Horsing Around 24/8 - 30/8

Spring Watch: Group One Winning Forced To Retire Through Injury

A shake up in the world of sprint racing coming into Spring as Group One winning mare Loving Gaby has been forced to retire due to injury.

The announcement was made on Tuesday morning by the Maher and Eustace stable who cited heat and inflammation in her near fore limb as the reason for the retirement.

It’s an unfortunate circumstance for the stable after they were expecting the 4yo to have an eventful spring with her already placed as the $2.80 favourite for the Moir Stakes next month.

Her last trip out was a second last finish in the Group 1 TJ Smith stakes on a heavy track however having previously won the G1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) and G1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) was nominated for Horse of the year.

"It is with great disappointment we announce, Loving Gaby is set to miss the spring carnival," the Maher and Eustace stable said in a statement.

"The decision has been made to retire her. It is deeply disappointing for her owners Phoenix Thoroughbreds, the team at home and her fans."

"She gave us all some great memories and we are looking forward to seeing her progeny on the track."

Golden Ticket: New Golden Rose Favourite After Scorching Trial

The bookies were in scramble mode earlier in the week with Golden Rose contender Farnan delivering a red hot trial that moved the Bott and Waterhouse trained runner into favouritism for the race.

Farnan raced on a Good 4 track and made light work of his opposition to score by 3.8L in a slick 1:01.99, clocking 33.07 for his last 600m. TAB reacted to the trial by installing Farnan as the new favourite for the race at $4.50 and pushing short term favourite North Pacific out to second favourite at $5.

https://twitter.com/SkyRacingAU/status/1298035649044312064?s=20

"That is the colt we always hoped to see and the colt that we know," co-trainer Adrian Bott told Sky Racing post-trial.

"He is a true professional and was given a bit more of a test this morning in his second trial."

Farnan, who went for a spell following his 1.8L win in the G1 Golden Slipper (1200m), had his first trial back on August 14, scoring by 0.5L on a Heavy 8 over 850m.

"It was great to see the improvement and the way he responded when Hugh asked for an effort," Bott said.

"He has come along nicely and should improve further again off today so looking forward to getting him back to the races."

Farnan will be now pointed towards the G2 Run To The Rose at Rosehill on September 12.

Crowning Of A Champion: Nature Strip Takes Another Title

Chris Waller trained Nature Strip was announced Victorian Racehorse of the Year overnight defeating Japanese mare Lys Gracieux.

Having a stellar 2019-20 season the champ won multiple Group 1 races including the Moir Stakes over 1000m at the Valley and the VRC Classic over the prestigious 1200m Flemington straight.

A panel comprising of 43 members of the racing media and RV’s handicapping team awarded Nature Strip 62 votes, surprisingly just five more than the Japanese Raider who received 57 votes.

Other notable contenders were Melbourne Cup winner Vow and Declare who came in third with 50 votes, ahead of recently retired mare Loving Gaby (38) and Australian Guineas hero Alligator Blood (22).

Heartbreak: Champion Horse Sub Zero Dies

Veteran racehorse and former Melbourne Cup winning horse Sub Zero has sadly passed at the age of 32.

A member of racing royalty without doubt Sub Zero was humanely euthanized on Saturday after suffering heart failure in his stables.

Winner of 6 races during the greys most iconic moment in his career was winning the 1992 Melbourne Cup.

Sub Zero though will forever be known for his post career work as an ambassador to the industry. Moving in with long term career Graham Salisbury the grey champion went through years of tireless appearances whether to hospitals or events to put smiles on faces.

His post-racing exploits have been so significant that racecaller Adam Crettenden chronicled them in a book entitled 'More than a Melbourne Cup hero'.

Richard Freedman has undoubtedly been the number one promoter of Subzero's good deeds over the years, even going as far as calling for him to be nominated for Australian of the Year.

Sub Zero can now be ruined with his best mate Graham nad will be long kept in the memories of horse racing fans.

Racing Return: Arlington Park to allow racegoers from September 3rd.

To many Arlington Park won’t ring many bells unless they follow US horse racing but it will be a landmark in racing going forward after they announced this week trials to hose up to 300 racegoers would be trialled this coming week.

The American tracks have been under the same covid restrictions as the rest of the world with a ban on all punters attending.

This latest decision comes in the wake of the UK postponing its plans to have fans attending the final two days of the Glorious Goodwood Festival at the start of August due to a plateau of infections through July.

Arlingtons Parks trial will be closely watched by the rest of the world as the racing industry globally attempts to return to normal.

https://www.racingpost.com/news/international/arlington-park-given-green-light-to-host-300-racegoers-but-masks-are-compulsory/448235

Weight Issues: Top Jockey Receives A Ban

Glen boss was in the firing line of the stewards on Saturday returning overweight on Clarry Conners trained Girl Tuesday at Randwick.

Girl Tuesday finished fifth, a long-neck behind the runner-up Sikandarabad and a neck behind the third placegetter Herengawe when Boss weighed in, he and his gear was 55kg, which was a kilo over the declared weight of 54kg.

Boss, probably one of the most experienced and recognised jocks on the circuit, only returned to racing in Australia last month after a successful stint in Hong Kong.

When confronted by the stewards Boss aimed the blame directly at Conners citing a packing issue under the saddle for the additional Kg.

“Clarry’s old school and he must have put it on her the wrong way,” he said. “I did nothing wrong. “This stuff (foam) does soak it up and it gets really heavy. It’s so dense. “Clarry’s just put it on the wrong way …. water just doesn’t run out of it."

Boss pled guilty to the charges and was given a 6 day suspension which will come into effect after Chelmsford Stakes weekend.

Breaking Records: Female Jockey Rides 5 Timer In The UK

British Jockey Holly Doyle made history overnight becoming the first female jockey to ride 5 winners in a day in the UK.

Racing at Windsor for the day Doyle managed to chalk up the impressive record whilst also claiming the Group 3 Winter Hill Stakes as well as the 2299m Listed August Stakes.

Doyle had already been blazing a trail for female jockeys in recent years recording 119 wins in the previous 2019 season. She is currently on course to beat that number already this year as she closes in towards 100.

On the day, if you were lucky enough to back the 5 timer then it would have returned cool odds of 899-1 with the highest price of her runners on the day no bigger than 3-1.

Among Doyle's handful of winners was the crucial victory aboard the Hughie Morrison-trained Le Don De Vie, who is raced by prominent owner Ozzie Kheir.

https://twitter.com/AtTheRaces/status/1299705119311892482?s=20

Over Unders: Favourite Wins And Is Then Disqualified

After the Glen Boss weight issue on Saturday we saw another weight related issue on Sunday with red hot favourite Excelman disqualified on Sunday after jockey Michael Walker return to the gate light for weigh in.

Favourite backers would have been jubilant seeing the Richard Laming trained runner bolting in by 3 lengths and been getting in the queue to claim profits from the $2.70 winner.

However after weigh in Walker returned under-weight which resulted in the 4yo geldings disqualification.

Race day stewards disqualified the winner for carrying 1kg less than allocated weight under a racing rule which allows a tolerance of 0.5kg.

Excelman had been allotted 60kg and, ironically, the way he won, he probably could have carried several kilograms more and still won.

he original runner-up, $10 chance Extending, was declared the new winner.

https://twitter.com/Racing/status/1299939886338723840?s=20