A Win At Last For Yoshi Raaza

Monday, 21 June 2010 00:17

Patience and persistence finally paid dividends for the connections of Yoshi Raaza following his win in the $15,000 Pot A Round Garden Centre Maiden Steeplechase (3800m) at Casterton on Sunday.

The black seven-year-old gelding by Japanese sire Tayasu Tsuyoshi, who gained an warning from Thoroughbred Racing SA (TRSA) Chief Steward Graham Loch for ‘poor performance’ in April 2007,  won his first ever race at his 49^th start.

Trained by Colin Stewart, Yoshi Raaza was thought to have broken his maiden status after defeating a field of five in the $15,000 King Alfred Steeplechase Prelude (3800m) at the same venue last month.

However after Prince Vitality was fatally injured at the first hedge fence, the horse ambulance became bogged between jumps eleven and twelve.

Yoshi Raaza jumped fence twelve but Ballysteen and Cash Advance were unable to be steered past the stationery horse ambulance to jump the same fence.

Therefore their respective riders decided to safely navigate around the twelfth obstacle and as a result to those horses not being able to correctly complete the course, stewards declared the race void.

However on recommendation of raceday stewards, Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) paid connections the $8,775 winners’ cheque due to the "unique circumstances pertaining to the race" as described by RVL communications manager Shaun Kelly.

But there could be no doubts surrounding his latest ‘win’ with Yoshi Razza steered to an eight length victory by Paul Hamblin ahead of Sea Town and Ballysteen.

Sunday’s victory ensures he has doubled his official prizemoney tally of $8,150 with another $8,775 added to his record.

Considering Yoshi Razza made his debut in a two-year-old handicap on New Year’s Day in 2005 at Morphettville, its far to suggest connections are unlikely to return a profit on their investment.

To view the historical form of Yoshi Raaza, click here.

Picture: Jenny Barnes

Lindop Flying High On Spirited Eagle

Saturday, 19 June 2010 12:18

Jockey Clare Lindop has flagged a possible spring campaign for Spirited Eagle who railed through from last to score at Sandown.

Trained by Adelaide's Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas, the two-year-old made it three wins from five starts at his Melbourne debut on a heavy track in Saturday's Jim Conway Handicap (1200m).

Lindop could have stayed home and ridden at Morphettville but was assigned the mount on Spirited Eagle, her only ride for the day, to get a guide on the gelding's spring prospects.

"I'm really happy with him and we are hoping he might come back to Melbourne in the spring as a three-year-old," Lindop said.

Spirited Eagle showed no pace early in the race and was last to the home turn before Lindop pushed him through on the rails to midfield on entering the straight.

Despite his big weight of 58kg, he flattened well as the gaps opened and charged to the line full of running to score by 1-1/4 lengths from Al Jandar with favourite Trudeau 3-1/2 lengths away third.

Lindop said she wasn't too surprised when Spirited Eagle was last early in the race.

"The first furlong (200m) you can't seem to hurry him," Lindop said.

"He has just got to do it in his own time and luckily he got the right runs on the inside and was able to pick them up the last furlong."

Spirited Eagle is by Not A Single Doubt from Carnegie mare Rezidencia who won twice including over 2040 metres at Moonee Valley.

His grand-dam Society Bay won four stakes races including the Group Two Edward Manifold Stakes at Flemington.

Picture: Colin Bull

Horses To Follow - Betfair Park 19 June 2010

Sunday, 20 June 2010 22:30

This Saturday saw a handful of previous horses to follow run very well earning a nice little kitty for our followers.

But looking to the future here are a few that caught our eye:

Race 2: Jim Conway Handicap (1200m)

The Robbie Griffiths trained Al Jandar had to work at both ends of this quickly run affair and did a terrific job to finish as close as he did.

Look for another win for the son of Al Samer in the near future.

Race 1: Samson Handicap (1400m)

The Doug Harrison trained All Due Respect worked very hard and fought gallantly in the straight only to be overhaulled by Conquering Journey thanks to a 10/10 Dwayne Dunn ride.

