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Turfling
Australasia
Tuesday 20 October 2026
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The lead
Cox Plate acceptances close today for a first Flemington running
Cox Plate acceptances closed at midday on Tuesday with 12 accepting, the final field published from 1.15pm alongside the Moonee Valley Gold Cup field, and the barrier draw broadcast from 7pm from the Langham in Southbank. Ciaron Maher accepted with four, Chris Waller with two in Aeliana and Birdman, and the Caulfield Guineas first and second, Warwoven and Blind Raise, are the only three-year-olds. Contenders were due to gallop on the Flemington course proper from 6.45am. There is no Breakfast with the Best and no morning barrier draw this year (Just Horse Racing, SEN)
Flemington takes the race for the first time while Moonee Valley is rebuilt, its grandstands demolished, new stands going up on the northern side and a reopening planned for spring 2027. The Group 1 keeps its traditional 2040 metres, with the stalls set marginally beyond the 2000 metre mark on the Maribyrnong River side. The Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup over 2500 metres carries a Golden Ticket into the Lexus Melbourne Cup (Victoria Racing Club) Key runners only. Racing Australia field content is not reproduced here.
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Things to know today
| 1 |
Well Written has been withdrawn from the $10 million Group 1 Golden Eagle after contracting a viral infection over the weekend that raised her temperature. Local vets treated her in consultation with the Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre and she is improving. Stephen Marsh called the infection relatively minor but said that with limited recovery time the stable could not be confident she would be at full fitness, and that the welfare of our horses will always be our highest priority. Last season’s New Zealand Horse of the Year, unbeaten in six starts at three, will return home to spell before a summer and autumn campaign (Breednet, LOVERACING.NZ) |
| 2 |
Hawea will miss the Group 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas at Riccarton next month after jarring up in the Group 2 Soliloquy Stakes at Ellerslie, where she finished last. Graham Richardson said she was quite tender in her knees, which was obviously disappointing, and that she is doing things wrong and not walking up to the gates. The Hellbent filly won the Listed Chittick Family Fillies Classic at Taupo and the Group 3 Gold Trail Stakes at Hastings this season, and will be freshened and trialled with the Group 3 Eulogy Stakes at Trentham on 19 December the likely return (LOVERACING.NZ) |
| 3 |
Ka Ying Rising flew out of Sydney on Monday and goes into about two weeks of quarantine at Sha Tin, the first week light trotting and cantering in the dressage ring and the second a return to the track before he rejoins David Hayes’s stable. Hayes said he pulled up fine, that he seemed to race in patches but was very brave, and that it is only early in the season. His next start is the Group 2 Jockey Club Sprint over 1200 metres on 22 November, before the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint on 13 December, where he will be seeking a third win (SA Horseracing, Horse Racing Nation) |
| 4 |
Andrew Scott remembered Ohope Wins, the dual Oaks winner euthanased on course after she was injured in the Caulfield Cup, as incredibly kind and just very willing, and said she rates up with some of the best horses the stable has trained. The Ocean Park mare was bred by Bill Gartshore and his family, raced early for Lance O’Sullivan and Scott, was sold to Yulong Investments and joined Chris Waller in March. She won the New Zealand Oaks at Ellerslie and the ATC Australian Oaks, and in each of her three New Zealand wins ran her final 600 metres at least half a second faster than her rivals. Scott said she was a very loved mare on both sides of the Tasman (LOVERACING.NZ) |
| 5 |
Kingswood’s Caulfield Cup win has sharpened New Zealand’s pitch to Australian stables. The Roaring Lion grey won the Group 1 Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day and was second to Legarto in the Herbie Dyke at Te Rapa before Gavin Bedggood gave him a long break, and Johnny Allen rode him from barrier 20. Bedggood said he thought the horse could put his hand up in a Group One in Australia, so it is good to be vindicated. Auckland Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Paul Wilcox said they are never going to get the super-duper Group One horses and they realise that, while New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing racing manager Mitch Lamb said a new incentive, following last season’s $10,000 travel subsidy, is close to being announced (Breednet, LOVERACING.NZ) |
| 6 |
Two juvenile heats at Rosehill on Monday went to Witkowin and Rising Tiger. The Too Darn Hot filly Witkowin led throughout to win the 900 metre heat by a length and a half for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, a $300,000 Inglis Classic yearling from Monarch Stud carrying Kurrinda Bloodstock colours. Rising Tiger, a Harry Angel colt out of Zeehan, won the slower second heat by half a length for Chris Waller and Sam Clipperton from a pair of Wootton Bassett colts, bought for $220,000 at Inglis Premier from Shadow Hill Thoroughbreds for China Horse Club and Newgate Bloodstock and partners (Breednet) |
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International
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Hong Kong
An Australian bred trifecta in the Sha Tin Trophy
Light Years Charm won the Group 2 Sha Tin Trophy over 1600 metres on Monday on a Good track, settling midfield from barrier two under 52 kilograms for Karis Teetan and running down the long time leader Patch Of Theta, with the defending champion My Wish third. All three are Australian bred. The winner is a six-year-old by Rubick who cost A$3,750 at the Inglis HTBA May Yearling Sale from Amarina Farm at Denman. Patch Of Theta is by Zoustar and made $550,000 at Magic Millions Gold Coast, and My Wish is by Flying Artie. David Eustace completed a treble on the card, his first Group 2 in Hong Kong, said he thought the horse could run well given the draw and the weight, and named the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup over 2000 metres as the aim (Breednet, The Standard)
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Europe
Goffs opens its October mixed sale at Doncaster
Goffs sells its October catalogue from 11am on Tuesday at Doncaster, a short mixed offering of about 70 lots covering horses in training and yearlings. Olly Murphy’s draft includes the Perth specialist The Flying Poet and Crafty Gael, on a hat-trick after novice handicap hurdle wins at Worcester and Southwell, while Dan Skelton’s Lodge Hill Stables sends the five-year-old mare Hidden Fortune and the dual code winner Square d’Alboni. The yearlings include a Pinatubo filly from Yapham Manor Stud, a granddaughter of the sprinter Ladies Are Forever, and a Kameko colt from Whitewell Bloodstock out of a daughter of Mabs Cross. Last year the sale moved Lord from Olly Murphy to Donald McCain for £70,000, and he went on to win the Listed Wirral Juvenile Hurdle at Aintree (Racing Post)
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The week ahead
| 24 October |
Group 1 Cox Plate and Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup 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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