Brilliant three-year-old filly Blue Door has secured a place in the Gr1 The Everest after her explosive Gr3 Heritage Stakes victory at Rosehill propelled her from exciting young sprinter to a genuine contender for Australia's richest race. racenet.com.au reports that the Bjorn Baker-trained daughter of Stay Inside has gained a slot for the $20 million Randwick showpiece on October 17, a rapid elevation that follows her commanding front-running display over 1100m on Saturday. Sent out a $1.85 favourite with Nash Rawiller aboard for the first time, Blue Door used her exceptional natural speed to take control before accelerating clear in the straight, defeating Ciaron's Star by 2.2 lengths with Outspan another length away in third. Her time of 1:02.64 underlined the quality of the performance and immediately prompted Baker to publicly lobby owner John Singleton for an Everest campaign. Blue Door has raced only four times but boasts an enviable record of two victories and two seconds, having won the Gr3 Kindergarten Stakes on debut as a juvenile before returning this season to finish runner-up to Chilly Girl in the Listed The Rosebud and then second to Guest House in the Gr3 San Domenico Stakes, where the winner established a Rosehill 1100m track record. Her Heritage Stakes performance confirmed that those placings were no aberration and Rawiller was particularly taken by the filly, likening aspects of her speed and action to a smaller version of Singleton's champion mare More Joyous. Blue Door's presence in The Everest adds another fascinating three-year-old dimension under weight-for-age conditions, where a filly of her age receives a substantial weight advantage against the established older sprinters. The step from 1100m to 1200m represents another question, but Baker has never hidden his belief in her abundant speed and had identified The Everest as a possibility well before Saturday's breakthrough. Bred by Craig Bernick's Armitage Australia, Blue Door is by Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside from the Pierro mare Notting Hill and carries a pedigree steeped in elite Australian bloodlines. Notting Hill is out of Monsoon Wedding, a sister to champion sire Redoute's Choice and Gr1 winner Platinum Scissors and a half-sister to Gr1 winner Manhattan Rain. Blue Door was initially withdrawn from the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale after a minor issue was detected before later making $400,000 at the 2025 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. Now, just four starts into her career, the diminutive but exceptionally fast filly has opened a considerably bigger door.
Hinton Takes the Helm at Racing NSW
Tuesday, 29th September 2026
Graeme Hinton will succeed Peter V'landys as chief executive of Racing NSW, with the organisation opting for continuity and extensive industry experience as it prepares for its first leadership change in more than two decades. According to punters.com.au, Hinton has been confirmed as the regulator's next chief executive following a unanimous decision by the Racing NSW Board and will formally take over on December 1, the day after V'landys concludes his remarkable 22-year tenure. Hinton has already been serving as acting chief executive since July and is hardly a newcomer to the organisation, having joined Racing NSW in 2012 and subsequently served for a decade as chief operating officer. During that period he worked closely with V'landys through an era of major expansion in NSW racing, including the establishment of the Gr1 The Everest, significant growth of the Sydney spring carnival and increased emphasis on equine welfare programs. Racing NSW chair Dr Saranne Cooke said the organisation had maintained a succession plan for several years and received strong support for Hinton during consultation with key industry stakeholders, describing his understanding of wagering, programming, regulation and participant and equine welfare as particularly valuable. Hinton has also represented Racing NSW in dealings with state and federal governments, including the recent Senate inquiry into gambling advertising reform. V'landys offered an emphatic endorsement of his successor, pointing to Hinton's knowledge across both the commercial and regulatory sides of racing and his willingness to make difficult decisions. Hinton said it was a privilege to lead an industry he had grown up around and spent his working life serving, noting racing's substantial economic and social contribution across NSW. He pledged to work closely with the Racing NSW Board, clubs, participants and industry partners while maintaining an open-door approach to the challenges facing the sport. Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris also welcomed the appointment. V'landys, whose tenure fundamentally reshaped the NSW racing landscape through increased prizemoney, new feature races and a more aggressive commercial strategy, will leave Racing NSW on November 30 to become permanent executive chairman of the National Rugby League. Hinton therefore inherits an organisation transformed during his predecessor's tenure, but also one facing the considerable task of maintaining its commercial momentum and competitive position in Australian racing as a new era begins.
