Latest news with #Group1StradbrokeHandicap
Mercury
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Mercury
Truck driving hobby trainer Craig Cousins sets sights on Sydney first
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. For truck driving hobby trainer Craig Cousins, a trip to the interstate races means heading 13km south of the Queensland border to Murwillumbah. All that is about to change. Cousins, whose fairytale horse The Inflictor raced in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap and won a stakes race a fortnight later, has set his sights on the big time of racing in Sydney. • 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! Cousins has never set foot on a Sydney racetrack but that will change when he heads south with The Inflictor who he will deploy in the $1.5m Alan Brown Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill in October. There is even an outside chance he could race in the $2m Five Diamonds if he impresses in Sydney. • 'No dodging Via Sistina': Gollan keeps focus on Cox Plate 'As far as going interstate with racing, Murwillumbah is as far as I've been,' Cousins said. 'I've never even set foot on Rosehill or any of the Sydney tracks. 'I've driven past them, but never been at them. 'At this stage, the Alan Brown would be his only run in Sydney. 'But if he happened to win by six lengths or something, I guess we would think about the Five Diamonds.' The Inflictor is one of the feel-good stories of racing in 2025, given Cousins has a full-time job as a truck driver and only three horses which he stables out the back of his parents' house in Brisbane. The Inflictor raced without luck in the Stradbroke, finishing 11th, before rebounding to score the Listed Tatt's Mile a fortnight later. He was last seen finishing a brave third in the Glasshouse Handicap after not being given much peace up front. The Inflictor winning the Listed Tatt's Mile last month. Picture: Trackside Photography • 'Took my breath away': How Angela Jones wowed Gai Waterhouse Currently having a short spell, Cousins will bring The Inflictor back for the spring and he will also contest the Weetwood Handicap in Toowoomba. 'He will be first-up in a race at Doomben over 1110m on September 13 and then he will race up in Toowoomba in the Weetwood before going to Sydney,' Cousins said. 'Cejay Graham will have the ride on him for the Queensland races. 'At this stage, he will have three runs in his next campaign. 'The idea of that is to then give him a small break and set him for a good race over the Queensland summer carnival.' Originally published as Truck driving hobby trainer Craig Cousins sets sights on Sydney first
New Paper
03-07-2025
- Climate
- New Paper
Wet Winter tale of two horses
SYDNEY Climate has literally set the early stakes to the 2025 Winter Stakes. Sydney's wet and wild weather has been both the push and pull factor to the two top fancies' participation in the A$200,000 (S$167,000) Listed 1,400m race at Rosehill on July 5 (at 1.50pm Singapore time). On one hand, the likelihood of a heavily rain-affected track has been enough to tempt Bjorn Baker to run back-to-back winner Thunderlips on a seven-day back-up. On the other, such a prospect may throw a dampener by depriving the race of second favourite Accredited. Not only will trainer Joseph Pride pray for blue skies, but also for the drying capacity of the Rosehill track to determine whether the son of All Too Hard takes his place. With the course proper a heavy 9 on July 3, Pride is hoping it improves into the soft range as Accredited's best form is on firmer ground. Racing fans will, however, be hoping that, come rain or shine, the Winter Stakes line-up will not change, even if one drop-out, Grand Impact, has already been registered. The late sneaking in of the in-form Thunderlips is a welcome addition, but losing Accredited would rob the race of its gloss. Baker's racing manager Luke Hilton confirmed that Thunderlips had pulled up in great order from his victory in a Benchmark 88 over 1,500m at the same venue last weekend. The six-time winner by Zoustar will take his place alongside stablemate Robusto on Saturday. "He has handled backing up before but it's more so because of the rain-affected track we're going to get," said Hilton. "He loves the wet tracks. He went great on a dry track last week and back on a wet track is going to be an advantage to him." The stable thought highly enough of Thunderlips as a young horse to run him in a brace of Group races in Brisbane as a two-year-old but he did not quite hit the mark. However, he is beginning to fulfil that potential this campaign with three wins from his past four starts, two of them over the 1,400m Winter Stakes journey. Robusto returns to Sydney after