Wednesday, 1st July 2026
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Global Breeding, Racing and Sales News

  • Baker Licking His Lips Ahead of New Season

    Thursday, 2nd July 2026
    A Warwick Farm spring team with genuine three-year-old firepower is beginning to take shape, with Bjorn Baker preparing Warwoven, Paradoxium and Blue Door for campaigns that could reach into Sydney and Melbourne’s best age-group races. The stable has already had all three make an impact at stakes level, reports racenet.com.au, and Baker is now looking towards the first trials of the new preparation before deciding how aggressively to place them through the early spring. Warwoven, once favourite for the Magic Millions 2YO Classic before being scratched on the eve of the race, went on to win the Gr3 Pago Pago Stakes before backing up seven days later to finish sixth in the Golden Slipper, and Baker has been pleased with the way the colt has returned. “He's been back in the stable for around a month and he's making smooth progress,” Baker said. “He's definitely developed since the autumn, he's an athlete and his attitude is great for a colt, he's quite laid back. He'll be aimed at the Golden Rose first and foremost and then we'll work it out from there. Expect him to trial mid-to-late July then again late July to early August.” Paradoxium, another colt who carried high juvenile expectations, won the Gr2 Todman Stakes before enduring a difficult Golden Slipper run and later finishing unplaced in the Sires’ Produce Stakes, and Baker is keeping a wider range of options open for him. He may yet meet Warwoven on a Golden Rose path, but Melbourne’s sprint programme is also being considered, including the Moir Stakes or races such as the Danehill Stakes. “He's a bit more of an open book at this stage compared with Warwoven,” Baker said. “He's developed a bit more physically than the other colt and you'll see him at the trials around the same time. The Golden Rose is a possibility but so could be a trip to Melbourne for races like the Moir or the three-year-old races like the Danehill Stakes. I'm not closing the door on anything.” The third member of the group, Blue Door, brings a different profile but no less intrigue, having won the Gr3 Kindergarten Stakes at her only start after just one trial. With the Listed Rosebud over 1100 metres only six weeks away as Sydney’s first three-year-old stakes race, the Stay Inside filly has given Baker every reason to think she can progress quickly. “She's a real surprise packet,” he said. “I'm really, really impressed with how she's come back. She's got so much upside. I'm not ruling anything out for her, three-year-old races and fillies races. She's a very quick filly and I think there some very exciting things ahead of her.” Blue Door is also expected to trial within the next month before resuming, while bigger targets remain in the background for the stable’s sprinting three-year-olds. Baker said the Gr1 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington on October 31 was clearly on the radar, but any talk of the $20 million The Everest would require one of them to force the conversation through performance.

    Paradoxium

    Paradoxium has an exciting spring ahead of him (pic: magicmillions.com.au)

  • Dream Exit Possible for Hawkesbury CEO

    Thursday, 2nd July 2026
    A farewell meeting at Hawkesbury could yet deliver James Heddo the kind of send-off racing people dream about, reports racingnsw.com.au, with the retiring chief executive part-owning Squeezebox, who lines up in Thursday’s Good Luck James Heddo Benchmark 64 Handicap over 1600 metres. Heddo will officiate at his final Hawkesbury meeting before bringing his four-year tenure to a close on July 17, and a win in the race carrying his name would add a neat personal flourish to a week already heavy with sentiment. “I’ve raced horses with Squeezebox’s trainer Kim Waugh for more than 20 years,” Heddo said. “Kim has done a terrific job with Squeezebox, who is a great advertisement for racing fans wanting to get involved in horse ownership courtesy of tried horses being sold online.” The former Godolphin gelding, originally trained by James Cummings, had raced 10 times before Waugh bought him for $47,500 through Inglis Digital in April last year, and he has rewarded the move with a win and eight placings for his new connections. Heddo said the experience showed the value that could be found in a lightly raced, sound tried horse, particularly one capable of providing regular involvement. “Buying a sound tried horse who hadn’t had a lot of racing has offered a lot of fun for us. Squeezebox is very consistent, and is racing well,” he said. The gelding also brings proven Hawkesbury mile form into Thursday’s assignment, having won a Super Maiden Handicap over 1600 metres at last year’s Ladies Day Cup meeting, while his recent form includes a 1400-metre win on the new Illawarra Grange track on May 30 and placings over 1600 metres at Gosford and 1500 metres back at Hawkesbury. Keagan Latham, who has 60.5 winners for the season and has ridden Squeezebox at his past three starts, again takes the mount, with the gelding rated a $6 chance in an open market headed by Bjorn Baker’s My Shareena at $4.20 and Brad Widdup’s Satono Jasmine at $4.60. Tyler Schiller replaces Chad Schofield on Satono Jasmine, with Schofield returning to South Africa for the Durban July, while Widdup has seven acceptors as he tries to protect a two-win lead over Chris Waller in the Hawkesbury trainers’ premiership with only two meetings remaining.