Invincible Ibis Announces His Return
Tuesday, 29th September 2026
Hong Kong Derby hero Invincible Ibis returned to racing in emphatic fashion at Sha Tin on Sunday, overcoming a distance short of his optimum and a lack of peak fitness to capture the HK$4.2 million Gr3 Celebration Cup over 1400m. Trainer Mark Newnham had approached the five-year-old's seasonal return with measured expectations, believing a forward placing would represent an excellent starting point with considerably bigger assignments ahead, but Invincible Ibis immediately demonstrated that his outstanding four-year-old campaign was no aberration. According to the South China Morning Post, Luke Ferraris settled the son of Hellbent three back on the fence behind the moderate tempo established by Copartner Prance before easing him away from the rail approaching the straight. Invincible Ibis found clear running behind Little Paradise, accelerated to the lead near the 100m and then summoned his trademark determination to withstand a spectacular late charge from Galaxy Patch, scoring by a neck. The runner-up produced a sizzling 21.18sec final 400m after launching from the rear, while Stormy Grove also made an encouraging seasonal return in third. Newnham admitted the victory exceeded expectations, having considered Invincible Ibis likely to need the outing while carrying residual condition and racing over a trip well short of the 2000m at which he won last season's Hong Kong Derby. Ferraris reported that his mount was virtually empty over the final 50m, making his refusal to surrender all the more encouraging. The result also completed consecutive Celebration Cup victories for Newnham and Ferraris following My Wish's success 12 months earlier. Ferraris was reunited with Invincible Ibis for the first time in a race for a year, with regular rider Hugh Bowman sidelined by a long-term hip injury, and the South African-born jockey was struck by how much the gelding had developed physically since their earlier association. Invincible Ibis was crowned Hong Kong's Champion Four-Year-Old and Most Improved Horse after a breakout campaign highlighted by his Derby triumph and four additional victories, and Sunday's return suggests further improvement may still be forthcoming. Newnham plans to progress him through the Gr2 Sha Tin Trophy over 1600m next month and the Gr2 Jockey Club Mile in November before determining his Hong Kong International Races target. Both the Gr1 Hong Kong Mile and Gr1 Hong Kong Cup remain under consideration, although Newnham currently favours keeping the lightly raced gelding at a mile rather than immediately stretching him to 2000m against older international opposition. That decision could potentially place him alongside stablemate and reigning Gr1 Champions Mile winner My Wish in December, with Newnham adamant that each horse's optimum target, rather than separating the pair for convenience, will ultimately dictate their assignments.
Changing Colours Delivers Emotional Milestone
Tuesday, 29th September 2026
Blake Shinn and Lucy Yeomans capped a memorable weekend at Caulfield when Changing Colours supplied Yeomans with the first Group success of her training career in the Gr2 Stocks Stakes, adding an emotional dimension to a couple of days already carrying plenty of personal significance. Shinn had celebrated his 39th birthday on Saturday with a winning double at Mornington before he and Yeomans marked the occasion quietly over dinner, but it was back to business on Sunday when the pair headed to Caulfield for the Gr1 Manikato Stakes program. Shinn opened proceedings successfully aboard the Ciaron Maher-trained Godolphin colt Threads before attention turned to Changing Colours, the mare who has emerged as the flagbearer of Yeomans' relatively young solo operation. As reported by racing.com, Yeomans watched nervously from the trainers' room as Shinn produced a beautifully judged ride, with victory bringing tears as the significance of becoming a Gr2-winning trainer little more than a year after striking out on her own sank in. Yeomans spent a decade learning her craft with Maher and subsequently trained in partnership with Lloyd Kennewell for two years before establishing her own stable in September 2025. Changing Colours, a six-year-old daughter of The Autumn Sun who began her career with Chris Waller, has proved transformative for the Cranbourne operation, winning four of five starts since joining Yeomans. The trainer paid tribute to her small, close-knit team and described the achievement as the sort of result that drives racing people to get out of bed each morning. There was additional symmetry in having Shinn aboard: he rode Yeomans' first winner after she went solo and has now partnered her first Group winner. For Shinn, whose glittering career includes a Melbourne Cup and two Golden Slippers, the result carried a significance beyond its place in his considerable résumé because of his relationship with Yeomans and his involvement in the fledgling stable. Changing Colours' rapid progression from a 73-rated mare to a Gr2 winner has now encouraged connections to consider considerably loftier targets. The Gr1 Empire Rose Stakes and Gr1 Toorak Handicap are among the possibilities, while her Magic Millions eligibility also provides options in Queensland later in the year. Yeomans, however, stressed that the mare owes the stable nothing and her welfare will dictate the next move, with a spell remaining an option should she indicate that she has reached the end of her preparation.
