Latest news with #QueenslandCarnival
News.com.au
25-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Tough gelding Tuff Tu Mus back winning races after struggling with pre-race anxiety
Kava producer John Fordham has survived a terrifying earthquake in Vanuatu, now he hopes his gritty gelding Tuff Tu Mus can send tremors through next year's Queensland winter carnival. Tuff Tu Mus means 'bloody tough' in Bislama, the national language of Vanuatu where his owner Fordham, who hails from small town Croppa Creek near Moree in northern NSW, runs a kava factory. The four-year-old was meant to compete in this year's winter carnival but plans went awry when he started to sweat up before races and became jittery at the track. However, Sunshine Coast trainer David Vandyke changed the diet for Tuff Tu Mus and made some management tweaks which have seemingly solved the anxiety issues for the son of All Too Hard who has won his past five races. Tuff Tu Mus triumphed in his last start at Doomben, where he is unbeaten, in a Benchmark 85 (1350m) earlier this month and will next race at the same track in a Class 6 over 1600m on July 12. 'We didn't run him in any big races this winter because of his behaviour before and after the races,' said Fordham from Luganville in Vanuatu on Wednesday. 'I'm excited about the next winter carnival and the opportunities for the horse and he will have a season of racing experience behind him. 'This was his first season, so we've learnt a lot about the horse. 'We have three jockeys that have ridden him for his five wins (from seven races) which gives us more choices when weights become an issue.' It is an amazing turnaround considering that veterinarians told Fordham there was a high chance the tenacious horse would never even get to the races after he had cut himself 'to the bone' as a two-year-old. 'There was about a 40 per cent chance (of never racing) so we sent him to the doctors in Gatton and they nursed him for two weeks and got him back,' said Fordham, who bought Tuff Tu Mus for $140,000 at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. 'Six or eight months later we got him ready again and there were no signs of soreness or anything. 'We were getting him ready for Magic Millions and there was another race at Doomben. 'A few days before the race, Dave rings up and says 'the horse has cut his tendon'. We doctored him up again and gave him time until he was a four-year-old. 'Now there are no signs of the cut, no swelling, no soreness. It all seems to have healed itself.' It was a frightening moment for Fordham but nothing compared to the terror of three powerful earthquakes - with magnitudes of 7.8, 7.7 and 7.3 - that hit Vanuatu in October 2009, sparking a tsunami warning and sending thousands of Pacific islanders scurrying for shelter on higher ground. 'She was a rattler,' said Fordham, who owns a kava factory in Luganville, the Pacific nation's second largest city behind capital Port Vila. 'A few of the internal walls in the house cracked and broke. 'You could see the roof lift up. It cut a house just down the road from us in half, one part of the house was two feet below the other. 'It separated the bridge from the river. Railway power lines were bent 90 degrees. 'We have a strong French-built house and I hit the ground and went under the doorway but I couldn't get to my feet. 'I got bounced around and I could hear everything crashing in the house. It went on for what seemed like minutes.'
News.com.au
19-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
NSW trainer Luke McCarthy brings an elite team to Albion Park in pursuit of Queensland glory
Champion NSW trainer Luke McCarthy launches a huge month chasing the Queensland winter riches at Albion Park tomorrow (Saturday) night. While defending Inter Dominion champion Don Hugo will be his star act, McCarthy's team of raiders oozes star power with a range of feature race targets. We won't see Don Hugo until the opening round of Inter Dominion heats on July 5, but McCarthy has five runners tomorrow night, headed by Australia's best mare Eye Keep Smiling, exciting three-year-old Hesitate and Inter Dominion trotting hopeful Constantinople. • 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! Additionally, McCarthy, who spent much of his formative years in Queensland, is also caretaker trainer and driver for Mick Stanley's Queensland Oaks hopeful, Soho Americano, who steps out tomorrow night. 'I love getting back up to Queensland, especially this time of year,' McCarthy said. 'This Carnival has grown and grown and now adding the Inter Dominion has taken it to another level. I've got a really good team of horses at the right time to give it a real crack this year.' Don Hugo capped his Inter Dominion preparation when he made it two-from-two this campaign and thrashed his rivals at Menangle last Saturday night. 'He's ready now. I want him fresh going into the series, so I'll give him three weeks between runs going into the first round of heats,' McCarthy said. 'I couldn't be happier with my horse and if anyone can beat Leap To Fame, I think it's my guy.' EYE KEEP SMILING takes the @GarrardsHnH The Golden Girl! ðŸ�† Trainer-driver @lukeamccarthy puts together a ðŸ�' drive, trailing the speed and peeling at the top of the lane to come away with the Group 1 feature! @SuccessStud @HRNSW_Harness @TheCreekAlbion @CobbittyEquine … â€' RaceQ (@RaceQLD) July 20, 2024 Eye Keep Smiling is a hot favourite to post her eighth successive win and her 25th win from 36 starts in the Garrards Horse & Hound Mares' Open Pace tomorrow night. Her main target is a successful title defence in the $150,000 Group 1 Golden Girl at Albion Park on July 19. McCarthy also has former Group 1-winning mare Coastal Babe aiming for the Golden Girl. If Hesitate beats older rivals in the eighth race at Albion Park on tomorrow night, it will open the door for a tilt at the $350,000 Group 1 Rising Sun on July 5 as well as the $150,000 Group 1 Queensland Derby on July 19. 'I was chasing my tail with him last campaign, but he's come back really well after a break and I'm sure he'll be a factor in those big races. He's got so much speed,' McCarthy said. 'Mac Bon is another I'll have up here for the Redcliffe and Queensland Derbys. 'Constantinople won the consolation (of the Inter Dominion trotting series) in Brisbane two years ago and is back in form at the right time, while a horse like Beach Ball, who runs this week, will be competitive through the heats (Inter Dominion pacing) as well.'
