SYDNEY or the bush? Newcastle trainer Scott Aspery opted for the latter yesterday – and as a result he will be at Royal Randwick on the first Tuesday in November. The fact that the Armidale Cup (1400m) carried eligibility for the $3m Big Dance (1600m) at Randwick was enticing enough to head to the country with Uzziah rather than run in the Benchmark 88 Handicap (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens today. “I had never been to Armidale, but was aware it is a tricky track,” Aspery said t

PREMIERSHIP front-runner Kerry Parker said Well Timed’s last gasp victory at Kembla Grange yesterday gave him a “good feel”. It wasn’t only because the gelding returned to winning form, but also that he had won the A J ‘Bert’ Lillye Memorial Handicap (1200m) at his home track’s feature Kembla Grange Classic meeting. Lillye, the legendary Sydney racing journalist and Australian Media Hall of Famer, who died in February 1996 at 76 years of age, also served a lengthy period as a

KRIS Lees has switched gear on You Wahng for another Group 1 mission at Rosehill Gardens tomorrow. But the leading Newcastle trainer admits the barrier draw and apparent lack of pace in the $1m Coolmore Classic (1500m) has dulled his hopes of an upset victory. Dylan Gibbons will ride last year’s Queensland Oaks heroine, who has been freshened since a gutsy second to Snitzanova in another $1m feature, the Magic Millions Trophy (2200m) at the Gold Coast on January 17. Lees has

THE best laid plans went astray the first time – but not the second time! Hawkesbury trainer Marc Chevalier has travelled near and far to win a $100,000 Inglis Xtra Bonus race with lightly-raced three-year-old filly Stand My Ground, and was rewarded when she put the icing on the cake with a Newcastle Super Maiden victory today. And Chevalier’s Hawkesbury compatriot Steve O’Halloran followed later in the program by scoring with $26 roughie Benamera, sporting the well-known col

MULTIPLE premiership-winning Kembla Grange trainers Rob and Luke Price weren’t far off landing their home track’s fillies classic in 2024 with runner-up Our Gold Hope. Two years on the father and son team has taken a line through their subsequent Group 1 Queensland Oaks second placegetter to be in an excellent position to go one better tomorrow with Aisle Two in the $250,000 Group 3 Kembla Grange Classic (1600m). Team Price ran Aisle Two in the same lead-up race – a 3YO Filli

WHEN is two weeks too long! When it’s enough to stop yesterday’s impressive Warwick Farm winner Hanau from attempting to qualify for the $1m Provincial-Midway Championships Final (1400m) at Royal Randwick on April 11. Newcastle trainer Mark Minervini paid $100,000 online for the former Godolphin-owned Hanau in July last year, and the gelding ended a frustrating run of wide barriers and unsuitable tracks when he surged home to post his first success for his new stable. Given a

IT’S already been a season to remember for Jason Attard – and it keeps getting better! The Hawkesbury trainer clinched his 12 th winner since August 1 when Nesrine made a successful city debut at Warwick Farm today, and is “batting” at a strike rate of nearly one winner from every four starters. Nesrine ($3.20 favorite) was Attard’s 56 th runner in the 2025-26 racing year when she took the Benchmark 72 Handicap (1100m) against her own sex, and made it four wins on end (from

EARLY bird shoppers will be able to secure a 20 per cent discount on general admission tickets for Hawkesbury’s “coming of age” Saturday metropolitan stand-alone fixture. The 21 st renewal of this popular event – first run in 2006 – carries special significance, and is scheduled for Saturday, May 2. Tickets are now on sale for the day, with early bird prices starting from $20. “We have packages to suit all budgets, including all-inclusive food and beverage packages,” Hawkesb

BRAD Widdup is hoping to put a second Group 1 trophy on his mantlepiece, and Steve O’Halloran is chasing a Group 3 breakthrough with his very first stakes runner. The Hawkesbury trainers will have important representatives at Saturday’s autumn carnival fixture at Rosehill Gardens; Widdup with Savvy Hallie in the $1m Coolmore Classic (1500m), and O’Halloran with Mal Coupe in the $250,000 Maurice McCarten Stakes (1100m). Nash Rawiller continues his recent association with Savvy

NEARLY 12 months on from the utter disappointment of losing the chance to win the $1m Provincial-Midway Championships Final, Paul Murray is ready for another crack. The Kembla Grange trainer has targeted Saturday’s fourth PMC Qualifier (1200m) at Gosford with his dual city winner Harry’s Bar. And he will team with the same jockey Jean Van Overmeire after the pair was primed to take Final honours in April last year with the now retired Welcometobarbados. The mare’s withdrawal