  • Black Caviar's Granddaughter Showing Promise

    Thursday, 2nd July 2026
    A blueblood Randwick Kensington maiden carried more than the usual midweek significance on Wednesday, with Ready Forcocktails becoming the latest branch of Black Caviar's family to put a win on the board. The Snitzel filly, trained by Michael, John and Wayne Hawkes, is out of Ready For Caviar, the fourth foal of the unbeaten champion, and she achieved what her dam could not by breaking through at her fourth start in the TAB Maiden Plate over 1150 metres. Tyler Schiller had the $3.20 favourite travelling comfortably behind the speed before asking her to quicken, and Ready Forcocktails responded decisively, stretching away to beat Claudel by 2.75-lengths, with Sorentina third. The win followed two seconds from her first three appearances and confirmed the promise Schiller said she had long shown in her work, even if race circumstances had not always allowed her to display it. "She has always shown so much at home," Schiller said. "We sort of expected a bit more before this run but she obviously ran into a nice enough two-year-old last start and last prep she probably didn't have a couple of things go her way. Today she found the right race to get a bit of confidence under her belt." Schiller also suggested the filly's racing style still requires careful timing, noting she does not sustain a long, sweeping sprint and is better produced with patience rather than being exposed too early. "She hasn't got a long sprint so you can't really expose her at the top of the straight but I was surprised how strong she ran through the line considering she usually sprints for about 200m." The result added a useful layer to the wider story of Black Caviar's daughters, who have carried public fascination into both racing and breeding careers without any expectation that their dam's impossible 25-from-25 record could be replicated. Invincible Caviar, by I Am Invincible, was the best-performed of Black Caviar's progeny on the track, winning four of her eight starts before her life and career were cut short by a suspected heart attack, while Persian Caviar, by Written Tycoon, became the only foal of the champion to win on debut and later added a city success at Sandown. Oscietra, the first foal from Black Caviar, raced with the heaviest spotlight and won twice from five starts before going to stud, where she produced Keysborough, a winner by I Am Invincible. Ready For Caviar, by More Than Ready, was unable to win in two starts, although she did finish second, and her value is now being expressed through Ready Forcocktails, whose Randwick Kensington success gives that line a fresh racing foothold. Out Of Caviar, by Snitzel, never raced after minor setbacks and was sent straight to the breeding barn, leaving Black Caviar's legacy to continue through daughters whose contributions are increasingly being measured not only by what they did under silk, but by what they can now produce.

    Black Caviar

    Black Caviar continues to exert influence as a second dam (pic: Steve Hart)

