Latest news with #Rosehill
7NEWS
17 hours ago
- Sport
- 7NEWS
Trainer Chris Waller quietly rolls out star mare Via Sistina at Randwick trials
Star mare Via Sistina has made her first public appearance of the campaign in a Randwick barrier trial as she warms up for a return in the Group One Winx Stakes. As expected, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner was given a quiet hitout, finishing at the back of the field along with high-profile stablemate Fangirl. Trainer Chris Waller is preparing both mares for a return in the opening major of the Sydney season on August 23, while his Australian Derby winner Aeliana and top filly Lady Shenandoah, who is set to barrier trial at Warwick Farm on Friday, could also resume there. Tuesday's 850m heat was taken out by The Novelist with Godolphin pair Tom Kitten and Zardozi finishing fifth and sixth respectively. Aeliana was given an easy time in her heat, finishing at the tail of the second Group Trial taken out by Palmetto, with the former's stablemate Autumn Glow third and Golden Slipper runner-up Wodeton sixth. Waller is looking forward to seeing the progression Wodeton can make into his three-year-old season and has earmarked the Golden Rose (1400m) as a likely target for the Coolmore colt. 'It's exciting for the two-year-olds turning into three,' Waller said. 'He looks like he has come back really well and he'll go towards a Golden Rose. 'I think 1400 will suit him.' Wodeton had five starts as a juvenile, scoring at Rosehill on debut in January and placing at his next three starts before rounding out his preparation with a fourth in the ATC Sires' Produce Stakes (1400m) in April. Waller has still to settle on where Wodeton will run first-up but anticipates he will be ready to resume next month.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Rising apprentice Anna Roper preparing for big day at Rosehill Gardens
Anna Roper is eager to make the most of her opportunities at Rosehill Gardens and expects Spywire to be hard to beat with even luck on Saturday. Roper has a handy book across the 10-event card with the Ciaron Maher -trained Spywire headlining the bunch in the Benchmark 78 Handicap (1200m). Spywire is the $2.70 favourite to score his first win since debut preparation as a two-year-old but wasn't far away first-up with Roper aboard. The son of Trapeze Artist only got clear air halfway down the Rosehill straight before just missing behind form sprinter King's Secret. 'Spywire was a tad unlucky first-up but also peaked on his run late,' Roper said. 'The team went into that run thinking he would take improvement off it and I think he certainly will, he was wirey in the coat. 'I think he will take massive improvement. He will need a little bit of luck from a tricky barrier. 'He is a horse that I don't know if you can push or pull too much. You have to let him flow in his rhythm so as long as he gets some luck he should be very competitive.' Pony Soprano has been the subject of a substantial betting move with the Robert Agnew -trained galloper shortening from $19 into $6.50 for the TAB Highway Class 2 Handicap (1100m). Roper kicks her day off on the country galloper and sees the son of Thronum as a great winning chance. Pony Soprano has won two of his five starts already and Roper has piloted the three-year-old in both of his lead-up trials. 'He is a lightly-raced galloper but he targeted those Country Championships races with him and it just showed how much of an opinion he had of him,' Roper said. 'His trials have been really good. He is two from two first-up so if he is going as well as we think he is, he should be very competitive in a Highway. 'I think he is a nice horse.' Roper is excited to reconnect with the Annabel and Rob Archibald -trained Don't Forget Jack ($6.50) after helping the gelding to a first-up victory at Hawkesbury. The son of Headwater was slowly away second-up when the pair combined and never feature but has since finished first and second at Rosehill Gardens. 'He missed the kick that day at Rosehill but seems to be jumping better,' Roper said. 'As long as he gets the start right from barrier one, that's probably the concern. 'But he seems to be very consistent this preparation and Annabel is doing a great job with him. 'He is getting better and better with every run.' It will be the first time Roper pilots John O'Shea and Tom Charlton' s Good Banter ($4.40 favourite). The daughter of Tavistock scored a drought-breaking success at the same venue last start over 2000m and steps over a mile and a half this weekend. 'Good Banter gets back up to the 2400m,' Roper said. 'I have never ridden the horse but the win was good last start so hopefully that adds a bit of confidence and she can go on with it.' Roper has 22½ metropolitan wins and only sits behind Braith Nock (40 wins) and Molly Bourke (24 wins) on the Sydney apprentices premiership. Stables have been making the most of Roper's 2kg claim in the winter months with the apprentice set to ride for seven different trainers on the weekend. She also rides Ringarosa (race 6), South Of India (race eight) and War Eternal (race 10). 'I have had terrific support in town from so many different stables,' Roper said. 'They have all been so consistent and I couldn't be more thankful for it. 'Obviously you have to keep showing up and doing the job when they put you on but it's great to have that sort of support and I am excited for Saturday and if everything goes to plan it will be a good day.'
