Latest news with #JJAtkins
News.com.au
16-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
2025 JJ Atkins champion Cool Archie is so versatile that trainer Chris Munce isn't sure where he'll end up
'He's probably the best horse that I've ever trained.' Brisbane trainer Chris Munce has never doubted the immense talent of his wonder colt Cool Archie. But the newly crowned JJ Atkins champion is so versatile that Munce is about as muddled about the spring plans for his stable star as rival trainers are in devising a scheme to beat him. Cool Archie has gone to the paddock after an incredible but gruelling campaign that saw him catapult from a maiden win to Group 1 glory in the space of just two months. From the first crop of Newhaven Park-based stallion Cool Aza Beel – a Group 1-winning son of Cox Plate-winner Savabeel – Cool Archie has demonstrated his remarkable versatility in nine career starts. He's won from 1000m to 1600m, racing on and off the speed on both firm and heavy tracks, in the process taking his career prizemoney past the $1.6m mark. 'The world is his oyster because he could be anything,' said Munce, who will attend the famous Royal Ascot Carnival in England this week alongside son and co-trainer Corey Munce, plus Cool Archie's colourful owner Max Whitby. 'Is he a stayer, is he a sprinter, is he just a middle-distance horse? We don't know because we haven't got to the bottom of him.' Cool Archie WINS the G1 J.J. Atkins! ðŸ�† @munceracing — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 14, 2025 • Cool Archie has put forward a convincing case to earn this season's Champion Two-Year-Old honours, with his value as a stallion prospect skyrocketing after stamping a Group 1 on his CV. 'It doesn't get much better than this,' said Whitby, also raced Cool Archie's grandsire Savabeel. 'If he's not voted Champion Two-Year-Old of the year then I'll drop my duds. He can be anything – five straight (wins) is unbelievable. 'You show me a better two-year-old around the country. He deserves it on his merit. 'I think this bloke (Cool Archie) has got everything – he's won a maiden, black type, now Group 1 in literally his first prep so to speak. 'I'm just over the moon and so proud of him, the jockey (Martin Harley) and the Munces.' • ' There were dark days': Harley's Group 1 glory caps inspirational return Munce heaped praise on Irish jockey Harley, who has jetted off for a well-deserved break in the UK, where he will also attend Royal Ascot races this week. 'I just think he's very professional and he's a good judge,' Munce said about Harley, who has ridden Cool Archie to five successive victories this campaign. 'He assesses horses very well and their level of ability. He can give you a good guide and feedback on how they're going. 'He doesn't just steer them around for the wages, he actually takes a bit of interest in them and pride in his work. 'He enjoys giving constructive feedback to help the trainer improve the horse.' "You can mount a case he should be 2YO of the season." Cool Archie just keeps getting it done! What a star â� @munceracing @michaelmaxworth @bernadetecooper @BenWayAUS @CoreyGoodSkillz @BradJGray — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 15, 2025 • There are spring options aplenty for Cool Archie next campaign and while the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington on November 1 looms as a likely target, Whitby said he and Munce had also discussed the possibility of setting the colt for the Group 1 $20m The Everest (1200m) at Randwick on October 18. Team Hawkes -trained Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes winner Briasa already locked in.
