Spring stakes racing produced plenty of noteworthy horses on Saturday with two brand new Group I winners in Australia and New Zealand from iconic female families, plus a couple of progressive new three year-old stakes-winners that are both out of mares we would term blue hens.
With three generations of Stokes Racing in attendance today, SA thoroughbred Neodium took out a second consecutive 1,600m TAB Birdsville Cup win - storming across the finish line on the second and final day of racing for the 142nd Birdsville Races.
A big field of 16 went to the post for the Group I Haydock Sprint Cup (6f) overnight and with race favourite Inisherin failing to fire it was left to outsiders to fill the placings with Exceed and Excel gelding Montassib claiming a narrow victory.
Progressive sprinter Navigator produced one of the standout performances of the meeting at Hastings on Saturday, continuing his formidable fresh-up record in the Vet Services Equine Hawke’s Bay Premier (1200m).
While top honours did not go the way of Savaglee in Saturday’s Listed El Roca – Sir Colin Meads Trophy (1200m), Pam Gerard took plenty of positives from the performance of her colt as he heads towards loftier targets.
In a landmark acquisition for Swettenham Stud and the Victorian breeding industry, the illustrious LOFTY STRIKE joins the Swettenham Stud roster for the 2024 breeding season.
Newgate Farm have announced their 2024 roster and fees headlined by three first season horses in top class Group One winning colts, Ozzmosis and Militarize along the highly rated Group Two winner King’s Gambit.
The Barneswood Farm team are waiting with bated breath as their Group One winner Desert Lightning gets set to make his debut for new trainers Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman at The Valley on Saturday.
With his first Australian bred runners due to take flight here this season, Coolmore Australia have confirmed the fee for top class shuttler Wootton Bassett (GB) at $192,500 inc. GST.
At the end of last season there were a lot of people looking to hail the first crop sires as a vintage bunch led by Too Darn Hot (GB), who broke all records for his efforts to be champion by earnings and winners for 2023/2024 with the result that he and most of his peers were given a fee increase and a month into a new season the state of play looks like this.