Trap For Fools heads west
G1 Mackinnon S. winner Trap For Fools (Poet's Voice {GB}) will return to Western Australia to contest the G1 Kingston Town S. on December 8.
Owner Geoff Evans, in consultation with current trainer Jarrod McLean and former trainer Lindsey Smith, has decided to continue with the 5-year-old's campaign and he has been immediately installed as favourite for the $1 million race.
Trap For Fools transferred to McLean's stables earlier this year having won eight of his previous 10 starts in Perth, and after a couple of victories in open handicaps and a second in the G3 Moonee Valley Gold Cup, caused a huge upset when he won the Mackinnon.
That was McLean's first-ever Group 1 success.
Trap For Fools will depart for Perth on Sunday. It is not yet clear whether he will still race for McLean or former trainer Smith.
Angel follows Lights
Angel of Heaven (Redoute's Choice) has emulated her dam Lights of Heaven (Zabeel {NZ}) after making it two wins from as many starts with success at Port Macquarie.
Lights of Heaven was unbeaten through her first four starts as a 3-year-old filly in early 2011, stepping from her maiden straight into a benchmark 72 win at her second start.
Angel of Heaven, who is trained by Kris Lees, jumped straight into a Class 2 over 1500m, and having been ridden just off the pace by Andrew Gibbons, charged clear to win by 1.6l.
While the impeccably-bred filly is unlikely to elevate to Group 2 level next start like Lights of Heaven did, it is possible that Lees will look at a race in Sydney.
Like her dam, Angel of Heaven is bred and owned by Judi Wanless.
Grahame begs for pace for Our Libretto
Grahame Begg is hoping a truly run race can see his emerging star Our Libretto (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}) bounce back to her winning way in Saturday's G2 Zipping Classic at Sandown.
Our Libretto suffered her first defeat in Australia when finishing seventh in last week's G2 Matriarch S. at Flemington. But Begg told Racing.com that the lightly-race 5-year-old had taken no harm from that run and he was keen to back her up,
"We weren't contemplating backing up into the Zipping Classic until she pulled up so well," Begg said. "The way the Matriarch was run didn't suit her at all."
"It was slowly run, the field was bunched up around the home turn and she just takes a little while to hit her straps. She had a soft run but wasn't tested in the straight with no clear running."
Begg said Our Libretto, a $400,000 yearling purchase, would relish racing at Sandown, where she had won her first two races in Australia earlier this year.
"She's two from two at Sandown (winning on both the Hillside and Lakeside tracks) and it's a great opportunity for her to earn valuable black type and qualify for better races next year," he said.
McFarlane puts new purchases on show
Trainer Greg McFarlane puts his recent acquisitions from Godolphin, Catesby (Sharmadal {USA}) and Dissolute (New Approach {Ire}), on show at Rosehill on Saturday.
Dissolute has already made one appearance for McFarlane since he paid $100,000 for the 5-year-old at last month's Gold Coast Spring Racehorse Sale.
He ran third on Melbourne Cup day at Randwick and fronts up in the Rosehill Bowling Club Sprint on Saturday after being scratched from the Listed Keith Noud Quality at Doomben.
McFarlane intends to find a Listed race for Dissolute at his next start.
Catesby, a half-brother to boom horse Roheryn as well as Benicio and Romneya, won last month at Warwick Farm before being sold for $100,000.
He is a recent Gosford trial winner and runs in #theraces Hcp over 1300m.
Inside gates for stablemates
The barrier draw has been kind to Hastings trainer Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen with their attack on Saturday’s G1 Gavelhouse.com New Zealand 1000 Guineas at Riccarton.
Stakes placed filly Mohaka (NZ) (Nadeem) has will jump from the ace with dual stakes winner and pre-post favourite Xpression (NZ) (Showcasing {GB}) next to her in gate two.
“We will try to ride Mohaka quite positively and hopefully Xpression can get a cosy run in behind them somewhere, barrier two is better than an outside draw and it’s a big track,” Lowry said.
Last season’s G2 Wakefield Challenge S., Xpression finished second in the G3 Gold Trail S., before her last start win in the G3 Barneswood Farm S.
“She has done extremely well since her win in the Barneswood Farm Stakes and she has just thrived since arriving down here,” Lowry said.
“We just thought it would be four weeks between runs, so we gave her a nice quiet trial.
“Mohaka can go a mile, but Xpression hasn’t raced over a mile. There’s always concerns until they’ve gone over 1600 metres.”
Mohaka has placed in each of her four appearances and was a last-start third in the Listed Zacinto S.
The pair have met on one previous occasion, at Taupo over 1100 metres, with Mohaka finishing third to Xpression, who won the race when resuming as a 3-year-old.
“Xpression has a good turn of foot and Mohaka is probably more of an Oaks filly and a bit more dour,” Lowry said.
Collett avoids further surgery
Pukekohe jockey Alysha Collett won't require further surgery on her fractured heel.
Collett was relieved after visiting a specialist on Wednesday.
“I got the best news possible. No surgery will be needed. I've just got another three to four weeks without any weight on it and we'll go from there. There's no setback, which is amazing,” she said.
Collett broke her back and fractured her heel in a horrific fall in Singapore last month and while she had surgery to insert two rods and four screws in her lower back to mend a fractured vertebrae, her fractured heel was simply put in a cast.
Collett had ridden 11 winners during a planned six-month stint in Singapore that began in May and now plans to be back riding in New Zealand this autumn.
“I'm really hoping to be back race riding around March if everything goes smoothly,” she said.
“It's fantastic to be back home. You never know how much you miss this place till you leave for a while.”
