Author: Ben Triandafillou

HORSE RACING THE John and Chris Meagher-trained mare, Pippie, landed the biggest win of her six-start career with an emphatic victory in the Group Three Cockram Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday 31 August. Under the guidance of jockey Ben Melham, Pippie took up the lead and controlled the race before being asked for her ultimate effort to kick away from her rivals and claim the $160,000 Group Three by one-and-a-half lengths. The victory was Pippie’s third straight win this preparation having previously won at Doomben and Caulfield, and her fourth win in her short career. The Mornington-trained mare has…

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HORSE RACING ONE-TIME Blue Diamond Stakes favourite, Brooklyn Hustle, is primed for her racetrack return after taking out a trial at Cranbourne on Monday 5 August. The Jason Warren-trained filly jumped out smartly with the addition of a barrier blanket before kicking clear under jockey Ben Melham to comfortably win the eighth heat of the morning. The striking daughter of Starspangledbanner is set to kick off her three-year-old campaign in the Group Three Quezette Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday 17 August. Brooklyn Hustle is expected to meet a strong field with the likes of the Anthony Freedman-trained and Blue Diamond…

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HORSE RACING SOME of Anthony Freedman’s talented crop of thoroughbreds stepped out at the Mornington jumpouts on Wednesday 31 July as they begin their preparation for the upcoming Spring Racing Carnival. At the top of the list for the Pinecliff, Mount Eliza-based trainer was Group One Blue Diamond Stakes winner and Golden Slipper placegetter, Lyre, who was put through her paces in the opening heat of the morning. Similar to most of Freedman’s triallers, Lyre wasn’t asked to do much and was given a quiet time in her trial despite finishing a close third. Freedman said he was rapt with…

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TOP-RANKED Mornington-based racehorse trainer David Brideoake will await a hearing scheduled for Monday 17 June over two serious race-day treatment charges put forward by Racing NSW stewards. Racing NSW stewards issued the charges against Brideoake on Wednesday 5 June in relation to the late withdrawal of the Brideoake-trained Princess Jenni from the Adrian Knox Stakes at Randwick on Saturday 6 April. Princess Jenni, who was unplaced in the Group One Queensland Oaks on Saturday 1 June after a tough win in the Group One Schweppes Oakes a month earlier, was withdrawn from the Adrian Knox Stakes after stewards noted an…

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MORNINGTON-based racehorse trainer Jim Conlan is set to train Singapore’s second highest-rated galloper and five-time Group One winner, Debt Collector. The former Cliff Brown-trained “Horse of the Year” (2016) has amassed more than $3.1 million in prize money and is set to leave for Australia this month. Debt Collector, a 122-rated six-year-old gelding, has claimed 12 wins and four placings from his 24 starts, including two Group Two’s and a Group Three. It will be the Singapore star’s second trip to Australia, having spelled for five months at Newhaven Farm in the Hunter Valley last year. That trip came after…

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