STEVE Hodge was “in the swim” at Tuncurry yesterday. When you have only four horses in work, taking half your team to a race meeting isn’t always common place. Thus the long-serving Newcastle trainer was entitled to be pretty pleased with himself when not only did he have two runners at the TAB meeting – but won with both. Hodge, who manages Newcastle Jockey Club’s equine pool at Broadmeadow, scored with Lika Remi ($7.50) and The Final Say ($17); the pair ridden by Serg Lisny

JAKE Hull described it as the “most satisfying” win of his blossoming training career. And it’s easy to understand why. The Gosford-based former jockey’s 40 th career success at Newcastle’s Beaumont track yesterday carried much more significance than simply winning a Class 1 Handicap (1150m). It was the talented Ferinzo’s first start in 18 months after a fractured pelvis sidelined him at a time when he should have been racing and learning his craft, along with other young ho

EXPECT a more settled You Wahng tomorrow as the Queensland Oaks heroine strives to get back into winning form at the Gold Coast. Leading Newcastle trainer Kris Lees opted to remove blinkers and replace them with winkers for the $1m Magic Millions Subzero (2200m). You Wahng has done well since finishing eighth to Subzero rival Miss Joelene in the $500,000 The Wave (1800m) at the Gold Coast last Saturday, and now has a 3.5kg turnaround in the weights. “You Wahng was a bit too k

SCONE first, then Port Macquarie…..and Rosehill Gardens is next! Newcastle trainer Nathan Doyle’s racing manager David Dyson readily admits it’s a massive jump for unbeaten three-year-old Better Late to tackle city grade on Saturday at only his third start – but says there are a couple of factors why the rookie young sprinter gets his chance to clear such a hurdle. “Obviously it is a huge jump going from a Benchmark 58 Handicap (1000m) at Port Macquarie to a Saturday race in

JASON Attard already has one of the leading fancies for the forthcoming Provincial-Midway Championships in talented mare Oui Oui Oui. And the Hawkesbury trainer hopes first-up Kembla Grange winner Cryptonic can add a “second string” to his bow by again racing well at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. Dylan Gibbons takes over on hat-trick seeker Cryptonic in the Midway Benchmark 72 Handicap (1200m). Five-year-old Cryptonic won a Midway Benchmark 68 Handicap (1400m) at his home tra

KRIS Lees has opted for a gear change on Damien in Saturday’s $3m Magic Millions 3YO Guineas at the Gold Coast. Blinkers come off the gelding, who is one of two representatives for the leading Newcastle trainer in the 1400m feature. Along with Damien, Lees also has the improving Saxobushi, who is seeking a hat-trick. Zac Lloyd is a new rider for Damien, whilst Lees’ main Queensland rider Andrew Mallyon partners Saxobushi. Both horses fared reasonably well at today’s barrier d

JAMES Ponsonby didn’t have to spend like a “drunken sailor” to secure a nicely bred unraced three-year-old online two years ago. Named Drunken Sailor, the son of Cox Plate winner Ocean Park had fetched $220,000 as a yearling in New Zealand – but hadn’t faced the starter when he was put up for sale. “We were probably a bit lucky because he was way down the order in that online sale in January 2024,” the Hawkesbury trainer recalled en route home from Dubbo this evening after wi

LAST year’s Provincial-Midway Championships Final hero Matcha Latte is back and raring to go – but unlikely to defend his “title”. Matcha Latte’s Wyong trainer Nacim Dilmi is delighted with the gelding’s progress, and has given him two trials in preparation for his approaching resumption. Lightly-raced because of injury dramas in the past, the now six-year-old has raced only 17 times for three wins and four placings. Matcha Latte won the $1m PMC Final (1400m) at Royal Randwic

TWELVE months ago Hunter-based Kurrinda Bloodstock captured the inaugural $3m Sunlight Plate (1100m) with Private Harry. Now they’re chasing another $3m triumph, this time with smart youngster Shiki in Saturday’s Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast. The Too Darn Hot filly had virtually earned herself a start in the rich event when she collected $141,000 in winning the Group 3 Gimcrack Stakes (1000m) on debut at Royal Randwick last October. But another winning

TALENTED Wyong mare Oakfield Jupiter’s Provincial-Midway Championships mission takes an important step at Royal Randwick on Thursday. Trainer Damien Lane plans to trial Oakfield Jupiter, and it will be her only trial before she has a lead-up race into a Qualifying heat of the series at Newcastle on February 28. Oakfield Jupiter, a four-year-old daughter of Toronado, has won four of her five starts and was unbeaten in two Midway Benchmark 72 Handicaps; 1200m at Randwick on Oct

