#Benchmark 78

The Bopper resumes at Randwick on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images Newcastle trainer Kris Lees is expecting a bold performance from his sharp galloper The Bopper when the gelding resumes in the Schweppes Benchmark 78 Handicap (1000m) at Randwick on Saturday. The four-year-old son of Nicconi, also the sire of The Everest winner Nature Strip, has been…

Spacewalk and Steel City have attracted plenty of support from TAB Fixed Odds punters going into the Rosehill Gardens meeting on Saturday. "When markets opened on Wednesday, Spacewalk was the first horse backed," TAB spokesman Andrew Georgiou said. "We wrote a lot of big bets against him in the first 20 minutes of betting and since then, although…

Star jockey Sam Clipperton joins forces with Hall of Fame trainer Chris Waller to try and secure a second successive Listed $160000 January Cup (2000m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. Clipperton and Waller team up with the handy English import Aleas, the $6.50 TAB Fixed Odds favourite to win the feature race. "I actually won this race last year…

James McDonald and Jamie Kah highlight the Doomben meeting with big fields in most races and plenty looking to stamp their Magic Millions credentials. The weather has been mainly fine but there is always some give in the surface at Doomben and with the rail out four metres I am staying with the class animals that can travel near the speed and make…

New Year's Eve is fairly quiet for racing in Sydney, with most of the big guns resting, getting ready for either the Magic Millions carnival in Queensland in the next two weekends or for the start of the Sydney autumn carnival at the end of January. Betting opportunities continue to be strong, however. Royal Randwick plays host to a 10-race card,…

Developing three-year-old Carlisle will shoot for a hat-trick of wins for trainer John Moloney at Flemington on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images The autumn months have been kind to two families surrounding trainer John Moloney. Moloney's nephew, jockey Patrick Moloney, rode his first Group 1 winner on Roch'N' Horse in the Newmarket Handicap while an…

Ausbred Flirt will carry the same silks worn to success at Randwick last week by her stablemate Global Ausbred (pictured). Picture: Steve Hart Exciting prospect Ausbred Flirt takes another step up the ladder on Saturday when she tackles metropolitan grade at Randwick. The Brad Widdup-trained four-year-old mare has been a star on the provincial…

Sky Racing's form analyst Brad Davidson runs the rule over every race, including suggested bets, for the Gosford stand-alone meeting on Saturday. The Form: Complete NSW Racing thoroughbred form, including video replays and all you need to know about every horse, jockey and trainer. Find a winner here! GOSFORD Track: Heavy 8. Rail: True R1: 2YO…

Fox Fighter has been well backed in the Starlight Stakes. Picture: Mark Evans-Getty Images Fox Fighter has been the subject of a strong support in Saturday's Listed Starlight Stakes (1100m) with trainer David Payne hoping his underrated sprinter gets the right conditions to show his "hell of a turn of foot" at Rosehill. Fox Fighter opened as a $26…

The big track at the Sunshine Coast takes centre stage in Queensland on Saturday with good depth in most races. BEST BET HILLCREST AVENUE (Race 2 No. 9) NEXT BEST GREEN REIGN (Race 4 No. 4) VALUE BET TAPILDOODLEDO (Race 3 No. 3) Quaddie numbers are: Race 6 - 5.9,11 Race 7 - 2,4,6,9 Race 8 - 5,8,10,16 Race 9 - 6,9,11 144…

Trainer Peter Snowden is buoyed by jockey Tommy Berry's optimism that Old Flame can overcome a horror draw in the $1m The Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday. Old Flame has retained TAB fixed odds favouritism at $6 despite being drawn to start out of barrier 15 in the feature race. "It's not pretty, I've got to say," Snowden said. "But it is…

Trainers Peter and Paul Snowden have decided to spell two of their spring stable stars, Sheeza Belter and Mazu, but they are bringing in some handy replacements in Old Flame and Huetor to target some of the big money races going into the Sydney summer carnival. Sheeza Belter scored a deserved win in the Group 2 Hot Danish Stakes at Rosehill last…

