Latest news with #AllTooHard
New Paper
2 days ago
- Sport
- New Paper
Our Jet is lined up for take-off
Trainer Winson Cheng Han Yong has got more than a couple of talented youngsters residing in his stalls at the Selangor Turf Club. He produced two of them - Our Jet and Momochiko - at the trials run off at Sungai Besi on July 22. Taking off in the first of six hit-outs on a track rated good, the pair were without a doubt the morning stars. Jumping from the two outermost gates and ridden by Andre da Silva and Haikal Hanif respectively, Our Jet and Momochiko were in a trial of their own, especially the former. Once the starter said "go", there was no stopping him. After dismissing an early challenge from Sabahcai, he had daylight in front of him. Momochiko threw down a challenge at the top of the straight but, with engines at full thrust, Our Jet opened up to a sizeable lead to eventually beat his stablemate by three lengths. Besides the convincing margin, Our Jet also broke the minute mark when clocking 59.69sec under a good hold. A four-year-old by Bradbury's Luck, Our Jet certainly looks like a youngster going places and it will be interesting to see him on debut. The same goes for Momochiko. The All Too Hard mare showed plenty of grit to beat Fu Bao to third place by a short head. Right on the heels of that swift show from Our Jet, came another winning performance from Storm To Finish. From trainer Ricky Choi's yard, Storm To Finish won with a whole lot of authority. The unraced Anders two-year-old did it like his name seemed to suggest. He saved the best for last. Holding third behind Dashing Speed and Mega Titan, Storm To Finish played the stalking game until the top of the straight. Pushed into gear by Marc Lerner, he went full throttle and, in a move which must have given Mega Titan and Dashing Speed windburn, he hit the front and drew away to win by six lengths. In doing so, he clocked a smart time of 1min 0.23sec for the trip. Already a winner of his first trial on July 15, Storm To Finish should not be left out of your calculations. From what he has shown so far, he is ripe and ready for a really impressive debut. As for runner-up Mega Titan, his racing debut could come sooner rather than later. Trainer Ananthen Kuppan has entered the Strasbourg two-year-old in a Restricted Maiden sprint to be run over the 1,200m - which is Race 8 on July 27. These races are always tough and Mega Titan will have his work cut out. However, it is clear that he does possess good early speed. If he is up to it and makes a sharp getaway, he could give his rivals something to chase. Then there was Bold Runner. He owned the fifth trial of the morning, leading from go to whoa and never using up much petrol on the sand track. Another one of da Silva's mounts, Bold Runner controlled the tempo and strode out easily. He was never going to get nabbed. Taking the shortest route home, he went further and further away and eventually took the honours with four lengths to spare. Benbo held on for second with Banker's Two Seven holding down third spot. Both will see action on July 27, with Bold Runner entered in Race 6, a Class 4 sprint (1,300m) and Banker's Two Seven entered in Race 3, a Class 5 (A) race (1,150m). A close third to Yes Man at the last of his seven starts on May 18, and on the strength of that impressive trial win, Bold Runner should indeed live up to his name. brian@
Herald Sun
03-07-2025
- Health
- Herald Sun
Doctor Bernie Spilsbury retires from Sunshine Coast Turf Club
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Legendary jockey Chris Munce credits him with being the first person to detect his potentially-deadly throat cancer. Dr Bernie Spilsbury has helped countless other jockeys and trainers and been there for some of racing's magic and also most tragic moments since starting as the Sunshine Coast Turf Club doctor almost four decades ago. The retiring doctor, who has also been a long-time Sunshine Coast Turf Club board member, will get a fitting farewell with the Dr Bernie Spilsbury 3YO Handicap (1000m) named in his honour on Caloundra Cup day on Saturday. Munce, the champion jockey who is now a two-time Group 1 winning trainer, fears what might have been if Spilsbury had not intervened when Munce's 'tonsils were swollen up like golf balls' not long after he rode All Too Hard to be runner-up in Ocean Park's 2012 Cox Plate. • 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! 'I rode that horse in the Cox Plate and two weeks later I was brushing my teeth and I saw one of my tonsils was like a golf ball in the back of my mouth,' Munce recalls. 'I went to the doctor and they just gave me antibiotics, I then went back a week later when it hadn't improved so they put me on a stronger dose and it still didn't improve. 'I was at Caloundra races one Sunday and I asked Dr Bernie to have a look. 'Within one second he told me, straight up, that I had cancer. 'It was a lot for me to digest in one afternoon, so I went home in a bit of shock I didn't tell (wife) Cathy or anyone. 'The next morning, Dr Bernie rang my house number and Cathy picked up the phone and it all went from there. 