Young Tagging along for Guineas

SOME positive signs can only be picked up when a trainer rides their own horses in trackwork.

Tagaloa’s co-trainer Natalie Young only grew in confidence in the colt winning Saturday’s Group 1 Australian Guineas at Flemington after she rode him in trackwork at Cranbourne on Tuesday.

Tagaloa scored his first win since last year’s Blue Diamond when he outpointed his rivals in the CS Hayes Stakes on February 13.

Young said Tagaloa’s trackwork indicated a return to his best in the CS Hayes Stakes but she said the colt showed signs he’d be harder to beat in the $1m Australian Guineas.

“I was super happy with him,” Young, who trains Tagaloa in partnership with Trent Busuttin, said.

“He had a good hit-out. At about the 1200m, he grabbed the bit himself and wanted to go a lot quicker.

“It was good to feel him want to do it because he’s quite a lazy colt that only does what he has to. When he wants to grab the bit on his own, you know that he’s feeling well, and that was what he did going into the CS Hayes Stakes.”

Not only do Tagaloa’s CS Hayes rivals have to make up at least a length on the son of Lord Kanaloa in the Australian Guineas, they must also counter the weight advantage he will enjoy on Saturday.

Tagaloa carried 59.5kg, giving away up to 3.5kg to his opposition last time out. But he will take on the Australian Guineas field at level weights.

The Australian Guineas barrier draw will be released on Wednesday morning.

Sydney owner Paul Smith poured fuel on the flame ahead of the NBL’s controversial Grand Final rematch.

And — for more than a moment — it looked like his undermanned Kings squad would back him up against bitter rival Perth, especially with a sick Bryce Cotton.

That was until new Wildcats import John Mooney took the game into his own hands — and then Cotton exploded in arguably the best NBL game of the new season.

Not even a knock to the knee could stop Mooney as he finished with 30 points, 16 rebounds and three assists, and Cotton lit it up late with 30 points and nine assists, guiding Perth to a 113-106 victory in a great advertisement for everything good about the NBL.

A MAJOR concussion court action is being prepared, claiming dozens of AFL players with severe illnesses linked to head knocks have been dudded out of compensation.

Insurance schemes offered from 2009 have made it impossible for players to claim payouts for “serious mental health conditions” arising from concussion-based injuries, a case brief obtained by the Herald Sun says.

Under one proposed action, “significant” damages would be sought for players who had missed out, with individual claims ranging from $200,000 to $1m, and dozens of potential litigants. Lawyers could also demand refunds of premiums paid by all players to 2020, totalling $2.3m.

The insurance schemes, set up for the footballers by the AFL, AFL Players’ Association and AMP, are dubbed “zombie policies” in the document.

An unnamed recently-retired AFL star is being considered as a “test case”.