  • One Month Ban for Anthony and Sam Freedman

    Thursday, 2nd July 2026
    A significant but far shorter-than-feared disruption will hit one of Victoria's highest-profile stables, with Anthony and Sam Freedman disqualified from training until the end of the month after charges relating to raceday treatment were heard by the Victorian Racing Tribunal on Wednesday. The father-and-son partnership each received 28-day bans, according to racing.com, after Kira and Moonhaven were treated at their Cranbourne base on August 16 last year with therapeutic medication delivered via a nebuliser for diagnosed respiratory issues. Neither trainer was present when the treatment occurred, and the matter was attributed to human and administrative error, but the oversight carried serious consequences because the horses had still been accepted to race at Caulfield that day, despite the stable's intention being to run them as nominated the following Wednesday at Sandown. Both horses were ultimately scratched, but the timing of the treatment left the Freedmans exposed to a far heavier sanction, with the pair initially facing the possibility of six months on the sidelines. The tribunal found special circumstances existed to justify a significant reduction in penalty, limiting the disqualifications to 28 days, with the bans to begin at midnight. The stable was also fined $1500 for failing to maintain treatment records, and the charges were not contested. While the timing is awkward, coming only a month before the start of the new racing season, the outcome leaves the operation facing a short-term interruption rather than a prolonged absence from the training ranks. "We take full responsibility for the oversight," the Freedmans said in a statement issued after penalty was handed down. "We take pride in our operation's integrity and the strength of our systems, but unfortunately on this occasion there was an inadvertent stable error." Their response reflected the tribunal's finding that the incident arose from a breakdown in process rather than any direct raceday involvement by either trainer, although the penalty still underlines the strict obligations placed on stables around treatment timing and record-keeping. During the suspension period, Clayton Douglas will assume control of the stable's operations and horses, allowing the business to continue functioning while Anthony and Sam Freedman serve their bans. For a stable accustomed to operating at the upper levels of Australian racing, the episode is a reminder that administrative systems are judged as firmly as racetrack results, and the coming weeks will be focused on maintaining continuity before the Freedmans are eligible to resume training duties.

  • Kiwi-Bred Sprinter Set to Raid Japan

    Thursday, 2nd July 2026
    A September raid on Japan is being mapped out for Fast Network, with Dennis Yip's high-class Hong Kong sprinter expected to tackle the Gr2 Centaur Stakes at Hanshin before staying on for the Gr1 Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama three weeks later. An official invitation from the Japan Racing Association has yet to arrive, but JRA chief handicapper Shinichi Hashimoto was at Sha Tin on Saturday and Hong Kong Jockey Club head of racing product Greg Carpenter told Idol Horse that the New Zealand-bred son of Wrote is expected to take his place. "Dennis has nominated for the G2 Centaur Stakes on September 6 and the G1 Sprinters Stakes on September 27," Carpenter said. "What I asked on behalf of Dennis was whether the horse can stay in Japan for the three weeks in between or whether he has to return, and the answer is that he can stay." The arrangement gives Yip a practical platform for a two-race campaign, although the Centaur Stakes field will not be confirmed until August and the riding arrangements remain unresolved. The timing is awkward for Hong Kong's jockey ranks, with the Centaur Stakes falling on the opening day of the 2026-27 season, when Zac Purton is already committed to riding Ka Ying Rising first-up in the Chief Executive's Cup as the world's top sprinter begins his build-up towards a defence of The Everest. Jerry Chau is a strong local option for Fast Network, while the owner also raised James McDonald's name, though Yip indicated that scenario appeared unlikely. "The owner asked me, James McDonald? But I don't think he will," Yip said. "If Jerry rides, he will ride in both races." Fast Network would be attempting to become Hong Kong's first winner of the Centaur Stakes, a race in which Caspar Fownes went close with Green Birdie in 2010 and Lucky Nine in 2011, before trying to join Silent Witness and Ultra Fantasy as Hong Kong-trained winners of the Sprinters Stakes. Bred by Highview Stud, Fast Network was originally named Donnie Malone and was bought by Wexford Stables for $30,000 at the 2022 Karaka Book 2 Yearling Sale. He won a Te Rapa trial for Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott before being sold to Hong Kong, where he has developed into another advertisement for Highview Stud stallion Wrote, the Gr1-winning son of High Chaparral who has sired 11 individual Hong Kong winners from 14 runners.

