John O'Shea to have last laugh with Waihaha

The chance to qualify for a $2 million race will almost certainly sway connections of Cotehele to bypass a start in the Listed Winter Stakes in favour of the South Grafton Cup. While the latter carries half the prize money of Saturday's $160000 Randwick centrepiece, Cotehele could make up for it down the track with the winner and second placegetter…

Veteran galloper Cisco Bay was once on the cusp of being "banished to the bush" but could complete a remarkable late career resurgence in Saturday's Listed Civic Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick. Cisco Bay, a $1m earner and rising nine-year-old, will go in search of a maiden stakes victory when he lines up as one of the leading chances in this…

Trainer John O'Shea is content to see highly promising staying prospect Awesome John get his return out of the way at Canterbury on Friday night before focusing on some lofty Group 1 targets. Awesome John holds nominations for both the Rosehill Guineas and Australian Derby but has a first-up assignment in the Quayclean Benchmark 72 Handicap…

He didn't have much luck in the Group 2 Ingham a fortnight ago, but the John O'Shea-prepared Diamil ($8) has made amends taking out the $200000 Group 3 Summer Cup at Royal Randwick. It was a genuinely run affair with Grandslam setting a hectic tempo in front over the staying test of 2000m, but come the 300m mark they were eight and nine across the…

John O'Shea's stocks for the $2 million Magic Millions Guineas have soared after the in-form trainer produced the quinella in a key lead-up race at Wyong. Hell I Am ($2.70 fav) overcame the outside draw to post a resounding first-up win in the Magic Millions Wyong 3YO & 4YO Stakes (1200m), surging clear over the final stages to defeat Shalailed…

Godolphin continued their hot streak of feature race wins, this time at Newcastle on Saturday via Vilana, who was too good for them in The Hunter (1300m). Read on for the 2022 Champions Mile Post Race Horse Ratings. 2022 The Hunter Replay 2022 The Hunter Race Horse Ratings 1. Vilana: Got a beautiful sit in transit behind the speed before Nash…

Quality four year old Vilana has taken over as favourite with Ladbrokes.com.au for the key race at Newcastle this afternoon, The Hunter (1300m). The Godolphin galloper was far from disgraced in the Golden Eagle and was only second up so back to 1300m and third up looks an ideal set up. Market agrees, now into $4.60 from $6, and did bottom out…

Trainer David Payne has Fox Fighter primed for a giant-killing performance in the Listed $160000 Razor Sharp (1200m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday. "Fox Fighter never lets you down, he really puts in," Payne said. "He's not a big horse but he has a lovely turn of foot, especially on firm ground. "As he showed last start, he is up to this level. He…

Boom import Nugget has retained favouritism for the $2 million The Ingham even though he might not squeeze into the field for the rich Royal Randwick mile race on Saturday. Nugget, who has the limit weight of 54kg, is currently 22nd in order of entry for The Ingham which has a bumper 30 entries. The maximum field size is 20 from the 1600m…

Sam Clipperton and Cavalier Charles (blue silks) win the Furphy Handicap at Rosehill. Picture: Jeremy Ng-Getty Images Cavalier Charles provided reason to reminisce about retired champ Happy Clapper after his determined win at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. The talented Cavalier Charles produced a stirring finishing sprint to catch Cotehele in…

There was never any likelihood Promise Of Success, Kirwan's Lane and Berdibek would meet with the same fate as their boom stablemate Waihaha Falls. The John O'Shea-trained trio are rated 101 or higher and safely made the field for the $1m The Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday. This wasn't the case with Waihaha Falls last week when he was…

Eleven Eleven is certainly not in the field to make up the numbers in the $1 million The Hunter (1300m) at Newcastle on Saturday. Trainer Greg Hickman is adamant stable star Eleven Eleven is "going as good as ever" which suggests the talented six-year-old sprinter will be hard to beat. "The Hunter is one of those races where there are plenty of…

Hall of Fame jockey Hugh Bowman can leave for his three-month riding stint in Hong Kong with winning momentum from The Hunter meeting at Newcastle on Saturday. Bowman has eight rides including the Kris Lees-trained Gem Song in the $1 million The Hunter (1300m). Lees has trained three successive second placings in The Hunter with Wandabaa (2021),…

Daily Telegraph form analyst Matt Jones runs the rule over every race, including suggested bets, for the Newcastle 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. NEWCASTLE Track: Good 4. Rail: True Overview: The…

If the theory is right that you need to lose one to win one then Kris Lees and the Australian Bloodstock team are overdue. There has been three renewals of the $1m The Hunter at Newcastle and each time the trainer and owners have had to settle for second place. In the inaugural running of The Hunter, they had Tactical Advantage beating all but…

He's been in a purple patch of form of late with victories in the $2 million Five Diamonds and $1 million VRC Oaks, and jockey Tommy Berry is aiming to keep the momentum going with a strong book of rides at Newcastle's The Hunter meeting this Saturday. With over $2.4 million in prize money on offer on the weekend, Berry will be striving to add to…

He's a galloper that's earned almost $3 million in earnings, and the Greg Hickman-prepared Eleven Eleven will be looking to add to that bank when he contests the $1 million The Hunter at Newcastle this Saturday. A winner of nine races including multiple at Listed level, the Fastnet Rock gelding has done a fantastic job for connections and has shown…

Most trainers would be content to have one runner in a Group 2 $2 million race, but Randwick-based conditioner John O'Shea will saddle up four in this weekend's The Ingham on his home surface. O'Shea will have all bases covered on Saturday from his old grey beard Berdibek to the lightly-raced Diamil, and everything in between. Perhaps the stables…

Daily Telegraph form analyst Shayne O'Cass gives his best bets and runs the rule over every race for Hawkesbury. 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 Race 6, No.3: SPECTROMETER Replica of his sire Exosphere resuming here…

In the middle of relocating his training operation from the ACT to Goulburn, Matthew Dale has found time to train a metropolitan winner with Cavalier Charles scoring a determined victory at Rosehill. Given the logistical challenges involved in moving an entire stable, including his string of horses, Dale wasn't able to be trackside on Saturday, but…

Consistent campaigner Kirwan's Lane has captured his second feature mile race at Hawkesbury this year, lifting late to run down local hope Momack in the Listed Ladies Day Cup. Backed in to start an odds-on favourite, the John O'Shea-trained gelding gave favourite backers a few anxious moments when he was slow to quicken under his 59kg topweight,…

A resounding last-start win has put Athabascan on a Melbourne Cup path with trainer John O'Shea seeing no reason why the French import can't go on with the job. The five-year-old has been in Australia for less than a year and after a seasoning campaign in the autumn, which included a Canberra Cup placing behind subsequent Group 1 winner Arapaho,…