Winner of the 2011 Group I MRC Caulfield Cup, South Australian bred star staying mare Southern Speed was retired to stud in Japan at the end of her career and was in the news this week when her four year-old son Cosmo Kuranda went within a whisker of winning the Group I Arima Kinen (2500m).

The last week of Christmas racing has been as busy as usual and thrown up plenty of black type updates, including five new stakes winners, for upcoming yearling sale.