failing to beat a rival home first-up in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1,400m) at Eagle Farm, when he had to work early to go forward from a wide draw. While Pride is sweating over the weather, he has already mulled over a back-up plan for Accredited - the Group 2 Missile Stakes (1,200m) at Randwick on Aug 9. "It has been an unfortunate winter for him because there was always a chance it was going to be wet and he just hasn't had much luck yet," said Pride. "He is a nice horse and the main thing I have found in these instances is you just look after the horse, get them through the period, don't run them in unsuitable races and then you've still got a horse there at the end of it." Accredited has won seven of his 17 starts, one of the only blots to his copybook a forgettable trip to Melbourne in May when he failed to navigate the undulations of the Sandown Hillside track. "He had won at Nowra, Warwick Farm, Randwick. I thought, this is a good horse to travel, he is versatile. But, no, he didn't have a bar of it," said Pride. Back in familiar territory at Randwick last start, the five-year-old bounced back to post an impressive win, aided by a textbook Nash Rawiller ride from what could have been an awkward draw. A capacity field of 13 is set to line up in the Winter Stakes with Thunderlips an early 19-5 favourite ahead of Accredited (4-1) with Robusto a 5-1 chance. SKY RACING WORLD
New Paper
13-06-2025
- Sport
- New Paper
Private Eye hot on Stradbroke Handicap trail
BRISBANE Sydney trainer Joseph Pride is undeterred by the challenges facing Private Eye, when the outstanding miler tackles the AU$3 million (S$2.5 million) Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1,400m) at Eagle Farm in Brisbane on June 14. Assigned top weight of 57kg, the Al Maher seven-year-old will resume after a 182-day break. He is bidding to defy history as he tries to become the first horse to carry 57kg or more to victory in the Stradbroke Handicap since Rough Habit won with 58.5kg in 1992. Additionally, winning the Stradbroke Handicap first-up is a rare achievement, after an extended break with Crawl famously bucking the trend by triumphing in 2001 off a 56-day break. "Records are made to be broken and I don't think first-up is what it used to be," said Pride of the 12-time winner, whose biggest win came in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1,600m) in 2021, but carrying a luxury weight of 52.5kg then. "I've also given Private Eye four barrier trials, I'm very happy with him, and he won't be beaten on the score of fitness. "His trial last Friday (June 6) at Rosehill was everything I wanted to see from him. He jumped and put himself on the speed. "He wanted to be there and that's the best version of Private Eye. He ran second to Alligator Blood in the 2022 Stradbroke - I feel he's ready to run super again on Saturday." Nash Rawiller, who rode Private Eye to two of his six Group wins, including the Group 3 Festival Stakes (1,500m) at Rosehill on Nov 30, hops on in the Stradbroke. Fellow Sydney jockey Jason Collett will partner Godolphin's Golden Mile for James Cummings, who was on June 11 unveiled as the latest expatriate to join the Hong Kong training ranks in September 2026. Briefly retired to start a breeding career, Golden Mile was gelded after being injured at stud. The 2022 Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1,600m) winner returned to racing in March, before catching the eye when third to Joliestar in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup (1,300m) at Eagle Farm on June 7. "It'd be a great story for Golden Mile, who's come back from stud duties and he has been warming to a win," said Cummings. "He was excellent (last start) and he's been building up to that. "A bit over a month ago (May 3), he screamed home for third in the Group 2 Victory Stakes (1,200m at Eagle Farm). That had him back in the form he was 12 months ago, just prior to him going to stud." Interestingly, the Astern five-year-old also was third in the same Victory Stakes in 2024 (won by Brisbane star Antino) as his send-off race, before his switch to the short-lived breeding duties. Other leading chances in the Stradbroke Handicap are southern raiders War Machine and Rise At Dawn - who are both trained in Flemington by Ben, Will and JD Hayes - local veteran Rothfire, who will be ridden by James McDonald for trainer Robert Heathcote, and Robusto, who is trained by Pride's neighbour Bjorn Baker and has Kerrin McEvoy in the irons. Elsewhere on the "all-black type" nine-race programme that also features the Group 1 J.J. Atkins (1,600m) for two-year-olds, the A$1.2 million Group 2 HKJC World Pool Q22 (2,200m) has garnered eight top stayers, including Bankers Choice