    Fast Network

    Fast Network (inside) is facing overseas duties (pic: hkjc.com.au)

  • Dettori (Lazarus) Making Another Comeback

    Thursday, 2nd July 2026
    A brief return to the British saddle by one of racing’s most recognisable figures will add star power to Doncaster in September, with Frankie Dettori set to ride in the Betfred Leger Legends race during the St Leger meeting, notes racingpost.com. Dettori, now 55, appeared to have brought the curtain down on his riding career with a double in Brazil in February after extending his farewell far beyond the original plan to retire at the end of 2023, but the lure of the mile classified stakes for former professional jockeys will bring him back for his first British mount since that season. The race, first staged in 2010 and now switched to the ITV-televised Friday of the St Leger meeting on September 11, raises money for the Injured Jockeys Fund and has already attracted an impressive honour roll of past participants, with Mick Kinane and AP McCoy among previous winners. Andrew Thornton, the former Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning rider who sits on the race committee and organises the jockeys, said Dettori’s involvement would significantly lift the occasion. “We're absolutely delighted to have Frankie. He's huge box office and his presence will be an enormous help in raising the profile of the race,” Thornton said. Dettori’s connection with Doncaster is substantial, having ridden more than 150 winners at the track and won the St Leger six times, but for many in the sport his name remains inseparable from the day in 1996 when he rode all seven winners at Ascot, a feat Thornton still remembers from the old weighing room at Worcester. “Like every jockey and all racing fans, I can still remember where I was when Frankie rode his 'Magnificent Seven',” he said. “I was in the old weighing room at Worcester, where they were showing the TV coverage from Ascot. We were like kids in a sweetshop watching it and screaming like nine-year-olds!” Thornton joked that Dettori would be under pressure to follow the lead of Kinane and McCoy by winning the Legends race, though pressure has rarely seemed to trouble him, and said the Italian was eager to support a cause deeply understood by riders past and present. “Frankie was more than happy to help out the Injured Jockeys Fund, because he totally understands where all the money is going to,” Thornton said, pointing to the long-standing support provided through the IJF and its facilities, including John Oaksey House, Jack Berry House and Peter O’Sullevan House. The line-up will also feature Jamie Hamblett, the former apprentice later known as an X Factor semi-finalist and founding member of Union J, whose following is expected to bring a different audience to the race, while 71-year-old Kevin Mooney, remembered for winning the 1984 Whitbread Gold Cup on Special Cargo for the Queen Mother, adds another layer of nostalgia. Jimmy Quinn, Adam Kirby, Franny Norton, Sammy Jo Bell, Gary Bardwell, Niall Madden, Megan Nicholls, Gay Kelleway, Richard Patrick, Tom Scudamore and Adrian Nicholls are also confirmed, giving Doncaster a field built as much on memory and affection as competition.

  • Dwyer Hoping Poor Atlantique Run a Blip

    Thursday, 2nd July 2026
    A forgiving view of one poor run will be tested at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday, where Henry Dwyer is giving Cote Atlantique the chance to reassert his earlier consistency in the $300,000 Glasshouse Handicap over 1400 metres. The Ballarat-trained five-year-old had shaped well through the first part of his campaign, running encouraging seconds in New Zealand and Brisbane across his first three appearances, but he was plain in the Listed Bernborough Handicap over 1600 metres at Doomben on May 16, beating only two runners home in a performance that left the stable searching for answers. “We don't know. He just put in a bad one,” Dwyer said. “He didn't have a great run but he just raced a bit flat.” Spelling him was initially on the table, but Dwyer instead opted to freshen the 2025 Seymour Cup winner and press on with a Queensland plan built around what he believes is a more suitable race shape and distance. Blinkers have also been introduced, and a Sunshine Coast trial last week gave the stable encouragement that the gear change had sharpened him. “We were going to tip him out then we thought we would freshen him up for this race,” Dwyer said. “We trialled him the other morning with blinkers on and he trialled really well.” The drop back from a mile is central to the thinking, with Dwyer unconvinced Cote Atlantique is at his best over a strongly run 1600 metres, particularly when wet ground turns the assignment into a deeper staying test. “I don't think he gets a strong mile, particularly on wet tracks,” he said. “He handles wet but it just makes it a tougher mile and I don't think he gets it. He's not a genuine top-rater, he's just that level below, so we're trying to skirt around the edges and find those second-tier Group races, which will give him his chance. He's a genuine horse and the Sunshine Coast 1400m on the nice big track will be ideal.” Dwyer also has stable flagbearer Asfoora back in action in England on Saturday night Australian time, with the mare set for a Gr3 set weights and penalties race at Sandown Park after her improved effort when beaten less than two lengths in the Gr1 King Charles III Stakes over five furlongs on the opening day of Royal Ascot. Dwyer said she was expected to start favourite and be well placed to return to winning form, with a Gr2 race worth about $600,000 at Goodwood three weeks later the next planned step.

