(INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA, USA) – Two-year-old filly Secret Cove, the first foal out of the Carondelet Farm-owned mare Tizadream kicked of a big day for trainer Eoin Harty after a powerful maiden-breaking win in the 1st race at Hollywood Park on Friday.

Harty-trained Victory With Honor won for the second time in as many starts over Cushion Track, capturing the $43,600 feature Friday at Hollywood Park.

One of three winners for trainer Eoin Harty, the 3-year-old Tiznow colt ran down pacesetter and 2-1 favorite Hugs to All nearing the wire.

Owned by breeder WinStar Farms LLC, Victory With Honor, who had defeated maidens Nov. 13 in his first of the Autumn meet and in his initial outing in nearly nine months, completed the 7 ½ furlongs in 1:29.77. The margin of victory was 2 ¼ lengths.

Out of the Nazaam mare Victory At Sea, Victory With Honor was ridden by Rafael Bejarano. Increasing his earnings in four lifetime starts to $48,080, Victory With Honor returned $7.60, $4.20 and $3.20 as the 5-2 second choice.

Hugs to All, who was seeking his third consecutive win for owner-breeder John Harris and trainer Marty Jones, saved the place by a half-length. Concerto’s Thunder was third.

Completing the order of finish were Galleta Monstruo, who was a nose behind Concerto’s Thunder, Fog Alert, Lease of Life, Working Capital and Boulder Creek.

Hugs to All paid $4 and $3.20 while the show price on Concerto’s Thunder was $3.40.

Harty, who along with winning the first with 2-1 second favorite Secret Cove, captured the eighth with Indiara, has eight victories from only 17 starters at the meet, which concludes Sunday.

Racing continues Saturday. Post time is 12:30 p.m.

(GOSFORD, NSW, AUSTRALIA) – Keepin’ The Dream caused a boilover in winning Thursdays Listed $125,000 Gosford Gold Cup (2100m).

After starting at $41, the gelding finished strongly to beat the Chris Waller-trained pairing of Strike One by a neck and Alexander of Hales, who was trapped on the inside for the vast majority of the race, was 1 3/4 lengths in third after only getting out very late.

The result capped off a memorable afternoon for winning jockey Tommy Berry, who was earlier named winner of the Gosford apprentice premiership, for the second consecutive season.

Berry relished heading into the race without the pressure on his more fancied rivals and took his chances when they came.

Following Hugh Bowman through on eventual runner-up Strike One with 600m to go, Keepin’ The Dream kept the pressure on and Berry took the lead in the final 100m, hanging on to win.

Berry said the late move was always going to make him look like “a goose or a champion.
“I never had any concern in following a jockey like Hugh Bowman, Berry said.

With his award and Cup win, Berry was proud his “hard yards are starting to pay off.
Trainer Pat Webster deflected any praise after the win, which came 10 days after the gelding was transferred to his care. Webster is a brother-in-law of trainers Jim and Greg Lee who are serving a three-month suspension.

In addition to the presentation of the apprentice premiership for 2009-10 to Berry, Kathy OHara took out the jockeys premiership, while the trainers premiership went to Guy Walter.

Waller has announced that Alexander of Hales will make his next start in the Christmas Cup in Sydney on December 11.

(SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) – The Cincotta Chemist Marrickville Handicap saw a thrilling finish between the Chris Waller pair Gigino and Alexander Of Hales over the 2000m journey.

The heavily backed favourite, the improving Gigino, sat second in the run and loomed up to his stablemate in the straight but required all of Brenton Avdulla’s strength to lift him over the line over the longshot who refused to let the eventual winner go past him until the final bob on the line.

Gigino, who has won five of his last six starts, has been one of the most improved horses in Sydney this campaign after coming back from a serious injury.

“He’s done a great job,” Waller said. “Full credit to my staff who have brought him back from a career threatening injury in a tendon.

“And it was a great run by the runner-up. I don’t know what happened to Alexander of Hales first-up but he’ll be hard to beat next time.”

Waller has now extended his winning streak to 14 consecutive Rosehill meetings with a victory.