Haffner Rebounds in Royal Lodge Stakes
Tuesday, 29th September 2026
A disappointing excursion to the Curragh was emphatically consigned to history at Newmarket on Saturday when Haffner rediscovered his progressive juvenile form with an authoritative victory in the Gr2 Royal Lodge Stakes over a mile, opening the possibility of an ambitious Breeders' Cup assignment before attention turns towards next season's European Classics. The Aidan O'Brien-trained son of Justify had looked a colt of considerable promise when winning the Gr3 Acomb Stakes over seven furlongs at York in August, but failed to reproduce that performance when seventh in the Gr1 Vincent O'Brien National Stakes on yielding ground just 13 days before his Newmarket appearance. Punters were prepared to forgive that reversal, supporting Haffner into 7-4 favouritism, and the colt justified their confidence under Ryan Moore. Racing among the chasing group through the early stages, Haffner travelled comfortably before Moore began asking him to improve approaching the final quarter-mile, and once sent forward he took command more than a furlong from home. Although drifting to his right inside the closing stages, he continued strongly to defeat Karl Burke's previously unbeaten Burning Up by a length and a quarter, with Andrew Balding's Quicken Away the same margin away in third. The performance also confirmed that the step to 1600m presented no difficulty for a colt whose future may ultimately lie over considerably further. O'Brien told bloodhorse.com that soft ground had been against Haffner at the Curragh and suggested his longer-term profile could be that of a Gr1 Prix du Jockey Club contender capable of stretching beyond 2000m. More immediately, the trainer believes racing around a bend would suit him particularly well, bringing the Gr1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland on October 30 firmly into calculations. Haffner's victory gave O'Brien an eighth Royal Lodge, drawing him level with legendary trainer Noel Murless for the race record, while the result also earned the colt ten points on the Euro/Mideast Road to the 2027 Kentucky Derby. O'Brien indicated that next season could begin with the Gr1 2000 Guineas before Haffner steps up in distance. Bred in Kentucky by D.J. Stables and Justify Syndicate, Haffner is out of the Zoffany mare Earth Strike and was purchased by M.V. Magnier and White Birch Farm for US$375,000 at the 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Saturday's success was his third from six starts and, more significantly, restored the upward trajectory established before his Curragh disappointment.
Star Quartet Bolsters Hong Kong Rider Ranks
Tuesday, 29th September 2026
Hong Kong's already formidable jockey colony will acquire a distinctly international flavour through the heart of the 2026-27 season after the Hong Kong Jockey Club confirmed visiting licences for Saffie Osborne, Maxime Guyon, Dylan Browne McMonagle and Rossa Ryan, bringing together four riders whose collective achievements span Classics, championships and some of the world's most important Gr1 races. Osborne will be first to arrive, riding from November 8 until December 23, fresh from creating British racing history aboard Highwayman in this month's Gr1 St Leger at Doncaster, where the 24-year-old became the first female jockey to win a British Classic. The daughter of trainer and former jumps rider Jamie Osborne has accumulated 394 winners, is a two-time Shergar Cup winner and captained Great Britain & Ireland to victory over Team Hong Kong at Ascot in August. French heavyweight Guyon follows from December 2 until February 8, bringing almost 3400 career victories, 58 Gr1 successes and four French jockeys' championships. His Hong Kong credentials are already considerable, encompassing 15 winners during his most recent stint and three victories in the Gr1 Hong Kong Vase aboard Flintshire, Junko and Sosie. Rossa Ryan will also begin on December 2 and remain until February 28, apart from the December 26 meeting. The 26-year-old's five Gr1 victories include the 2024 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe aboard Bluestocking, along with the Gr1 July Cup and Gr1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, while his career tally has passed 1200 winners. Reigning Irish Champion Jockey Browne McMonagle completes the quartet from January 6 until February 28. Still only 23, he has already collected Gr1 victories across Ireland, Britain, France, Germany and the United States and rode ten Hong Kong winners during his previous stint. racingnews.hkjc.com reported Executive Director, Racing Andrew Harding saying the calibre of the quartet underlined Hong Kong racing's international standing and would further intensify competition alongside established stars including Zac Purton, Hugh Bowman and Vincent Ho. Osborne, Guyon and Ryan will all be eligible for LONGINES Hong Kong International Races week, beginning with the International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley on December 9. Their staggered residencies will consequently provide Hong Kong racegoers with an unusually sustained concentration of elite overseas talent from early November through the end of February rather than a fleeting influx confined to the December international carnival. Racing News
Piastri Delivers Immediate Bedggood Dividend