News.com.au
04-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Rothfire still battling stone bruise as Stradbroke Handicap hopes are fading fast
Brisbane trainer Rob Heathcote says the prospects of his old warrior Rothfire recovering from a stone bruise in time for the Stradbroke Handicap on Saturday week are getting 'slimmer by the day'. Heathcote is still waiting for an abscess to form in the seven-year-old gelding's near fore hoof but admits the chances of him running in the $3m Stradbroke (1400m) at Eagle Farm are fading fast. 'Today we're hoping the infection can burst out at the coronet band,' he said from the Philippines. 'It's so damn close. His Stradbroke hopes are looking slimmer by the day though. 'At best, he's probably 30-70 to get there. 'He won't run until he's perfect so today (Wednesday) is his last chance.' Rothfire showed he was back to his devastating best when a narrow runner-up finish to three-time Group 1 champion Sunshine In Paris in the $1.5m Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1200m) on May 17. 'It's quite bizarre really. For a horse that ran second, it really felt like a win, everyone was so happy,' Heathcote said at the time in what is likely to be Rothfire's Queensland winter carnival swan song. Before that the 2020 JJ Atkins champion produced a barnstorming run to figure just outside the placings in the Group 2 Victory Stakes (1200m) early last month. Rothfire is almost certain to be scratched from Saturday's $1m Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) and faces an uphill battle to make the Stradbroke in which he is a $26 chance. The Ben, Will and JD Hayes-trained War Machine remains the warm $3.50 favourite for the Stradbroke at Eagle Farm.
News.com.au
03-06-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Craig Williams prioritises Queensland carnival Group 1s over Melbourne premiership chase
Champion jockey Craig Williams has declared any pursuit of a 10th Melbourne premiership would not be at the expense of current Queensland winter carnival commitments. Williams has key rides in Brisbane on Wednesday and Saturday respectively, with Group 1 bids on Let's Fly (Queensland Oaks), Kimochi (Kingsford Smith Cup) and Party Crasher (Queensland Derby). The 82-time Group 1 winner is likely to ride in Queensland for up to three of the next four Saturdays, with Tatt's Tiara options yet to be locked down. Williams, who has seven mounts at Doomben on Wednesday, including Spicy Martini in the Group 3 Fred Best Classic, a Stradbroke Handicap qualifier, has ridden 55 winners in Melbourne this season. His next opportunity to eat into a 12-win deficit on champion jockey Blake Shinn is King's Birthday Monday at Mornington. 'I've got a mother, I've got a wife (and) I've got a manager, three people that (tell me where to go),' Williams said. 'I'm enjoying what I'm doing, I had a bit of time off with a suspension recently, and I'm happy to ride wherever he (manager) gets me to ride. 'We always look forward to the (Melbourne premiership race) and I guess now we're in a position where it's definitely a realistic goal, but again, my manager tells me where to go.' • Gelagotis camp taking up the fight to MND Shinn, stuck on 67 winners, was poised to claim a second Melbourne premiership in three seasons – third overall – before an injury setback (foot) last week at Cranbourne jumpouts. Williams has eight weeks officially to surpass Shinn but the nine-time champion jockey had only planned to ride through to July 5 – Flemington Finals Race Day – before a short break. The last Melbourne metro meeting for the 2024-25 season is July 30 at Sandown. Williams is slated to return to Ukraine next month on another humanitarian aid mission. Williams and Ukrainian-born wife Larysa the past three years led campaigns to raise more than $2m, primarily for first aid and medical supplies, to support the war against Russia. The 48-year-old conceded the lure of another premiership loomed large, at least for the next month. 'There's no doubt, I've always had a focus point about the championship,' Williams said. 'It's one of those goals every rider strives to go for … obviously it's going to be a consideration when my manager and I work out our schedule for the next period of time. 'I'm really happy where I'm at, at the moment, and I'm loving what I'm doing, so my manager says 'Craig you're going here' then I'm turning up, whatever the weather, I'm happy to be there.' The late Roy Higgins and Bill Duncan won a record 11 Victorian metropolitan premierships apiece, while legendary jockey Damien Oliver retired with 10 titles under the belt. Williams last topped the Melbourne premiership table in 2020.
News.com.au
10-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Blake Shinn to miss either Doomben 10,000 or Doomben Cup after copping suspension at Hollindale Stakes meeting
Star jockey Blake Shinn will miss a Group 1 Queensland winter carnival ride after being suspended for careless riding on the Gold Coast. Shinn will either miss next Saturday's Group 1 Doomben 10,000, where he has been booked to ride Schwarz, or the following Saturday's Group 1 Doomben Cup where he was to ride Hollindale Stakes hero Antino. The champion hoop was suspended for 10 days for careless riding on Torabella in the Listed Silk Stocking on Saturday. After being suspended, Shinn told chief steward Josh Adams he was undecided whether to defer his penalty and wanted extra time to confer with his manager. If he chooses to take the penalty immediately, Shinn would miss riding Group 1 William Reid Stakes champion Schwarz in the 10,000. Schwarz is the $4.50 second pick in betting. If Shinn chooses to defer the suspension, he will miss the ride on Antino who is the $4 second pick in the Doomben Cup after the jockey produced a freakish ride to win the Hollindale Stakes. Shinn was in the sights of stewards again for his ride on Amplify in the Listed Gold Coast Bracelet. However, he received a severe reprimand after telling stewards the riding conditions were 'atrocious' and there was poor visibility. Adams said in normal circumstances, Shinn would have been facing a charge from stewards. But he agreed the terrible visibility and riding conditions played a part. The races were called off after the Bracelet.
