Latest news with #WinonaCostin
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Shayne O'Cass's best bets, inside mail for Bathurst and Casino on Monday, August 18, 2025
Form analyst Shayne O'Cass presents his best bets and quaddie leg analysis for Monday's NSW meetings at Bathurst and Casino. â– â– â– â– â– BATHURST TIPS BEST BET Race 1 No.3 SENJUTSU: Bjorn Baker debutant; $250,000 yearling blueblood, trialled well. NEXT BEST Race 6 No.4 BUFF IN DISGUISE: Boasts some exceptional numbers at the track and the distance. VALUE Race 2 No.4 BRANDYWINE: Winless at 39 starts but this looks like it might be the day. QUADDIE Race 4: 2,6,7 Race 5: 8,11,12 Race 6: 4 Race 7: 1,4,11,12 JOCKEY TO FOLLOW Winona Costin will be awfully hard to beat in the TAB Jockeys Challenge. BATHURST INSIDE MAIL SLUSH FUND (2) is by the Golden Slipper winner Capitalist and a grandson of the 1997 Slipper placegetter Regal Chamber. Slush Fund has four placings and two wins in just eight starts under the Clint Lundholm management and best of all, he's on a hat-trick. HINUNE (6) really hasn't run a bad race in all half dozen starts thus far. She spelled off a Super Maiden win and has come back and trialled up nicely again. GEOSTORM (10) is the sentimental tip, the omen tip, lining up here in the race named after him. BET: SLUSH FUND (2) to win, quinella 2,6. SHEZASIREN (8) has raced six times and all of them in stronger races than this one. Her best run so far was a length third at Moruya to subsequent TAB Highway winner Urafiki. Deanne Panya rode that day and heads west to partner with her again. Go well. THAIBEEFSALADE (12) was scratched from Moruya on Sunday. Drawn the outside gate here but her 'best' probably gets her a medal of some description. FRENCH HARP (11) is invariably thereabouts. BET: SHEZASIREN (8) each-way, Daily Double 1st Leg 8, 2nd Leg 12 (or if scratched, 1). BUFF IN DISGUISE (4) 's career record is 47 starts for 6 wins and 10 placings, all quite commendable for a stayer, but what does make the Ron 'Manawanui' Leemon trained son of USA St Leger Stakes winner and Caulfield Cup runner-up Dandino so likeable today is that his record at the track/trip is three starts for a win and a third. DRUNKER SAILOR (3), James Ponsonby's $1,2500 purchase and now winner of $65,520 won his Maiden here in great style. Been good ever since and really does go well for Winona Costin. BET: BUFF IN DISGUISE (4) to win, quinella 3,4, box trifecta 1,2,3,4. MARVEL MAN (12) is a dual acceptor, this one and race three on the card. Drew 10 of 10 in that one, has barrier 1 in this one. Long story short with him, he was building up to that last start win and it was a monster win too! WANDERING JACK (1) is trained by last Saturday's TAB Highway winner, Mick Mulholland. The Chad Lever mount is first-up on Monday, keeping in mind that his fresh record is one win, one second and one third from four 'goes'. Placed twice here at the venue. KEADOOL (4) is a last start winner. BET: MARVEL MAN (12) to win. â– â– â– â– â– CASINO TIPS BEST BET Race 3 No.12 KIRKALL: Kris Lees' Ole Kirk son ran second in a deep maiden on debut. NEXT BEST Race 6 No.2 HIDDEN HAIL: Goes on all surfaces but has a 50 per cent win rate on Heavy. VALUE Race 7 No.1 SNOW FALCON: Last start Heavy 8 winner at Port Mac with a big weight. LAY OF THE DAY Race 4 No.2 TRUE FAIRY: Has some genuine competition in the race (provided they all start, major scratchings anticipated). CASINO INSIDE MAIL ARCHIE MAXIMUS (3) was sold as a weanling for $10,000 and has already won back $8,450 of that in three starts. The Matthew Dunn trained colt placed at Casino on debut and seems comfortable enough in the Soft 7 range. Stablemate GLAM (10) was $20 into $13 on debut at Doomben on April 4 when a close-up fifth. Spelled, trialled well at Deagon on August 5. Locally-trained INTELLIGENCER (11) has to be forgiven for the first-up run at Grafton. BET: ARCHIE MAXIMUS (3) to win, INTELLIGENCER (11) to place. HIDDEN HAIL (2) arrives here in good form having posted consecutive thirds at Grafton and Port mac at his last two. He carried big weights each time and there were pretty strong benchmark 58s, certainly stronger than how this one is looking with all the likely scratchings. EAGLE'S FIRE (5) has only one win in 19 starts but he has placed eight times. Soft track form is rock solid. Stablemates GOT THE SMARTS (7) and MAWSONS EXPEDITION (6) are major players (if they come). BET: HIDDEN HAIL (2) to win. SNOW FALCON (1) has raced in South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and plenty of times here in New South Wales. Monday will be the Grafton based daughter of Lonhro's first visit to Casino. The Shane Everson-trained mare is coming off a rather dominant win at Port Macquarie carrying 61kg; the same weight as today. BRAVE INSTINCTION (9) seems to fancy some cut in the ground which he is assured of on Monday. HARD TO DISMISS (7) is a reliable each-way style of horse. TORQUE TI AMO (7) is a valuable broodmare prospect later on, boasting Eight Carat as her sixth dam via Cotehele House (mother of Commands and Danewin). Trained by Matthew Dunn so it wouldn't surprise to see this mare in a Highway before too long. Speaking of well bred, the locally-housed IN THE BLINK (11) is by Pierro and a granddaughter of Bob Scarborough's Blue Diamond winner, Sleek Chassis. She'll be first run for Ethan Ensby here and those trials are better than they read.