The pair would now look to go in different directions as the Kiwi trainer has targeted the staying Alexander of Hales for more distance leading to the Group 3 Summer Cup on Boxing Day, and Gigino looks to be more effective at at 2000m.

(SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) – Expensive European import Alexander Of Hales makes his return to racing on Saturday after recovering from a broken hind leg.

His Chris Waller-trained stablemate Gigino is the likely favourite in the Benchmark 90 race over 1800 metres at Rosehill but Waller believes the seven-year-old can make his presence felt.

“He pulled up sore after his last start in March and that’s when we found the hairline fracture in his hind leg,” Waller said.

“He’s completely recovered now and has had three barrier trials to get him ready for 1800 metres first-up.

Starcraft’s owner Paul Makin was the major partner in the syndicate which bought Alexander Of Hales for a reported $1 million after he finished second, albeit beaten nine lengths, in the 2007 Irish Derby won by Soldier Of Fortune.

After a spring campaign with Danny O’Brien in Melbourne in 2008, Alexander Of Hales was sent north to Waller for a change of scenery.

Although he has won just one race in Australia for Waller, Alexander Of Hales has been thereabouts in plenty of others.

“He always runs consistently well,” Waller said.

“But he’s probably not going as well as Gigino at the moment.”

Gigino hasn’t raced for a month but has had a barrier trial during that time.

The five-year-old won three of his four starts prior to his short break with his most recent start a victory over subsequent Newcastle Cup winner Stratofortress.

Two weeks earlier Stratofortress beat Gigino after finishing third to him at their previous clash.

Waller said his other nominations for the race, Beijing Boy and Stand To Gain, would be saved for another day.

Hugh Bowman, who has elected to stay in Sydney this weekend after failing to secure a Caulfield Guineas ride, will be aboard Gigino while apprentice Kody Nestor rides Alexander Of Hales.

There were 16 entries for the Benchmark 90 with Alexander Of Hales topweight with 58.5kg while the Gai Waterhouse-trained Joku has 61.5kg in the Open Handicap over 1400 metres, four more than multiple Group One winner Mentality.

(INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA) – She’s Funomenal, under Joel Rosario, takes the first running of the Ifyoucouldseemenow Stakes. She’s Funomenal, who made a splash in her career debut when she drew off to win by 5 ½ lengths here Nov. 15, found herself in a tough spot early in the stretch when Excellent News began to pull away and Seriously made a bid to her outside.

The 2-year-old daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus responded when asked by jockey Joel Rosario and was widening at the finish, covering 6 ½ furlongs on Cushion Track in 1:15.96.

“She was a lot more experienced today,” Rosario said. “My horse broke sharp, but I wanted to try and get her relaxed and let her finish. That’s why I didn’t rush her up from the inside. She’s a real nice filly. It took a little while to get by those other horses, but she did it. Last time it was her first start and she didn’t really know what was going on. Today she was a lot more professional.”

She’s Funomenal, owned by a partnership including trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, STD Racing, Summit Racing and Carondelet Farm, banked $30,450 to boost her earnings to $52,050 while improving her record to two-for-two.

“If you want to have a horse that’s going to be a good horse, they can’t just run full speed the whole way,” said Dan Ward, assistant to Hollendorfer. “She showed she can come from off the pace. Before they do it you don’t know. In the morning they can do it, start off slow and finish fast, but in a race it’s a different story. I like the way she finished, and the way she galloped out was very promising for us.”

She’s Funomenal paid $2.60 and $2.10, while Excellent News returned $2.20. The scratch of Haggai reduced the field to four and there was no show betting.

(SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) – Sydney trainer Chris Waller has rolled the dice and taken former Irish stayer Alexander Of Hales to Queensland for the Listed Caloundra Cup despite the possibility the race could be switched from the grass to the all weather Cushion track.

“I’ll be very disappointed if the race is moved to the Cushion track,” Waller said.

“In fact, I’m not sure whether it would be allowed to move a Listed race to the Cushion.

“I don’t think the board (Pattern Committee) that decides our Group and Listed races would approve it.”

Caloundra was rated a heavy 10 on Thursday following 110 millimetres of rain since Sunday and more was forecast for Friday and Saturday despite a brief respite in the weather over the past few days.

