spring in the Group 3 Rough Habit Plate (2000m) at Doomben in two weeks' time before his winter grand final, the $1m Group 1 Queensland Derby (2400m) at Eagle Farm on May 31. Meanwhile, Wonder Boy's trainer Jerome Hunter said his gelding looked 'great' after also winning his last start, the $200,000 Listed Bendigo Guineas (1400m) on April 12 in an aggressive ride from Jamie Mott, who will stay on for Saturday's Queensland Guineas. Wonder Boy spent a week in Sydney with stablemate Magarten before travelling to Brisbane. 'He just takes a bit to wind up so he's certainly crying out for 1600m,' Hunter said. 'I'm actually glad Shangri La Spring is there because he'll add some speed which will help us.' Hunter said he loved coming to Brisbane where he had enjoyed success with mare Barb Raider, who won the Group 2 The Roses (2100m) at Eagle Farm in 2022 before backing up to finish second in the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) behind Gypsy Goddess. 'It's been a long preparation,' he said about Wonder Boy's campaign. 'I've had a lot of success at Eagle Farm so I can't wait to get back there. 'Barb Raider won The Roses last time I came up here, and then was second in the Oaks so it's a good hunting ground, Eagle Farm.'
News.com.au
01-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
‘Aim up against the boys': Queensland Oaks-bound filly Churchill's Choice to excite in Queensland Guineas
Young Group 1 winning trainer Nathan Doyle has no qualms about taking on the boys with his exciting young filly Churchill's Choice in Saturday's Queensland Guineas. Newcastle trainer Doyle, who soared into the Group 1 club when sprint weapon Private Harry won The Galaxy, feels Churchill's Choice could arguably be coming to the Sunshine State unbeaten. The filly has won three from four with her only defeat when she resumed over 1400m in a Group 3 race at Randwick last start, finishing fourth and beaten a length after seeing little clear air. Churchill's Choice, which gets a two-kilo advantage on her male rivals, is a $5 chance in the Group 2 Guineas and Doyle points out she would have been shorter in Guineas betting had she arrived in Queensland with a picket fence of wins next to her name. She is already highly rated as a Group 1 Queensland Oaks chance – at $6 in betting – and can zoom into Oaks favouritism with an impressive display over 1600m at Eagle Farm on Saturday. 'I know she is in the Guineas against the boys, but I think she can aim up,' Doyle said. 'She was in restricted room the whole straight last start, she should have been in the finish and Kerrin McEvoy thought the same as me. 'The last few strides she really just dashed at them, she was just winding up. 'If she got a bit of room last start she could be going up to Queensland unbeaten and she would be a lot shorter in the (betting) market than she is. 'I really like the horse, she wants to be a racehorse and she attacks the line. 'She has got a bright future.' Doyle rates Churchill's Choice every bit as good as stablemate Harlem Queen, the filly which was Group 1 placed last spring and also ran fourth in the VRC Oaks behind rising superstar Treasurethe Moment. Harlem Queen didn't fire at Eagle Farm last Saturday, failing to flatter when finishing 11th in the Princess Stakes after starting the $2.90 favourite. But there was an excuse for the flop when it was discovered the filly had sustained a wound on her leg in the race. Harlem Queen will most likely press on in an Oaks campaign with her next start likely to be in The Roses later this month where she could tangle with Churchill's Choice. As for Churchill's Choice, Doyle says the filly is giving him every indication the 2200m of next month's Oaks won't pose a problem. 'She shows me she just wants to relax and doesn't over do it in her races and she gets into a nice rhythm,' Doyle said. 'I feel 2200(m) shouldn't be an issue. She is just so unassuming, when you take her to race day she just produces. 'In the Guineas on Saturday, she has a perfect gate (9) to give her a bit of room and let her balance up, I think she will be very competitive.'