All Due Respect will take a few days to get over the run but will win next time he steps out in similar company.

Picture: Colin Bull

Black And Bent In A World Of His Own

Saturday, 19 June 2010 08:45

Four-year-old Black And Bent has produced one of the most dominant wins in memory in The Australian Hurdle at Sandown.

Jockey Steven Pateman declared the Black Hawk gelding was the best jumper he had ridden and should be aimed at the champion hurdles in England while plans are already in motion to qualify him for an invitation to next year's Nakayama Grand Jump in Japan.

"He is an absolute superstar," Pateman said.

"I have been waiting all my career to ride such a good horse."

"He won that easily. I'm just so thrilled."

Trained by Robert Smerdon, Black And Bent ($1.75 fav) swapped the lead with Desert Master on several occasions but had the race won a long way from the winning post.

Rounding the home turn he broke six lengths clear of the field and turned the event into a procession.

The official winning margin was 12 lengths but it looked a much bigger gap to the second horse Corries ($26), who ran on from second last, and his Robbie Laing-trained stablemate Vindicating ($15) who was another 1-3/4 lengths away third.

Black And Bent's half-brother and stablemate Some Are Bent was scratched from The Australian Hurdle suffering from a respiratory infection.

Brad McLean is the regular rider of both horses but was booked for Some Are Bent and had to look on as Black And Bent triumphed for Pateman.

Pateman said he rode Black And Bent like he was the best horse in the race and that the gelding jumped himself to the front several times in the race.

"I had the mindset that I was on a far better horse," Pateman said.

"The only jump he tucked in to was the second last because I actually steadied him as he had his revs up. He was home a long way out."

Smerdon said the improvement Black And bent had made in his second season as a jumper was remarkable.

He has won 12 of his 32 starts including his last six starts, three of them on the flat.

His staying power on the flat was never more evident than on Saturday, especially after he jumped the last hurdle.

Smerdon said Black And Bent would now be aimed at steeplechase racing and try to win an invitation to the Nakayama Grand Jump in April

"He's made a huge leap of improvement in performance in the last year," Smerdon said.

"I'm not sure how good they've got to be (to be world class) but he is pretty good."

"The short-term goal is to get him through to a feature steeplechase later in the year and hopefully get an invite to Japan."

Pictures: Colin Bull

Nikolic Inquiry On Monday

Sunday, 20 June 2010 07:59

Embattled jockey Danny Nikolic will finally answer charges in Melbourne on Monday after a long running investigation into 10 of his rides and betting activities surrounding them.

After a four month investigation, Victorian stewards last month laid nine charges against the jockey including two of improper practice and two of conduct prejudicial to the interests of racing relating to bets laid on betting exchange Betfair.

He is also charged with engaging in improper behaviour and four counts of leaving the jockeys' room during riding commitments to use his mobile phone.

None of the charges relate to his handling of the horses in his 10 rides that were under investigation.

The investigation started after Nikolic was beaten into second place aboard $1.60 favourite Finishing Card in a maiden at Mornington on January 8.

Stewards then broadened their inquiries to cover several of Nikolic's rides in the previous two months.

Nikolic, who has maintained his innocence throughout the months of the ongoing investigation, has vowed to fight the charges as hard as he can saying his reputation has been damaged.

He has struggled to get rides in the big races over the autumn and winter carnivals with his last Group One victory coming on Starspangledbanner in February's Oakleigh Plate.

Family friend, professional punter and commission agent Neville Clements was warned off in March when he refused to produce his telephone records for inspection in relation to the Nikolic case.

He has lodged an appeal which will be heard by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Friday.

Clements is appealing on the grounds that as an unlicensed person he was not subject to the rules of racing or the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board's decision and penalty.

Nikolic originally refused to hand over his phone for forensic tests and was fined $5000.

He surrendered the phone in March.

