Latest news from the stable

The recent monsoonal weather has interrupted some of the plans for the horses in work but nevertheless good recent wins by Gabarlis Girl and Xanthos have provided a welcome boost to the stable.

Of the horses in work, Cool Edition is ready to race again and has been nominated this coming Saturday in a Fillies & Mares Class 6 over 1200m in town. Paul Hammersley will take the ride and after a couple of scratchings recently; she should be doing her best work at the finish. Gabarlis Girl recently broke her maiden status in good style at Lismore and she will return to the track on Friday October 29 in Class 1 event over 1350 metres.

Coming off such a long break, Platinum Touch showed good early dash but his fitness gave out at the finish on a very heavy track at Ipswich last Friday. His was easily the fastest of the 1200 metre maidens that day and although the distance was too short for him, the run has tightened him up well and he is being aimed towards a Sunshine Coast Maiden on November 2 at this stage. The stable was also happy on that day with the effort of Divine Scent considering she had missed a fair bit of track work in the lead up. She is now nominated for a QTIS 1100m at Ipswich on Friday October 22nd although the weather will have a say in the plans at this stage.

Former Melbourne galloper I’m A Smarty Pants had a minor setback and missed some work due to the weather but is now back in full work. She will now trial at Deagon on Tuesday the 26th of October. She may have another trial after that but she is expected at the races all being well fairly soon thereafter.
The stable was delighted with the effort of Xanthos at Eagle Farm on the weekend. He will now head to a Class 5 event on Wednesday 27th in town, whilst Swirling Moss will contest Heat 9 on Tuesday October 19 at the Eagle Farm trials. He has returned well and likes the wet so he should be back at the races again soon.

Unraced youngster, Sir Slipper, will trial on Tuesday 26th at Deagon. He is going along really well and we are excited about getting him to the races very soon. The General Nediym filly will be named soon so we can trial her and then get to the races. She is showing really good speed and will be up and about early. There are still a couple of shares available so get on the phone now if you want to race a really fast horse in the next month or so. The Dansinga Gelding also has two shares remaining and is flying. Will also be named in the next few days and so again, don’t miss out – contact Tony now.

Stable favorite Jujulio is now back in work whilst fellow veteran Nostrum remains out spelling for another month or so.

Wayne’s Command has returned and has started doing ¾ work after 3 weeks in pre-training. Mont D’oro is progressing nicely and is now using pace work to fine down after putting on some good bulk. Rockwest is progressing nicely; she is up to galloping stage and the stable is happy with her work thus far. The King of Danes gelding had a jump out last Thursday and went as expected – he is progressing nicely.

Seriously Ready, Chicago Bound and Take Cover are all in pre-training and will return to full work soon.

In other news, the Monashee Mountain mare from Signagold should soon be named Vanity – watch this space.
Both Celestial Charger and Rebel Spur are really enjoying their extended spells and are maturing nicely in the paddock. Also spelling are Lucky Sound, the Monashee Mountain Gelding (Our Mistress) and the Brave Hawk Gelding (Cinn). The Brave Hawk Colt (Mit Blumen) has also now been gelded and is spelling nicely.

Various others are in the early stages of their careers including youngsters by Secret Savings, Sequalo (Our Mistress), Easy Rocking, Greenwood Lake who are all broken in and spelling nicely as they grow. There is also an unbroken youngster by Not A Single Doubt and more information on him will be available after he finishes the breaking in process.

Look for all of these newcomers to be added to the website as the details are updated.

A brief update on a few of the horses in work.

Seriously Ready - He has come along well in his preparation. He will have a barrier trial in the next week. He is a lot more focused since being gelded, however The Stable expects that he won't show us his best until he is a 3 year old.

Platinum Touch - He has returned from his spell a much bigger and better horse. He has been brought along slowly due to the length of his spell and should be ready to trial in a next month or so.

Divine Scent - She had a slight let up after he impressive 2nd place at Eagle Farm. She is now ready to race again and will be nominated next week for races on 22 May.

Nostrum - He has returned to the stable after his enforced lay off. He is working well but being brought along slowly.

Celestial Charger - Unfortunately for connections and The Stable, the Charger suffered an injury in a recent trial. He has recently undergone an operation and headed to the paddock for spell to recover from the operation.

Celestial Charger has done himself and the stable proud with a 6th place in The Inglis Classic on Saturday at Rosehill. On a day when the temperature topped 40 degrees, Celestial Charger handled the conditions well and will no doubt take a great deal from the experience.

After jumping well from his awkward barrier, jockey Glyn Schofield tried to ease Celestial Charger back to find cover. However at the same time, the horse inside him (Ilovethiscity) was doing the same. With the risk of being trapped 3 wide, Glyn Schofield made the decision to go forward and sit outside the leader. He raced there until they entered the home straight where he was no match for the winner (Chance Bye) who sprinted away. Celestial Charger battled on gamely and was just pipped for 5th on the line to run 6th.

Jockey Glyn Schofield reported that Celestial Charger was a nice horse who gave him a great feel. He thought the horse would benefit from a spell and would be best over 1400 - 1600 metres.

Celestial Charger will now go for an immediate 8 week spell.

Celestial Charger has headed to Sydney for the $250,000 Inglis Classic at Rosehill on Saturday. He will carry saddlecloth no. 8 and will jump from barrier 7. He will have the services of Glyn Schofield in the saddle.