The Summer Carnival is upon us with the Listed Keith Noud the feature and whilst Doomben plays to front runners, on a good surface with the rail true all horses should get their chance. Mares in form have been good to me of late and I have gone overboard here. BEST BET: SALATEEN (Race 8 No 8) NEXT BEST: EKATERINA (Race 6 No 4) VALUE BET: STRATEGIC…

Trainer Brad Widdup has Fire Lane in the Max Lees Classic at Newcastle on Saturday. Picture: Mark Evans-Getty Images As his maiden Group 1 winner Icebath enjoys some well-earned time in the paddock, trainer Brad Widdup is weighing up kicking off his latest big-money raid with Magic Millions eligible Fire Lane this Saturday. Widdup has the unraced…

Adrian Bott and Gai Waterhouse train The Milkybar Kid. Picture: Toby Zerna Co-trainer Adrian Bott has kept the door open for The Milkybar Kid to back-up on Saturday after shortest priced favourite since Winx came out on top in the first two-horse race in Sydney for more than a decade. A long list of scratchings saw the promising stayer go around at…

Bathurst horseman Roy McCabe believes if there is going to be an upset in the CDRA Country Championships Qualifier at Mudgee, it will be from one of his two runners. Fellow Bathurst trainer Gayna Williams has three runners including favourite Zoo Station and second elect Tags, but McCabe feels he can spring a surprise with The Drover or Know Where…

Leaders dominated last week at Eagle Farm and with rail going out to four metres much of the same can be expected. Once again, there are southern raiders coming up in search of good ground but previous experience on the track is advantageous. The talented 3kg claimer Angela Jones is currently leading the Queensland Metro Jockeys premiership and I…

Some interesting Southern invaders muddy the waters but previous form on the track proved a good guide at Eagle Farm last week and I expect much of same for this big 10-race card featuring the Queensland Cup. They were coming from everywhere to win last week and on a good surface with the rail out two metres there will be few excuses.

Connors hoping Barbie will fire up if weather stays dry We're sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We're working to restore it. Please try again later. While trainer Marc Conners eyes the $2 million Five Diamonds with smart mare Rebel Rama he's hoping the cards fall honest four-year-old Starstruck Barbie's way as she chases smaller fish at…

The Daily Telegraph's racing editor Ray Thomas and Sky Thoroughbred Central's form expert Ron Dufficy debate the chances at The Gong meeting at Kembla Grange on Saturday. The Form: Complete NSW Racing thoroughbred form, including video replays and all you need to know about every horse, jockey and trainer. Find a winner here! BEST BET R6 No.1: EASY…

There is a push from within the Sydney training ranks to have the season's first juvenile races, the Breeders' Plate and Gimcrack Stakes, moved to Everest Day from next year. The proposal suggests delaying the start of the two-year-old season by two weeks will bolster the prestigious The TAB Everest meeting at Royal Randwick. Under the existing…

Yankee Hussel can race herself into much better races if she keeps progressing at Canterbury on Wednesday for trainer Kris Lees. The American Pharoah three-year-old will run in a Benchmark 78 Handicap (1550m) against odds-on pop Roots after winning second-up as a well backed horse at Hawkesbury over 1330m. Lees wasn't talking her up too much and…

Sky Racing form analyst Brad Davidson runs the rule over every race, including suggested bets, for the Newcastle meeting on Saturday, which features The Hunter. The Form: Complete NSW Racing thoroughbred form, including video replays and all you need to know about every horse, jockey and trainer. Find a winner here! NEWCASTLE Track: Soft…

Pink Ribbon race day is always a big occasion though with track renovations underway field sizes have been reduced. A prospect of fair weather will help though on this tight circuit I will be looking for those that can make their own luck and aren't going to get caught in traffic.