Clements has also been warned off in Queensland after an inquiry into bets placed with Betfair on a horse trained by Nikolic's brother John.

Baby Boom ran fourth in a race at Caloundra on January 3 with Clements and two other Betfair account holders gaining from her loss.

Picture: Sportpix

Tarawera Could Be Off To England

Saturday, 19 June 2010 06:45

Tarawera, winner of Saturday's The Australian Steeplechase at Sandown, will head a team of jumpers co-trainers Brian Johnston and Fran Houlahan intend to race in England next year.

Johnston and Houlahan were also celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary on Saturday but the victory was bittersweet for them as they could have their livelihood pulled from under their feet with jumps racing under threat of being banned in Victoria after this season.

"I think jumps racing has a limited future here," Johnston said.

"It's all dependant on KPIs (key performance indicators) and there is a formula in place to say whether it stays or goes.

"Mr Hines (Racing Victoria Limited CEO Rob Hines) said the other day we weren't meeting the KPIs and it was looking fairly ordinary for us.

"He's the boss so you have to take heed of that."

Johnston said ideally he would like to take six horses to England in January and aim them towards the Cheltenham Festival in March, but in the meantime he must recruit some horses to take with Tarawera.

"We've been thinking about it for a long while and if we've got the right horses we'll have a crack at Cheltenham," Johnston said.

"If the right horses come along we'd buy them but they must understand they won't be worth much money in this country but they'll be worth a lot of money in other countries."

Sent out at $4.40 in the $100,000 feature over 3900m, Tarawera, ridden by Trent Wells, was handy throughout before racing past the leader Last Shogun ($10) well before the home turn.

He found plenty under pressure to hold off Virvacity ($4.80) by 2-3/4 lengths with Last Shogun fighting back to be a length away third, just ahead of Our Santa.

"He's going to make a great horse in England next year," Johnston said.

However he said there was no comparison between Tarawera, who is unbeaten in two steeplechase starts, both at Sandown, and last year's Jumper of the Year Pentiffic who won the 2009 Hiskens, Crisp and Grand National Steeples.

"Tarawera is a nice horse, but Pentiffic is a superstar," Johnston said.

Pentiffic is now in England with trainer Venetia Williams after a tendon injury forced him out of the Nakayama Grand Jump in Japan in April.

The disappointment of Saturday's race was Mazzacano ($3.50 fav) who was after a record third win in the race but was pulled up by Steven Pateman after struggling back in last place on the home turn.

Trainer Robbie Laing said he could find nothing wrong with the horse after the race but he would have a thorough veterinary check before a decision is made on whether to retire him.

Tainui Teina fell early in the race but was not injured while Brett Scott was dislodged from Mali Juraj at the last fence.

Mazzacano and Volkswagin were both eased out of the race after being the last two horses into the home straight.

Picture: Colin Bull

Mazzacano's Racing Career In Doubt

Sunday, 20 June 2010 04:45

Champion steeplechaser Mazzacano may have run his last race with trainer Robbie Laing baffled by his performance at Sandown on Saturday.

Laing said he would have exhaustive tests carried out on Mazzacano who ran one of the worst races of his life in the Australian Steeplechase.

Shooting for what would have been an history-making third victory in the 3900 metre event, Mazzacano was sent out favourite but his rider Steven Pateman eased him out of the race when he was struggling back in last place.

Laing couldn't find anything wrong with Mazzacano who has won eight of his 12 jumps starts.

"He's not trying because I think he's looking after something which may be about to go," Laing said.

"He may have had a bleed internally, I don't know.

"He ran about four seconds quicker than the hurdle when he won in April but yesterday he couldn't beat time with a stick.

"We'll do exhaustive tests on him, we'll scan him, have his heart and lungs checked and if we find something that's serious, we'll retire him. He's done his job, he's been a great horse.

"He's overcome a lot of injuries. He's had bowed tendons and ruptured tendons, three on one front leg and two on the other."

