Mitch Cohen's Blackbook: Five to follow from Royal Randwick
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!
FIVE TO FOLLOW
KOIBITO (race 1, 4th)
The winner Nashville Jack is a horse you will see in better races but this filly did a terrific job on debut, doing her best work late. She might be a prep away but has potential.
SO YOU ARE (race 3, 2nd)
This lightly-raced son of So You Think is still learning his craft and hit the line nicely over 1800m in the Highway. He will come into his own over 2000m plus.
GLORIOUS MOMENTS (race 4, 1st)
It was only a Benchmark 72 but it's easy to see the son of Brutal landing in better races soon. He's got stakes quality and will go through his grades quickly.
SLINKY (race 7, 3rd)
Put a line through her run two starts ago when she landed too close, she produced a far better run ridden cold. If she finds herself in a race with speed on next start she's worth backing.
TRAVOLTA (race 10, 1st)
He's won two of his three starts this preparation and can steadily go through his grades in his second preparation in Australia. Back him with confidence if the track is wet.
STEWARDS SAY
Open Secret (race 1): Did not feel comfortable on the soft track. Was found to be coughing post-race and will undergo further veterinary checks, including an endoscopic examination.
Forecaster (race 2): Apprentice William Stanley was fined $500 for striking the gelding nine times before the 100m, four more than permitted.
In Summer (race 3): Jockey Jason Collett felt the prevailing racing surface hampered her ability to close off as expected.
Ruby Flyer (race 5): Did not travel comfortably on the soft track and failed to fire. Was found to be slow to recover post-race.
Storm The Ramparts (race 8): A post-race veterinary examination revealed the gelding was slow to recover and lost his off-fore plate. He will be spelled.
The Black Cloud (race 8): Did not let down under pressure and weakened in the straight. Another horse that was slow to recover post-race.
Kazalark (race 10): Late scratching at 9.55am on vets advice after being found lame in the off-foreleg.
CRUNCH TIME
Nashville Jack (race 1): Surged home along the inside to finish his last 600m in 36.09 seconds. Wisnierska (36.08) and Koibito (36.03) both got home well in behind.
Investment (race 6): She was last at one stage but relished the conditions as she was a race best split for every furlong from the 1000m to the finish. Her last 600m of 38.90 seconds was a clear best.
Cigar Flick (race 8): Only had a couple of runners behind her in the run before doing her best work down the outside to finish her last 600m in 35.45 seconds. Her last 200m of 12.45 was the best of the race.
Regimental Colours (race 9): Showed a terrific finishing burst, running the best final three furlongs of the race to win with splits of 11.62, 11.71 and 12.61 seconds. Her last 600m totally 35.94.
TRACK TALK
'He is a nice horse, he has a bit of substance to him.' - Jockey Jason Collett on Nashville Jack.
'I was actually watching the race with Charlie (Duckworth) and said 'I don't know what this Tommy is doing, we said we were going to come through them and have the last crack at them'. Then I said after the race 'that's why Tommy is a jockey and I am a trainer'. - Chris Waller after Cigar Flick's win.
'He's a lovely horse. It's taken a fair while for us to get to this point but finally he's starting to show what we've known he has.' - Stable rep Keith Lam on Glorious Moments.
'If I get offered the chance I'll jump on a plane to come back and ride this horse. I'd go anywhere to ride him.' - Jockey Heavelon Van Der Hoven, who moved to Brisbane on Sunday, on Glorious Moments.
'I thought she could improve a bit today. I said to a few people she had a sneaky chance.' Joe Pride after $61 shot Investment saluted.
THIS WEEK IN NSW RACING
Monday: Kempsey
Tuesday: Wagga, Wellington
Wednesday: Warwick Farm
Thursday: Scone
Friday: Kembla Grange, Coffs Harbour
Saturday: Rosehill Gardens, Newcastle, Cobar, Tuncurry
Sunday: Wyong, Forbes
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Greg Sugars' ‘project' horse, Fighter Command, set for 2025 Eureka redemption
Emerging pacer Fighter Command is the strongest lasting equine legacy to Greg Sugars. Before Sugars, who was just 40 and at the peak of powers, passed suddenly on April 26, Fighter Command was his project. A big, raw and highly-gifted gelding with the potential to be a star of the sport. Sugars knew and would tell his close mate, James Herbertson. 'Hes From Heaven and Fighter Command were the same age and came up together. I've always loved Hes From Heaven, but Greg kept telling me Fighter Command was better,' he said. 'We'd still be arguing about it now if he was here.' • 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! Sugars' wife, Jess Tubbs, trains Fighter Command but it is Herbertson who has 'inherited' the driving since Sugars' devastating and unexplained passing. Together, they head to Hobart on Saturday night with Fighter Command, chasing a golden ticket into the world's richest harness race, the $2.1 million TAB Eureka at Menangle on September 6. Sugars will be in the front of their minds. It was Sugars who took the reins 12 months ago at Hobart when Fighter Command won the $80,000 Beautide and snared the resultant Tasracing slot into the TAB Eureka. FIGHTER COMMAND is Eureka bound!! Taking out The Beautide at Hobart tonight the Jess Tubbs trained and Greg Sugars driven gelding is into the worlds richest race on September 7!🤩 — NSWSOA (@NSWStandardbred) August 3, 2024 Excitement turned to heartbreak a few weeks later and just days out from the TAB Eureka when Fighter Command was struck down with a twisted bowel and spent days fighting for his life. His TAB Eureka dream was over and it would be six months before he made it back to the racetrack. Fighter Command has raced eight times on the comeback trail for two wins, a second, a third and two fourths. Tubbs has given him a deliberately slow and meticulous build-up with redemption in mind. 'He's still a big baby and learning, but the motor is there,' Herbertson said. 'Jess has done a great job with him and we've seen progress this campaign. A few starts back there was a scrimmage and he had to duck and weave through them, something he'd have galloped for a year ago. 'But he's still a work in progress. He's not quite there mentally yet. 'It's as much knowing when to switch on and off. Sometimes he'll be keen on the (starting) gate, others he won't want to be there. Then he'll switch off at a stage of the race you want him focused and raring to go. 'It's all those one per-centres he needs to get right if he's going to be the horse Greg thought he could be.' The two biggest guns of the world's richest harness race, Bay Of Biscay and Fighter Command, will head interstate to step-up their preparations on Saturday night. Story: @AdamHSport ðŸ'‡ — Racenet (@RacenetTweets) July 29, 2025 Quirks aside, Fighter Command should win the Beautide. 'I spoke to Mitch Ford (local driver) and he said he should beat the Tassie horses by a fair way,' Herbertson said. 'I guess he did beat them easily last year and he's got his act together a lot more since then. 'But the Eureka will be a different story. It's not far away and it's a race where he'll need to get it all together. 'Bay Of Biscay is the (Eureka) favourite. I'd say this guy has as much talent, but Bay Of Biscay has more manners and is more versatile right now.'