for the Hayes brothers. Third in the Group 3 Lord Mayor's Cup (1,800m) at Eagle Farm on May 31, the seven-year-old Listed Mornington Cup (2,400m) winner - when temporarily prepared by Glen Thompson after his previous trainer Mike Moroney's death - will be ridden by big-race jockey Mark Zahra. "He's a very straightforward horse," said Ben Hayes of the nine-time winner by Mongolian Khan. "He came to us in great form, we thought his last run was very good. "He had the trial (at Caulfield) because it was a while between those runs and the Eagle Farm run was a good pipe-opener for this really good prize money race. "He's shown that he can get to the trip and I think the 2,200m should be ideal." Other chances include Fawkner Park and Bois D'Argent, who are both trained by Annabel and Rob Archibald, and Kovalica for Chris Waller. HKJC
Courier-Mail
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Courier-Mail
2025 Stradbroke Handicap: Kimochi scratched, Transatlantic in
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Two years of Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap heartache have eased for Tony Gollan, with his great hope Transatlantic getting a start as second emergency after leading contender Kimochi suffered a probable career-ending tear in her tendon. Gary Portelli told Racenet that Yulong-owned Group 1-winning mare Kimochi was likely to be retired after suffering the injury when she apparently shied at something at trackwork on Friday morning. It means Gollan galloper Transatlantic, who looked set to miss the Stradbroke field despite winning last Saturday's Listed Spear Chief Handicap at Eagle Farm, gets an unexpected start. Chris Waller mare Firestorm was scratched from the Stradbroke earlier this week. • 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! Champion Queensland trainer Gollan had narrowly missed the Stradbroke field in the past two years with Antino (2023) and Freedom Rally (2024) and it looked like he was going to suffer the same fate with Transatlantic until Friday morning's vet news. 'I never want to see another horse be taken out of the race so we get in, but that's the nature of the beast,' Gollan said. • Larrikin truck driver has suit and speech ready for Stradbroke dream 'Transatlantic presents well, my horse, and the plan has always been to run him in the Stradbroke if we could get into the field. 'Obviously it's been a bit of a mess around to get in there, but we are there now. 'We have a nice light weight and a track he really enjoys racing on, maybe everything is falling into place for him.' • Graeme Carey's race-by-race tips, analysis for Stradbroke Day at Eagle Farm on Saturday Portelli said of Kimochi: 'She went for a canter this morning, just two laps around the track. 'Apparently she shied at something, an innocuous sort of incident. 'The stewards have then done the Group 1 trot-ups and run their fingers down her tendon. 'We got the local vet to make a look at her and it turns out she has got a very fresh tear in her tendon. 'He said it had to have happened today. 'I'd imagine this will mean retirement, she is likely to be retired. 'The vet said he couldn't see her returning to race.' • Claytons to Martinis: Stradbroke win will be sweeter for Edmonds Before Kimochi was scratched, Transatlantic had been a $17 chance in the Stradbroke betting market. Gollan has long been convinced Transatlantic is a very good horse and now he gets the chance to prove it in the Stradbroke with Angela Jones to ride. Gollan has won eight Group 1s but the Stradbroke, Queensland's greatest race, is the nut he has never been able to crack. He now thinks he can give the race a serious shake, even despite Transatlantic drawing out a wide barrier. • 14 EXPERTS: Stradbroke Handicap, JJ Atkins tips and betting strategies 'He is not there to make up the numbers,' Gollan said. 'He is definitely a chance in the race, no doubt. He is there to run well. 'The barrier is not ideal but he can roll forward and make his own luck, to a degree. 'There is a long run down the back straight and hopefully we can slot into a nice enough position, somewhere, and he can give the race a good shake.' The Stradbroke shake-up also gives Melbourne Cup-winning rider Robbie Dolan the opportunity to partner the Toby Edmonds-trained three-year-old filly Spicy Martini in Queensland's biggest race. Jones was slated to ride Spicy Martini but was always committed to Transatlantic if the second emergency gained a start. Originally published as Tony Gollan's great hope Transatlantic gets run in Group 1 Stradbroke with Kimochi ruled out with career-ending tendon injury
Herald Sun
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Herald Sun
2025 Stradbroke Handicap barrier draw boosts Ben Hayes' confidence with favourite
