Kiku hits the Mark to earn Epsom Handicap 2022 start

The $10 million The Golden Eagle (1500m) has drawn together an outstanding field for just its fifth running at Rosehill on Saturday and here is our assessment of the form of each of the runners. The four-year-old set weight contest is the second richest race in Australia after it was introduced to the racing calendar in 2019. Watch the Melbourne…

Hall of Fame trainer Chris Waller doesn't have any of the big-race favourites but he is still an opportunity to repeat his famous 2019 Group 1 hat-track at Royal Randwick on Saturday. Waller had a sensational day at the feature Epsom meeting four years ago training six winners including the three Group 1 races with Kolding (Epsom Handicap), Come…

Hope In Your Heart will be ridden by Craig Williams in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap on Saturday. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images Trainer Kerry Parker is banking on the big-race genius of jockey Craig Williams and a significant gear change to provide Hope In Your Heart with an elusive Group 1 win in the $1.5m Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Royal Randwick…

Hall of Fame trainer Chris Waller made mention of Olentia's latent Group 1 ability after the mare's consummate win at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. "Olentia has come back really well, big and strong, right temperament and ready to announce'I'm here' and set take on some bigger things,'' Waller said. "She will join into the elite company as well,…

Wategos made it back-to-back wins with a bold all-the-way win at Rosehill on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images Just seconds before the All Blacks stole another famous Bledisloe Cup win, a pair of Kiwis products were playing a starring role at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. Kiwi-born trainer Bjorn Baker and compatriot Jason Collett hit the target as…

Chris Waller will have up to seventeen runners at Rosehill, five of them Group 1 winners, but it is one horse that has him especially excited. When asked to nominate the galloper he is most looking forward to seeing on Saturday, Waller didn't hesitate to name Kovalica, who has the Epsom Handicap as his early-season target. "He's got X-factor,"…

Champion sportsman Joao "Magic Man" Moreira has ridden on the biggest stages throughout the world but says it's Australia that reminds him most of home. The Brazilian native has ridden winners in England, Hong Kong, Japan, Dubai, Singapore, South Africa, Singapore, South America, and Australia and says he is "grateful" to be here to ride in Sydney…

Champion sportsman Joao "Magic Man" Moreira has ridden on the biggest stages throughout the world but says it's Australia that reminds him most of home. The Brazilian native has ridden winners in England, Hong Kong, Japan, Dubai, Singapore, South Africa, Singapore, South America, and Australia and says he is "grateful" to be here to ride in Sydney…

Brilliant mare I Am Me has burst onto the radar of The Everest slot-holders after blitzing her rivals at Royal Randwick last Saturday. I Am Me scored her third win in as many starts this preparation - and improved her overall race record to six wins from 11 starts - when she blazed home in 1m 7.77s for the 1200m course. There was a strong tailwind…

Atishu's form is nothing to sneeze at, according to master trainer Chris Waller heading into the Ballarat Cup on Saturday. Her last start was an excellent two-length victory in the Matriarch Stakes over 2000m at Flemington on November 5, and as a result she is the $3.10 favourite with online betting sites over the same staying distance. The…

Some of the best mares in Australia will do battle for Group l glory this Saturday at Flemington in the Empire Rose Stakes (1600m), where Kiwi mare La Crique dominates early betting. Down below is a speed map, runner preview and $100 betting strategy for the 2022 Empire Rose Stakes. *Existing customers only. 2nd Racing bet. Excl SA & WA. T's & C's…

Hall of Fame trainer John Hawkes concedes there is no certainty even a proven wet-tracker like Mr Mozart will handle the extremely heavy conditions at Royal Randwick on Saturday. "When the track gets to a Heavy 10, then you can't say with any confidence if a horse will get through the going," Hawkes said. "Even those horses like Mr Mozart, who…

She has been a quiet achiever of the Chris Waller stable but Hinged can put her name up in lights if she can emulate former champion stablemate Winx by winning the prestigious Epsom Handicap. Hinged has come through the ranks alongside high-profile barn mates Fangirl and Espiona and despite capturing the Group 1 Surround Stakes in the autumn, she…

Hinged is equal favourite for the Epsom Handicap. Picture: Jenny Evans-Getty Images Group 1 weapons Fangirl and Hinged will headline a three-pronged Chris Waller assault on Saturday's Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick, which has attracted a small field of just 12 runners. Hinged opened as a $4.50 equal favourite with TAB alongside Icebath with…

Chris Waller will flex his muscle at Randwick's traditional spring meeting and could have the favourites in each of the three group 1s on Saturday, which may turn into ladies' day for the premier stable. The champion trainer has swept the October long weekend majors before, in 2019, when he also won the Turnbull Stakes in Melbourne to achieve the…

The New Corp Racing and Wagering team have put together an expert panel to give you, the audience the early inside running on feature races in Melbourne and Sydney this spring. The panel of six will be offering their early thoughts on all of the Group 1 races and other feature contests during the spring, through until the end of the Melbourne Cup…

Eduardo is on target for the Group 1 T.J Smith Stakes. Picture: Grant Guy Trainer Joe Pride's powerful presence for The Championships including stable stars Eduardo, Private Eye, Brutality and Shalatin, could provide him with a historic Group 1 treble at Royal Randwick on Saturday. Pride's done his job. His talented quartet are primed and ready but…

Racing's "Mr Reliable" Tim Clark is riding for a unique three-peat in the Group 1 $600000 Coolmore Classic (1500m) when he partners classy mare Vangelic at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. Clark has won the last two Coolmores on Krone (2021) and Con Te Partiro (2020). No jockey has ridden a hat-trick of winners in the feature fillies and mares race…

The Doncaster Mile is Funstar's main goal. Photo: AAP Image/Simon Bullard A date with the Apollo Stakes next month is shaping as the likely starting point for star mare Funstar as trainer Chris Waller targets more Group 1 success and a potential Doncaster Mile tilt. The Waller-trained mare broke her Group 1 duck at the first time of asking when…

Mr Mozart doesn't hold a nomination for the Doncaster Mile, but connections are keen to find him another autumn carnival target after he continued his form resurgence at Newcastle. The Hawkes Racing three-year-old added Monday's Doncaster Prelude (1500m) to his resume, justifying his $3.50 favouritism to outmuscle Our Playboy ($4.20) by a length…

The Epsom Handicap is always one of the most open Group 1 races of the Sydney Spring Carnival, and a talented field of milers will contest the $1.5 million feature at Royal Randwick on Saturday. Won by the likes of Winx, Happy Clapper, Hartnell and Probabeel during the last decade, the Epsom Handicap truly is a'good horses' race, and a capacity…

High-class mare Nimalee has put herself in pole position to chase another Group 1 win in next week's Epsom Handicap with a gritty victory in the Racing & Sports Golden Pendant at Rosehill. Jockey Regan Bayliss opted to go forward from an outside gate and Nimalee camped at the flank of leader Expat, eventually getting the better of her before…