logo
Casual Connection's winning form holds the key to Stayer's Cup

Casual Connection's winning form holds the key to Stayer's Cup

News.com.au26-06-2025
If winning form is the only yardstick, Casual Connection is undoubtedly the clear horse to beat in Saturday's Irresistible Pools Benchmark 90 Stayer's Cup (2400m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Casual Connection holds the dubious honour of being the only horse in the Cup field to win a race in his past four starts and is one of just two contenders to win a race this year.
• 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!
The John Sargent- trained has won two of his past six starts, including a 2400m success at Royal Randwick on May 24, and can add to his superior mile and a half record in staying test.
'He is hard fit and in-form so as long as the track doesn't get too firm, I think he will really run well,' Sargent said.
'The little bit of give or worse suits him but he's hit good form and is down in the weights.
'He's well-weighted in a race like that and a lot of the horses are out of form.'
Apprentice Molly Bourke's 2kg claim gets Casual Connection in with 53kg with bookies rating the gelding a clear $3.10 favourite.
Casual Connection will jump one from the outside in the Stayer's Cup and Sargent sees the wide gate as an advantage.
Casual Connection loves the heavy going!
That's his 4th win over 2400mðŸ'� pic.twitter.com/HpSIZqfiDm
— bet365 Australia (@bet365_aus) May 24, 2025
'I don't mind the wide draw because he can roll over in his own time and when he drawn in one he gets caught on the inside,' he said.
'He has to get out and rolling and is a horse that needs to roll off around the 800m to 600m and get in the big long stride.'
Casual Connection would take his earnings well past the $500,000 mark if the six-year-old can win again.
A date with next month's Listed $200,000 Grafton Cup (2350m) on July 17 could also be considered if Casual Connection performs on Saturday.
'He is a great old horse and he might have a break after this but if he happens to win we might look at the Grafton Cup with him,' Sargent said.
'He has been up quite a while but he loves being in work.
'That type of race at Grafton on Saturday is a nice race.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Namibia-born jockey Heavelon Van Der Hoven will start from scratch in Brisbane this week after his big move from Sydney
Namibia-born jockey Heavelon Van Der Hoven will start from scratch in Brisbane this week after his big move from Sydney

News.com.au

time19 minutes ago

  • News.com.au

Namibia-born jockey Heavelon Van Der Hoven will start from scratch in Brisbane this week after his big move from Sydney

Namibia-born jockey Heavelon Van Der Hoven is shifting from Sydney to Brisbane on a whim and a prayer. With the backing of the strong Annabel and Rob Archibald stable, Van Der Hoven will this week move with his two dogs into his new unit at Ascot, just a stone's throw from the Doomben and Eagle Farm racetracks. The 32-year-old jockey finished his five-year Sydney stint in style last Saturday, steering the Jim and Greg Lee -trained Glorious Moments to victory to secure his first NSW metropolitan win. The next day he packed all his belongings into a friend's ute and trailer and started driving to Brisbane, stopping at Murwumbillah on the way. Van Der Hoven had already launched a few hit-and-run missions to southeast Queensland – his last starts up north were on Caloundra Cup Day at the Sunshine Coast on July 5. He will start the new chapter in his career at Doomben next Wednesday when he is slated to have four rides for the Archibalds, with whom he has a superb 21 per cent winning strike rate. 'I've always had it in the back of my mind to move up there if the right opportunity comes because I really like Brisbane,' Van Der Hoven said. 'The weather and the atmosphere play a big part. It's more chilled and relaxed and there are nice tracks up there. 'I'm not a city boy. I grew up on a farm (in Reheboth, just south of Windhoek in Namibia) and I like the outdoors. And I like the water a lot.' • Harley hopes Cool Archie is his ticket to Group 1 stardom The seeds for Van Der Hoven's sea-change were planted early this year when Annabel Archibald sought a meeting with the jockey. 'Annabel asked 'would you ride for me up there?' and I said 'yeah if you'll support me' and that started the whole thing,' Van Der Hoven recalled. 'I'll try to do my best to be a city rider up here and try to get a few features if possible.' Van Der Hoven said he knew Brisbane-based Irish jockey Robbie Dolan from the days when he used to play golf in Sydney with the Melbourne Cup -winning hoop, but he was not moving north to make friends. @aus_turf_club — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 18, 2025 'I don't really associate with a lot of racing people. I just keep to my own,' he said. 'Once I'm up there riding, trainers will obviously know that I'm planning to stay and maybe I can go to work for them and show my face around. 'There will be ups and downs and it'll be a challenge but I just have to take it on. 'But everywhere is hard, you just need the right support and connections I guess. I'll just put my head down and work hard.'

The 'challenging' dilemma facing city homes with too much space
The 'challenging' dilemma facing city homes with too much space

News.com.au

time2 hours ago

  • News.com.au

The 'challenging' dilemma facing city homes with too much space

Brisbane couple Bruce and Naysa Cox own a city home with a huge patch of land dedicated to a tennis court; but even if they wanted to subdivide it, they aren't sure how they could. 'The tennis court is surrounded by a lot of houses,' Mr Cox said. 'It's kind of landlocked – you've got to go down a long driveway and some steps. The access to my property is relatively narrow … to design and put in housing, it'd be somewhat challenging to put in a steep block.' The two have decided to sell their Windsor home at a time when more Queenslanders are holding onto their tennis courts. Ray White data has found listings for homes with tennis courts have fallen to their lowest level in more than 10 years, often selling with premiums of up to 30 per cent. Across all of Brisbane, only 42 of these properties were listed for sale in the past 12 months. Mr Cox said he bought the house at 74 Constitution Rd with the hope of using the court for tennis; but after a few years, the family realised it was better suited for other things. 'Maintaining a grass tennis court for tennis purposes – rolling it and keeping the weeds and grass very short – is so much work!' he said. 'It wasn't used enough as a tennis court to justify all the work to maintain it.' Instead, the family began to use it for different sports and larger parties on their property. 'When we were having a barbecue it was used for badminton, used for cricket. You name a sport, we've probably played it there,' he said. 'For my son's birthday, my wife set up laser tag … there are certain locations that hire blow-up obstacles that the kids can hide around.' Brisbane prestige property agent Snezana Harris from Grace and Keenan sold the vendors the house a decade ago. Ms Harris said it was extremely rare to find a home with a private tennis court in Windsor, which made the property more valuable. 'Buyers' agents contact me looking for properties with either the ability to put [a tennis court] in or one with them,' she said. 'A lot of these owners have children who perhaps have grown up, left home, but are now coming back because it's so expensive to rent.' While city areas with tennis court land are incredibly valuable, Mr Cox said he didn't feel most buyers would be interested in building on the land. 'A lot of the properties that have got tennis courts are relatively well established, expensive buildings that you wouldn't pull down,' he said. 'Unless the house is derelict, and that's pretty unlikely [near the city].' While he's seen little interest in building, Mr Cox said one interested buyer had other plans for the court. 'Their intention is not to subdivide, their intention is … for cricket,' he said. 'I suspect that most tennis courts are zoned in areas where a block of flats is unlikely to be built … [but] having a tennis court in that space encourages you to share it.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store