Peter Snowden aiming to turn Queensland winter carnival fortunes around in Eye Liner Stakes
Sydney trainer Peter Snowden hopes another gear change will do the trick for his underperforming gelding Xidaki in the $200,000 Listed Eye Liner Stakes at Ipswich on Saturday.
The Ciaron Maher-trained Warnie ($2.40) is definitely the horse to beat in the 1350m race but Xidaki poses a genuine threat if he can rediscover the form that led to his last victory, in the $300,000 Group 3 Winx Guineas (1600m) at Caloundra last July.
Snowden decided to put a cross-over nose band on the gelding this campaign because the four-year-old was 'over-racing badly' but the results have been lacklustre.
• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
Xidaki finished seventh in the Group 3 Hall Mark Stakes (1200m) at Randwick in April, ninth in the Listed Takeover Target Stakes (1200m) at Gosford on May 10 and seventh in the Group 3 BRC Sprint (1350m) at Doomben two weeks later.
He is rated as a $7.50 chance in the Eye Liner Stakes behind Warnie and the Tony Gollan-trained Devastate ($7).
• Warnie can honour cricket legend with consolation victory
'I've had a cross-over noseband on him this time in because he was struggling last time in and I felt it cost him a couple of races,'' Snowden said.
'But it seems he has been resenting it this preparation because he's been getting too far back in his races.
'So I've taken the noseband off for Saturday and hope he can settle closer in the run.
'Ipswich is a track where you have to stay positive and he has drawn five. I don't want him to get too far back from there.
'I'm confident he has the tactical speed to be in the first five or six in the run.
'He's going great at home and I can't believe he won't be running well on what he has been showing me in his trackwork.'
Xidaki last win was in the Group 3 Winx Guineas in July last year. Picture: Trackside Photography.
Lindsay Park star War Machine emphatically won the BRC Sprint before impressively taking out the $3m Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) three weeks later at Eagle Farm.
Xidaki crossed the winning post almost five lengths behind War Machine in the BRC Sprint but on the bright side, Snowden was pleased with how his galloper hit the line.
'He got too far back last start and had a lot of work to do but he was one of those finishing hardest late,'' Snowden said.
'The horse that won it (War Machine) went on to win the Stradbroke Handicap.
'If he can hold his spot on Saturday it will go a long way to helping his chances at Ipswich.''
• Lipp out to fulfil $40m Lotto winner's spring carnival dream
It will also comfort Snowden knowing that Xidaki was a narrow runner-up to Ostraka in the $1m Group 3 Silver Eagle (1300m) at Randwick last October but finished ahead of the Ben, Will and JD Hayes-trained War Machine.
It's fair to say that Snowden is due for some luck in this Queensland winter carnival.
His mare Tashi has twice just missed the chocolates - in the Listed Helen Coughlan Stakes (1200m) and Group 2 Dane Ripper Stakes (1300m) - while the appropriately named gelding Need Some Luck finished half a length behind winner Compelling Truth in the Listed Hinkler Handicap (1200m) last Saturday at Eagle Farm.