News.com.au
15-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
‘Huge offers': Studs clamour for Cool Archie as owner Max Whitby dreams of The Everest
Cool Archie has made a compelling case for Champion Two-year-old honours and put himself into The Everest conversation after his outstanding Group 1 win in the JJ Atkins at Eagle Farm last Saturday. The Chris and Corey Munce -trained Cool Archie made it five wins in succession – four of those at stakes level – when he comfortably held off Hidden Achievement. Unlike the Horse of the Year award which is a foregone conclusion after champion mare Via Sistina 's phenomenal 2024-25 – in which she won a record-equalling seven Group 1 wins including the Cox Plate - Queen Elizabeth Stakes double – there has been no dominant two-year-old this season. In fact, there has been a different winner of each of the five Group 1 two-year-old races with Marhoona and Devil Night scoring their only stakes win in the Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond respectively. Nepotism won the Group 1 Champagne Stakes and Group 3 Baillieu Handicap while Vinrock was unbeaten in three starts and became first horse since Full On Aces (1981) to win the Group 2 VRC Sires Produce Stakes and Group 1 ATC Sires Produce Stakes double. But Cool Archie's late season surge with five consecutive wins including the Listed Dalrello Stakes, Group 2 Spirit Of Boom Classic, Group 2 BRC Sires Produce Stakes and Group 1 JJ Atkins gives him a real shot at champion two-year-old honours. 'We feel he has done enough to win that award,'' owner Max Whitby said. 'He's an outstanding colt, he's won from 1000m to 1600m, he's won dry and wet tracks – he's a beauty.'' Cool Archie WINS the G1 J.J. Atkins! ðŸ�† @munceracing — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 14, 2025 Whitby said he had already fielded 'some huge offers' from interested studs looking to buy into Cool Archie as a potential stallion prospect. But Whitby said he wasn't going to be rushed into any decisions in the short term as he left on Sunday to attend Royal Ascot in England. 'I've waited 20 years since Savabeel to race another top class colt and I've found one in his grandson, Cool Archie,'' Whitby said. 'It's incredible that Chris Munce won the Cox Plate on Savabeel (2004) for me and all these years later he's training Cool Archie. 'This colt will make a great stallion himself one day but first we have a lot to look forward to with him next season.'' "You can mount a case he should be 2YO of the season." Cool Archie just keeps getting it done! What a star â� @munceracing @michaelmaxworth @bernadetecooper @BenWayAUS @CoreyGoodSkillz @BradJGray — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 15, 2025 Whitby said Cool Archie had earned a well-deserved spell with initial plans to set the colt for the Group 1 $3 million Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington on November 1. But the owner also revealed there had been initial discussions about possibly aiming Cool Archie at the Group 1 $20 million The Everest (1200m) at Royal Randwick on October 18. 'Chris and I have been talking about The Everest, we are open to running him there,'' Whitby said. 'Cool Archie is such an exciting horse you have to look at everything. But we will just let the dust settle for now then see what some of the slot-holders are thinking.'' Whitby shares an Everest slot with Neil Werrett and Col Madden but they have already selected the outstanding Team Hawkes -trained Briasa for the world's richest turf race. Briasa is currently on the third line of TAB Fixed Odds Everest betting at $8 behind Hong Kong sprint sensation Ka Ying Rising at $1.80 and the unbeaten Private Harry at $6.
News.com.au
15-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
2025 JJ Atkins-winning jockey Martin Harley recalls ‘dark days' when he feared neck injury would end his career
Newly crowned JJ Atkins champion Martin Harley remembers the 'dark days' when he feared his career as a jockey was over. In January 2023, the popular Irishman suffered multiple fractures to his neck in a sickening fall during a midweek race. Fast-forward to the Queensland Winter Carnival, and the 35-year-old hoop broke a 10-year Group 1 drought to take out the JJ Atkins (1600m) on Champion Two Year Old of the season contender Cool Archie at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The Chris and Corey Munce -trained colt capped an incredible season with his fifth straight victory in a sensational campaign that began with a maiden win at Doomben in mid-April and ended with a major win on Stradbroke Handicap Day. Harley has taken a short break from riding to visit his family in Ireland and watch the races at famous racetrack Royal Ascot in England this week as a spectator. But his frightening fall in 2023 left him wondering whether he'd even be able to walk again, let alone make a comeback to riding – particularly given he was forced to wear a neck halo for several weeks during a long stint on the sidelines. 