Laing said when vets scanned Mazzacano's leg after he ruptured a tendon during his win in the 2007 Crisp Steeple at Sandown, "they couldn't find any tendon".

Mazzacano is raced by Greg Mance, the owner of Saturday's Sandown 2400 metre winner Oak Heart.

A rising 10-year-old by Sir Ivor, Mazzacano has raced 49 times overall for 11 wins, 10 placings and has earned more than $350,000 prize money.

Meanwhile Laing is looking forward to switching his Australian Hurdle trio to steeplechasing after they were comprehensively beaten by the outstanding Black And Bent who has now won six straight on the flat and over the jumps.

Corries ($26) ran on well to be runner-up, albeit 12 lengths astern of Black And Bent, with Vindicating 1-3/4 lengths away third.

Last year's Grand National Hurdle winner Desert Master ($7.50) swapped the lead several times with Black And Bent before weakening to finish fifth of the seven runners.

"My three are going to make very good steeplechasers," Laing said.

Picture: Colin Bull

Tarawera Terrific In Australian Steeple

Saturday, 19 June 2010 05:19

Lightly-raced four-year-old gelding Tarawera has defeated a quality field of steeplechasers to win the $100,000 Australian Steeple (3900m) at Betfair Park Sandown Lakeside this afternoon.

Tarawera was only having his second start over the larger obstacles and his sixteenth career start, but that failed to prevent the son of Giant’s Causeway from securing one of Victoria's premier steeplechase events.

Tarawera ($3.50-$4.40) raced on the pace the entire trip before staving off the late challenge of Virvacity ($4.60-$5-$4.80) who made ground from a midfield position to win by 2-3/4 lenghts.

Last Shogun ($9-$10) battled away bravely behind those for third a further 1-1/4 lengths adrift, narrowly edging out Our Santa ($13-$14) who finished fourth.

Stop The Traffic ($12-$13) was the only other runner to complete the course.

Favourite Mazzacano ($2.60-$3.60-$3.50 fav) and Volkswagin ($31-$51) were pulled out of the event prior to the final steeple while Mali Juraj ($7.50-$9) dislodged Brett Scott at the same fence.

Tainui Teina ($26-$31) fell shortly after the start with both horse and rider Gavin Bedggood escaping injury.

Winning jockey Trent Wells said he was confident of victory throughout despite his tendency to pull hard in running.

“That’s just him, he really does pull hard,” Wells said before adding, “He gave Scotty (Brett Scott) a hard time the other day but he could do another lap, Fran and Brian have had him that fit.”

“When I got him to roll forward, as much as I didn’t want to get there - I knew he was going to go right past them - he was going to take a bit of beating.

“He quickened alright for a jumper and took the last two fences good and that’s what won him the race,” he added.

Fran Houlahan, co-trainer of Tarawera with Brian Johnston said, “He hasn’t settled in one race since we’ve had him.”

“He has pulled like a lunatic in his flat races and everything so hopefully he learns how to settle but he’s not doing a bad job not settling.

“For a young horse he is doing a great job,” she insisted.

Johnston said he believed Mazzacano was Tarawera’s biggest threat.

“I thought if the old Mazzacano turned up I didn’t think he could beat him but gee our horse has improved from last week – he has really come on,” Johnston said.

Johnston now may opt to send Tarawera to the United Kingdom in January to tackle some jumping races with the prospect of sending a team of runners.

However that idea is only in its initial stages.

Tarawera has won and been placed four times from 16 starts and boasts a record of three wins from six starts over the jumps.

Today’s victory ensures his prizemoney is now in excess of the $115,000.

Pictures: Colin Bull

Oak Earns Shot At Banjo Paterson Final

Saturday, 19 June 2010 12:40

Oak Heart earned a shot at the Banjo Paterson Series Final for stayers at Flemington next month when he outstayed his rivals in the Betfair Handicap at Sandown on Saturday.

