Articles by: Noah Strang

The Ed Cummings-trained mare, Arts, is set to make her return to horse racing this Saturday. The rising five-year-old will run in the ATC Thank You Stable Staff Handicap (1300m) at Randwick. It will be Arts’ first race since last October.

Chris Waller has revealed that three-year-old filly Joliestar is a candidate to run in this year’s Everest. Running The Thousand Guineas winner would be a bold choice for Waller. A similar bold decision to run push Zougotcha last year failed.

Eight percent of star Australian racehorse Mr Brightside has been put up for sale this week. The stake of six-year-old gelding is listed in the Inglis Digital online auction ending this Wednesday. The latest bid for Mr Brightside is $100,000.

Seven-year-old gelding Hit The Road Jack won the Deane Lester Flemington Cup on Saturday. The Symon Wilde-trained horse was a big outsider. Jockey Michael Dee rode Hit The Road Jack after the global CrowdStrike outage prevented Blaike Mcdougall from making it to Flemington.

Top trainers and breedstock firm Lindsay Park will be looking to pick up their second consecutive win at the Deane Lester Flemington Cup (2800m). Gelding Port Guillaume is the horse they will be counting on at the $150,000 race on Saturday.

Trainers of 2023 Group 1 Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) winner Romantic Warrior have announced that the thoroughbred will not attempt to defend his title this October. With one of the favourites now out, the Cox Plate betting market has changed significantly.

Brisbane-based training partnership O’Dea Hoysted Racing will be dissolved at the end of the 2023/24 racing season. Steve O’Dea, who founded the firm, is leaving the training business to focus on his breedstock business. Hoysted will take over as sole trainer.

Group 1 winner Espiona has been retired and will be sold on July 31. The daughter of Extreme Choice is expected to fetch a big price. The standalone auction will be conducted online by premier auctioneers Magic Millions.

Victoria-based trainer Darren Weir has been issued another ban from racehorse training by the VRT. The tribunal has charged him with animal cruelty, relating to the use of jiggers on three horses back in 2018.

Ascot-based Russell Stewart is confident that his horse Stylish Lord will live up to the betting odds and win the $100,000 Listed Aquanita Stakes (2000m) on Saturday at Belmont Racecourse. The gelding comes into the race as the second favourite to win.