WYONG’S Nacim Dilmi will have his first runner in next month’s $1m Provincial-Midway Championships Final in his maiden season as a trainer. But he says he wasn’t sure how to handle yesterday’s easy Hawkesbury Qualifier winner Matcha Latte when he took over as Domeland’s head trainer last August at the beginning of the current racing year. Matcha Latte’s victory earned him the chance to create history by becoming the first horse to win back-to-back PMC Championships since the

PROVINCIAL-MIDWAY Championship qualifiers Oui Oui Oui and Oakfield Jupiter will take different paths to the $1m Final next month. Both mares qualified for the 1400m Final at Royal Randwick on April 11 by finishing second respectively in the opening two heats. Early PMC favorite Oui Oui Oui (now on the third line of betting at $8) was beaten by Octa De Lago at her home track in the opening 1400m heat at Hawkesbury on February 19, and Oakfield Jupiter was a gallant second to Bu

BARRENGARRY is a small village near Kangaroo Valley in the Southern Highlands of NSW. It has a population of just over 200, and might become better known through a young horse named after him, who broke through at Newcastle yesterday. Kembla Grange trainer Joe Ible’s father Darrell hails from Barrengarry, and also shares in the ownership of the three-year-old gelding, who overcame difficulties to take the Provincial Maiden Plate (1600m) at only his third start. Ridden by Zac

A tongue tie goes on Rivellino tomorrow as Kris Lees chases a second Randwick Guineas 10 years apart. The leading Newcastle trainer won the Group 1 1600m feature for three-year-olds with Le Romain (Christian Reith) in 2016, and very nearly again the following year when Invincible Gem was just nabbed by Inference. Like $21 chance Le Romain, Rivellino (Jason Collett) is an outsider ($41 with TAB.com.au this morning), but his trainer isn’t selling him short. “Rivellino has been

DENIM Wynen says it would be a “dream come true” if at Hawkesbury tomorrow she can qualify Monkhana for the Provincial-Midway Championships Final. The Wyong trainer has especially set the mare for the third Qualifier (1400m), restricted to eligible provincial trained horses. Unbeaten from two starts at Hawkesbury, Monkhana will be ridden by Wyong apprentice Anna Roper, who has partnered the former New Zealander in all three Australian victories since joining Wynen’s team. Mon

The Group 3 $250,000 Kembla Grange Classic will headline the launch of an expanded seven-meeting Autumn Carnival at Kembla Grange Racecourse, beginning Friday, 13th March. The 1600m feature for three-year-old fillies has built a reputation as a springboard to elite success, with past runners including Hot Danish, Allez Wonder, Appearance and Single Gaze. Recent graduates have continued that trend, with 2025 runner You Wangh claiming Group 1 success in the Queensland Oaks. The

SCOTT Singleton says Melody Again is “right up to the mark” as he chases his first feature success at Broadmeadow tomorrow. And a Group 1 tilt is in the offing if Melody Again runs up to expectations in the $250,000 Group 3 Newcastle Stakes (1400m). Winona Costin has ridden Melody Again at her last two starts, including a placing in the Group 3 Festival Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on November 29, and has the Stakes mount. Singleton is in his seventh year training at Sc

KRIS Lees isn’t tempted to chase a Golden Slipper “back door” entry with promising filly She’s Extra. The leading Newcastle trainer’s two-year-old made it two wins from as many starts with a brilliant midweek city debut at Warwick Farm today. Skilfully ridden by stable apprentice Will Stanley, Exceedance youngser She’s Extra ($3.10) settled one out and one back in the 2YO Handicap (1100m), moved up menacingly on the home turn and burnt her rivals with a nifty turn of foot. Sh

BROCK Ryan travelled to the country last weekend to qualify an Albury-trained horse for the Country Championships Final. Now his former “bosses”, leading Kembla Grange trainers Rob and Luke Price, are calling on him to get them a qualifier for the $1m Provincial-Midway Championships Final (1400m) at Royal Randwick a week later on April 11. Kembla Grange-based Ryan ran second on Bon Holler to Albury trainer Donna Scott’s stablemate Villasaurus in last Saturday’s SDRA Country C

ASH Morgan will be reunited with Matcha Latte at Hawkesbury on Saturday as the pair try for back to back Provincial-Midway Championships crowns. Matcha Latte’s Wyong trainer Nacim Dilmi today confirmed Morgan’s booking for the third Qualifier (1400m), which is for eligible provincial-trained horses only. Morgan partnered the now six-year-old to victory over Newcastle stablemates Lord Of Biscay and Imposant in last year’s $1m Final (1400m) at Royal Randwick when prepared by Sa