'Certainly there were dark days during that four-and-a-half month period,' he told Racenet. "I'm glad to get back on that Group 1 board." Martin Harley gets his first Group 1 win on Australian soil! — 7HorseRacing ðŸ�Ž (@7horseracing) June 14, 2025 'I think the big key was that I never had any operations during that period and it was all natural healing. 'Everything went back for scans and the healing was going in the right direction. 'That was a big boost for me to even make a comeback. I didn't know if I even wanted to get back on a horse. 'When I had my first winner in my comeback – Sunfall for Barry Lockwood at Doomben (in May 2023) – I'll never forget it. 'I wasn't meant to give it up just yet and I got a big thrill out of my first winner back from the injury and to now ride a Group 1 winner (on Cool Archie), that's very special. 'He wears his heart on his sleeve. He's just the whole package and he can do it all.' Cool Archie WINS the G1 J.J. Atkins! ðŸ�† @munceracing — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 14, 2025 • The well-travelled Harley has now won six majors since 2012 – three in France and one each in Ireland, England and Australia. Asked where the JJ Atkins victory rated among his six Group 1s, the 35-year-old said: 'It's hard to split them. 'When I came out of my apprenticeship, my first Group 1 winner back in Ireland (in 2012 in the Irish 1,000 Guineas) for Mick Channon on Samitar was very special. 'Going back to my homeland to ride a Group 1 winner was unbelievable and then a Royal Ascot winner with Goldream (in 2015). 'One thing I will say, this (the JJ Atkins) is up there with the best.' JJ Atkins-winning jockey Martin Harley celebrating in style ✈ï¸� ðŸ�¾ Via Instagram / djzoro27 — 7HorseRacing ðŸ�Ž (@7horseracing) June 14, 2025 Chris Munce, who will fly out to England on Sunday night with son Corey and Cool Archie's owner Max Whitby to also attend the Royal Ascot Carnival, praised Harley's ability to stay composed under pressure. 'He's very confident in his opinion and he backs himself, which is something I like,' Munce told Radio TAB on Sunday. 'He rarely gets it wrong and he's calm under pressure in the bigger races.'
The Australian
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Australian
Cool Archie delivers Group 1 milestones with fifth straight win in JJ Atkins
Almost 10 years after winning his last Group 1 at Royal Ascot, Irish jockey Martin Harley will head to the famous racetrack in England next week as the JJ Atkins champion after producing a peach of a ride on local hero Cool Archie at Eagle Farm on Saturday. Harley thought he had got to the front too soon but he need not have worried as he sustained the pace to secure the winner's cheque in the $1m major over 1600m for father-and-son trainers Chris and Corey Munce. Racenet iQ members get full access to our Pro Tips service, where Greg and our team of professional punters provide daily tips with fully transparent return on investment statistics. SUBSCRIBE NOW and start punting like a pro! 'He's going home to Ireland tonight so I'm tipping he'll be pretty pissed,' colourful owner Max Whitby said about Harley at the post-race presentation. Harley, who suffered a potentially career-threatening broken neck in a sickening mid-week race fall in January 2023, will return home to Ireland on Saturday night and then visit Royal Ascot in London for their big summer carnival races. Martin won the last of his now six Group 1 victories in the 2015 King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot and has added majors in France, Ireland and now Australia. • What the jockeys said: 2025 JJ Atkins 'It's been almost 10 years to the day that I had my last Group 1 winner at Royal Ascot so I'll take the anniversary over here,' Harley said. 'I'm on a plane tonight going back for Royal Ascot. And I might fly that plane myself tonight after that.' The racing wheel turned full circle with Cool Archie's win, given Chris Munce had won the race as a jockey when he partnered Sizzling in 2012. The stirring victory was the first Group 1 triumph as a training team for father-and-son combination Chris and Corey Munce. Outside the winner, the run of the race was runner-up Hidden Achievement, the Chris Waller-trained, Yulong-owned colt. Hidden Achievement was slow away and rattled home from the back with James McDonald, who had been battling illness during the day, saying the colt was a hard-luck story. Hidden Achievement, wearing blinkers for the first time, was an eye-catcher and so too was third-placed Bevan Laming-trained youngster Call Da Vinci who gave young jockey Jaden Lloyd a first Group 1 placing. • 'Would have been a Straddie force': Pier wins consolation in style 'You can't do it without the horse, he wears his heart on his sleeve. ' Harley said. 