Chief steward Wade Birch inspected the track on Thursday and declared it safe but he did have concerns with a section near the 1000-metre shute.

“The track is very wet but it can take more rain and is safe for racing,” said Birch, who will make a further inspection Friday.

Queensland Racing Limited’s racing manager Paul Brennan is confident the three major features, the Caloundra Cup, Glasshouse Handicap and Sunshine Coast Guineas will proceed as normal on the grass track.

The club has programmed 12 races, eight on grass and four on the synthetic surface.

“The only way we would transfer the meeting is if the track became unsafe because of visibility,” Brennan said.

“The Sunshine Coast is one of the best wet weather tracks in the country and at this stage we’re proceeding as normal on the grass.”

Alexander Of Hales arrived safely in Brisbane on Thursday and will be ridden by Brad Pengelly in the Caloundra Cup (2400m).

Waller also had nominated Alexander Of Hales for Saturday’s Listed Winter Cup (2400m) at Rosehill but favoured the Caloundra Cup because of its superior prizemoney.

“The Caloundra Cup has more prizemoney than the Winter Cup and we were planning to bring him up for next week’s Queensland Cup anyway,” Waller said.

“I didn’t want to give him a gut buster on a heavy track at home and then come up the same week of the Queensland Cup so I decided to send him up earlier and run at Caloundra.”

Waller holds no fears with a heavy track for the Irish import who finished fourth under the conditions to Ready To Lift in the Listed McKell Cup (2400m) two starts back at Rosehill on May 30.

“He loves the wet and a heavy track won’t bother him,” Waller said.

“He had no excuses in the McKell Cup and had every chance when fourth last start at Rosehill.

“He’s a real grinder who will go all day and I expect to see him race forward and roll along.”

Alexander of Hales was imported to Australia by Paul Makin of Starcraft fame and was originally trained in Melbourne by Danny O’Brien who is also a part-owner and sent him to Waller for a change of scenery.

Alexander Of Hales was formerly raced by Coolmore and won a Group Three race in France and finished second to Soldier Of Fortune in the 2007 Irish Derby.

However, the son of Danehill is yet to record a win on Australian soil from 10 starts, six of which were for O’Brien in Melbourne.

Alexander of Hales

(SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) – Former UK galloper Alexander Of Hales will run in Queensland this weekend in the Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m).
 
The Chris Waller-trained import, a six year old Danehill stallion, has been entered for both the $200,000 Listed Caloundra Cup over 2400m and the $100,000 Listed Winter Cup over the same journey on his home track of Rosehill.

But Waller has opted to send Alexander Of Hales north for the bigger field and the possibility of a more genuine tempo.

“He arrived in Queensland this morning and he’s done well,” Waller said. “He’s a very one paced horse so I’m keen to see him in a strongly run race and rolling along instead of being held up for a sprint home.

“Traditionally the Caloundra Cup is run under those conditions and that’s the reason why we sent him up.”

Waller said he expected jockey Brad Pengelly would have the gelding on the pace from barrier three.

Alexander Of Hales  was runner-up in the Irish Derby at his final run in the UK but is yet to place in 10 starts in Australia, firstly being prepared by Danny O’Brien and more recently with Waller.

His last two have been closest, though, finishing fourth in the McKell Cup and fourth in the Stayers Cup, both over 2400m at Rosehill.

In the Winter Cup, Waller will be represented by Come On Cugat who was runner-up in the Stayers Cup last start.

(SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) – Trainer Chris Waller will wait until later in the week to decide whether Alexander Of Hales travels from Sydney to Queensland for the Caloundra Cup.

Alexander Of Hales has also been entered for Saturday’s Winter Cup on his home track at Rosehill.

Both races are over 2400 metres but rain in Sydney over the past week means Rosehill is still likely to be soft.

There were 19 entries for the Caloundra Cup including Phaze Action, winner of the Andrew Ramsden (3200m) at Flemington last month.

Phaze Action is trained in partnership by Bevan Laming and his son Richard who operate stables on the Gold Coast and at Cranbourne in Victoria.

The Queensland Cup on Saturday week is also on the agenda for Phaze Action.

