3 minute read

Tommy Berry; Randwick Trials; Michael Rodd; Dwayne Dunn; Damian Browne; Peter Snowden; Emaratee; Chris Waller; Love Rocks; Kris Lees

HONG KONG WANTS BERRY

Tommy Berry is at short odds to be offered a full time contract in Hong Kong from the start of next season but don’t be surprised if he gets a much earlier call from the HKJC.

The riding ranks in Hong Kong have been hit by injuries and there is also a vacancy after Irish jockey Colm O’Donoghue was released from his club jockey contract by the HKJC this week.

Berry has formed a close association with leading trainer John Moore and has made no secret of his desire to ride in Hong Kong in the near future.

He could have taken up a contract at the start of this season but elected to stay in Australia to further enhance his local status riding for the Gai Waterhouse stable.

"One more year because once you do come here, you don't go home for a while,” Berry said at the time.

"I think if I get a chance to come back at the end of the season I will come back a better rider.”

AUTUMN POINTERS AT RANDWICK TRIALS

Friday’s Randwick trials will provide an early peek at some big autumn carnival prospects from the Gai Waterhouse stable.

Waterhouse has a batch of her big names entered for the trials as she is keen to send several to Melbourne for the start of their carnival in early February.

They include the Queen’s imported star Carlton House, Golden Slipper winner Overreach, Law and Knight Exemplar.

Waterhouse is keen to give Overreach a “Black Caviar” campaign in Melbourne, running the filly first-up in the Lightning Stakes followed by the Oakleigh Plate and Newmarket Handicap.

MICHAEL RODD IN SYDNEY

Magic Millions Guineas hope Charlie Boy will also be trialling at Randwick on Friday before heading to the Gold Coast.

Michael Rodd, booked for the Guineas ride, is coming from Melbourne to ride Charlie Boy for trainer Gerald Ryan in the trial and will stay on for mounts at Rosehill on Saturday.

INJURY WORRIES FOR DWAYNE DUNN

Injured jockey Dwayne Dunn will be out of action until February after scans showed he had a bulging disc in his neck as a result of aggravating an old injury two weeks ago.

Dunn expected to be back riding this week but is now undergoing cortisone injections and is hoping he will not require an operation.

Dunn has not ridden since December 18 when could not take his mounts at Mornington due to the painful whiplash injury suffered while riding in late November.

BROWNE OUT OF MAGIC MILLIONS

Top Brisbane rider Damian Browne has been finding life tough since his great sequence of Group One wins on crack sprinter Buffering in Melbourne and Perth in the late spring.

Brown will miss the rich Magic Millions race day because of a suspension he picked up in a maiden race at Caloundra on Boxing Day on his first day back from a month's suspension for his winning ride on Buffering in the Winterbottom Stakes at Ascot when he was also fined $5000.

SNOWDENS SET FOR RANDWICK

With John O’Shea to vacate one of the biggest stable blocks at Randwick when he starts up as head trainer for Sheikh Mohammed at Warwick Farm in May, the lobbying has already begun over the allocation of his vacant boxes.

If the mail is right, and those in the know say it’s a done deal, they are wasting their time as the O’Shea boxes will be handed to the new training partnership of Peter and Paul Snowden.

With boxes to fill, expect to see the Snowdens making an impact at all the major yearling sales over the next three months, starting at the Gold Coast Magic Millions.

EMARATEE MISSES TRIAL

Emaratee, the Fastnet Rock colt in the John Hawkes stable, is now the highest priced living yearling sold at auction in Australia following the sad death of Black Caviar’s $5 million half brother.

Emaratee was purchased by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa in partnership with Emirates Park Stud at the same 2013 Inglis Easter Sale for $4 million.

He has been in work and was due to appear in a Rosehill barrier before Christmas but was withdrawn from the 900m heat.

Emaratee’s dam is the G1 Oakleigh Plate winner River Dove.

WALLER GETS MORE BOXES

Chris Waller is really the flavour of the moment in Melbourne.

Waller’s rapid rise up the Melbourne premiership table after his great spring carnival success has the VRC eager to please Sydney’s premier trainer.

The VRC has confirmed that Waller’s number of boxes at Flemington will almost double from 14 to 26 in March, giving him the facilities to really make a run at the Melbourne title.

Waller has trained 14 winners in Melbourne since August 1 with 30 of his 59 runners finishing in the top three and the extra boxes at Flemington will enable him to circulate many more in-form horses between his Rosehill and Melbourne stables.

Waller has trained 71 winners in the first five months of the Sydney season and is on pace to give the record 167.5 races he won in 2012-13 a nudge come July.

SPELL FOR LOVE ROCKS

Toowoomba trainer Steve Tregea has decided to bypass the Goldmarket at the Gold Coast with Love Rocks and send the promising sprinter for a spell.

Love Rocks has won his last three Brisbane starts including the Listed Lough Neagh Stakes in great front running style, convincing Tregea that he is a genuine contender for the big carnival sprints in Brisbane in May and June.

LEES GETS OAKS FILLY

Plans for Kiwi filly Lucia Valentina to join the Kris Lees stable in Newcastle are unchanged after she escaped unscathed from a race fall in the Great Northern Guineas at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

Trainer Stephen Marsh feared for Lucia Valentina’s safety after she clipped heels and came down in the Guineas but was relieved when the filly was free in her action the next day.

“She walked out perfectly. We got the chiropractor to run over her and she will run in the Royal Stakes at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day,” Marsh said.

“We won’t be risking her but it will give her some confidence before she goes to Australia.

“That plan all along has been that she would go to Kris Lees to be set for the Australian Oaks at Randwick in April.”