Yuruga Sponsor Oaks
Harness Racing
Victoria today announced that Yuruga Bloodstock will sponsor the Victoria
Trotters Oaks at Moonee Valley on 10 June.
The Yuruga
Bloodstock Victoria Trotters Oaks is a Group 1 event offering $30,000 in stakes
for the three-year-old trotting fillies.
Based in Great
Western, Yuruga Bloodstock is run by Darren and Anne Jacobson for principal
David Burns and is home to the imported stallion Peace Of Art.
Yuruga also specialise
in the state-of-the-art embryo transfer breeding with champion trotting mares
La Coocaracha and Sumthingaboutmaori both inseminated there in recent months.
Nominations for the
Yuruga Bloodstock Victoria Trotters Oaks close with HRV at noon on Friday, 4
June.
Gath Shooting Hoops
New Zealand's
premier juvenile trotting filly Hoops has joined the stable of Australia's
leading trainer Andy Gath.
A last start winner
of the Group 2 NZ 2YO Trotting Stakes, the daughter of Above The Stars boasts
three wins and two placings from her five appearances.
She was purchased by
stable client Antonio Prochilo who also races classy three-year-old pacer
Village Thriller with the Great Western trainer.
Hoops, who is
eligible for the Breeders Crown, will make her Australian debut in a heat of
the Tatlow Stakes at Maryborough next week en route to a Redwood Classic
assault on 25 July.
Trotting Depth
Strong
The depth amongst
the local two-year-old trotting ranks has never been stronger with 29 acceptors
for next Wednesday's Tatlow Stakes Heats at Maryborough.
An unprecedented
three heats will be run as the countdown to Maryborough's prestigious Redwood
Classic begins in earnest with the $5,000 qualifiers.
At stake for the
babies is not only a berth in the $20,000 Tatlow Stakes Final (Group 3) at
Moonee Valley on Thursday night, 10 June, but early bragging rights for the
Redwood.
A pair of fillies,
unbeaten Victorian Flash Teena and the highly-rated Kiwi import Hoops, will
headline the talent on display at the Carisbrook Paceway.
Adding spice to the
contest are five debutants including the Peter Manning-trained duo Pocket
Fantasy and Avoine.
The Tatlow Stakes
2YO Trotters Heats will be run at 12.15pm, 12.50pm and 1.25pm (AEST) next
Wednesday.
Cowboy Caldow
Exciting New South
Wales juvenile Reggae Cowboy has joined the powerful Victorian stable of John
and Maree Caldow.
The NSW Sapling
Stakes winner has been sent south by owner-breeder Peter Lewis to contest the
Vicbred Super Series and Australasian Breeders Crown.
"He's a welcome
addition to the team," John Caldow said. "He goes along very nicely
and will have his first trial tomorrow (at Cranbourne)."
A gelded son of
Albert Albert, Reggae Cowboy boasts three wins and two placings from six starts
including a last start victory in the Bathurst Gold Crown Consolation.
In other stable
news, recent WA Derby placegetter Am I Tough will stay with the Caldows despite
his quick exit from the Vicbred Super Series.
The tough
three-year-old galloped when an odds-on favourite in the final heat and thus
failed to qualify for last night's semi finals.
"He's not
eligible for the Breeders Crown, so we'll poke around and try and pick up a
metro three-year-old with him," Caldow said.
Sassy Settles In
Champion mare Sassy Sarah
is settling in well to her new home at Longlea according to master trainer
Brian Gath.
Gath this week took
over training of the dual Breeders Crown champion from Mario Azzopardi after an
ownership dispute was settled at public auction last week.
Part-owner Gordon
Grech went to $255,000 to secure sole ownership of the five-year-old who boasts
23 wins, 11 placings and $445,866 in stakes from 44 starts.
Gath said last night
that Sassy Sarah is "a week or two away" from returning to work after
four months on the sideline following a liver displacement.
Grech has expressed
a desire to chase back-to-back Ladyship Miles in Sydney in November, should she
satisfy Gath with her recovery.
Tontine Finals On
Sky
Sunday's prestigious
Elgas Tontine Series Finals will be broadcast live from Ararat on Sky's pay-TV
service.
Sky have kindly
agreed to broadcast the two time-honoured regional features on both its
channels.
The $8,000 Elgas
Tontine Series Trotters Final will be run at 3.10pm and the $18,000 Pacers
Final at 3.45pm.
Ararat's eight race
feature program will be broadcast in full on Sky's pub and clubs channel from
12.15pm.
HRV Appeal Results
Leading junior
reinsmen Daniel Jack and Rodney Petroff both had their objections against
driving suspensions dismissed by the HRV Appeals Panel yesterday.
Jack was appealing
against a two week suspension handed down at Ballarat on 15 May for causing
interference. His penalty will apply from midnight tonight.
Petroff was
appealing against a two week suspension imposed at Yarra Valley on 14 May for
causing interference also.
His penalty remains as two
weeks, however as two days had already been served the Panel decided the
remaining 12 days suspension will apply from midnight on 30 May.