He left for Sydney on a float on Wednesday afternoon and arrived safely on Thursday morning. The report from the strapper travelling with him was that he travelled well and “hasn’t missed a beat”. He will be stabled at the stables of Rosehill trainer Lee Curtis whilst in Sydney.

The Inglis Classic is a race restricted to horses sold at the Inglis Classic sale last February. The race has been the main target for Celestial Charger since his return to work this campaign. It will be his toughest test as he takes on a strong field of Sydney 2 year olds including boom filly Chance Bye. However, the stable believes that Celestial Charger will give an honest effort and do himself, his connections and the stable proud. ‘The Charger’ will be well supported in Sydney with a number of his owners making the trip. We wish them well.

Celestial Charger was a $30,000 purchase at the Inglis Classic Sale. He was handpicked by Tony Crane and syndicated to a mix of existing stable clients and first time owners. Through the use of syndicates he has allowed a number of first time owners to enjoy the thrill of racing a horse for an affordable price. For more information on syndication and racehorse ownership, do not hesitate to contact us.

With Lurid and Swirling Moss heading to the paddock this past week, the stable currently only has Celestial Charger racing. He has been nominated for the Inglis Classic at Rosehill next Saturday.

Of the other horses in the stable, Seriously Ready and Littlemissbigitime are both close to racing. They will be nominated for a 800 metre grass jump out on Tuesday. Seriously Ready may also be nominated for a race next weekend. If the stable elects to race next weekend, he will not jump out on Tuesday.

Nostrum is being nursed along this preparation following his injury last time in. It is anticipated that he will trial in the next few weeks.

The Iglesia filly has shown good early signs this time back in. She is also expected to have a jump out or a trial in the next few weeks.

Sir Slipper, Fort 'N' Won, Major Ascot, Rebel Spur and the Star Cross gelding have all settled back into the stable well. Their work will increase over the coming weeks.

Both Celestial Charger and Lurid tried their best on Saturday but were unable to achieve the desired result.

Celestial Charger ran in an 800m 2yo race and found the shorter distance unsuitable. After being tightened for room at the jump he was slowly away. He made up good ground but at the turn was still 5 lengths off the leaders. He made up good ground in the straight to be nosed out of 3rd place into 4th, 2.8 lengths from the winner. Tony was happy with the effort and has reported that Celestial Charger has pulled up well. He will be nominated for the Inglis Classic at Rosehill on 23 January and hopefully the prizemoney he has to date will be sufficient to get him into the race.

Lurid was caught wide early from his wide gate and raced wide throughout. He was towards the end of his preparation and finished the race off like a tired horse. He will now go for a spell. Since joining the stable, he has had 4 starts for a win and 2 placings. The break will do him good and the stable has high expectations for him next campaign.

Celestial Charger, Lurid and Swirling Moss will all do battle again this weekend. All 3 were placed at their last start and are winning chances this weekend.

Celestial Charger is in Race 1 on Saturday at Ipswich. He will carry saddlecloth no. 2 and Ashley Butler will ride again. He is ideally drawn in gate 3.

Lurid is in race 7 at Ipswich. A Butler is also engaged to ride. He will carry saddle cloth no, 3 and jump from gate 10.

Swirling Moss is in race 7 on Sunday at the Sunshine Coast. He is number 3 and with Ric McMahon on board will jump from gate 4.

Celestial Charger has delighted the stable and his connections with an impressive debut run at Doomben on Saturday. He lined up in a 2 yo Maiden which featured some smart youngsters from Brisbane's leading stables.

He jumped well and showed early speed to take a position on the fence behind the heavily backed odds on favourite Sister Havana. As they straightened he railed up along the fence to chase Sister Havana who had pulled away. He challenged briefly before Sister Havana pulled away again to win by 3.8 lengths. Despite Celestial Charger's fitness giving way in the final 150 metres he finished second, 2 lengths in front of the third horse.

Jockey Ashley Butler confirmed the thoughts of the stable that Celestial Charger will improve with racing and with greater fitness. Recent wet weather had seen Celestial Charger miss a trial which would have topped off his fitness. Tony will now look for a suitable race in the next two weeks.

Finally, it was pleasing to see so many of the owners in attendance. At one stage, 14 owners were in the saddling enclosure, many of whom were having their first starter in a race. Let’s hope 'The Charger' can reward his owners with a win in the near future.

Meanwhile at the Gold Coast Lucidly struggled from his wide gate. He didn't have the early speed to cross the field and was forced to race at the back of the field. He failed to make any ground and finished a disappointing last.

Lucidly has accepted for a 1200m Class 6 at The Gold Coast on Saturday and a 1200m Open Handicap at The Sunshine Coast on Sunday. He has had no luck with the barrier draw. He is race 7 no. 7 at The Gold Coast and has drawn gate 18. He is race 7 no. 14 at the Sunshine Coast and has drawn gate 15. The stable will monitor the state of each track before deciding where to race. Mitchell Speers will ride the horse at either track.

Celestial Charger is set to make his debut for the stable on Saturday at Doomben in a 1000m 2yo maiden. He has drawn gate 6 and will carry saddlecloth no. 1 in race 3. If the track is too heavy, he may not start. However if it is Slow or Dead, he will start. A jockey is yet to be decided.

Jujulio has earnt a spell after a good preperation where he has had to carry big weights. The two year olds Lentini Mist and Celestial Charger both are showing signs of needing a rest (growing pains) and will have a break now. Running Bear has gone for a spell also. Swirling Moss has entered our stable for the first time.