hugh bowman | Horse Racing Free Tips

Doyle Gets All-Clear For Third Go at Longines IJC

Hollie Doyle may be the roughest chance in the field of 12 for Wednesday evening's Longines International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) at Hong Kong iconic 'city track' at Happy Valley Racecourse, but she'd be considering herself fortunate to take her chances at all.

The 26-year-old, who returned an 'indifferent' COVID test upon her arrival from Japan, was given the green light to compete Tuesday after the chief medical officer for the Hong Kong Jockey Club confirmed that the original result was a 're-positive' case, per a release.

“After careful clinical and laboratory assessments with the results having been communicated to the Government, the CMO is satisfied that Jockey Doyle is medically fit to fulfil her race riding engagements at the Happy Valley Racemeeting to be conducted on Wednesday, 7 December 2022,” the statement read.

Doyle became the first woman to record a victory in one of the four legs of the IJC in 2020 and has reached the podium in both her previous appearances, finishing in a tie for second that year and a joint-third in 2021.

Japan's Yuga Kawada misses the IJC after returning a positive test prior to his departure, while Jye McNeil is also sidelined on similar grounds. Lyle Hewitson takes Kawada's rides and Hugh Bowman, the 2016 IJC winner, slides in for his fellow Australian McNeil.

Over the last several years, the allotment of rides for the IJC has been altered to level the playing field, but, as luck would have it, two-time defending champion Zac Purton has been handed a strong book and is the $3.20 (11-5) favourite to take home the winner's share of HK$800,000 yet again. But he is taking nothing for granted.

“These are the best jockeys from around the world and they've had the most success in recent times as well,” said Purton, who currently sits on 54 winners, 32 clear of fellow IJC competitor Vincent Ho. “They're all in good form and it creates an element of interest for everyone.

“These are the biggest stars in our sport so to be able to compete with them on a night like this is an opportunity I appreciate. I enjoy having them in town and catching up with them as friends too, so it's good to see some familiar faces.”

Making her first IJC appearance is Australia's history-making Jamie Kah, the leading jockey in Melbourne in 2020/2021 and first to post 100 winners in a Melbourne metropolitan season.

“It's always been a dream of mine to ride in Hong Kong,” said Kah, “And this is my first time here. I literally had a stopover once but didn't set foot outside the airport. It's a buzz to be part of this IJC and The Hong Kong Jockey Club has looked after me amazingly well.”

Kah is rated an $18 chance for the IJC.

Along with Purton and Bowman, other past IJC winners looking to add to their totals include Silvestre de Sousa, who won it in 2018, and Ryan Moore, who shared the spoils with Christophe Lemaire and John Murtagh in 2009 before winning outright the following year.

The field is completed by Doyle's husband Tom Marquand, Mickael Barzalona, James McDonald and Matthew Chadwick.

The IJC kicks off with race four at 12:10pm BST (7:10 a.m. US Eastern Time) and features two Class Four (1000m, 1650m) and two Class 3 handicaps (1650m, 1200m).

The post Doyle Gets All-Clear For Third Go at Longines IJC appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

McDonald Named Longines World’s Best Jockey

New Zealand-born, but Australian-based jockey James McDonald easily outdistanced Ryan Moore to be named the Longines World's Best Jockey for 2022. McDonald will be honoured at a ceremony during the gala dinner for the Longines Hong Kong International Races Friday, Dec. 9, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The awarding of the Longines World's Best Jockey title is based upon performances in the 100 highest-rated Group 1 and Grade 1 races as established for the year by the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings Committee. The scoring incorporates races from Dec. 1 of the previous year until Nov. 30 of the current year. Jockeys accrue 12 points for a win, 6 points for placing second, and 4 points for placing third.

McDonald, who finished third in the 2021 competition, won nine of the world's top 100 Group 1/Grade I races during the season, topped by the G1 Ladbrokes Cox Plate aboard Godolphin's Anamoe (Aus) (Street Boss) and the G1 T J Smith S. astride Nature Strip (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus}). McDonald also guided the latter to a thrilling victory in the G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot. He is the second Australian-based rider to win the title, following Hugh Bowman in 2017.

The post McDonald Named Longines World’s Best Jockey appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Australia: Winx Immortalized At Her Home Track Of Rosehill Gardens

Fillies and mares will be spotlighted this Friday night in Sydney against the backdrop of Australia's greatest ever mare – Winx — being immortalized in bronze at her home track Rosehill Gardens. The Group 1 Coolmore Classic heads a nine-race program at Rosehill which is available for livestream on the new Sky Racing World App and will be broadcast live on TVG (First Post: 8:35 p.m. ET / 5:35 p.m. PT).

Sydney's “Autumn Carnival” moves to Rosehill for the next three weeks and, in advance of this Friday night's Coolmore Classic card, a magnificent statue of Winx has been unveiled and will greet racing fans directly inside the track's main entrance. The 1,500-pound monument to the racing legend and her regular rider, Hugh Bowman, is 110% of their actual size: literally “larger than life.”

Bowman was quite moved at the ceremony – on International Women's Day – crediting the “extraordinary detail and accuracy” captured by renowned sculptor Tanya Bartlett during her 14-month labor of love. Winx's part-owner, Debbie Kepitis, marveled how “it is so touching that every time I walk through the gates at Rosehill now I can say hello to Winx!” And the grand mare's trainer, Chris Waller, echoed his champion's lasting inspiration by saying, “Winx is proof that dreams can turn into reality in this sport.”

