James McDonald chases another Thousand Guineas
Not content with his record Melbourne Cup Carnival haul, James Mcdonald will be back in Melbourne for this Saturday’s Thousand Guineas meeting.
The champion jockey will ride pre-post favourite Aeliana in the $1.5 million Group 1 for three-year-old fillies.
McDonald won last year’s Thousand Guineas on Joliestar, who like Aeliana is trained by Chris Waller, and McDonald was taken by the way she disposed of her male rivals in the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Derby Day.
“She’s been an improver, a bit of a sleeper, but her performance in the Carbine Club was great,” McDonald said.
“A lot of the fillies are coming through the 1400-metre race (The Vanity), but she’s had a run against the boys over a mile and demolished them, so she looks pretty well placed.
“Some of the fillies in that 1400-metre race might be a little bit suspect at the mile , the way they ran the other day and on what their breeding suggests, but she’s ticked that box so that’s not a worry.”
Aeliana’s Carbine Club Stakes success was the first of 11 wins for the Melbourne Cup Carnival for McDonald, who rode Group 1 doubles on Derby Day and Champions Day to take his career Group 1 tally to 104.
It was the third win from five starts and second success in a row for Aeliana after taking out the Group 3 Reginald Allen Quality at Randwick on October 19.
A daughter of Castelvecchio, Aeliana races under Denise Martin’s Star Thoroughbreds silks and is out of a half-sister to Invincibella, who won 12 races and more than $3 million for Martin and her owners.
The trip to Caulfield will be part of a hectic weekend for McDonald, who will leave Caulfield before the meeting has concluded to get to Tullamarine, where he will catch a flight to Hong Kong to partner Romantic Warrior in Sunday’s Group 2 Jockey Club Cup (2000m).
More Racing News
Casey confident Wind And The Lion can roar back to winner’s list in Placid Ark
Beaten but certainly not bowed. That’s the sentiment of co-trainer Sean Casey who insists he was unfazed by Wind And The Lion’s first up defeat in the Placid Ark Prelude (1000m) at Ascot two weeks ago. All eyes were focused on the exciting three-year-old who was sent out a warm favourite after making...
No second thoughts for interstate G1 Winterbottom Stakes raider
It’s a one race trip, but Cranbourne trainer Grahame Begg is prepared to roll the dice and anticipates last-start Melbourne winner, Maharba to turn in a peak performance in the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) at Ascot. A trip west across the Nullarbor to contest Perth’s premier sprint on November 30...
Morton camp in buoyant mood for Champion Fillies Stakes
“If Brad Parnham can have her close enough on Saturday, she’s going to be real hard to hold out.” Trainer Dan Morton’s stable representative BJ Ryan conveyed an air of confidence on Tabradio when discussing the fortunes of Ron’s Finalflutter who will have an army of supporters ahead of the Group...
Tycoon’s Super shot at another Guineas double
Will Larkin doesn’t take offence to talk about Supercilious being a question mark at 1600 metres, but he figures the best mile race to put her to the test in is one with a Group 1 carrot at the end of it. Hence, she will take her place in this Saturday’s $1.5...
Irish jockey bunkers down in Sydney for latest stint
Irish jockey Dylan Browne Mcmonagle will be a regular fixture in Sydney over the spring and summer and he is hoping to hit the ground running with key rides in the feature races at Newcastle. Attached to the Joseph O’Brien yard, Browne McMonagle was Ireland’s champion apprentice in 2021 and has linked up...
Australian Bloodstock confirms Vauban purchase
A third tilt at the Melbourne Cup is back on the agenda for Vauban after confirmation the gelding had been sold to Australian Bloodstock in partnership with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. The Rich Ricci-owned star has failed to shine in the past two Melbourne Cups, finishing a disappointing 14th when sent off...
Schiller out to maintain perfect record on Briasa in The Hunter
Tyler Schiller is unbeaten in three rides on up-and-coming sprinter Briasa and he is optimistic of extending that sequence to four when he partners the heavily-backed favourite in the $1 million The Hunter at Newcastle. The Hawkes Racing four-year-old has been crunched from $5 into $2.80 for Saturday’s 1300m showpiece and arrives...
Good signs for Pisces ahead of Blue Sapphire Stakes
Pisces has Coleman to contend with, but Godolphin’s Melbourne team is drawing a line through Bittercreek to back their prospects of upsetting the Golden Slipper runner-up in Saturday’s Blue Sapphire Stakes at Caulfield. The James Cummings-trained gelding was an unlucky second behind Bittercreek in the Group 3 Red Anchor Stakes (1200m) at his...
De Kock headed back to South Africa
The Robbie Griffiths and Mathew de Kock training partnership is nearing its conclusion with the latter set to return home to South Africa. Stable clients were on Tuesday advised of the impending change in set-up to the successful Cranbourne stable with de Kock’s name to set to disappear from Australian formguides at...
Hello Romeo becomes Youmzain’s first
Lindsay Park’s great run with juveniles continued at Bendigo on Wednesday when Hello Romeo led home a stable quinella and score a milestone victory for his sire. The colt became the first winner from Hello Youmzain’s New Zealand’s crops when he led all the way to win the Avis Bendigo 2YO...