Queensland Derby day saw the feature go down to the wire, Kah claim another G1 in astonishing fashion, and Pikey go down in the last in bizarre circumstances.
With Jarrad Dooley
Danny O Brien says he is pleased with his double-pronged attack on this year s Andrew Ramsden Stakes, with a spot in the Melbourne Cup up for grabs to the winner of Saturday s race at Flemington.
The winner of the 2800-metre feature scores direct entry into November s Cup, and O Brien will saddle up Group 1 winner Miami Bound and talented three-year-old Salto Angel.
While Salto Angel ($18 Sportsbet) is the least favoured of the O Brien pair, the Melbourne Cup-winning trainer said she will relish the distance with 52kg and Damien Thornton aboard. She s quite a dour filly but she stays really well, O Brien said.
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Jockey Zac Spain has been suspended for a month to take effect immediately after he failed a breath test at Warrnambool on Wednesday.
Spain was stood down immediately from his two rides on the second day of the three-day May Racing Carnival and will not be able to ride at the Thursday meeting after he recorded a reading above the limit set for riders of .02.
Spain had to be replaced by Madison Lloyd on Polanco in the Wangoom Handicap while Damien Thornton took over his ride aboard Exalted Crown in the ninth event.
It is understood that all jockeys that rode at Warrnambool on Wednesday were breath-tested before being permitted to take their mounts.
BLACKISTON – “I DIDN’T KNOW IF I WAS ALIVE OR DEAD”
April 27, 2021 11:35 am
By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor
Early yesterday, after a dramatic trackwork fall at
Ballarat, trainer
Nigel Blackiston wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead.
Blackiston had been riding more work than usual because of a track rider shortage he and others have described as “diabolical.”
He’d cantered a lap of the inside sand on a particularly big horse, when the horse suddenly collapsed and died.
Blackiston remembers nothing of the fall, just the dream.
“All I remember is the horse went down and then I had these misty dreams, things like white roses and green fields. It was bizarre,” he said.