The feature sprint at Saturday’s Sunshine Coast meeting has been renamed the Bruce McLachlan Memorial Glasshouse Handicap (1400m) after the champion trainer who died earlier this month.

There were 31 entries for the Glasshouse including In Rehearsal from the McLachlan stable, now run by Bruce’s son Jason.

Grand campaigner Mitanni, who staved off retirement with his win in the Eye Liner Stakes at the Ipswich meeting, was also among the Glasshouse entries along with Mr Baritone, winner of the 2008 Stradbroke Handicap and fourth this year.

The Sunshine Coast Guineas (1600m) has attracted 29 entries including Apparitions and Dorf Command from the Clarry Conners stable.

Dorf Command won the Listed Gai Waterhouse (1450m) at Ipswich on June 13, the same day Apparitions booked her trip north with victory at Rosehill.

Dorf Command raced in Saturday’s Group One Winter Stakes finishing 14th, 4-1/4 lengths from the winner Russeting.

(SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) – Set Alight, a French Group winner imported to Australia as a stallion prospect who was waylaid in the midst of the Equine Influenza outbread, displayed an extraordinary turn of foot in shattering the track record at Grafton on Tuesday (February 10).

Now under the care of Gordon Yorke at Coffs Harbour, the well-bred son of Hennessy scored an easy win in the the Robbor Pty Ltd Open Hcp with Scott Thurlow in the saddle in a scintillating time of 1:22.15 for 1409m to set a new track record. 

What makes his effort even more impressive was the fact he shaved a full quarter of a second off the 1400m record while covering nine additional metres.

After breaking from the outside barrier, Thurlow found himself hung out extremely wide left with his only decision to either take the horse back or press on.  Fortunately for the connections of Set Alight, the veteran hoop asked his mount to accelerate and was able to secure a good position in third – some 5 lengths off dueling leaders.

Set Alight cruised himself up to the leaders and when asked by Thurlow, the six-year-old entire quicken away from the field for an easy win and a new track record.

Making his resurrection even more interesting is that Set Alight currently has six live foals on the ground after finding himself marooned on a Queensland farm with movement of mares halted during the EI crisis.

“We’re trying to get him back to Group status and now the Group 3 Healey Stakes Brisbane during the winter carnival is the target.” comment Yorke who now has two wins under his care (the first at 1200m at Coffs Harbour on January 11).

The no-nonsense conditioner comment, “It is starting to get exciting with this horse.”

(SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) – Set Alight, a French Group winner imported to Australia as a stallion prospect, continues his racetrack rejuvenation at Grafton on Tuesday.

The six-year-old, now under the care of Gordon Yorke at Coffs Harbour, tackles the Robbor Pty Ltd Open Hcp (1409m) with Scott Thurlow in the saddle.

Set Alight managed to serve just nine mares in Australia before the crippling equine influenza outbreak put paid to his immediate prospects in the breeding barn.

The owners decided to put him back into work with Marianne Thexton on the Gold Coast but he failed to fire in two runs and the decision was made to send him to Yorke.

“He went dismally, had some problems and Marianne and the owners asked me if I would take him on,” Yorke said.

“They knew of my work with stallions. I’ve got the trick with them – laser treatment.

“The laser is magic to patch up injured horses. Lasers are the key, not drugs.

“That’s my forte.

“We’re trying to get him back to Group status and all going well, I’m trying to have him ready for the Healey Stakes Brisbane during the winter carnival.

“It’s been a matter of getting him right again, getting his confidence back.

“He’s starting to come into form.

“All going well he can get back to the breeding barn. He’s well bred and there is a place for him.”

Yorke’s methods reaped success at Set Alight’s second start from his new stable when he won over 1200m at Coffs Harbour on January 11.

Set Alight was a last start fourth, beaten 1.7 lengths, behind She Belongs To Us over 1200m at Port Macquarie on January 29.

“He walked out of the barriers and stormed home under 58 kilos,” Yorke said.

“His work’s been good since.

“Provided the track isn’t too hard he’s a good chance at Grafton.”

Yorke will also saddle up Tintaldra (race four), De Coubertin (race five), Prince Cashe (race seven)and Makiling (race nine).