Ballarat trainer Darren Weir said the El Moxie entire, now a rising six-year-old, was the best of 20 horses given to him to prepare by owner-trainer and breeder Greg Mance when he gave training away due health problems.

Mance is best known as the owner-trainer of 1989 Caulfield Cup and Toorak Handicap winner Cole Diesel.

"Greg is a great owner. He has put a lot into the game," Weir said.

"He said to me 'only ring me when they are racing or when you are getting rid of them'."

Weir said Oak Heart, who won a Saturday race at Flemington over 2000m three starts back in May, would be eased up after the $150,000 Banjo Paterson (2500m) at Flemington on July 10.

"I might bring him back in the late spring for races like the Bendigo Cup and the Ballarat Cup," Weir said.

"He ran sixth in the Moonee Valley Cup last spring and he's going a lot better now."

Ridden by Steven King, Oak Heart ($4.20 eq fav) settled well back second last of the 10 runners but revelled in the heavy (10) going to score by 1-1/4 lengths from Only He Knows ($5) with Rowland ($4.20 eq fav) the same margin away third.

"He got further back than I wanted him to but he seems to get through it (the heavy) alright," King said.

Picture: Colin Bull

Black And Bent Hurdles Into History

Saturday, 19 June 2010 04:26

With a furlong to travel Steven Pateman took a look over his right shoulder and without a danger, or jumps protester, anywhere in sight he began to ease soon to become Australian Hurdle champion Black And Bent down.

He then gestured to his beaten opposition to 'come and catch me' and in an era where pre-post celebrations occur at monotonous regularity, this one seemed fitting.

"He won that easy, he is an absolute superstar," boasted Patemen upon dismounting.

Despite being eased down for almost two hundred metres Black And Bent still recorded a twelve length victory in the $100,000 Australian Hurdle (3400m) after an almost faultless jumping performance.

With daylight to the Robbie Laing trained Corries ($21,$26) in second place very little seperated the rest of the field with Vindicating ($13,$15) just a handful of lengths back in third.

Saviour of the jumps racing industry, and prominent owner, Mike Symons couldn't put his delight into words but knew exactly how to describe his up and coming hurdler.

"He is a star," said Symons.

"We have just been blessed, I can't put it into words.

"They don't win much easier than that," added a jubilant Symons.

Also the owner of late scratching Some Are Bent, another of Australia's star hurdlers, Symons was adamant Black And Bent had the potential to surpass his older brother.

"I don't think Some Are Bent could've won with that sort of authority in the same race a couple of years ago," said Symons.

"This horse is just flying."

Symons admitted that a trip to Japan was his ultimate goal with the four-year-old but didn't want to look too far ahead for fear of not relishing the moment.

"It is tough to get a horse to Japan, we have tried before and not made it, but that's the dream," said Symons.

"We will just take it one run at a time and we are enjoying the ride."

Patemen seemed humbled by the opportunity to ride the gelding who unlike many hurdlers has enjoyed the services of flat racing stars such as Glen Boss and Luke Nolen in recent weeks.

"I'm so thrilled for the connections," said Pateman.

"To give me this ride, I'm just so grateful, I've been waiting for this my whole career."

Pateman observed that it was Black And Bent's jumping ability that ultimately won the race for him not withstanding his proficiency on the flat.

"He just kept jumping his way to the front, it was just the most incredible feeling," said Pateman.

"I think he could be a champion hurdler in England."

Trainer Robert Smerdon joined in praise of the gelding's jumping style adding that with his current efficiency over the hurdles it is difficult to see how he could improve a great deal.

"He does everything so efficiently, the next thing will be for him to graduate to the bigger fences," said Smerdon.

"I'm not sure how good you have to be to tackle the international horses, but he is pretty good.

"I never thought he would win the flat races on the way through this preparation, we had targeted this race but they were just meant to get him fit," Smerdon added.

Black And Bent has now started the twelve times over the hurdles and has been successful on the six occasions for almost $280,000 in prizemoney after today's win.

Photos by Colin Bull.