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Group One filly chasing Adelaide double

Belle du Nord (Reliable Man) has headed to Australia with fresh legs for a two-race Adelaide campaign. The Group One performer who was born and raised at Curraghmore for breeder Nearco Stud arrived safely in Melbourne on Wednesday night. Runner-up in last season’s Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes, Belle du Nord added another top-flight placing to her record this term in the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) before finishing a last-start seventh in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m). “She didn�...

Theanswer found in NSW Cups?

He has performed at Group One level, but Theanswermyfriend and trainer Henry Dwyer will be lowering their vision beyond Saturday's Group 3 Victoria Handicap, and likely road-tripping through New South Wales. The High Chaparral gelding resumed in his autumn campaign with a close second to Sovereign Nation in the Listed March Stakes (1400m), and will be over seven furlongs second-up at Caulfield this weekend. But beyond that, Dwyer said the silks synonymous with co-owner Rod Lyons could be on a tr...

Monday Wrap-up March 26 2018

The past weekend provided no additional winners for the Curraghmore tally but several graduates put in great runs at Group level. 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock graduate Long Leaf was the second colt home and finished sixth in the Gr.1 Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill.  Jockey Blake Shinn was full of praise for the Fastnet Rock colt. “Long Leaf went amazing, we drew wide and had to go back,” Shinn said.  “The pace wasn’t as quick as we all anticipated.  He sprinted really...

Group Two win for Unforgotten

Unforgotten has risen to prominence again after shrugging off cardiac arrhythmia to snatch a narrow victory in the Gr.2 Phar Lap Stakes at Rosehill.The Chris Waller-trained three-year-old filly is back on track for a tilt at the ATC Australian Oaks after she was only confirmed to run in the Phar Lap Stakes on race day.Unforgotten had to pass a barrier test on Thursday after cardiac arrhythmia was detected once she finished last in the Group One Surround Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on March 3.She ...

Monday wrap up – March 19 2018

Unforgotten (Fastnet Rock x Memories of You) became Curraghmore’s latest stakes winner and also showed she is on track for the Australian Oaks with a win in the Gr.2 Phar Lap Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday. Bred by Coolmore, Unforgotten was purchased out of Curraghmore’s 2016 NZB Premier Yearling Sale by Guy Mulcaster for Chris Waller Racing. She has since won four of seven starts earning over A$300,000 in prizemoney for her big team of Waller stable clients. Unforgotten’s win capped a f...

Potential Melbourne Cup campaign for Kiwi mare

It has been nearly a decade since Rich Hill Stud stallion Shocking won the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) and this year he could have a contender in the race in the form of his Group One-winning daughter Fanatic. The Lindsay Park-trained mare once again showed her class over two miles when winning the Gr.2 Adelaide Cup on Monday and her camp believes she is a genuine star over that distance. Bred and owned by Taranaki dairy farmer Sean Kiernan, the five-year-old mare will now be set for the Gr.1 Syd...

Rails ride gains Fanatic Adelaide Cup win

A rails-hugging ride by Michael Walker has given the jockey and Lindsay Park a second big Cup victory within 48 hours. Walker teamed with David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig to win Monday's Gr.2 Adelaide Cup aboard Fanatic to follow their victory with Harlem in the Group One Australian Cup at Flemington on Saturday. Fanatic's win completed an amazing weekend for Lindsay Park who also won the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington with Redkirk Warrior. Sent out the $4.40 favourite, Fanatic defeated Or...

Monday wrap up- March 12 2018

Curraghmore again boasted some impressive race results over the weekend with graduates of the farm flying the flag on the international stage. $400,000 New Zealand Bloodstock graduate Tulip (Pierro) ran a brave fifth in the Gr.1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Randwick on Saturday. “She was a touch keen early,” jockey Jason Collett said. “She came back and relaxed nice. It felt like we were going to run past Global Glamour however perhaps the 1300m is a touch too far for her at this level.”...