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Co-trainer Ben Hayes declared Lindsay Park had its 'best hand' to secure a first Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) following the barrier draw on Tuesday night. Hayes was delighted when the stable's pair War Machine and Rise At Dawn drew barriers 13 and three. • 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! War Machine has a stranglehold on Stradbroke favouritism at $2.70 with TAB fixed odds, while stablemate Rise At Dawn is the only other runner in single figures at $9. 'It is a race that has eluded us,' Hayes said. 'We had our (brother Ben, Will and JD) first runner last year and he (Here To Shock) unfortunately didn't go as well as we had hoped. 'But I think this year we've got the best hand we've ever had, and hopefully with a couple of nice draws there, we should get every chance.' • 'Pressure is your friend': Cejay's tip to conjure Stradbroke fairytale Hayes' nerves finally settled when War Machine's name was finally drawn with only four numbers left - 1, 2, 13 and 15. 'I don't actually mind barrier 13, it gives Tim Clark more options,' he said. 'There will be a lot of horses crossing from out wide so he should be able to get into that three-wide line and get a nice run in transit.' Hayes said Rise At Dawn was 'definitely a danger' to the favourite. 'He gets a big drop in weight and he was bouncing this morning,' he said. 'We are confident he can run really well and barrier three gives him an opportunity to have a great run.' Several local contenders drew inside gates with three-year-old filly Spicy Martini drawing four, The Inflictor six, Payline seven and Yellow Brick eight. Trainer Craig Cousins, who only has three horses in work, said his fairytale horse The Inflictor is a big chance from his barrier. 'I've taken the week off driving trucks and I'm delighted he has drawn barrier six,' Cousins said. 'It is surreal I have a horse in the Stradbroke. I have turned 60 and it's been the greatest year of my life. 'If we win, I will be bawling my eyes out. Win, lose or draw on the weekend I am the happiest man in the world. From that barrier, we are a big chance.' • Lloyd's dad to be trackside shot at Stradbroke history Toby Edmonds, trying to win his second Stradbroke, said barrier four could be tricky for Spicy Martini. 'Look, it's good, but it could be detrimental too. There's a lot of speed out wide and we are a three-year-old filly towards the inside,' he said. NSW trainer Matt Dale was lamenting barrier 20 for Front Page after connections paid a $90,000 late entry. 'It's not ideal, you come here thinking we are a chance but now we will have to dissect the field and the speed and go back in history and all those kind of things,' Dale said. Rothfire, who still face more vets' scrutiny through the week, drew barrier 17, Private Eye received barrier 10 in his bid to win the Stradbroke first-up, while third favourite Golden Mile will jump from barrier two. GROUP 1 STRADBROKE HANDICAP (1400m) $3m | Saturday, June 14, 2025 Horse | Barrier | Trainer | Jockey | Weight 1. PRIVATE EYE | 10 | Joe Pride | Nash Rawiller | 57kg 2. ROTHFIRE | 17 | Robert Heathcote | James McDonald | 55.5kg 3. DESERT LIGHTNING | 1 | Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman | Tommy Berry | 54.5kg 4. KIMOCHI | 14 | Gary Portelli | Craig Williams | 54kg 5. YELLOW BRICK | 8 | Tony & Maddysen Sears | Andrew Mallyon | 53.5kg 6. GOLDEN MILE | 2 | James Cummings | Jason Collett | 53.5kg 7. WAR MACHINE | 13 | Ben, Will & JD Hayes | Tim Clark | 53kg 8. PAYLINE | 7 | Chris & Corey Munce | Kyle Wilson-Taylor | 53kg 9. PUNCH LANE | 21 | Anthony & Sam Freedman | Rachel King | 53kg 10. FRONT PAGE | 20 | Matthew Dale | Damien Thornton | 52.5kg 11. ROBUSTO | 19 | Bjorn Baker | Kerrin McEvoy | 52.5kg 12. FAR TOO EASY | 9 | David McColm | Regan Bayliss | 52.5kg 13. RISE AT DAWN | 3 | Ben, Will & JD Hayes | Declan Bates | 52.5kg 14. THE INSTRUCTOR | 12 | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Jett Stanley | 52kg 15. BOSUSTOW | 11 | Annabel & Rob Archibald | Zac Lloyd | 51.5kg 16. THE INFLICTOR | 6 | Craig Cousins | Cejay Graham | 51kg 17. FIRESTORM | 16 | Chris Waller | Not Notified | 51kg 18. SPICY MARTINI | 4 | Toby Edmonds & Stephen McLean | Not Notified | 46.9kg Emergencies 19e. COLEMAN | 23 | Chris Waller | Not Notified | 50kg 20e. TRANSATLANTIC | 22 | Tony Gollan | Not Notified | 51kg 21e. WATERFORD | 18 | Chris Waller | Not Notified | 51kg 22e. PIER | 15 | Darryn & Briar Weatherley | Mark Du Plessis | 51kg 23e. WARNIE | 5 | Ciaron Maher | Not Notified | 51kg Originally published as 2025 Stradbroke Handicap barrier draw boosts Ben Hayes' confidence with War Machine and Rise At Dawn