Tuesday, 29th September 2026
A $40,000 online gamble took barely a fortnight to begin paying its way when Piastri made a winning debut for Gavin Bedggood at Mornington on Saturday, adding another chapter to the Cranbourne trainer's increasingly impressive record of extracting improvement and further victories from tried horses. The six-year-old son of Choisir had spent his previous 19 starts with Ciaron Maher, winning five times and most recently finishing fourth at Sandown on August 22, before being offered through the Inglis Digital September Early Online Sale. Bedggood secured him for $40,000 and inherited a horse already boasting useful metropolitan form, including a Flemington victory in July, but there had been precious little time for elaborate preparation before his first appearance for the new stable in the Devilbend Golf Club Handicap, a 1200m Benchmark 84 carrying $71,000 to the winner. Instead, Bedggood deliberately kept matters uncomplicated. Piastri arrived in excellent condition, was given just two gallops after joining the stable and spent his days living outside in a yard, with the trainer intent on maintaining rather than rebuilding the foundation inherited from Maher. The approach produced an immediate result. With Blake Shinn aboard and conditions falling favourably after rain softened the Mornington surface, the $8 chance made full use of barrier two and proved strongest when it mattered, defeating Space Rider by a long neck with Ferivia another three-quarters of a length away in third. The victory was Piastri's sixth from 20 starts and continued a pronounced preference for rain-affected going, with five of those successes having been achieved on Soft tracks. Speaking to racing.com, Bedggood revealed that the gelding had arrived only two and a half weeks earlier and said the stable had consciously kept his routine straightforward, adding that Piastri would now head to the beach for five or six days of rest before his next assignment was considered. Rather than immediately identifying a fixed target, Bedggood indicated that weather may determine where the gelding appears next, an understandable strategy given how effectively Piastri has performed with give in the ground. The result also represented an immediate commercial return for connections: the $71,000 first prize comfortably exceeded his purchase price at his very first start for them. For Bedggood, whose skill with established horses has become an increasingly conspicuous feature of his operation, Piastri appears another astute addition capable of paying considerably more than Saturday's first instalment.
Glory Mission Eyes Newmarket Prize
Tuesday, 29th September 2026
A frustrating week away from the racecourse for trainer Mark Ganderton was transformed by the performances of his team at Launceston on Friday night, headed by an impressive victory from Glory Mission that thrust the lightly raced six-year-old firmly into calculations for November's Listed Tasmanian Newmarket over 1200m. Ganderton had already been forced to miss his 200th career winner while recovering from a hernia operation and was again absent after being struck down by a severe bout of flu, but his horses ensured there was plenty to celebrate from afar as Glory Mission and Fighting For Gold produced a notable stable double. Glory Mission, sent out the $2.35 favourite in the BM76 over 1120m, was returning to Launceston after resuming with victory at Devonport earlier in the month, where he had gone close to lowering the 1150m track record. From the inside barrier Kelvin Sanderson secured an economical passage and allowed the gelding to find his feet while a strong tempo developed ahead, before Glory Mission gathered himself and sustained his run powerfully to the line. Sanderson told Tasracing that the gelding had been notably composed before the race and responded strongly once asked to build through his gears, providing further encouragement that a step into better company could be within reach. The jockey is particularly well qualified to assess the Newmarket picture, having won last year's edition aboard Durazzo, although he jokingly declined to nominate whether Glory Mission could measure up in November given that his allegiance remains with the defending champion. Zany Girl also made an encouraging return in finishing only half a length away. Ganderton's evening improved again in the following event when Fighting For Gold, heavily supported from $6 into $3.70 despite returning from a 360-day absence, produced one of the performances of the meeting. Anthony Darmanin found himself clearly last approaching the home turn and initially believed second place was the realistic ceiling, only for the mare to unleash an exceptional late sprint and overhaul Ozonica virtually on the post. The card contained several riding and training doubles, with Erica Byrne Burke scoring aboard Toorak Lad and Unfiltered, while Sanderson also partnered Liam Beamish-trained Henley Extreme before his success on Glory Mission. Barry Campbell supplied the opening-race upset when $31 chance Cavaretta won at her first Tasmanian start, defeating expectations centred on $1.80 stablemate Wolf Junior. For Ganderton, however, an evening he was too ill to attend may ultimately prove most significant for having unveiled Glory Mission as a credible candidate for Tasmania's premier sprint prize.