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Automotive
- News.com.au
Truck driving hobby trainer Craig Cousins sets sights on Sydney first
For truck driving hobby trainer Craig Cousins, a trip to the interstate races means heading 13km south of the Queensland border to Murwillumbah. All that is about to change. Cousins, whose fairytale horse The Inflictor raced in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap and won a stakes race a fortnight later, has set his sights on the big time of racing in Sydney. Cousins has never set foot on a Sydney racetrack but that will change when he heads south with The Inflictor who he will deploy in the $1.5m Alan Brown Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill in October. There is even an outside chance he could race in the $2m Five Diamonds if he impresses in Sydney. 'As far as going interstate with racing, Murwillumbah is as far as I've been,' Cousins said. 'I've never even set foot on Rosehill or any of the Sydney tracks. 'I've driven past them, but never been at them. 'At this stage, the Alan Brown would be his only run in Sydney. 'But if he happened to win by six lengths or something, I guess we would think about the Five Diamonds.' THE INFLICTOR! The Stradbroke fairytale galloper holds on for a gritty win under @RachelK11 in the Tattersall’s Mile! ðŸ�† What a win for Craig Cousins & connections ðŸ'� — RaceQ (@RaceQLD) June 28, 2025 The Inflictor is one of the feel-good stories of racing in 2025, given Cousins has a full-time job as a truck driver and only three horses which he stables out the back of his parents' house in Brisbane. The Inflictor raced without luck in the Stradbroke, finishing 11th, before rebounding to score the Listed Tatt's Mile a fortnight later. He was last seen finishing a brave third in the Glasshouse Handicap after not being given much peace up front. Currently having a short spell, Cousins will bring The Inflictor back for the spring and he will also contest the Weetwood Handicap in Toowoomba. 'He will be first-up in a race at Doomben over 1110m on September 13 and then he will race up in Toowoomba in the Weetwood before going to Sydney,' Cousins said. 'Cejay Graham will have the ride on him for the Queensland races. 'At this stage, he will have three runs in his next campaign. 'The idea of that is to then give him a small break and set him for a good race over the Queensland summer carnival.'
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Kembla preview: Trainer Kerry Parker's trio are ready to make a promising start to their campaigns on home turf
Trainer Kerry Parker has been prominent in Midway races over the past two months and hopes another couple of horses will step up to that level this campaign after they kick off on their home track. Parker has found an ideal first-up assignment in the Abax Contracting Provincial Benchmark 68 Handicap (1200m) as a springboard for handy mare Mah Ali and newcomer Irish Bliss. 'I've just spelled a couple of my Midway horses. Hopefully these two can step up to that level again this preparation,' said Parker. Mah Ali returns for her second campaign for Parker after a nice first preparation which saw her follow a Hawkesbury win with a fifth and a second to Justela in Midways at Kembla and Rosehill respectively. It's a @kjparkerracing quinella in the Midway at Rosehill. Justela handles the ground best to beat stablemate Mah Ali. â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) December 7, 2024 The Form: Complete NSW Racing thoroughbred form, including video replays and all you need to know about every horse, jockey and trainer. Find a winner here! 'When she ran second to Justela in the Midway, I thought she would have beaten her on the wet track but the other mare found some form that day,' he said. 'I'm pleased with the way she has comeback. 'I wanted her to have a good, solid hit out in her trial which Adrian (Layt) gave her and I expect her to run really well.' Irish Bliss also had Midway form last preparation with Nathan Doyle including a third and fourth behind Magnatear at Wyong and Randwick. In his first public appearance for Parker, he finished third behind Mah Ali in their Kembla trial on July 1. 'With his Midway form, this looks a nice race for him. It's a good starting point for him,' he said. 'He races in blinkers which I haven't put on him in trackwork or trial. They have been saved for race day. 🟣 Bhima Grad Winner 🟣 3YO filly La Bella Bondi (Pierata x Bondi Blonde) flies home to record her maiden win for Kerry Parker @newcastleraces_. Bred by CT Arthur, Pinhook Bloodstock, Smkt Thoroughbreds & Mr Tim Taylor, we sold her @inglis_sales Premier. Congrats! â€' Bhima Thoroughbreds (@BhimaTBreds) February 15, 2025 'I will learn more about him from this run but I expect he will turn up and hold his own.' Parker's third runner for the day is La Bella Bondi who resumes in the Elite Sand & Soil Class 1 Handicap (1300m). She pleased Parker with her three placings and last start win in her first campaign for him and he expects her to run a bold race. 'I was learning about her last campaign and I was really pleased with how she raced,' he said. 'I wanted to kick her off over 1200m which is why I had her in at Newcastle on Tuesday but I scratched after she drew the outside barrier. 'My only query is the 1300m first-up but I'm really happy with her and I expect a forward showing.'
