Link to Share
Astute trainer Roger James has every confidence that his top mare Concert Hall will stay 3200m in Sydney this autumn.
Concert Hall arrived in Sydney on Monday for a two-race campaign, which takes in the Gr.2 Chairman’s Quality (2600m) on April 10 and the Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) a week later.
Concert Hall’s career has mainly been focused on distances between 1600m and 2100m, where she has won six of her 16 starts, including the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.
She has raced beyond 2100m on three occasions, all last season, in which she won the Gr.3 Manawatu Cup (2300m), finished fourth in the Gr.3 City of Auckland Cup (2400m), and was well beaten in the Gr.2 Avondale Cup (2400m), her final run of the season.
Horse racing: Concert Hall earns Sydney shot
5 Apr, 2021 08:56 PM
3 minutes to read Concert Hall has had a roller-coaster year so far. Photo / Trish Dunell
NZ Herald
The forgotten Kiwi raider on the rich Sydney autumn carnival is about to get some high-powered help in her bid to win the Sydney Cup.
Concert Hall has had a crazy 2021, including missing a key race in February after she got away at the barriers and went on a tour of the suburbs of New Plymouth, including galloping through a playground.
Apart from being an equine tourist, she has recorded two sixths in races she went into on the back hoof, the latest behind Melody Belle in Ellerslie s Bonecrusher Stakes on March 13.
Racing: Concert Hall escapes New Plymouth Raceway, ends up in children s playground
7 Feb, 2021 01:30 AM
3 minutes to read
Concert Hall. Photo / Trish Dunell
NZ Herald
By: Michael Guerin
Superstar racemare Concert Hall is relatively unharmed after a scary escape from New Plymouth Raceway that saw her end up in a children s playground.
Trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood could only breathe a sigh of relief knowing that one different turn and the wonderful racehorse could have ended up galloping through central New Plymouth on Saturday afternoon.
Concert Hall is one of New Zealand s best racehorses and won the Group 1 Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day so convincingly she was being set for the A$1.5 million Australian Cup in Melbourne next month.
Daughter of Churchill Tops Karaka Book 2 Opener bloodhorse.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bloodhorse.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Link to Share
Three of Australia’s feature middle distance races are on the cards for classy Cambridge mare Concert Hall this autumn.
The six-year-old mare has been nominated for the Gr.1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington on March 6, and she also has the Gr.1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) on March 20 and the Gr.1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) on March 27 on her radar.
Roger James, who trains Concert Hall with Robert Wellwood, knows what it takes to win the latter pair, having won the Ranvet and Tancred in 2014 with his outstanding mare Silent Achiever.
Concert Hall doesn’t have the record of Silent Achiever as yet, but James said she had continued to get better with age.