Gold Trail test for Babe

12 September 2016

A decision on Babe’s major three-year-old targets will be made after she runs at Hastings this Saturday. The WS-bred and owned daughter of the late O’Reilly will face a significant step up in class when she tackles the Gr.3 Gold Trail Stakes.

The highly-regarded filly hasn’t raced since she made a successful debut at Te Rapa last month. “I’m very happy with her, she’s done really well,” trainer Graham Richardson said.

“The Gold Trail is going to be a very hot field – it will give us a really good guide on her. I’ll have a good chat with Mark (Chittick) afterwards to decide which direction we take with her.”

Babe, who will be ridden by the Sydney-based Jason Collett at Hastings, is nominated for the Gr 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas. She is the first foal of the French Deputy mare La Belle Femme, who is from a strong North American black type family.

The Corner with Garry Chittick

I keep on proposing my retirement from the burden of a weekly Corner. I make the excuse it is hard to be credible, hard to let the two of you know about anything in our sport that hasn’t been covered before.

27 October 2025

WS-bred On The Lash scores at Sha Tin

Twenty-four hours following the final WS Cox Plate meeting run on the Moonee Valley track of old before it shuts for two years to make way for a new precinct, the race’s 2004 winner, Savabeel, continued his roll of runners, and this time it was via five-year-old On The Lash (ex Candelabra) at Sha Tin.