News.com.au
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
NSW jockey Jean Van Overmeire closing in on personal best season as he prepares for arrival of third child
While some jockeys are winding down as the racing season draws to a close, it's the opposite for the prolific and hardworking Jean Van Overmeire. The 30-year-old is just four wins away from eclipsing his best ever season haul of 104 winners and he's also weeks away from a new addition to his family. • 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! 'My wife Jordan is due to have another baby in a few weeks,' Van Overmeire said. 'We've got Savannah who's eight and Hugo's three. 'We don't know the sex of this one so it's all very exciting in the Van Overmeire residence at the moment. 'Life couldn't be better.' On Saturday at Rosehill Gardens, Van Overmeire has a solid book of six rides. The popular jockey has spent the vast majority of the season riding on the provincial and country circuits and his 101 winners has him sitting in fourth place in the NSW jockeys' premiership behind Aaron Bullock (114), Braith Nock (107) and Ash Morgan (102). 'The season's going really well, it's been fantastic,' he said. 'I've probably been slipping under the radar, but things have gone really well this season. 'Being a jockey is very much a success-based job. 'Everything we do flows off riding winners. 'When you're riding winners your confidence builds, you get better opportunities in races, you make better decisions in races and with all that you get better outcomes.' One of those opportunities came a fortnight back at Rosehill Gardens when Van Overmeire did something a handful of the world's best jockeys, like James McDonald, Joao Moreira, Kerrin McEvoy, Craig Williams and Jason Collett, found beyond them – winning aboard Misterkipchoge. 'It's funny, I rode against the horse in the start prior and he powered past me at a rate of knots, really catching my attention, and I remember thinking 'that horse is going to be winning next start',' Van Overmeire said. 'Then luck would have it that I'm riding the horse in his next run. 'I remember being behind the barriers and I could feel him underneath me and I just thought if I can put this horse into a good spot, his last run and the feel he's given me, 'he can't get beat'. 'He flew out of the barriers and straight away we were on the front foot and the rest is history. 'It was just one of those situations where everything fell into place. Good fortune or good management, people will make up their own mind. 'When reflecting it's good to think back and know my Judgement was on point.' That was Van Overmeire's only win for Misterkipchoge's trainer Chris Waller from 17 opportunities in the last five racing seasons and Sydney's premier trainer has given the jockey another chance to make it two wins in a row this Saturday. Van Overmeire will again partner Misterkipchoge in the Toyota Forklifts 3&4YO Benchmark 78 Handicap (1800m). Another drought broken! Misterkipchoge wins his second race, 513 days after his first! Chris Waller take a bow 🙇🙇 @cwallerracing @jeanvovermeire — 7HorseRacing ðŸ�Ž (@7horseracing) June 28, 2025 'I'm very grateful and happy that Chris is giving me another opportunity on the horse,' Van Overmeire said. 'It looks a bit trickier from the wider barrier (9) this time but that's something I'll discuss with Chris on Saturday. 'One thing I do know is the horse is racing really well and that win last start won't have hurt his confidence.' Misterkipchoge ($6) is the pick of Van Overmeire's Rosehill Gardens engagement which he says; 'Is good book of rides but a bad set of barriers brings us back to the pack.' Based on prices, Vella's Best at $14 is Van Overmeire's next best ride in the Petaluma 3YO Benchmark 72 Handicap (1100m). 'I thought he ran really well behind King's Secret last start,' he said. 'He was forced to do plenty of work early and I thought he stuck to the task well in the straight. 'This time he's drawn more favourably and he will probably strip fitter again on Saturday being his third run back after a 12 month break.'
