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Turfling
Australasia
Monday 28 September 2026
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The lead
Jimmysstar, in blinkers for the first time, wins the $2 million Manikato
Jimmysstar won the $2 million Group 1 Manikato Stakes over 1200 metres at Caulfield on Sunday, the seven-year-old Per Incanto gelding coming from last under Ethan Brown to beat Extragalactic by three quarters of a length in 1:08.24 on a Good 4. Charm Stone was third. It was his fourth Group 1 win and the first time he had raced in blinkers. Ciaron Maher saddled five winners on the card (Breednet).
Maher named The Everest at Royal Randwick as the likely next assignment, saying “The Everest, probably, certainly heading that way on the big track at Randwick.” Bred in New Zealand by Pete and Chrissy Algie in partnership with Little Avondale Stud, Jimmysstar has now won 12 of his 30 starts. Brown said the blinkers “probably switched him on a little bit, but he’s as genuine as they come” (LOVERACING.NZ, The Straight).
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Things to know today
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Warwoven won the $1 million Group 1 Golden Rose over 1400 metres at Rosehill on Saturday for Bjorn Baker and Rachel King, beating St Gotthard with Under Focus third on a Good 4. It was a fifth win from eight starts for the $380,000 Magic Millions yearling, and the first Group 1 winner for Cambridge Stud’s Sword Of State. “He’s a serious horse and now we are looking at the Caulfield Guineas. Even the Cox Plate,” Baker said (ANZ Bloodstock News, LOVERACING.NZ)
Key runners only. We do not reproduce Racing Australia field content.
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Pride Of Jenni won the $500,000 Group 2 Feehan Stakes over 1600 metres at Caulfield on Sunday for a third consecutive year, the nine-year-old mare beating Treasurethe Moment by a length and a half in 1:35.32 under Declan Bates. She has now won 14 of her 49 starts. “To have her back at this age and arguably in as good a form as ever, it is quite remarkable,” Ciaron Maher said (Breednet, The Straight) |
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Waitak went back to back in the Group 1 Howden Insurance Mile at Hastings on Saturday, the seven-year-old Proisir gelding holding Tuxedo by a short head in 1:34.51 on a Soft 5 for Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott. It was a fourth Group 1 for the Craig Grylls ridden gelding, and Scott named the Group 1 Livamol Classic at Hastings on 10 October as the next mission. “He is such a wonderful racehorse, keeps coming back and he is our champion,” Scott said (Breednet, LOVERACING.NZ) |
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The New Zealand 2000 Guineas remains on notice over its Group 1 status, according to New Zealand Pattern Committee chairman Matthew Goodson, whose unbeaten colt Old Fashioned is among those pointed at it. The race holds its grading only if the end of season World Thoroughbred Rankings of its top four finishers average more than the tolerance level of 111. “It’s a race the NZPC would only downgrade with extreme reluctance if there was absolutely no choice,” Goodson said (Breednet) |
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Racing and Wagering Western Australia has appointed chief wagering officer Mike Saunders as interim chief executive through to 31 July 2027, with Ian Edwards leaving on 13 November after six years in the job. “The Board has confidence in Mike’s leadership and his ability to guide RWWA through the opportunities and challenges ahead,” board chair Karen Farley SC said, adding that Edwards “leaves behind a strong legacy” (The Straight) |
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Hurry Curry broke through for black type in the $175,000 Listed RM Ansett Classic over 2400 metres at Mornington on Saturday, the five-year-old Ocean Park mare beating Sunset Park by a neck in 2:34.04 on a Soft 5 for Danny O’Brien and Lachlan Neindorf. A Waikato Stud homebred raced by Mark Chittick and Craig Duncan, she was third in the 2024 VRC Oaks and has now won four of her 20 starts (Breednet, LOVERACING.NZ) |
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Hannah Wilson has won the 2026 Race Images Amateur Rider Series, sealing it aboard the Kevin Myers trained So Call Me in the Duke of Gloucester Cup at Te Aroha on 20 September. She finished on 56 points from Monique Dey on 49 and Scotty MacNab on 43, with four wins and three placings from eight rides across a 12 race series that took 26 riders to six racecourses between May and September (NZTR) |
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International
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America
Keeneland September closes at a record $536.7 million
Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale closed on Saturday having grossed a record US$536,737,900 through the ring from 2,856 yearlings, rising to US$558,313,400 once 178 post sale transactions are counted. The average of US$187,933 was up 6.87 per cent on 2025 and the median of US$85,000 up 6.25 per cent. Seventy yearlings made seven figures, beating the record of 56 set last year, and the sale was topped by a US$3.7 million Into Mischief colt bought by M.V. Magnier and White Birch Farm. Gun Runner led all sires by average. “It can only be described as incredible,” Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said (TDN)
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Europe
Pierre Royal gives Ireland its first Cambridgeshire of the century
Pierre Royal won the bet365 Cambridgeshire over a mile and a furlong on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket on Saturday, the four-year-old becoming the first Irish trained winner of the heritage handicap this century. Trained by Adrian McGuinness and ridden by Mikey Sheehy, he beat Crest Of Fire by a short head with Altareq a head away third in a field of 27, running 1:48.02 on good to firm ground for a first prize of £103,080. “We only made our minds up to come last Monday,” McGuinness said. “He’s a lovely horse to train and he’s very easy on himself” (Racing Post)
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The week ahead
| 30 September |
Bidding closes on the Magic Millions Digital sale |
| 3 October |
Epsom Handicap Day at Royal Randwick |
| 12 and 13 October |
New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run breeze ups at Te Rapa |
| 14 October |
Brisbane Racing Club annual meeting at Eagle Farm |
| 17 October |
The Everest at Royal Randwick |
| 31 October |
Victoria Derby Day at Flemington |
| 18 and 19 November |
New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale at Karaka |
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This week
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Turfling
Reported from official race-day materials, racecourse and regulator publications, and sales results, verified against trade press. Where a fact originates elsewhere, we say so. Drafted with AI assistance. Picks are percentages, never odds. Not affiliated with any track, tote board, regulator or wagering product.
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