Five weekend talking points
The owners are the kind of people it is a pleasure to see winning races with a talented galloper.
They are racing enthusiasts with a lifelong love of horses. Colin Bishop obviously has an eye for a horse as Blue Shadow isn’t the first classy horse he’s bought for good value.
High class Alan Jones-trained Testament is one that springs to mind, multiple winner Samboa another.
Bishop, 80, is battling cancer but was at Te Rapa to enjoy Saturday’s win along with Des while Astrid holidayed off-shore.
An emotional trainer Graeme Hughes described Blue Shadow as ‘‘something special’’ after Saturday’s win and winning jockey Sam Spratt said the filly didn’t need to get out of second gear to run the 1200m on a Slow 7 track in 1:10.99.
The future looks exciting for the athletic filly who is off to the spelling paddock.
FOUR: If it ain’t working, change it
Looking across the Tasman as Saturday’s racing unfolded it became obvious that moving Stradboke day from Eagle Farm to Doomben was the right decision.
The move came after a backlash from trainers, owners and jockeys about the state of the Eagle Farm track.
A record crowd turned up at Doomben and racing was held on a good track.
It was a big call to make the move but the Aussies aren’t afraid to make such calls and make changes when needed.
New Zealand racing could take a leaf out of their book on many issues affecting the New Zealand racing industry – open starts for steeplechases, the number of race clubs, the need for investigation into synthetic tracks, breakdowns on the TAB website etc, etc.
FIVE: Aussie steals our Silver Collar
An ultra-impressive Australian greyhound stayer Ring The Bell hit Manukau Stadium on Sunday and ran away with the $80,000 Duke Of Edinburgh Silver Collar.
Trained by Gerry O’keefe the Australian National Distance titleholder was too good for the Kiwis.