HE’S a roughie again – but it won’t stop Little Beginnings running well at Wyong tomorrow. After nearly snaring a $101 upset victory at Royal Randwick on December 27, Little Beginnings lines up again in another Benchmark 78 Handicap, this time over a slightly shorter 1350m. “Little Beginnings seems to run his best races when he is at good odds,” trainer Kris Lees’ spokesman Danny Greer said his morning. “Our apprentice Ben Osmond sticks, and the horse goes up only 0.5kg on hi

BLINKERS go on Oakfield Saturn as Wyong trainer Damien Lane attempts to make the most of his sole representative at tomorrow’s feature home metropolitan stand-alone meeting. Stable apprentice Anna Roper takes the mount on the current $4.40 second favorite in the Bronte Simpson Memorial Midway Benchmark 72 Handicap (1600m). “It’s been something we have been thinking about for a while,” Lane said this morning. “Jason Collett actually suggested Oakfield Saturn would benefit from

NACIM Dilmi is dodging his $500,000 home track feature on Saturday with his two acceptors in search of easier pickings. The Wyong trainer withdrew both Salt Lake City and Charleroi from The Lakes (1600m) to run in supporting races, for different reasons. Salt Lake City (apprentice Anna Roper) instead contests the Domeland Wyong Town Plate Benchmark 100 Handicap (1350m), and Charleroi (Kerrin McEvoy) tackles the Bronte Simpson Memorial Midway Benchmark 72 Handicap (1600m). “Sa

WYONG’S Saturday metropolitan stand-alone meeting is off to an early start. Because of the forecast hot temperatures, the 10-race program – featuring the $500,000 The Lakes (1600m) – will now begin at 11.05am. The Lakes is scheduled for 3.35pm, with the final race to go at 4.15pm. RacingNSW made the decision late this morning to bring forward the race times after consultation with Wyong Race Club, along with the Trainers’ Association and Jockeys’ Association – all of whom ful

BLAKE Ryan has a particular explanation for why he likes training fillies and mares! “They might be only 80 per cent, but will give you 100 per cent every time,” the Hawkesbury trainer said this evening after scoring with Heaven Bound at Warwick Farm. “They’re tough and I enjoy training them.” Ryan’s victory with Heaven Bound ($10) in the Benchmark 72 Handicap (1600m) for mares four-year-old and upwards was his fourth (her career tally stands at six) with the five-year-old da

LIGHTLY-RACED filly Rule Of Faith’s breakthrough victory at Orange today had a real local flavour about it. Hawkesbury trainer Steve O’Halloran was understandably pleased to score with the Hellbent three-year-old at $19, even if the result wasn’t so popular with punters. Having only her fourth start and ridden by Mitchell Bell, Rule Of Faith upset fancied pair Sharbino ($3.30 favorite) and Sinister ($3.90) in the Maiden Plate (1400m). Rule Of Faith is raced by the Stevenson F

CO-TRAINER Paul Messara will be keenly awaiting the release of the barrier draw tomorrow for Saturday’s $500,000 feature at Wyong. Scone-based Messara and his training partner Leah Gavranich will be represented by nominal favorite Know Thyself in The Lakes (1600m), the highlight of the metropolitan stand-alone program. Messara considers a favourable barrier draw is essential if the gelding is to add to his already imposing record (eight wins from 12 starts), and clinch anothe

KRIS Lees has left no stone unturned in his bid for further Queensland success with You Wahng at the lucrative Magic Millions carnival. The leading Newcastle trainer sent the Group 1 winner back to his Gold Coast base early to prepare her for a crack at an MM double on the next two Saturdays. And he has recalled You Wahng’s Queensland Oaks winning jockey Tommy Berry for Saturday’s $500,000 The Wave (1800m) at the Gold Coast. Berry partnered You Wahng in her defeat of Pinito a

ALL in a day’s work! Surely no one could begrudge trainer Damien Lane’s Gilgandra Cup victory yesterday with $26 outsider Wealthy Investor. The Coonamble native, now successfully based at Wyong, departed from his usual policy of leaving the day before when he takes horses to bush meetings in the central west. Instead, he left home yesterday morning on a near-10 hour round trip in the truck – a trip that he nearly didn’t make until he was able to secure the right jockey for th

SUPREME SEA WINNING AT SHA TIN ON SUNDAY LIGHTNING can strike twice! Newcastle trainer Steve Hodge has sold two unraced young horses to Hong Kong in the last two years – and both have won. Supreme Sea made a winning debut for expat Sydney trainer Mark Newnham, currently leading the Hong Kong premiership, on Sha Tin’s all-weather track yesterday. The three-year-old gelding’s first-up triumph shed further light on the underrated stallion Sebring Sun, who stands at Craig Ruttley