Almost Court snares Listed Canberra Cup

Lightly raced New Zealand import Almost Court (Alamosa) has given trainers Barbara Joseph and Paul Jones their hometown Cup with a bold front-running performance in Canberra. Christian Reith took Curraghmore graduate Almost Court to the front and didn't look back as he held on to claim the A$200,000 Listed Canberra Cup (2000m) on Sunday. It was the five-year-old gelding's sixth and biggest win since crossing the Tasman to join Joseph and Jones's Canberra stable. While Almost Court tired in the r...

Ritchie thinking of Queensland

Global Thinking will close her South Island campaign on Saturday, but that might not be the end of her travels this season. The So You Think filly won the Listed Southland Guineas (1600m) last time out and will head home to Cambridge after the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Airfreight Stakes (1400m) at Wingatui. “She’ll come back here to have a couple of weeks off and then we’ll decide where we go,” trainer Shaune Ritchie said. “We gave some consideration to a late nomination for the Ne...

Fanatic ready for Flemington test

Potential Adelaide Cup runner Fanatic will put her credentials on the line in the Listed Roy Higgins Quality (2600m) at Flemington on Saturday. The Adelaide Cup, to be run at Morphettville on March 12, has attracted 28 nominations. The Lindsay Park-trained Fanatic has been set for the Adelaide Cup since winning the 3200m Sandown Cup last November. Co-trainer Tom Dabernig said the stable had considered taking her straight to Adelaide following her last-start fifth in the Torney Cup (2500m) at Moo...

Lowland to answer stamina question

Belle du Nord’s (Reliable Man) ability to cope with a middle distance will be answered at Hawke’s Bay on Thursday. The Group One performer will run over ground for a second time in the Gr.3 Little Avondale Lowland Stakes (2100m) after her first attempt in the Gr.2 Sir Tristram Fillies’ Classic (2000m) gave little indication of her staying quality. “Johnathan (Parkes) came back and said she was travelling brilliantly on the turn, but when he let her have her head she just couldn’t cope ...

Distinctive Darci back to winning ways

Trainer Mark Walker’s decision to fit Distinctive Darci (Darci Brahma) with blinker-pacifiers proved to be spot-on after the Darci Brahma four-year-old landed the spoils in the S$125,000 Kranji Stakes A race over 1100m on Friday night. The two-time Singapore champion trainer was not too happy with the way Distinctive Darci had been dropping at the rear at his recent races, a pattern which did not help his cause, he thought. By the time he unwinds, the bird had already flown. With Walker’s ap...

Tulip blooms in Typhoon Tracy

Lindsay Park will plan Tulip’s (Pierro) feature race campaign in Sydney with confidence after the daughter of Pierro easily accounted for her rivals in Friday night’s Gr.3 Typhoon Tracy Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley. Under a strong ride from Kerrin McEvoy, Tulip travelled sweetly in the three-wide line with cover and quickened nicely when asked for an effort inside the final 400m, putting a length on tenacious leader and eventual runner-up True Excelsior.  Tulip is a $400,000 New Zeal...

Fork in the road for Tulip in Typhoon Tracy Stakes

David Hayes says Friday night’s Gr.3 Typhoon Tracy Stakes at Moonee Valley represents a “fork in the road” for high-class filly Tulip (Pierro). Tulip is the $3.10 favourite for the 1200m sprint and Hayes says punters will see a more relaxed filly than the one which finished fourth behind Booker when she resumed in the Gr.3 Kevin Hayes Stakes at Caulfield earlier this month. That race probably wasn’t run to suit but the jury was out on the daughter of Pierro when she got out to unleash a ...

Blinker-pacifiers to give Darci a Distinctive edge

Two-time Singapore champion trainer Mark Walker is hoping that blinker-pacifiers will do the trick on Distinctive Darci (Darci Brahma) in the Kranji Stakes A race over 1100m on Friday. The Darci Brahma four-year-old has been battling a little at his recent starts. Quite noticeably, he has been dropping back at the rear, and by the time he goes through his gears, the race was over. Walker has decided to fit the Dato Terry Lee-owned galloper with blinker-pacifiers in a bid to get him to follow clo...

