No Nay Never - New Winner

For the second time in as many months, Cambridge Stud has won a two-year-old race at Ellerslie with a first-starter by their rookie stallion Hello Youmzain.

Lucy In The Sky made history on Saturday as the winner of the first stakes race run on a synthetic track in New Zealand, but Cambridge Stud had other reasons to savour the talented filly’s victory in the Listed Berkley Stud Champagne Stakes (1200m).

Tony Pike will be represented in a number of the Champions Day features this Saturday, including the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m), the first top-flight appearance for his promising juvenile Lucy In The Sky.

Capitalist had a double of debut winning two year-olds at Gosford on Thursday both prepared by Peter Snowden and while the expensive colt Caesar got the job done, it was the filly that really had people talking.

Who are we highlighting this week? - Analysis of the G1 winning 3YO’s for this season has made us realise how many horses on this list took giant strides from two to three, so we are looking into the crystal ball to find some juveniles we believe could end next season as G1 performers if not G1 winners.

The Tattersalls July Sale concluded in spectacular fashion with QUAI DE BETHUNE selling for a record 775,000 guineas and the Busuttin Young stable also picked up lightly raced 3YO TIME ALLOWED for Australia.

Gifted filly Lucy In The Sky will have a gilt-edged opportunity at Riccarton on Saturday to end her two-year-old campaign on a high note.

The Group III Bahrain Trophy Stakes ((1m5f) at Newmarket overnight produced a runaway winner in Scandinavia and while his sire Justify no longer shuttles to Australia, two of his sons will be on the roster at Coolmore this spring in City of Troy (IRE) and Storm Boy.

Spring racing is just around the corner and a busy set of trials at Randwick on Friday featured eight heats won by juveniles with winners including stakes horses The Playwright and Cobra Club as well as unraced youngsters by Justify (USA), I Am Invincible and Flying Artie.

Racing Victoria has confirmed prize money allocations for the 2025-2026 season and Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) has announced some exciting race program changes and prizemoney increases that, together with other great initiatives at Flemington and Moonee Valley, reinforce the position of Victoria’s Spring Racing Carnival at the forefront of international racing.