Filly gains more track experience

Brooklyn Hustle (Starspangledbanner) gained further experience of the Caulfield layout with a gallop there on Tuesday morning.

Trainer Jason Warren paired the 2-year-old with older stablemate Bel Sonic (Bel Esprit) in a hit-out ahead of the filly's bid to win the G1 Blue Diamond S.

"We had the option to take her out and gallop her at Pakenham and it's a beautiful surface,” Warren said.

“But we thought given the way she got around the home turn here at Caulfield in the Prelude, that we would just give her another look at the track.

"We had a nice horse in Bel Sonic to lead her up in the gallop so it was perfect.

"She's right where we need her now. We trained her to have that first-up run in the Prelude to bring her to a peak and not do it on the training track. We'll know if it's worked on Saturday."

Smart galloper Australia-bound

Rostropovich (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) is on his way back to Australia on a permanent basis.

He finished fifth in both the G1 Cox Plate and G1 Melbourne Cup in the spring for trainer Aidan O’Brien and he has since been purchased by a syndicate headed by Mark Pilkington.

Rostropovich, who hasn’t raced since finishing seventh in the G1 Hong Kong Vase, will join the Lindsay Park operation.

"He raced in Hong Kong so it's not straightforward to get him back to Australia," said David Hayes who will train the horse in partnership with Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig.

Rostropovich’s efforts at the last Melbourne spring carnival augur well for his long-term future, according to Hayes.

“He was only a 3-year-old (to European time) and doing that, his form is right up there," he said.

Rostropovich has won four races up to Group 2 level in his native land and ran second in the G1 Irish Derby.

Moroney pondering Cup start

Mike Moroney is strongly considering a tilt at next month’s G1 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup at Ellerslie with Vengeur Masque (Ger) (Monsun {Ger})..

The stayer won the Listed Torney Night Cup at Moonee Valley last Friday and Moroney, who trains in partnership with Pam Gerard in New Zealand, believes the set weights and penalties conditions of the Auckland Cup would suit the seven-year-old stayer.

“After watching the Avondale Cup last weekend we are thinking there is not a lot of strength to the field, I know it’s hard to marry the form up,” Moroney said.

“You’ve got (Sir) Charles Road who we sort of know and on paper I would say he is the one to beat. He has the same weight as us (57kgs). He did beat us in the Melbourne Cup, but we didn’t really handle the ground.

“I’ve just got a funny feeling he will be the top weight in the Adelaide Cup and might get 60kgs, so probably at set weights and penalties he is a long way better off.”

Vorster on longshot

Singapore-based jockey South African Barend Vorster has been booked to ride the Tony McEvoy-trained outsider Game Keeper (Fastnet Rock) in Saturday's G1 Blue Diamond S at Caulfield.

He will be McEvoy’s South Australian stable jockey as soon as he gains his visa.

Vorster said he and McEvoy had also discussed the prospects of the occasional trip to Melbourne to ride and he was pleased to get the opportunity ahead of his permanent move.

"It's come up a little earlier than expected," Vorster said. "Tony rang me on Monday to see if I was interested which I definitely was.

"I'll come back to Singapore on Sunday and hopefully it won't be too long before I'm back down again.

"I'm really grateful for the opportunity. It's wonderful racing with quality horses and I'm really looking forward to it."

No The Autumn Sun in Mile

The Autumn Sun (Redoute's Choice) has officially been ruled out of the inaugural $5 million All-Star Mile.

The G1 Caulfield Guineas and Golden Rose S. winner is set to resume in the G2 Hobartville Stakes at Rosehill this Saturday and the stable have advised Racing Victoria that the colt will be headed towards the G1 Randwick Guineas and not the Flemington feature.

"Under the conditions of entry for the world's richest mile, RV wrote to the connections of the top 24-ranked horses on Friday, 15 February seeking confirmation by Tuesday on whether they wish to provisionally accept a position in the race if voted into the top 10 by the public," a RV statement read.

"The Chris Waller stable has advised RV that they will not be accepting a position with The Autumn Sun and thus he has been officially withdrawn this afternoon."

"The connections of all other horses in contention for the top 10 have indicated their intention to accept a position within the race."

"The top 10 vote-getters following the provisional acceptance stage and the verification of all votes will be announced at Flemington Racecourse at 10:30am this Thursday, 21 February.

Currie wants review

Suspended Queensland trainer Ben Currie has applied for an internal review of the decision to stand him down pending the resolution of animal cruelty charges against him.

After a 10-hour show cause hearing on Monday, he was suspended after failing to convince stewards he was a fit person to continue training.

Currie was called to the show cause hearing after stewards levelled seven charges against him last Friday, including the use of jiggers and shock-wave treatment.

A Queensland Racing Integrity Commission spokesperson confirmed Currie had lodged his application for an internal review on Tuesday.

Steed turns form around

Super Steed (USA) (Super Saver {USA} has pulled off an upset win in the G3 Southwest S. at Oaklawn Park.

Trained by Larry Jones for Michael Pressley and Steed Jackson, the longshot settled off the pace under jockey Terry Thompson before angling wide into the straight and then cutting loose.

“He’s a nice horse,” Jones said. “It’s been a while since Terry and I have been in this position. This is wonderful.”

Sueno (USA) (Atreides {USA}) finished powerfully to claim second money with Long Range Toddy (USA) (Take Charge Indy {USA}) home for third.

“Larry said wherever we were, make sure he gets the lead heading into the stretch,” Thompson said. “He has a big heart.”

Super Steed’s success turned his form around after beating only one runner home at his previous appearance in the Listed Smart Jones S.

Redundancies at former Weir stables

Ciaron Maher Racing has announced redundancies at its newly-acquired facility from disqualified trainer Darren Weir.

"Following the recent acquisition of the stables formerly known as Forest Lodge, Ciaron Maher Racing confirms that after a thorough internal assessment of our ongoing horse numbers and structure, we have made 12 redundancies to the workforce at our new Miners Rest location, with 61 staff members retaining their jobs," a statement said.

"While it is never pleasant to undergo a process such as this, it needs to be understood that the number of horses that were managed previously at this location has reduced by some 35 per cent, with the reduction in staff numbers at 16 per cent.

"Our purchase of this facility has allowed a large number of staff to remain in their existing roles, with benefits and entitlements carried across under Ciaron Maher Racing.

"We are pleased and proud to have been able to retain the majority of staff here and look forward to fully integrating them into the Ciaron Maher Racing Team."