Australian racing

By Kristen Manning, courtesy of The Thoroughbred Report  In a decisive move that underscores its commitment to global standards, Arion Pedigrees, Australia and New Zealand's leading thoroughbred pedigree provider, has taken a firm stance against Racing Australia's decision to upgrade The Everest and The All-Star Mile to Group 1 status. While Racing Australia hailed the upgrades as a landmark moment for Australian racing, Arion Pedigrees has opted not to recognise the new classifications until formal ratification is received from international authorities. The pedigree database, respected for maintaining the highest standards...

The connections of Black Caviar (Bel Esprit), who was humanely euthanised on Saturday morning after a short battle with laminitis, confirmed the final foal, a Snitzel colt, of the unbeaten mare has also died. "The owners are saddened to advise that Black Caviar's foal, a colt sired by Snitzel, passed away last night," the statement said on Monday. "He received around-the-clock, world-class veterinary care, but unfortunately could not be saved. The ownership group would like to thank the entire veterinary team who dedicated their time and efforts to caring for...

By winning last Sunday's GI Saratoga Derby Invitational, Carson's Run (Cupid) secured a spot in the AUS$5-million Ladbrokes G1 W. S. Cox Plate on October 26 in Australia. In U.S. dollars, the race is worth about $3.3 million. It's an invitation his connections  are seriously considering. "We're interested," said Terry Finley, the managing partner of West Point Thoroughbreds, which owns the horse with Steven Bouchy. "It is a very lucrative package. I haven't talked to (trainer) Christophe Clement about it yet but we are definitely game. That's an awful lot...

by Lindy Maurice Working together. Two simple words. But such a powerful concept. And, I believe, the power behind those words represents the future prosperity of our industry. If we don't work together to solve our issues (which are remarkably the same globally), there are strong reasons to believe that we won't have an industry to delight, stimulate and inspire for future generations. For those who don't know me, I founded Thoroughbred Industry Careers (TIC) in 2019--with enormous help from Godolphin and many others in the racing and breeding world--as...

Racing Victoria (RV) announced that the core safety standards for horses competing in the Spring Racing Carnival will remain in place in 2023 with a focus on further enhancing administrative processes for their connections. Introduced in 2021, the world leading safety standards are part of Victorian racing's effort to minimise the risk of injuries, particularly among international horses travelling to compete in Victoria and for all horses contesting the Melbourne Cup. The safety standards are reviewed regularly and in determining this year's veterinary protocols, RV conducted a review of their...

Two of Ireland's leading jockeys--Ben Coen and Mike Sheehy--will be plying their trade in New South Wales, Australia for the next few months. Coen, who is the number one jockey for conditioner Johnny Murtagh, and last year won the G1 Irish St Leger aboard Sonnyboyliston (Ire) (Power {GB}), will spend his time in Sydney with the Chris Waller stable. "This opportunity gives me the chance to experience another style of racing," he said. "I've never ridden trackwork with times as well, so that's an experience and something you can obviously...

James Harron is one of the most respected operators of his craft internationally. Based in Australia, the native of Northern Ireland credits Gai Waterhouse, agent George Smith and Winx (Aus)'s breeder John Camilleri of Fairway Thoroughbreds as being some of the key influences in his career.    Foxwedge (Aus) is the horse who got the ball rolling for Harron Down Under. He sourced the high-class sprinter-turned-stallion as a yearling and, from there, refined the art of making stallions on a commercial level through colt partnerships.    It's a little under...

Jack Harlow, one of the most popular up-and-coming rappers in America, was in the spotlight at Churchill Downs when the 24-year-old delivered the 'Riders Up' call for this year's Kentucky Derby. The Louisville native made his visit to the races an all-day event by filming a music video for his new song entitled 'Churchill Downs.' Named a top new artist at last year's Billboard Music Awards, Harlow's popularity has skyrocketed this year after the release of his album Come Home The Kids Miss You, which includes his No. 1 hit...

Racing NSW announced that courtesy of an increase in sponsorship, the prizemoney for the Golden Eagle will be increased to A$10 million from A$8 million. Contested at Rosehill Gardens, the 1500-meter race is scheduled for Oct. 29. Unique to the contest, 10% of the prizemoney-equaling A$1-million--will be donated to charity. The owners of each horse in the race will nominate a charity to receive 10% of their horse's prizemoney. The increase comes on the heels of a rise to minimum prizemoney levels across all sectors of NSW Thoroughbred racing. The...

Legendary Australian trainer Gai Waterhouse recently spent five days touring Kentucky's horse country. Upon returning to her headquarters at Tulloch Lodge in Sydney this week, the Hall of Fame trainer of 149 Group 1 wins, including a record seven G1 Golden Slippers, is looking forward to taking her findings and putting them to use at her own exceedingly-successful stable. "You know the old expression--you can't see the forest for the trees if you're there all day," Waterhouse explained. "You have to go away to freshen up. I felt like I...

Edited Press Release Australia hosts 72 races worth AU$1 million or more and prizemoney across the board has also surged by 82% in the past decade. These statistics and more are included in the latest Aushorse Investors' Guide, which was released Thursday. Another key statistic out of the guide is that the average prizemoney per race in Australia during the last racing season was over AU$46,000, compared to AU$29,000 in America and Europe, and AU$20,000 in the UK. "Whichever way you look at it, investing in a racehorse in Australia...

Three years ago, Darley's Sales Manager Darren Fox boarded a plane for Australia to see if  Astern (Aus), their highly-rated son of Medaglia d'Oro, could be a good fit for the American roster. "Upon making the trip to Australia to make sure he would work physically, it took all of about three seconds of looking at Astern to say, 'Yes, this horse will work in America,'" Fox recalled. "He has a lot of attributes that we look for and he was, in any jurisdiction, a high-level, high-performing racehorse. So it...