Originally published as Trainer Peter Snowden banking on gear change bringing out best from Xidaki in Eye Liner Stakes
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Courier-Mail
7 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
Peter Snowden unearths spring contender with Raging Force bringing up hat-trick at Rosehill
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Raging Force, Sydney's winter two-year-old sprint find, seems destined for stardom after another exciting win at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. Champion jockey Tommy Berry is the number one ticketholder in Raging Force's growing fan club after a dominant win in the Thank You ATC Members Handicap (1100m). Berry said the promising young sprinter is simply 'too good' to be racing at this stage of the season. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'Raging Force definitely has stakes potential,' Berry said. 'He is still learning his craft but I loved the way he took that gap in the straight. 'He still has to make more improvement which I think he will. He's improving with every start and you don't see how good they are until they race against the better quality of horses because that brings the best out of them.' Trained by the maestro Peter Snowden, Raging Force was confidently backed into $1.70 favouritism and completed a hat-trick of wins when he scored easily by 2¼ lengths from Horseshoe Hill ($7) with nearly three lengths to Lull ($21) third. Raging Force showed promise at the early season barrier trials but pulled up sore when unplaced on debut in the Breeders Plate. Snowden gave the two-year-old plenty of time to recover and waited until winter to take the gelding back to the races, winning the Red Crown at Muswellbrook first-up, then winning by a big margin at the Kensington midweeks before making the rise to Sydney Saturday grade look routine. 'Raging Force was very good today,' Berry said. 'I was very proud of the way he reacted to the situation that unfolded in the first furlong and a half. 'When he jumped so well I was a bit positive to try and hold that lead but they went quick and I let them cross. 'He got his head up for two or three strides but then came back under me. It just shows his versatility, how 'smart' he is now and how much he is willing to work with us. 'I could have sent him to the line without the stick today but I did that last time and I thought I would help him find the line as he has tougher tasks ahead. 'I still feel he will be better at 1200m and 1400m when he can get into a rhythm, relax, and it is not all 100 miles an hour. He is simply too good for them at the moment.' Raging Force continues the outstanding season of leading syndicator Scott Darby of Darby Racing which has already yielded more than 100 winners including the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes, Group 2 wins in The Ingham, Shannon Stakes, and Ajax Stakes, Group 3 wins in the Sydney Stakes, Brisbane Cup, Sweet Embrace Stakes, Newcastle Stakes, Parramatta Cup, Queen Elizabeth II Cup and Liverpool City Cup, plus a host of Listed races. 'I purchased Raging Force at the Classic Sale for $150,000. We bought him purely on type, he is a lovely horse,' Darby said. 'He will have two weeks off then we will plan a spring campaign for him.' The promising rising three-year-old is a son of Snowden's former crack sprinter Cosmic Force, winner of the 2019 Pago Pago Stakes by seven lengths before finishing unplaced as favourite to Kiamichi in the Golden Slipper. Snowden wasn't on track at Rosehill but his stable representative Aaron Lau confirmed there are plans to set Raging Force for some of the better three-year-old races in spring. 'We're going to tip him out for a couple of weeks. Obviously, the spring isn't far, it will be on our doorstep very shortly,' Lau said. 'We just wanted to get today over and done with and see where he stood. He was up against a few last start winners and Bjorn's horse (Baker, trainer of Horseshoe Hill) goes very well, as does Blake Ryan's, he rates his horse (Just Awesome) as well so it was nice to see Raging Force do it today. 'He's got a great attitude, a lovely, big action and he's probably better on top of the ground as well. He's very progressive and it's exciting going forward.' Raging Force's hat-trick of winter wins means he is 'officially in the black' with nearly $170,000 prizemoney – and the promise of a lot more to come. Berry said Raging Force's improvement from race to race was evident in the first 200m of his Rosehill Win. 'All he wants to do is relax and when he jumped he put his head straight on his chest but I thought we will end up three pairs back on the fence so I had to push him along to hold the lead,' he said. 'Then they wanted to go too quick so I asked him to come back and after a couple of strides he was sweet. 'I stayed about a length and a half back so I had options to go around them if I needed but I could see Regan's horse (Bayliss on Just Awesome) runs around a bit. I thought he is going to give us some room at some point and he did. 'But I think Pete's masterstroke was to take him away to Muswellbrook and then even after that another trip away to Wyong for the trials as education. 'He may have still won those two races anyway but I don't think he would have executed as well today if he had not had those trips away.' Originally published as Tommy Berry declares Raging Force a stakes contender as gelding brings up hat-trick with impressive win at Rosehill
Courier-Mail
8 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
West Indies vs Australia, second Test, day 3 live: Scorecard, key moments, live blog
