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Turfling
Australasia
Sunday 18 October 2026
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The lead
Zahra and McNeil avoid serious injury after Caulfield Cup fall
Mark Zahra and Jye McNeil both avoided serious injury in the Caulfield Cup fall and were taken to hospital for observation. Half Yours, who went down about 200 metres out and unseated Zahra, has a laceration under one arm and another on a hind leg, which Tony McEvoy called superficial. Ohope Wins, brought down behind him, was euthanased on course. Stewards will hold an inquiry. No hearing has concluded (ABC News, The New Daily)
Kingswood, the seven-year-old grey who gave Gavin Bedggood the 150th Caulfield Cup, is from the sole crop of Roaring Lion, was bred at Kirsten Rausing’s Lanwades Stud and cost 130,000 euros as a Goffs Orby yearling. He has never been gelded. Bedggood was gutted when he saw the fall, and credited Darren Weir with sending him the horse. John Allen rode (The Straight, Breednet) Key runners only. Racing Australia field content is not reproduced here.
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Things to know today
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Autumn Glow won the $5 million Group 1 King Charles III Stakes over 1600 metres at Royal Randwick for Chris Waller and James McDonald, beating the twice-defending winner Ceolwulf. The daughter of The Autumn Sun has now won 14 of 15 starts and five at the top level, and her earnings have passed $12.8 million. Waller will talk to Arrowfield and Hermitage before committing her to Flemington, where the Group 1 Champions Mile on 7 November is an option. “We want to make sure she has a long career,” he said (Magic Millions, Just Horse Racing) |
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Quick Finish led throughout to win the Group 3 Ethereal Stakes over 2000 metres at Caulfield in 2:03.39 on a Good 4, holding Your Colour by half a length for Tony and Calvin McEvoy and Jye McNeil. The Grunt filly has three wins from four starts, was passed in for $30,000 at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale and is bred and raced by Yulong. Calvin McEvoy said the stable was very happy to have a live chance going into the Group 1 VRC Oaks on 5 November (Breednet) |
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Platinum Attack won the Group 3 Sweynesse Stakes over 1215 metres at Ellerslie in 1:10.65 on a Soft 5 for Lisa Latta and Opie Bosson, clear of Reward Smile with Jaarffi third. The race had been held over from the abandoned Rotorua meeting a week earlier. The Santos gelding, a $37,000 weanling at Magic Millions Gold Coast in 2021, has nine wins from 25 starts. The part owner John Street said he was the class horse of the field (Breednet) |
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The Auckland Cup drops from Group 2 to Group 3 for 2026/27 after the Asian Racing Federation executive council approved five New Zealand black-type changes. The Wakefield Challenge Stakes also goes to Group 3, the Counties Challenge Stakes rises from Listed to Group 3, the Chittick Family Fillies Classic at Taupo gains Listed status and the Triton Stakes loses black type. New Zealand keeps 144 black-type races. The New Zealand Pattern Committee made the Auckland Cup recommendation “with considerable regret” (The Straight) |
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Tabcorp has reportedly sounded out DAZN about buying Foxtel, the Australian Financial Review reported, with the chief executive Gillon McLachlan said to have opened early talks and Barrenjoey Capital Partners advising. No deal has been agreed and neither company has commented on the record. DAZN bought Foxtel at an enterprise value of A$3.4 billion in a sale that completed in April 2025. Tabcorp’s media arm, which includes Sky Racing, lifted revenue 1.9 per cent to $377.8 million in the year to June (The Straight) |
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Seven Zousain two-year-olds sold at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale for an average of $189,857, two of them above $400,000. A colt from Undoubtedly So, consigned by Prima Park, made $460,000 to James Cummings, who now trains in Hong Kong, after breezing 200 metres in 9.90 seconds. A gelding from Magic Amelia went to Bridle Bloodstock of Hong Kong for $430,000. The Widden Stud stallion stands at $22,000 (Breednet) |
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International
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Europe
Ombudsman takes the Champion Stakes and heads for stud
Ombudsman won the Champion Stakes over a mile and a quarter at Ascot by nearly four lengths from Calandagan, with Bay City Roller a length and three quarters away third in a field of six. William Buick rode for John and Thady Gosden and Godolphin, and it was a third Ascot win for the son of Night of Thunder, a year after Calandagan beat him in the same race. Gosden said the horse is going to stud but that the Breeders’ Cup Turf remains an option to discuss with Sheikh Mohammed, and that there was no need to decide quickly. Calandagan goes on to the Japan Cup (Paulick Report, Racing Insider)
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America
Medaglia d’Oro dies at 27 at Jonabell
Medaglia d’Oro has died at 27 at Jonabell Farm, Darley USA said, and he will be buried there. He won eight of 17 starts and more than US$5.7 million, taking the Travers, the Whitney and the Donn, and was second in two Breeders’ Cup Classics. He sired 31 Group or Grade 1 winners, Rachel Alexandra and Songbird among them, and stood eight seasons in Australia from 2010, where he left the Golden Slipper winner Vancouver, the Golden Rose winner Astern, the Thousand Guineas winner Flit and the Hong Kong star Golden Sixty. He was pensioned after the 2025 breeding season. Dan Pride of Godolphin America said he “leaves a legacy that will not be forgotten” (Breednet)
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The week ahead
| 24 October |
Group 1 Cox Plate at Flemington |
| 30 and 31 October |
Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland |
| 31 October |
Group 1 Golden Eagle at Royal Randwick |
| 3 November |
Lexus Melbourne Cup at Flemington |
| 18 and 19 November |
NZB Ready to Run Sale at Karaka |
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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. Not affiliated with any track, tote board, regulator or wagering product.
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