  • Jordan Signs Off for Now with Special Win

    Thursday, 2nd July 2026
    A Devonport farewell could hardly have fallen more neatly for Codi Jordan, who signed off before a long-term travelling holiday around Australia by winning the race named in her honour on Sunday afternoon. The leading jockey made every post a winner aboard the $2.80 favourite Wild Dancer in the Safe Travels Codi Class 4 over 1150 metres, turning what might have been a sentimental occasion into a practical reminder of why she will be missed while away from the saddle. “It’s a super way to finish. I keep reminding everyone that I’m coming back, I love the game, and I love the horses, but I couldn’t have written it any better,” Jordan said. The victory carried extra meaning because Wild Dancer is now raced by the family of Jordan and her partner Mason Cock, having been picked up as a recent bargain purchase after beginning his career in Victoria with Gr1-winning trainers Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman. The gelding has quickly justified the move, winning twice from three Tasmanian starts, and Jordan was keen to share the moment with those around her. “Just to get the win with the family horse and to have all our mates in it, I want to say a big thanks to all the team. I wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t for them,” she said. While Jordan owned the emotional headline, Erica Byrne Burke again underlined her premiership dominance with a treble on the eight-race card, taking the opening two races aboard Respite and Coloney Bogey before later adding the $18 outsider Kireina Marubrah. With four meetings left in the season, the 100-win mark appears beyond reach, but her 82 victories have her on track for the best Tasmanian tally since Craig Newitt’s 99 in 2018-19. Adam Trinder shared training honours after preparing Respite and Kireina Marubrah, while Trent Wells matched him with successive wins from It’s Jagger Time and Gladding through the middle of the program. Trinder said the double was welcome after a testing fortnight, having brought seven runners to Devonport without a winner two weeks earlier before not saddling a runner at Hobart last week, making Sunday’s response a timely lift for the stable.

  • NZB Opens Entries to World Leading 2YO Sale

    Thursday, 2nd July 2026
    A sale that has become one of Karaka’s most reliable international shop windows is again open for business, with entries now being taken through the NZB Portal for New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2026 Ready to Run Sale of 2YOs. The two-day auction will be held at the Karaka Sales Centre on November 18 and 19, following Breeze Ups at Te Rapa on Monday, October 12 and Tuesday, October 13, and NZB will take the next edition to market with a powerful recent record behind it. According to the company, graduates of the sale have produced 33 Gr1 wins and 115 stakes wins across the past five seasons, a return it contrasts with the two Group 1 successes recorded by Australia’s combined two-year-old sales over the same period. The current season has again reinforced the sale’s reputation, with 26 black type wins credited to graduates including Ceolwulf, Mr Brightside, War Machine, Asterix, Patch of Stars and Single Choice, while the emerging talent list is headed by Hong Kong Derby winner Invincible Ibis. That racetrack performance has been mirrored by strong growth in the ring, with NZB coming off three consecutive record-breaking editions of the sale. The 2025 renewal lifted all key indicators, producing a record aggregate of $41.4 million, a record median of $100,000 and a record average of $156,255 – a fair reflection of the regard in which this sale is held. “This Sale continues to reach new heights on the racetrack and in the sale ring, with three consecutive record-breaking editions,” NZB managing director Andrew Seabrook said. “The results in the ring have grown rapidly year-on-year, with the aggregate rising 74% over seven years - from $23.8 million in 2019 to $41.4 million in 2025.” Seabrook said that growth had been supported by NZB’s drive to bring a deep buying bench to Karaka, with buyers from Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, China and beyond targeted for attendance. Entries close at 5pm on Friday, July 31.
Amarina Farm
Arrowfield Stud
Bell River Thoroughbreds
Berkeley Park Stud
Bhima Thoroughbreds
Blue Gum Farm
Bombora Downs
Clear Mountain Fairview
Coolmore Stud
Cressfield
Evergreen Stud
Kingstar Farm
Lime Country Thoroughbreds
Mill Park Stud
Murrulla Stud
Newhaven Park
Segenhoe Stud
Silverdale Farm
Sledmere Stud
Torryburn Stud
Tyreel Stud
Vinery Stud
Widden Stud
Willow Park Stud
Yarraman Park Stud