News.com.au
11-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Sydney-based jockey Winona Costin considering move to Queensland
The lure of riding in the warmer climate of southeast Queensland could prove too hard to resist for Sydney-based jockey Winona Costin. While she has no immediate plans to relocate north, Costin hasn't ruled out following in the footsteps of fellow female jockey Cejay Graham, who has made a success of moving from Port Macquarie in NSW to Brisbane in 2023. Costin has six rides at Doomben on Saturday – all for different trainers – with her best chance being the James Ponsonby -trained Philipsburg ($15) in a Benchmark 78 over 2000m. But Costin's work won't finish at Doomben – she will then drive up the Warrego Highway for Saturday night racing at Toowoomba where she will ride Drunken Sailor and Sonny Fella for Ponsonby. On Sunday the Hawkesbury trainer will head home, stopping at Grafton to drop off Costin, who has been booked for two rides at the NSW provincial track. 'You never know,' Costin said about the possibility of shifting to Brisbane following a string of hit-and-run missions to southeast Queensland. 'If I get good enough traction then there's always a chance. I'm not a tree so I can move. 'It's always good in the warmer weather, too. 'Cejay has gone so well up there which is very inspiring. If I can get good traction up there when I fly in and fly out, you never know what the future holds.' The 30-year-old Costin can't wait to jump back on 70-race veteran Philipsburg, who won back-to-back contests at Doomben and Eagle Farm at Benchmark 80 and 90 level respectively in the space of seven days in April. She also rode the seven-year-old gelding in his last-start, a disappointing eighth out of 13 runners in the $250,000 Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) on June 21. 'I've ridden him since he was young and he's definitely one of my favourite horses,' Costin said. 'He's got a lot of character – he's a funny old bugger – and he's in good order. 'He ran really well (in the Ipswich Cup) but the track was just playing a bit too on-pace for him. 'I was happy with the way he came home and he got a bit tightened on the corner as well.' fighting back from 12 months on the sidelines in 2017 after battling debilitating concussion symptoms. She was knocked out three times in a race or trial falls and went through a dark period when she struggled to speak, kept falling asleep and lost almost all her memory. 'Having a year off was definitely not on the cards but I'm glad I was able to ride again and be back to being 100 per cent right,' Costin told Racenet on Friday on her way to riding in Scone. 'I was always determined to come back, I wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. 'The neurologist in Sydney wouldn't clear me so I had to fly to Melbourne to find one who would clear me. I'm thankful for that. 'It was hard. I can't even remember most of the year to be honest. I was very tired, I'd forget things a lot and I was very sensitive to light. But that's all in the past now.' And the future looks as bright as a warm winter's day in the Sunshine State for a jockey with fierce determination and a strong desire to win.
News.com.au
20-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Queensland specialist Philipsburg hunting Sunshine State hat-trick in Ipswich Cup
Hawkesbury trainer James Ponsonby will shoot for three straight wins in the Sunshine State on Saturday when his Queensland specialist Philipsburg lines up in the $250,000 Ipswich Cup (2150m). Ponsonby had initially aimed Philipsburg at last weekend's Group 2 Brisbane Cup (3200m) on Stradbroke day at Eagle Farm but changed tack after the seven-year-old gelding had an injury scare. 'He got banged up in the paddock and we thought we'd pull the plug because he had a little bit of inflammation,' Ponsonby said. 'It turned out to be nothing, which was good. He would've struggled to beat Campaldino (in the Brisbane Cup), the way it went. 'This (the Listed Ipswich Cup) looked like a fair race on paper in terms of weight conditions. 'He's well, although he hasn't had a lot of luck since he's been home in Sydney so I thought when in Rome, do as the Romans do – back up and try to get another one.' Regular rider Winona Costin has delivered with Philipsburg on two hit-and-run missions to Queensland this year, in a Benchmark 80 (2200m) at Doomben and then a Benchmark 90 (2212m) at Eagle Farm in the space of seven days in April. But in his last three races Philipsburg has struggled, finishing no better than fifth in three Benchmark 78 races at his home track Hawkesbury, Gosford and Randwick. Asked why Philipsburg loved the Sunshine State so much, Ponsonby said: 'It's the genuine tempo. 'In all fairness to him, he's no world beater but he tries very hard and when the weights suit him in terms of benchmarking, he's been able to run in races where he probably deserves more weight but because he's got average Sydney form, then he gets the weight relief. 'In Queensland he goes to sleep in those races where they run along and the genuine tempo helps offset the weight relief sometimes. 'He's just a genuine horse. The day he draws a right number, he'll more than likely get the job done. 'There's more than one reason why Australians want to flock to Queensland to live so you can't blame a Kiwi horse, can you?' Philipsburg ($34) is at long odds to win the Ipswich Cup, with bookmakers favouring Miss Joelene ($5.50), Diablo Bolt ($6), Osmose ($6.50) and Poetic Drama ($7). However, Ponsonby is quietly confident that with Costin in the saddle and carrying a lightweight 53kg, Philipsburg can cause an upset. 'It's a good, solid line-up. We're just going to need a bit of luck in running but if the tempo of the race is genuine then it gives him somewhat of a chance,' Ponsonby said. 'It's a good cup race, no doubt. He ran at Doomben so well, and Ipswich is similar in that it's an on-pace preferential racetrack, so I can't knock him. 'Going back and looking over the Ipswich Cup winners, they're invariably not always the best horse in the race but they're the horse that has the best luck in the race. 'He gets down in the weights to 53kg and Winona is going up to ride him so I can't ask for any more than that.' Caloundra Cup (2400m) on July 5.
