FNQ MAIL NEW HOOP ON WAY

A new apprentice jockey is on the way to north Queensland, making the move from the other side of the country.

West Australian hoop Kate Southam is on the way north and will work for

Carl Spry in

Townsville, as well as likely making riding trips to

FNQ, starting in August.

Southam (pictured) has been in the game since 2018 and has mostly ridden for leading Sandgroper trainer Simon Miller.

She still has a claim at country and provincial meetings.

Southam picked up a winner at Carnarvon just the other day and has regularly ridden at the Perth metro meetings.

PRINCELY BUY

The biggest builder in Cairns, Bill Anderson, is always busy buying new imported horses and reckons he has found an outstanding one in Prince Of Eagles.

The emerging European stayer has won two of his four career starts, right up to the trip of 2200m, and will be targeted to the big time spring carnival races in Melbourne.

Anderson recently noted we may see Prince Of Eagles for the first time down under in August and from what the big man from FNQ has seen and been told so far, he is excited by the expensive purchase.

Anderson won the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes with Kings Will Dream last year and has several horses around Australia.

SUPER GETS 300

Former Cairns-based hoop “Super” Sonja Wiseman collected career winner number 300 on Tuesday at Cluden Park.

She got there on Mystery ‘N’ Magic, for Tolga master trainer Roy Chillemi, after a winner at Thangool just a few days earlier got her closer to the massive milestone.

Well done Super (pictured).

Also, it is a very rare occurrence to see a Chillemi win not in orange colours, as Mystery ‘N’ Magic is owned by the Chillemi family.

A CURIOUS MOVE

Townsville’s September 1 meeting has been transferred to Emerald to allow for upgrades at Cluden Park.

That seems like a very odd decision.

While it is excellent the meeting will not be lost to the industry, the horses, jockeys and trainers that race at Townsville are not the same ones that often make the trip to Emerald.

There will be a couple that cross over but not many.

Mackay, Cairns or even Innisfail, which has lost a stack of meetings over the last few years, would have been more logical.

Cairns and Mackay do race the week before – which is likely to have prompted the curious move to Emerald of all places.

It could have been Innisfail’s big TAB day opportunity.