Latest news with #WinxStakes
Courier-Mail
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Courier-Mail
Robusto too tough in Winter Challenge as Bjorn Baker eyes Group 1 target
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Trainer Bjorn Baker is considering giving Robusto another Group 1 crack in early spring after his tough galloper came out on top in a dogfight with Accredited at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. Robusto and Accredited went nose-and-nose for much of the straight as Baker's gelding got the nod in a photo finish to the Listed $200,000 Winter Challenge (1500m). The tough performance had Baker ready to raise the bar higher again with a fit horse in the early spring. • 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! 'We might even go to the (Group 2) Missile Stakes back to 1200m and then look at a race like the (Group 1) Winx Stakes if he was to run well there,' Baker said. 'He is up and going and fit and well.' Baker caused a boilover to win the Winx Stakes in 2019 with Samadoubt, who also wore the white and navy blue colours of Darby Racing. Robusto has already been valuable horse since joining Baker's stable after Darby purchased the gelding online for $160,000. The son of Churchill won the $2m The Ingham in his first preparation for Baker last December and banked another $109,000 for his win in the Winter Challenge. 'He has been a bit of a revelation,' Baker said. 'Another horse Darby Racing have purchased and they just find them at all levels and found another two (online) during the week. 'I am lucky enough to get both of those and I am excited about that but he has been a really good horse and was unlucky last time. 'Of course he won The Ingham and it was good to see him back today with the big weight. • Home-bred cheapie scores knockout win in July Sprint 'We can definitely try to hit the spring with a bit of fitness on our side. 'I am glad he fell in because I tipped him to the world.' Robusto put the writing on the wall second-up when a luckless second in the Listed Winter Stakes after returning to Sydney looking to bounce back from a failed Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap run. But the five-year-old was set a weighty task in his third-up assignment. No horse had carried more than 58kg to victory in the Winter Challenge in its short 15-year history but Robusto was set the task of lugging 60kg on Saturday. He was afforded an energy conserving run after jockey Josh Parr settled on the fence, in behind the leader Accredited. Parr launched off Accredited's back early in the straight and the duo paired off to fight it out with Robusto ($3.10) doing enough to score by a half-head. Chris Waller's Saltcoats ($5.50) was one-and-a-quarter lengths back in third. 'He has had to carry the weight and has earned that weight but we got through there and it turned out to be somewhat of a dogfight,' Parr said. • 'Put my neck on the line': Online buy repays Archibald gamble 'I had in the back of my mind all day, when Tim Clark won The Ingham on him, the fight he showed in the battle. 'I was relying on that but thank God we got him to win.' Robusto's victory gave Baker a personal best ninth Listed winner of the season and 24th stakes triumph in a career best season that has delivered 154 winners. It denied trainer Joe Pride a cleansweep of Sydney's sprinting-middle distance winter stakes races after he won the AO Bob Charley Stakes (In Flight), Civic Stakes (Headley Grange) and Winter Stakes (Estadio Mestalla). However, Accredited, who finished third in the Winter Stakes at his last start, lost no admirers in defeat with Pride more than happy with his performance. 'He was good,' he said. 'It just highlights the difference with this fella on a wet track and a dry track. 'He is at least a two or three lengths better horse. 'There is a 1500m here in a couple of weeks' time so we will have a think about it and see how he pulls up.' Pride's Winter Stakes winner Estadio Mestalla couldn't replicate his last start success after being caught deep in the run and battling on for fifth. Originally published as Trainer Bjorn Baker considering Group 1 target for Robusto after his fighting win in the Winter Challenge at Rosehill
New Paper
5 days ago
- Sport
- New Paper
Plenty of choices await Aeliana
SYDNEY All options are on the table for Group 1 Australian Derby (2,400m) winner Aeliana this spring, including a potential tilt in Australia's weight-for-age championship, the Cox Plate (2,040m) at Moonee Valley on Oct 25. The Chris Waller-trained filly was among the stars of the Sydney Autumn Carnival, finishing a desperately unlucky second to the James Cummings-trained Broadsiding in the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas (2,000m) on March 22, before thumping her rivals to claim the Australian Derby at Randwick on April 5 by more than five lengths. The Castelvecchio three-year-old's maiden Group 1 victory under jockey Damian Lane also gave her prominent Australian syndication Star Thoroughbreds their first Derby triumph. Aeliana - who also has two Group 3 wins to her name - is now just weeks away from her first barrier trial, which will pave the way to her comeback. Denise Martin, the leading syndicator and principal of Star Thoroughbreds, is content to leave Aeliana's spring programming to Waller, but is also excited by what the filly might be able to achieve. "Chris has reported that she has returned extremely well. She has strengthened, matured and developed nicely," said Martin. "Her spring programme is nowhere near finalised, but she will most likely run in a barrier trial at the end of July, and have a second barrier trial a couple of weeks later. "Then we will most likely look at a couple of options towards the end of August, the Winx Stakes and the Memsie (Stakes). "But after