Horsing Around 10th - 16th August

Losing His Edge: Mick Bell Fined $10,000 and DQ from G3

A fan favourite and renowned mudlark Jungle Edge has been stripped of his recent Group 3 victory in the DC McKay stakes because of prohibited substance being detected after the race. 

As a result Jungle Edge’s trainer Mick Bell was also fined $10,000 for the finding.

The son of Dubawi won the Morphetville feature in May by 1.7l to Behemoth but pre race and post race samples confirmed the presence of Meloxicam.

An subsequent inquiry conducted by Thoroughbred Racing South Australia stewards "was unable to conclusively determine the cause for the detection of the Meloxicam", however Bell provided evidence that the horse "may have been treated with oral Meloxicam" on the Monday of the week he raced.

Definitely an unfortunate result for the 9 year old veteran who showed a characteristic front running performance to win the sprint feature.

https://twitter.com/Racing/status/1256483609566834689?s=20

Going Viral: Text Message Tip Bolts In

A horse at the centre of a text message go at Sale on Thursday delivered the punters a very rare opportunity. Seeing a dead cert deliver to its highest potential.

Barocha was a first-time runner for the Clayton Douglas team at Sale and opened up at $6 with tab before eventually jumping a $1.70 favourite. 

The crunch in price came after a text message tip went viral. “Sale tomorrow r2 no.1 Barocha 4yo 1st starter WILL win without getting out of second gear.”

After the tip was posted on twitter bookies reported heavy wagers on the horse with Sportsbet reporting receiving over 3000 bets on the horse including several $10k wagers at $1.90. TAB also reported holding 96.5% of the purse on the favourite before the jump. 

The buzz seemed to come around after Barocha won a trial against group 1 opposition including G1 winner Princess Jenni. 

For the punters Barocha didn’t let down winning the race under hands and heals by 5 lengths. 

https://twitter.com/Racing/status/1293753316263034880?s=20

The Luck Of The Irish: Biggest Winner in History Gets Up at 300/1

History was made at Leopardstown in Ireland on Thursday afternoon (local time) as horse He Knows No Fear lived up to his name and romped in at a huge price of 300/1.

The 300/1 win meant that the Luke Comer trained runner became the biggest priced winner since records began beating the previous benchmark of 250/1 set when Equinoctial scored over jumps at Kelso in 1990.

The victory appeared no fluke either, with the three-year-old colt making rapid late headway to score by a head from the 98-rated Agitare.

UK based bookmaker Coral’s PR Manager said: “He Knows No Fear lived up to his name at Leopardstown, causing the biggest shock in the history of UK and Irish racing.

“The previous record at Kelso came over jumps. This was on the Flat, which makes it even more surprising.

"Results like this are what make sport so great as every now and then the underdogs come out on top."

Unique Case: Punter Wins Lawsuit against Trainer and Jockey in the US

A landmark case in the US has landed one aggrieved punter with a settlement of $20,000 after he was left out of pocket after a trainer and jockey intentionally doped a horse to win a race.

Punter Jeffrey Tretter sued trainer Robert Bresnahan Jr and owner J L Sadowsky after their horse Tag Up And Go tested positive for EPO in out of competition testing soon after winning a race at the Meadowlands track in January 2016.

Seen below winning a race back in 2015 Tag Up and Go won a race in New Jersey in 2016 where Tretter had wagered a first 4 bet and without the winner being in the race would have pocketed over $31K in profit. 

Tretter incidentally found a keen ally in People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) as part of there anti horse doping protection. PETA bankrolled all Tretter’s legal bills in the case eventually landing on a $20k settlement. 

Conquering Everest: SA Sprinter Secures Spot In The Everest

South Australian sprinter and Gytrash will tackle the Everest in October after being nominated Inglis to run in the race. 

Gytrash becomes the third horse to be declared for the race after TAB declared Nature Strip their selection and Classique Legend for Bon Ho. 

Inglis and trainer Gordon Richards will be brimming with confidence about the chances of the Adelaide running after 4 Group 1 starts resulted in 3 minor placings and victory in the Lightning Stakes.

"Gytrash ticks all the boxes: he's proven at the top level, his on-speed racing pattern is favourable, he's proven on both dry and wet tracks and in 19 career starts he's only been out of the top three once," Inglis managing director Mark Webster told the Daily Telegraph.

"He really has become a giant killer of racing. You only need to look at the scalps he accrued during his autumn campaign to see that on his day he is, at the very least, every bit as good as the other leading sprinters around.

"He's a lightly-raced five-year-old who we believe is the best up-and-coming sprinter in the country and we can't wait for these next two months as we target The Everest with Gordon Richards and Gytrash's connections."

Spring Watch: Savatiano Takes out G2 PB Lawrence Stakes

Godolphin mare Savatiano fought out a thrilling conclusion to the Group 2 PB Lawrence stakes on Saturday when narrowly defeating the valiant Sirconni in a head bobber on the line. 

Mark Zahara got the most out of the mare over the 1400m distance and said: 

“When I drew well it was just going to be a matter of getting luck at the right time and it panned out perfect,” Zahra said.

“I was very confident at the 300 (metre mark). I was nearly going to put the whip away and just cruise past Sircconi.

“Daniel Stackhouse was roaring and I just had to give her a bit of a shake-up. I always thought I was going to get there but it was harder than I thought.”

It was an interesting race with a host of Group 1 winners competing in the race. Most notably was the third place from Kings Will Dream who looked to be full of running when hitting the line. Definitely one to watch coming into Spring with the longer distances likely to see the best of him. 

https://twitter.com/Racing/status/1294524090645008386?s=20

Spring Watch: North Pacific takes bookie prices south after Randwick romp.

3yo colt North Pacific put the bookies on notice over the weekend after a dominant display in the Group 3 Up and Coming Stakes at Randwick.

Heavily fancied going into the race the Hawkes trained runner blitzed the field at $1.90. Under the guidance of jockey James Mcdonald, North Pacific was boxed in coming round the bend only to get in the clear coming into the 200 and then kicking clear winning by over 5.3l.

TAB instantly reacted to the result by slashing the price of the 3 year old for the Golden Slipper from $11 into $4.50 favourite. 

The cull didn’t stop at the likely targeted races with his price for the Everest shifting from $26 to $15, his price for the Caulfield Guineas moving from $15 to $5 and odds in the Cox Plate to $26

Keeping it In the family: Another Freedman chalks up first win

It was another successful day in the world of racing for the Freedman family on Sunday as Will Freedman scored his first win as a trainer with Time To Dazzle at Narromine. 

Will is the son of Sydney based trainer Richard Freedman and joins his Dad as well as uncles Lee, Anthony and Michael and cousin Sam in training successful winners. 

Freedman headed almost 300km west from his Scone base to run Time To Dazzle at Narromine and the daughter of Makfi made the trip worthwhile in a Class 1 & Maiden Plate over 1600m.

Grant Buckley steered Time To Dazzle to victory over Paradia in the $21,500 race.

“It feels great,” Freedman told Sky Racing.

“It’s a terrific feeling. Rachel my partner and I have been working pretty hard to try to get these horses into good shape and running well.

“I’m really appreciative of the support I’ve had. It’s quite emotional.”

Time To Dazzle was only Freedman’s third starter in a race.

Catch the full interview on Sky Racing AU here: 

https://twitter.com/SkyRacingAU/status/1294856673283063808?s=20

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