2025 BTR Stud Stallions

BTP STUD STALLIONS

Sire
A Lot Established
Acrobat Established
Al Maher Established
Alabama Express Established
All American Established
All Too Hard Established
Alpine Eagle Established
Alpine Edge 3rd Season
Anamoe 1st crop 2YOs
Anders Established
Artie Schiller Established
Awesome Rock Established
Barbados Established
Barbaric Established
Best Of Bordeaux Established
Better Than Ready Established
Bivouac Established
Brave Smash Established
Brazen Beau Established
Bruckner 1st crop 2YOs
Bull Point Established
Bullbars Established
Cape Of Good Hope 1st crop 2YOs
Capitalist Established
Captivant Established
Castelvecchio Established
City Of Troy Established
Cliff's Edge Established
Cool Aza Beel Established
D'argento Established
Danerich Established
Dash For Cash Established
De Gaulle Established
Delaware Established
Denman Established
Dirty Work Established
Dissident Established
Don Corleone 3rd Season
Doubtland Established
Dubious Established
Dundeel Established
Encryption Established
Exceedance Established
Exosphere Established
Extreme Choice Established
Farnan Established
Flying Artie Established
Foxwedge Established
Frankel My Dear Established
Gingerbread Man Established
Gold Standard Established
Graff Established
Grunt Established
Hallowed Crown Established
Harry Angel Established
Hawaii Five Oh 3rd Season
Headwater Established
Hellbent Established
Hitotsu 1st crop 2YOs
Home Affairs Established
I Am Immortal Established
I Am Invincible Established
Ilovethiscity Established
Invader Established
Jacquinot 1st crop 2YOs
Ka Ying Master 1st crop 2YOs
Kermadec Established
King Colorado 3rd Season
King's Legacy Established
Lead Artist 1st Season
Lofty Strike 3rd Season
Lord Of The Sky Established
Love Conquers All Established
Manhattan Rain Established
Maschino Established
Master Of Design Established
Maurice Established
Merchant Navy Established
Mo'unga 3rd Season
Murtajill Established
My Admiration Established
Needs Further Established
Nicconi Established
Nostradamus Established
Officiating 3rd Season
Ole Kirk Established
Pariah Established
Pierata Established
Pierro Established
Pinatubo Established
Playing God Established
Portland Sky Established
Power Established
Pride Of Dubai Established
Private Life Established
Puissance de Lune Established
Rebel Dane Established
Rich Enuff Established
Rommel Established
Rubick Established
Russian Camelot Established
Russian Revolution Established
Safeguard Established
Sandbar Established
Sessions Established
Shaft Established
Shalaa Established
Shamoline Warrior Established
Shamus Award Established
Shinzo Established
Shooting To Win Established
Sidestep Established
Sizzling Established
Skilled Established
Smart Missile Established
Snitzel Established
So Secret Established
So You Think Established
Soul Patch Established
Southport Tycoon 2nd Season
Spirit Of Boom Established
Squamosa Established
St Mark's Basilica Established
Star Turn Established
Star Witness Established
Street Boss Established
Super One Established
Supido Established
Swear Established
Sweet Ride 3rd Season
Switzerland Established
The Autumn Sun Established
The Brothers War Established
Time To Reign Established
Too Darn Hot Established
Toorak Toff Established
Top Echelon Established
Toronado Established
Trapeze Artist Established
Tropicus 1st Season
Turffontein Established
Unite And Conquer Established
Universal Ruler Established
Vancouver Established
Vandeek Established
Victor Ludorum Established
Von Costa De Hero Established
Wandjina Established
Winning Rupert Established
Wooded Established
Wootton Bassett Established
Worthy Cause Established
Written By Established
Written Tycoon Established
Xtravagant Established
Your Song Established
Zousain Established
Zoustar Established