that, there are options such as the Makybe Diva (Stakes) at Flemington, the Turnbull (Stakes), the Caulfield Cup and the Cox Plate." It would seem that the world is Aeliana's oyster after her last-start win in the Derby, her fourth career success in 10 starts. Should she be targeted at the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1,400m) at Randwick on Aug 23, Aeliana could be in for a mouth-watering clash with her stablemates, including 2023 Winx Stakes winner Fangirl, 2025 Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1,500m) winner Lady Shenandoah and star mare Via Sistina. Waller has confirmed that Via Sistina will defend her 2024 Winx Stakes win first-up in its 2025 renewal in August. Aeliana's other option for her racing resumption, the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1,400m), will be run at Caulfield on Aug 30. Not overwhelmed by the plethora of opportunities ahead, Martin described the rising four-year-old's progression as "a rose opening". She was particularly delighted to win a classic as she said the syndication did not generally target staying types at the yearling sales. The Star Thoroughbreds, famous for their purple and white stars silks, have been racing horses for decades, but they had tended to go for mostly the sprint riches, most notably with champion stallion Sebring in the 2008 Group 1 Golden Slipper (1,200m). "We were elated because I couldn't have believed I would have purchased a Derby winner," she said. "We would normally buy horses that are sprinter-milers or maybe 2,000-metre horses. "I said to Chris (Waller) the Monday after the Derby - the Caulfield Cup? And he said, 'we'll see'. "Wherever he goes with this horse, I'm going." The Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2,400m) was won by the Ciaron Maher-trained Duke De Sessa last year and will be run on Oct 18 at Caulfield. Winning a Derby was Martin's on-track highlight during the 2024-25 season, but it was matched by an achievement away from the racecourse. The sale of 2023 Coolmore Classic winner Espiona for A$4.15 million (S$3.49 million) last July also ranked highly, with Martin having purchased the daughter of Extreme Choice for A$190,000 as a yearling before she went on to amass almost A$3.3 million in stakes. SKY RACING WORLD
New Paper
07-07-2025
- Sport
- New Paper
Ceolwulf gears up for Winx Stakes
SYDNEY Trainer Joseph Pride has been heartened by the performances of a horse from a rival yard this season as he begins to plot a Spring Carnival path for stable flag bearer Ceolwulf. The Warwick Farm conditioner watched with interest as Antino thumped his rivals in the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes (1,800m) and the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2,000m) over the Queensland winter, the efforts elevating the Tony Gollan-trained galloper to the second line of early Cox Plate markets behind the 2024 Cox Plate winner, Via Sistina. This year, the prestigious Group 1 event run over 2,040m will be held at Moonee Valley on Oct 25. While Antino, a five-time Group winner, has always shown talent, it has been as a five and six-year-old that the son of Redwood has found his groove, and Pride believes Ceolwulf is on a similar trajectory. "I was watching Antino this preparation, and he has just found this level of consistency. I remember him when he was at the same age as Ceolwulf, he was a bit inconsistent," said Pride. "He'd have a good prep, then a bad prep. These horses just need to fully mature and when they do, that's when they really find a vein of form where they always run well." Antino is two years the senior of the four-year-old Ceolwulf, and Pride can see Ceolwulf following a similar path that Antino took. Ceolwulf stamped himself as a top talent when he claimed the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1,600m) on Oct 5, 2024 and the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes (1,600m) at his next start a fortnight later. Both times, he was ridden by Sydney-based British jockey and regular partner Chad Schofield. But while the son of Tavistock was competitive in several major races, he could not add to his Group 1 tally. After his back-to-back Group 1 victories in spring, Ceolwulf ran in five more races - three Group 1 and two Group 2 events. While he ran third to Gringotts in the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1,500m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 22, he managed only fifth in two other Group 1 races, including his last start in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2,000m) at Randwick on April 12, which was taken out by Chris Waller's star Via Sistina. Ceolwulf's last win came two starts ago in the Group 2 Neville Sellwood Stakes (2,000m) at Rosehill Gardens on April 1. Pride expects that to change over the coming seasons as Ceolwulf continues to develop and mature. "He didn't run any bad races in the autumn, but he paid the price for having won a couple of Group Ones," he said. "There were no easy races for him. All of a sudden, he was up against the big boys all the time, but he is a top-shelf horse. "He is up around 530 to 540 (kilos) now, so he will race heavier again this prep. "He is coming along nicely. I haven't got a trial date for him yet but he will resume in the Winx Stakes." The first of the Group trials will be held at Warwick Farm on July 25, and the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1,400m) run at Randwick on Aug 23 will kick off the Sydney's Spring Racing Carnival this year. Pride also confirmed this week that he had picked up 2024 Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2,000m) winner El Castello - previously trained by Anthony Cummings - who has not raced since finishing fifth in the 2024 Victorian Derby (2,500m) at Flemington on Nov 2. SKY RACING WORLD
