High Hopes for Blueblood

24 April 2016

Tony Pike has particularly high hopes for the beautifully-bred WS four-year-old Snowdrop. The Cambridge trainer produced her for a first-up victory at Ellerslie on Saturday and is expecting her to continue on a path to the top.

“She’s a very progressive mare. She sweated up a bit in the back parade ring before the race, so this will bring her along nicely and she’ll improve for the run,” Pike said.

“The biggest barrier for her is tracks. She needs good ground. It would be nice if we could give her another run or two in this campaign before the tracks get too wet, but she’ll be a lovely mare next season. Hopefully, we can pick up a really nice sprint race with her.”

By Pins out of the multiple Group One winner Daffodil, Snowdrop collected the fifth win of her 10-start career in the hands of apprentice Ryan Elliot. “Ryan rode her perfectly, and with his claim taking her weight down to 51.5 kilograms that made her pretty hard to beat,” Pike said.

Strongside super second-up for O’Shea-Charlton

Strongside, the full brother to Gr.1 Randwick Guineas winner Linebacker, showed grit at Wyong over 1625m, edging out hot favourite Golden Century to secure a head victory for Ron Finemore.

27 August 2025

The Corner with Garry Chittick

We live in a vastly different world to the world I was born into 80 years ago. Of course, I would not feel the effects of the political values of the time with any likelihood of understanding, perhaps for 30 years, and yet the environment in which my cousins and I were raised in has had an entrenched effect on our lives.