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Probabeel flies NZ flag in Australian Oaks; Brothers in opposing Sydney Cup corners; Hong Kong win Simply done
Probabeel flies NZ flag in Australian Oaks
Having captured the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) with Quick Thinker , the Kiwis have set their sights on a Classic cleansweep with class filly Probabeel in the Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick on Saturday.
New Zealand horses have enjoyed a heady run of success in Sydney's autumn blue ribands with three of the past six winners of the Oaks all trained in New Zealand.
That's not including last year's winner Verry Elleegant who was Sydney-trained but born and raised in New Zealand where she did her early racing.
Trainer Jamie Richards will be the hope of his homeland at Randwick on Saturday with Probabeel after making a belated decision to extend her preparation.
The filly sits high in the market at $4, behind only the Godolphin-trained Colette ($3) who is on a seven-day back up after winning last weekend's Gr.3 Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m).
Probabeel is untested at the distance but she is stoutly bred. By noted sire of stayers Savabeel, she is out of Pins mare Far Fetched who was stakes placed over 2100m before finishing unplaced in the 2014 Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m).
The New Zealand industry is renowned for breeding quality stayers and Richards said it is no surprise his country has had such success in the three-year-old Classics in Australia.
"They've always been kind to us and they are nice races to target because obviously our horses can stay a bit," Richards said.
"It's nice to be targeting a race we have had success in in the past as a nation."
The class runner in Saturday's renewal, Proabeel kicked off her campaign in January with back-to-back wins in New Zealand and brought that form to Australia, winning the Gr.1 Surround Stakes (1400m).
She was runner-up to Funstar in the Gr.2 Phar Lap Stakes (1500m) and just failed to reel in Shout The Bar in the Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) last start.
That was to have been her grand final but with the shape of future racing carnivals uncertain, Richards decided to press on to the Oaks.
"She is getting to the end of a pretty long campaign now but with so much uncertainty around what's going to happen in the spring, I think we've made the right decision to run her," Richards said.
"She has held her fitness and she's continued to train well so we've certainly been pleased with her."
Brothers in opposing Sydney Cup corners
There will be a hint of sibling rivalry in the Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) with English brothers David and Harry Eustace both having chances to win the time-honoured race at Randwick on Saturday.
David Eustace trains in partnership with Ciaron Maher in Australia and they operate one of the largest stables in the country with bases in Victoria and Sydney.
Maher and Eustace have New Zealand-bred gallopers Yogi and Etah James in Saturday's Cup as well as Azuro, with the trio all at $26 on Thursday.
The $2.50 favourite is the William Haggas-trained English visitor Young Rascal who won the Gr.3 Manion Cup (2400m) in the lead-up at Rosehill.
Young Rascal, and stablemate Addeybb who is one of the favourites for Saturday's Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m), are being looked after in Sydney by Haggas' assistant Harry Eustace.
"It will be fun and hopefully one of us can take it," David Eustace said.
"I'd say Harry has probably got a stronger hand but if Azuro gets the right run he's a chance, I do think that.
"We both like to win, that's for sure.
"It will be a good day. It's a shame I can't get up there but that's the way it is at the moment. We're just thankful we're racing."
Eustace and Maher are both in Victoria and will not be at Randwick because of restrictions on racing participants' interstate movements during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Assistant trainer Annabel Neasham oversees the team's Sydney stable at Warwick Farm.
Yogi was unplaced in last year's Sydney Cup but has a win at the distance and heads to the race off an eighth in the Manion Cup and sixth in last Saturday's Gr.2 Chairman's Quality (2600m).
Etah James beat Azuro when fourth in the Auckland Cup (Gr.1, 3200m) for trainer and part-owner Mark Lupton before being sent across the Tasman to Maher and Eustace for a Sydney Cup tilt.
"She's been training well and she trialled up nicely," Eustace said. "She came to us pretty fit and right to go.
"We're grateful to have her in our care for a short time and hopefully she runs well. I'm hopeful she will."
Eustace rates Young Rascal as the horse to beat.
"I think he's going to stay and the two miles will be no trouble," he said.
Hong Kong win Simply done
Douglas Whyte bagged the 29th win of his rookie season as a trainer when Simply Fluke broke his maiden in section two of the Class 4 Wan Tsui Handicap (1200m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday.
It was the five-year-old's first start for the handler following a stable transfer from Dennis Yip.
Jockey Joao Moreira overcame the widest gate on the son of Keeper, found the perfect midfield sit and then urged the favourite to a neck victory over Travel Datuk.
"When the barrier draw came out and Simply Fluke drew gate 12 again that was a concern, especially as he hadn't had the best of luck in a couple of his runs," Whyte said.
"I must say that the horse has really settled down – he's been a bit of a handful but he's settled down mentally and I was pretty confident with the work he's been showing at home that he could reproduce that and he did.
"I think there's still improvement in him. What he did today, I've learned more about him and I think I can assess him better. My belief is that after a run like that he's going to enjoy and appreciate his morning training even more now because when a horse can win a race they gain confidence and he's done it in a nice manner."
Bred by Casey, Michelle and Glenice Dando, Simply Fluke was purchased out of Bradbury Park's 2016 New Zealand Bloodstock draft and is a full-brother to Group Two winner Sworn to Secrecy.