Written on Thursday, 08 July 2010 15:58
ALL RACING eyes will be on the July Cup in England this Saturday morning AEST (12.10am) where Starspangledbanner ($2.25 TAB Fixed Odds favourite) will no doubt be the one to toss. Nicconi ($11) and Alverta ($26) will also tackle the six-furlong Newmarket event in an attempt to re-write Australian runners' poor historical showing in the July Cup.
Tye Angland is looking forward to his ride on Alverta. It's been well documented that Alverta lost a lot of weight on her trip to England, but Angland told Sky Sports Radio this week that the daughter of Flying Spur has put weight back on and looks like she did when she won the Coolmore Classic in March.
It was interesting to hear Angland say that the word around Newmarket is that Starspangledbanner is "working the house down" and that the Coolmore team is very confident about his chances. (That's him, pictured above, returning to scale with Danny Nikolic, after winning the Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield in February.)
***
NASH Rawiller and Corey Brown continue to lock horns in the race to win the Sydney metropolitan jockeys' premiership but Rawiller kicked four wins clear this week - and will now be hard to beat.
Both had six rides at the Randwick Kensington meeting on Wednesday but a Rawiller double took him to 81 wins, while Brown could only manage the one victory to now be on 77.
"When I decided to come to Sydney I made up my mind that I had 10 years left in my career and wanted to make every post a winner," Rawiller said this week. "If I can cap it off with a premiership it would be sensational."
Given Brown can ride at 53kg compared to the heavyweight Rawiller and you can expect him to get more opportunities than Rawiller as he chases the premiership in the final weeks.
However, Rawiller's four-win gap is handy and it's going to be very hard for Brown to catch him. If he did, Rawiller could find lots of solace in the fact that he has claimed the national Group 1 jockey mantle, with nine wins at the elite level this season.
***
PLENTY of jumping action at the sacred home of jumps racing, Warrnambool, this Sunday. The $100,000 Tom Corrigan Hurdle and Thackeray Steeplechase are bound to be exciting events with some of the state's top jumpers in action.
Steven Pateman has had a rewarding season to date, having finished first or second in almost half his 2010 rides. Ciaron Maher has engaged him to ride Regal Heir in the Tom Corrigan Hurdle, while at the time of printing he was double booked on Plumtastic and Sparking in the opening event.
***
ALBION PARK hosts the Group 1 Sky Racing Queensland Derby on Saturday night for the three-year-olds over 2680m. The exciting For A Reason won the NSW Derby in April and has won five in a row for trainer/driver Luke McCarthy. The son of Art Major will be the incredibly hot fancy to take the $59,400 first prize.***
NASH RAWILLER and Glen Boss jet to Singapore this Sunday for the Singapore Derby (7.55pm AEST) for four-year-olds. They will take on the likes of Singapore-based Danny Beasley, Vlad Duric, John Powell and Ronnie Stewart in the Group 1 event. Trainers Michael Freedman, Cliff Brown and Laurie Laxon also have candidates in the 2000m event, which is worth almost $1 million in our currency.
Laxon, in fact, has three aspirants, including Noble Manor. He's no cheapie being a $380,000 Karaka sales yearling that raced in New Zealand before moving to Singapore. Noble Manor is a son of New Zealand group winning filly Sarwatch. Those with good memories may recall she was favourite for the 2000 AJC Oaks won by Coco Cobanna.
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Starspangledbanner flying in the UK

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