'Team Munce have been massive supporters of mine and we came across a good two-year-old this year. 'I think the horse has done most of the talking. He's taken a big step forward each run and that's what the good ones do. 'But to transform from a Heavy 10 to a Good 4 there today, which I knew he would handle, I never had any doubt in that. But what a superstar he is.' Chris Munce said Harley deserved more recognition for his abilities as a jockey and should be talked about as one of the top riders in Australia. Harley celebrates with trainers Corey and Chris Munce and owner Max Whitby. Picture: Trackside Photography 'Oh, what about that? So good, so good,' a jubilant Munce said. 'I was saying before it's not just about Corey and me, it's the whole team, the staff, and I don't think Martin (Harley) has had enough recognition either, the whole way along. 'He's five from five (On Cool Archie). 'When you put a rider like Martin on, you've got so much confidence. He walked the track yesterday. He told us exactly how he was going to ride the horse. 'He knew they weren't making ground, so we had to ride him a little bit out of his comfort zone, but what a win.' Victorian trainer Danny O'Brien explained his reasons for running his colt Brave Design in the earlier Listed Oxlade Stakes (1200m), which he won with ease to break his maiden status, rather than the JJ Atkins. 'I was concerned about the 1600m,' O'Brien said. 'I was happy enough to stick to the 1200m. If he ran fourth or fifth in the JJ Atkins, then you'd be kicking yourself that he could've won this race. 'He's got a good future. He ran second in the VRC Sires' to Vinrock (at Flemington in March) and ran a good race here two weeks ago (fourth in the BRC Sires' Produce Stakes at Eagle Farm). 'He's been in stakes races his whole life. He'll win a decent race. He's absolutely grown up and he's become a real racehorse.'
7NEWS
14-06-2025
- Sport
- 7NEWS
Martin Harley breaks through for maiden G1 win in Australia
Jockey Martin Harley will board a flight to England happy in the knowledge he is now a Group 1 winning jockey in Australia. Harley guided Cool Archie home in the J J Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday to go with previous Group 1 victories in France, the UK and Ireland. Cool Archie ($4.80) held off a late bid by the $4.60 favourite Hidden Achievement to score by 1-¼ lengths with Call Da Vinci ($31) a half-length away third. 'I'm on a plane tonight going back for Royal Ascot,' Harley said. 'And I might fly that plane myself after that.' Harley rode in Victoria in 2019 before returning to the UK for a season, but his hunger for more winners saw him return to Australia and base himself in Brisbane. A fall a Doomben in the lead up to the 2023 Magic Millions Carnival on the Gold Coast left Harley with a broken neck, a second one for the unlucky rider who 10 years early suffered the same fate when riding in the UK. Harley returned to race riding 12 months later to land a winner on Magic Millions Day, but Saturday's success took it to another level. 'I think the horse has done most of the talking,' Harley said. 'He's taken a big step forward each run and that's what the good ones do. 'To transform from a Heavy 10 to a Good 4 there today, which I knew he would handle, I never had any doubt in that. 'I just watched the previous races, and I trusted my horse to pick up, but nothing had been making up bundles of ground, so I wanted to try and be that pair or two closer today. 'We got a lovely spot, a good rhythm, and I ended up getting there too soon but he's got a good will to win, and he wanted it.' The victory was a Group 1 first for father-and-son training partners Chris and Corey Munce. Chris needs no introduction having been a successful jockey including winning the Melbourne Cup before turning his hand to training. Corey joined his father in a training partnership this season and the pair had bagged 64 winners prior to Saturday's victory. 'I'm a little speechless, as you'd probably expect, but I'll try and keep it together,' Corey Munce said. 'I felt very comfortable throughout the run. 'I said (during the race) we're right here, and if he's good enough he can win. 'That was a bit of the worry, as he'd come from a long way back the other day from an awkward draw and we were just hoping from a slightly better draw he would be that touch closer, and it worked out beautifully today.'