Tassie's Glory Mission has the Newmarket in her sights (pic: tasracing.com.au)
I Love Ya Money Upsets Stablemate
Tuesday, 29th September 2026
Stable confidence may have centred on hot favourite Bosun, but it was his less-fancied stablemate I Love Ya Money who delivered Mitchell Pateman the major prize at Belmont on Saturday, producing a career-best performance to land the $100,000 TABtouch Westspeed Platinum Spring Series Final over 1600m. Bosun had arrived as the commanding $1.70 favourite after a sequence of impressive performances and carried the added interest of being owned by Pateman's brother Josh, while I Love Ya Money was allowed to start at $8 despite having established an admirable level of consistency through a lengthy campaign. The complexion of the race ultimately favoured the latter. While Bosun was forced back to last, William Pike allowed I Love Ya Money to use his clean beginning and settle in the coveted one-out, one-back position, enjoying cover within striking distance of the leaders. Pike eased the four-year-old three wide approaching the straight and the son of Gingerbread Man gradually gathered his rivals before taking command around the 200m. I'm Nipote obtained an inside run and emerged as the principal challenger, but I Love Ya Money was never seriously threatened thereafter and drew away to score by a length and a half, while Bosun was unable to reproduce his customary finishing surge and beat only three runners home. Pateman admitted to thewest.com.au that the result prompted mixed emotions given his brother's involvement with the beaten favourite, but acknowledged that I Love Ya Money's consistency had earned him his moment and that the tactical advantage enjoyed by the winner proved decisive. The trainer had considered Bosun the classier of his pair but felt the pattern of the race made it extremely difficult for horses attempting to close from the rear. Pike revealed that connections had discussed riding I Love Ya Money further back, but the gelding jumped so smoothly that surrendering the attractive position on offer made little sense. The champion jockey remained confident throughout that his mount would appreciate the mile and believes further improvement will come with maturity. The victory also completed a rapid treble for Pike after earlier successes aboard Miss Veuve and Silent Diva. For I Love Ya Money, who only broke his maiden at the beginning of July, the result represented a significant progression in a relatively short period and Pateman believes considerable upside remains, although a spell appears likely following an extended preparation. As the trainer succinctly observed, whatever comes next can wait: I Love Ya Money had won his "grand final". The West Australian.
Bargain Trean Lands Million-Euro Prize
Tuesday, 29th September 2026
The enduring appeal of inexpensive yearlings taking wealthy owners to racing's biggest stages received another spectacular advertisement at the Curragh on Saturday when €20,000 purchase Trean captured the Goffs Million over seven furlongs, earning €500,000 for the Red Lily Racing Syndicate and spearheading an extraordinary one-two finish for trainer Paddy Twomey. Sent out the 9-4 favourite following encouraging form that included a previous conditions-race success, the son of Bayside Boy appeared to face a formidable task from stall 18 and found himself considerably further back than jockey Billy Lee had intended as the 18-runner field stretched across the Curragh. Rather than panic, Lee allowed Trean to find his rhythm towards the rear, although his position continued to look precarious when the colt encountered traffic approaching the final two furlongs. Once an opening emerged, however, Trean demonstrated both courage and acceleration, threading his way between rivals before switching into clear running and finishing powerfully to take command inside the final 110 yards. Stablemate Hi Corbett Court produced an extraordinary finish of his own under Siobhan Rutledge to claim second at 80-1, half a length behind the winner, with 33-1 chance Ballinea Star another three-quarters of a length away in third. The result meant Twomey collected the lion's share of one of Europe's richest juvenile races with two comparatively inexpensive purchases, Trean having cost just €20,000 at last year's Goffs Orby Sale while Hi Corbett Court changed hands for €85,000. Twomey told racingpost.com that Trean had already demonstrated himself to be a class performer and admitted that his confidence was tested by the colt's position halfway through the contest, while Lee explained that being further back than planned may ultimately have helped after he felt he had asked too much of Trean during his previous appearance in the Gr1 National Stakes. The victory was Twomey's second in the Goffs Million and triggered exuberant celebrations among the Red Lily Racing Syndicate as their bargain purchase returned with one of Irish racing's most valuable cheques. Trean's triumph also offered another reminder of the extraordinary possibilities inherent in racehorse ownership: the two Twomey runners together had cost €105,000, yet returned €700,000 for first and second in little more than 88 seconds at the Curragh. More importantly from a racing perspective, Trean's ability to overcome a difficult draw, traffic and an unfavourable position reinforced his trainer's belief that the progressive juvenile possesses considerably more than a lucrative sales-race pedigree.