As Waller's base of operations, Rosehill was Winx's “home track.” However, she never contested a Coolmore Classic and the race remains one of the few gems on Australia's racing calendar to have eluded Waller. The New Zealand native, firmly ensconced as Sydney's premier trainer, will saddle Madam Rouge (18-1) and Subpoenaed (11-1) in this year's renewal, carded as the seventh race at 9:15 p.m. PT.

One of Waller's biggest obstacles to a first Coolmore success is 3-year-old filly Forbidden Love (5-1 favorite), a last-start G1 winner against her own age. The filly has already acquitted herself admirably against elders, finishing a close third at G1 level last October (the Australian racing season begins in August). Forbidden Love is also adept on all track conditions, which will stand her in good stead with rain forecast for the second half of this week in Sydney.

Second choice in early wagering is lightly-raced 4-year-old Chaillot (7-1), who finished only a head behind Forbidden Love in the aforementioned Group One last October and has a massive 21-pound weight swing in her favor under the two races' respective conditions. One query against Chaillot is her never having raced outside of Victoria – the Coolmore will be her first experience in Sydney's clockwise direction – but, on weights alone, she will take a power of beating.

A week that began by globally celebrating women's achievements could end with a G1 victory by an Australian mare named for an American woman who reached the pinnacle in her chosen field: Krone has won her last two races at 30-1 and 15-1, and is a 16-1 shot to make it a third straight stakes upset in the Coolmore Classic. Colonial Affair was similar odds (13-1) when Julie Krone became the first female rider to win a Triple Crown race. And Krone's crowning achievement, the 1993 Belmont Stakes, occurred in similar rainy conditions that are relished by her equine namesake Down Under.

Finally, in a week that featured International Women's Day, it's fitting to reflect on the career of last year's Coolmore Classic winner, Con Te Partiro. A graduate of the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the $130,000 purchase won races at Keeneland, Saratoga, and Royal Ascot when trained by Wesley Ward. She was subsequently acquired for $575,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November Sale by a partnership of U.S.-based SF Bloodstock and Australia's Newgate Farm, and Con Te Partiro transferred to Australia's “Queen of Racing,” Gai Waterhouse. After a G3 win, she was retired but failed to get into foal. Brought back into training, the mare won consecutive G1 races, beginning with the 2020 Coolmore Classic.

An incredible journey came full circle when Con Te Partiro returned to Kentucky and was offered at last November's Keeneland Breeding Stock Sale, although she was passed in after not meeting her reserve. The 7-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy has been privately purchased by Sheikh Fahad of Qatar Racing for $1.6 million, with plans for her to be served by a stallion in England.

The Rosehill card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (first post: 8:35 p.m. ET / 5:35 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Gold Coast, Gosford and Ipswich. All races will be live-streamed in HD on the new Sky Racing World App, skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, and AmWager. Wagering is also available via these ADW platforms. Fans can get free access to live-streaming, past performances and expert picks on all races at skyracingworld.com.

A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Wrona's vast U.S. experience includes race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the International simulcast network. Wrona also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.

The post Australia: Winx Immortalized At Her Home Track Of Rosehill Gardens appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Dettori Scoops Longines Award For Fourth Time

Frankie Dettori turned 50 at the end of 2020 and it was yet another memorable year for the jockey on the racecourse, during which he earned his third consecutive Longines World's Best Jockey Award. He first won the award in 2015.

“Whoever thought at my age I could still do it,” said Dettori from his home in Newmarket as he joined the Longines Racing Awards via a video link.

The most successful horses with which the Italian-born jockey was associated in 2020 were the European champion 3-year-old colt, Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}), champion stayer Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and the recently retired Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who recorded an historic hat-trick in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. at Ascot. All three were trained in Newmarket by John Gosden.

“It goes without saying that she is the horse I've loved most in my life,” said Dettori of Enable, who was the joint-best horse in the world in 2019 along with Crystal Ocean (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}).

“We tried to win three Arcs and we couldn't make it but she won three King Georges, which was a record. I do miss her a lot. She gave racing and the public so much joy and she has really helped me to win this Longines World's Best Jockey.”

While Enable is now at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud awaiting her first cover by Kingman, both Palace Pier and Stradivarius have remained in training at Gosden's Clarehaven Stables. Now seven and still an entire, Stradivarius is being primed for a fourth Gold Cup at Ascot, the racecourse at which Dettori completed his infamous 'Magnificent Seven' in September 1996.

He added, “I think this has been a great initiative by Longines to start this World's Best Jockey championship from the results of the 100 best races around the world. It's great for us to be recognised around the world and for me to win it four times now is a great honour.”

Only three jockeys have won the award since it was founded in 2014. Ryan Moore was the inaugural winner and took the title again in 2016. Australia's Hugh Bowman, best known for his association with Winx (Aus), was the Longines World's Best Jockey in 2017.

The award is based upon performances in the 100 highest-rated Group 1 and Grade 1 races throughout the year, with jockeys given 12 points for a winning ride, six points for finishing second, and four points for third.

The post Dettori Scoops Longines Award For Fourth Time appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post