Long Leaf favourite for G1 Blue Diamond

Long Leaf (Fastnet Rock) is the slight favourite in the Gr.1 Blue Diamond Stakes after the barrier draw for the A$1.5 million race for two-year-olds at Caulfield. Long Leaf is undefeated in three starts and was $7 with TAB fixed odds after coming up with barrier seven in a capacity field of 16 plus four emergencies for Saturday's 1200m-feature. Godolphin's Plague Stone has remained at $8 after drawing barrier six while Oohood was also at $8 after coming up with gate 10. Long Leaf is one of four ...

Break for Flying Feet

There is a tinge of disappointment in Joseph Waldron’s Te Awamutu stable after his Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) hope Flying Feet (Ocean Park) has been forced to withdraw from the Ellerslie feature. The promising Ocean Park three-year-old is now in the spelling paddock after he was found slightly lame on Saturday morning, just before his tilt at the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m). “In a routine trot-up on race morning he wasn’t quite right,” Waldron said. “We got him checked out and t...

Tough Boss capable of Futurity win

Trainer Mick Price confirmed Mighty Boss (Not A Single Doubt) will continue on the plotted path for him - second-up into Saturday's Gr.1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) - after emerging unscathed from hisluckless Orr Stakes run. The Caulfield Guineas winner was beaten less than a length into seventh in the Orr behind Hartnell, and Price said the son of Not A Single Doubt was in good order to continue on his merry way towards peaking third-up in the Gr,1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington. "He's a ...

Almost Court shares spoils at Randwick

 Pacesetter Almost Court (Alamosa) had to settle for a dead heat with Emperor's Way at Randwick on Saturday. The duo could not be split in the Fairfax & Roberts Jewellers Handicap (2000m) after Emperor's Way, the $3.50 favourite, made a last-ditch dive at the line. Almost Court's co-trainer Paul Jones was satisfied with the outcome as the five-year-old gelding aims for the Canberra Cup.Almost Court was bred in partnership by Cambridge Hunt Ltd, B M Hancock and C McFarlane and was sold ...

Ritchie successfully executes another southern mission

Shaune Ritchie rolled back the years on Saturday when Global Thinking won the Listed ILT Ascot Park Hotel Southland Guineas (1600m). The Cambridge trainer won the event in 1995 with The Hyatt, but success this time around will have a much more lasting effect. “The Hyatt was a gelding and the key factor here was identifying a filly that is a length or two below the three-year-olds up north and turning her into a black type winner,” the Cambridge trainer said. “She’s cemented her broodmare...

Good surface overdue

The frustrated connections of Heroic Valour (Fastnet Rock) are praying for fine weather on the opening day of the next month’s Auckland Cup carnival. The four-year-old has already missed Group One opportunities this year in both the Railway (1200m) and the BCD Group Sprint (1400m), with wet tracks forcing his late scratching on both occasions. In between times, he finished strongly at Trentham to run fifth in the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m). “He’ll trial at Taupo tomorrow and then run in the Da...

Mighty Boss ready to resume

Mick Price's Caulfield Guineas winner Mighty Boss (Not A Single Doubt) will resume in the Gr.1 C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday. Taking on the older horses in the A$500,000 feature is naturally not going to suit the three-year-old, but Price is using it and the Futurity Stakes as a yardstick for his assault on the Australian Guineas. "He's had a really good prep - I can't help him too much more,” Price said. "If it was an average 1400-metre race, he'd probably go and win - but ...

AUDIO: Gordon talks about the sale of the Fastnet Rock x Diademe colt

Curraghmore's Gordon Cunningham talks to Jo McKinnon following the sale of the Fastnet Rock x Diademe colt for $1million at the NZB Book 1 auction. Click here to listen...

Tulip to run in Kevin Hayes

The Group One-placed three-year-old filly Tulip (Pierro), will make her return in the Gr.3 Kevin Hayes Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday, with co-trainer Ben Hayes non-committal about the autumn plans for the filly. “She looks like she has come back bigger and stronger. All her work suggests she has come back as well (as previous campaigns), if not better,” Hayes said. “She trialled down the straight at Flemington last week and ran the quickest time and there was some high-class ho...