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News. Aussie pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood has predicted the Grenada wicket to become even more difficult for batting by the end of day three in an ominous warning to West Indies' batters. Australia will resume on day 3 with a lead of 45 runs after slumping to 2-12 at stumps. Hazlewood said the Grenada pitch was playing slower than in Barbados and tipped life would become tougher for batters as the match dragged on. 'By the end of tomorrow I think it could be really hard to bat,' he told SEN after stumps yesterday. 'The pace isn't quite as good as potentially Barbados. There's certainly some cracks out there and I think they will just only get bigger and bigger. It could be interesting tomorrow and the next day.' FOLLOW ALL THE KEY MOMENTS FROM DAY 3 WITH DANIEL CHERNY BELOW X SUBSCRIBER ONLY Originally published as West Indies vs Australia, second Test, day 3 live: Scorecard, key moments, live blog
Daily Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Peter Snowden unearths spring contender with Raging Force bringing up hat-trick at Rosehill
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Raging Force, Sydney's winter two-year-old sprint find, seems destined for stardom after another exciting win at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. Champion jockey Tommy Berry is the number one ticketholder in Raging Force's growing fan club after a dominant win in the Thank You ATC Members Handicap (1100m). Berry said the promising young sprinter is simply 'too good' to be racing at this stage of the season. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'Raging Force definitely has stakes potential,' Berry said. 'He is still learning his craft but I loved the way he took that gap in the straight. 'He still has to make more improvement which I think he will. He's improving with every start and you don't see how good they are until they race against the better quality of horses because that brings the best out of them.' Trained by the maestro Peter Snowden, Raging Force was confidently backed into $1.70 favouritism and completed a hat-trick of wins when he scored easily by 2¼ lengths from Horseshoe Hill ($7) with nearly three lengths to Lull ($21) third. Raging Force showed promise at the early season barrier trials but pulled up sore when unplaced on debut in the Breeders Plate. Snowden gave the two-year-old plenty of time to recover and waited until winter to take the gelding back to the races, winning the Red Crown at Muswellbrook first-up, then winning by a big margin at the Kensington midweeks before making the rise to Sydney Saturday grade look routine. 'Raging Force was very good today,' Berry said. 'I was very proud of the way he reacted to the situation that unfolded in the first furlong and a half. 'When he jumped so well I was a bit positive to try and hold that lead but they went quick and I let them cross. 'He got his head up for two or three strides but then came back under me. It just shows his versatility, how 'smart' he is now and how much he is willing to work with us. 'I could have sent him to the line without the stick today but I did that last time and I thought I would help him find the line as he has tougher tasks ahead. 'I still feel he will be better at 1200m and 1400m when he can get into a rhythm, relax, and it is not all 100 miles an hour. He is simply too good for them at the moment.' Raging Force continues the outstanding season of leading syndicator Scott Darby of Darby Racing which has already yielded more than 100 winners including the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes, Group 2 wins in The Ingham, Shannon Stakes, and Ajax Stakes, Group 3 wins in the Sydney Stakes, Brisbane Cup, Sweet Embrace Stakes, Newcastle Stakes, Parramatta Cup, Queen Elizabeth II Cup and Liverpool City Cup, plus a host of Listed races. 'I purchased Raging Force at the Classic Sale for $150,000. We bought him purely on type, he is a lovely horse,' Darby said. 'He will have two weeks off then we will plan a spring campaign for him.' The promising rising three-year-old is a son of Snowden's former crack sprinter Cosmic Force, winner of the 2019 Pago Pago Stakes by seven lengths before finishing unplaced as favourite to Kiamichi in the Golden Slipper. Snowden wasn't on track at Rosehill but his stable representative Aaron Lau confirmed there are plans to set Raging Force for some of the better three-year-old races in spring. 'We're going to tip him out for a couple of weeks. Obviously, the spring isn't far, it will be on our doorstep very shortly,' Lau said. 'We just wanted to get today over and done with and see where he stood. He was up against a few last start winners and Bjorn's horse (Baker, trainer of Horseshoe Hill) goes very well, as does Blake Ryan's, he rates his horse (Just Awesome) as well so it was nice to see Raging Force do it today. 'He's got a great attitude, a lovely, big action and he's probably better on top of the ground as well. He's very progressive and it's exciting going forward.' Raging Force's hat-trick of winter wins means he is 'officially in the black' with nearly $170,000 prizemoney – and the promise of a lot more to come. Berry said Raging Force's improvement from race to race was evident in the first 200m of his Rosehill Win. 'All he wants to do is relax and when he jumped he put his head straight on his chest but I thought we will end up three pairs back on the fence so I had to push him along to hold the lead,' he said. 'Then they wanted to go too quick so I asked him to come back and after a couple of strides he was sweet. 'I stayed about a length and a half back so I had options to go around them if I needed but I could see Regan's horse (Bayliss on Just Awesome) runs around a bit. I thought he is going to give us some room at some point and he did. 'But I think Pete's masterstroke was to take him away to Muswellbrook and then even after that another trip away to Wyong for the trials as education. 'He may have still won those two races anyway but I don't think he would have executed as well today if he had not had those trips away.' Originally published as Tommy Berry declares Raging Force a stakes contender as gelding brings up hat-trick with impressive win at Rosehill