News.com.au
6 hours ago
- News.com.au
Mitch Owen's ODI nod as Jake Fraser-McGurk axed
Australian white-ball captain Mitch Marsh labelled new batting weapon Mitch Owen a 'ripping kid' as he earnt an ODI squad call-up for the Top End series against South Africa, with Jake Fraser-McGurk's single West Indian failure enough for him to be axed. Owen, who made a half-century in his T20 international debut in Jamaica, is in both the ODI and T20 squads for the series and has put himself in the frame for a T20 World Cup spot next year. The ODI retirements of Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell opened the door for Owen to join the 50-over squad, with Test discard Marnus Labuschagne also earning an international recall and Travis Head is back after skipping the T20s in the West Indies. Both Test captain Pat Cummins and 100-Test quick Mitchell Starc won't play as they save themselves for the Ashes, but Josh Hazlewood has been included in both squads. Cameron Green, named man of the series in Australia's history-making 5-0 T20 sweep of the Windies, will also play both the ODIs and T20s as he continues to build batting form after a significant period sidelined following career-saving back surgery. 'As we build towards the T20 World Cup, the flexibility and depth shown in the West Indies, outside of the obvious results, has been a huge positive,' Australian selection chief George Bailey said. 'The flexibility within the batting order and ability of bowlers to bowl in different stages of the innings were particularly pleasing to see. 'Mitch Owen and Matt Kuhnemann making their respective debuts and the preparation and work done by Nathan Ellis to allow him to play all five matches were highlights.' Australia has 14 more matches over the next six months to prepare for next year's T20 World Cup in India, starting with the three against South Africa next month. But Fraser-McGurk faces a battle to regain his spot, axed again making just two runs opening the batting in the first T20 in the West Indies after a surprise recall given his struggles in the IPL and Major League cricket T20 tournaments. Marsh, said the emergence of players in the West Indies added depth to the squad at the right time and lauded Owen for his debut series performance. 'I thought Mitch was fantastic,' Marsh said. 'He's a ripping kid, took on the challenge, didn't seem overawed by the occasion of playing international cricket and seems like a pretty calm figure. 'And as for Cam, I think the biggest thing for me is just him enjoying his cricket, played with a big smile on his face this series and he was awesome, played some really critical roles for us with the bat and was awesome in the field.' Australian T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (capt), Sean Abbott, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa Australian ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (capt), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Lance Morris, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘They know what they need to do': Montemurro out to take care of unfinished business
Joe Montemurro watched on television from Turin as South Korea frustrated the hell out of the Matildas. 'I remember the amount of chances we missed,' he said on Tuesday night, recalling the 15 shots that were all off-target bar two. 'And I think I turned it off with about 15 minutes to go and said, 'Oh, it's not good'.' Montemurro was consequently spared the only goal of that 2022 Women's Asian Cup quarter-final – scored by the prolific Ji So-yun in the 87th minute – that knocked Australia out of the tournament and kicked off a post-mortem which basically called for the head of Tony Gustavsson. The team had travelled to India with a full-strength squad and publicly stated ambitions to win the thing, and left facing questions about whether they would have qualified directly for the 2023 World Cup had they not already secured a spot as co-hosts. The funny thing is that Montemurro was only in front of a TV in Italy and not pitchside in India because he was managing Juventus Women, having only taken that job because Gustavsson had beaten him to the Matildas one. Now he does have the Matildas job, and the Asian Cup is approaching once more. The 2026 edition, to be staged on home soil, is close enough now that the draw has just been done and we can all analyse what it means in 50 different ways. Australia are in the group of death, which is bad. But the Matildas often do well with their backs against the wall, which could be good. The pressure to win a long-coveted major trophy is a lot to deal with under the glare of a home campaign. But the home support can push them to achieve great things. On paper, they should stroll past the Philippines and Iran. Except that odds on paper rarely mean much when it comes to the Matildas. And they have already beaten South Korea twice this year. If only they weren't friendlies and counted for little.
