Former NZ stayer continues path to the Sydney Cup Posted by: RS NewsWire+ at 12:39pm on 4/3/2021 Image: Steve Hart
Talented staying mare Rondinella will take the next step towards her Sydney Cup goal
Talented staying mare Rondinella will take the next step towards her Sydney Cup goal when she lines up at Randwick.
Trainer John O’Shea will use a tried and tested formula as he plots a Sydney Cup path for former New Zealand-trained mare Rondinella .
The Randwick trainer claimed the 2010 Group One staying feature with Jessicabeel, who placed in the Aspiration Quality and Epona Stakes before claiming the Chairman’s Stakes-Sydney Cup double.
Training genius Murray Baker conceded he is surprised boom three-year-old Aegon has come up as favourite for his attempt to overcome a hoodoo on Kiwi three-year-olds in the Group 2 $400,000 Hobartville Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens.
Aegon, unbeaten in four New Zealand starts including the 2000 Guineas and Karaka Millions, is the $3.90 favourite against one of the strongest Hobartville fields for some years.
But even Baker is unsure how Aegon will measure up against some of the best local three-year-olds in training.
“Aegon is a pretty good young horse but he has to make the step up,’’ Baker told
The Daily Telegraph from his Cambridge stable base. “It’s a bit harder in Australia than it is at home. This race is a bit of a learning curve but I hope he is up to it.’’
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Hoberg on target with world class gold medal winning score
Australian Olympic Games team member, Alex Hoberg, produced a world class performance when capturing the 10m Air Rifle gold medal at the Adelaide Grand Prix held at Wingfield Rifle Range today.
Hoberg was superb when totalling 249.3 points – a score which would have earned him the gold medal at the 2018 ISSF World Championships. His score was 0.9 superior than the championship winning score posted by Russia’s Sergey Kamenskiy.
While Hoberg’s performance in the final was impressive, so was that of silver medallist, Tori Rossiter (249.1 points), who was just 0.2 points behind Hoberg’s gold medal winning score. Olympian Dane Sampson (228.7 points) was placed third.
Racing: Group 1 record on hold as Melody Belle stunned in $400,000 Herbie Dyke Stakes at Te Rapa
13 Feb, 2021 08:25 AM
3 minutes to read
Royal Performer was victorious. Photo / Trish Dunell
NZ Herald
By: Michael Guerin
The horse who ruined the Melody Belle party at Te Rapa on Saturday wasn t even supposed to be in the race.
Former Hong Kong galloper Royal Performer stunned punters by bolting away with the $400,000 Herbie Dyke Stakes, New Zealand s richest weight-for-age race, after a beautiful ride from Jonathan Riddell.
The eight-year-old never left the fence and dashed clear halfway down the straight with The Chosen One rocketing home into second ahead of On The Rocks.