'Thank goodness that Dr Bernie spotted it, because it would have just kept spreading through my lymph nodes and God knows how far it would have got to.' Dr Bernie Spilsbury, who retires after having been the club doctor at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club for almost four decades, being farewelled by jockeys, racing officials and club staff. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography. • Guineas bid nod and Winx to Tighe's mighty mare Munce successfully beat cancer and Sunshine Coast club officials say Dr Spilsbury has been instrumental in warning other jockeys about some unusual symptoms that later turned out to be cancer. Sadly, Dr Spilsbury was also there at the scene of a heartbreaking tragedy when jockey Desiree Gill died following a race fall at a twilight meeting at the Sunshine Coast in 2013. 'It was shocking,' Dr Spilsbury recalls. 'I was there and she came down head first. 'I am sure she was dead the moment she hit the ground, but I went to try to work on her to see if she could be saved. 'But in my own heart I knew she had passed away.' Dr Spilsbury has long loved the racing game, breeding horses himself as he followed in the racing footsteps of his father and his grandfather. He is looking forward to heading to Caloundra Cup day on Saturday and hopes he can turn a small betting profit in the race named after him. 'My mantra is, you bet small and you lose small,' Dr Spilsbury said. 'A $6 boxed trifecta is my go and that's what I will be doing on Saturday. 'I am a very low key person, but it is a humbling honour to have a race named after me.' • Thompson to return bigger and better to Brisbane's riding ranks Sunshine Coast Turf Club chairman Peter Boyce hailed Dr Spilsbury's contribution to the club as both a medical professional and a board member. 'He will be missed by us, as he is the most kind and compassionate man I know,' Boyce said. 'His care for fellow human beings is second to none and all done a very low key and unassuming way.' Originally published as 'He told me straight up I had cancer': Sunshine Coast Turf Club's legendary racing doctor Bernie Spilsbury retires
News.com.au
25-04-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
David Vandyke secures Kerrin McEvoy to ride Queensland Oaks prospect Philia in Princess Stakes at Eagle Farm
The Queensland winter carnival atmosphere has come early for Sunshine Coast trainer David Vandyke, who has secured champion jockey Kerrin McEvoy to ride Philia in the $160,000 Princess Stakes at Eagle Farm on Saturday. And Vandyke expressed his surprise to see such a high quality horse as $2.80 TAB favourite Harlem Queen enter the 1600m race for three-year-old fillies. On Friday morning, Philia was paying $5.50 and the John Sargent-trained Meridiana was $6 in a big field. 'I sent Kerrin a message. He had a look at her last couple of runs and was impressed and he was keen to jump on,' Vandyke said about $83,000 purchase Philia, who has won her last two starts. 'That's worked out well and I'm hoping he can stick with her through the winter carnival. 'Kerrin will be up here to warm up for the winter carnival. It's not a big day of racing in Sydney and if this filly can measure up during the Group races in the carnival, now's the time to give her a spin around and see what he thinks.' It is one of seven rides on Saturday in Brisbane for Melbourne Cup-winning hoop McEvoy – all for different trainers. Vandyke said the main goal for Philia was the Group 1 $750,000 Queensland Oaks (2200m) at Eagle Farm on June 7, a race won by her half-sister Duais in 2021. 'I've trained her other half-sister Baccarat Baby, who won the Winx Guineas in 2019 and she was competitive at Group 1 level so it's a very strong family,' he said. 'I love the fact she (Philia) is by All Too Hard, the stallion for Alligator Blood. It was a terrific win last start and if she's improved Saturday on what we've seen, we're certainly looking at a top-three finish. 'The favourite (Harlem Queen) really is the benchmark, probably for the winter carnival because she's raced well against the top-line three-year-olds. 'I wasn't expecting a horse of that calibre in this race so early in the carnival but it'll show us where we sit. 'If we can run top three then we just march on into the winter carnival with an air of confidence that we can perform well.' • Heathcote sure Carbonara will pasta barrier test The Nathan Doyle-trained Harlem Queen has only raced nine times for two victories, but three of those runs were in Group 1s in the spring: second in the Flight Stakes (1600m) behind Lady Shenandoah at Randwick, fourth in the Champion Stakes (2000m) at the same track and fourth in the VRC Oaks at Flemington, won by Treasurethe Moment, at Flemington. Wonder fillies Lady Shenandoah and Treasurethe Moment are both three-time Group 1 champions and unbeaten this season. Meridiana will start from barrier five, just inside Harlem Queen, in Saturday's Princess Stakes. 'The favourite will be hard to beat but if Meridiana can get a soft run she's got a nice turn of foot and she's on the way up in the fillies' races,' Sargent said. Meridiana arrived on Thursday at the Gold Coast where she will stay with trainer Glenn Thornton, the father of jockey Damien Thornton, who will ride the filly on Saturday. Sargent said Meridiana would be targeted towards the $160,000 Listed Gold Coast Bracelet (1800m) on May 10 before a likely tilt at the Queensland Oaks.
