Williams hoping luck holds for promising mare

19 February 2016

Progressive galloper Emily Monk returned to the racetrack with a vengeance on the weekend as she downed a handy line-up over 1400 metres in her first race back since suffering a bleeding attack during a victory at Avondale last November.

The lightly raced five-year-old O’Reilly mare was scoring her fourth career victory from just nine starts when she powered home in the middle of the Te Rapa track to down Watch This Space and race favourite Iwannadancelikehim in the rating 75 contest.

Co-trainer Dawn Williams, who prepares Emily Monk with husband Peter and Paul Richards from their Byerley Park base, was full of praise for the effort on return from a mandatory ninety day stand-down period.

“She’s a mare with untapped ability but has had quite a few things go wrong including a bleed at Avondale at her last start,” she said.

“She’s also been quite crook in the hocks and lost a lot of weight when she was in season even though she still won a race at that time.

“She’s just one of those horses that you hold your breath every time she goes out onto the track.”

While regarding the mare as a somewhat day-to-day proposition Williams is keen to see her get her opportunity for higher honours in this campaign.

“We will see how she pulls up but we have the Auckland Cup carnival coming up where there might be a nice race for her,” she noted.

“We might pick one of those fillies and mares races for her to see if she can get a bit of black type as I think she is certainly up to that level.” – NZ Racing Desk

Ardrossan’s Group 1-placed darling wins A$300,000 Gr.2 HKJC World Pool Wakeful Stakes

Second and fourth in 1600m Group 1 races in her two previous starts since being purchased privately by OTI Racing and stepping out in Australia under Chris Waller’s racing banner, De Armas (Ardrossan) stepped up in distance at Flemington on Saturday and opened her Australian account in style in the A$300,000 Gr.2 HKJC World Pool Wakeful Stakes (2000m) on Derby Day.

30 October 2026

The Corner with Garry Chittick

The writing of my Corner started many years ago, motivated by an irritation that I felt needed scratching. It was never my intention to make my commentary regular; neither did I intend to reinvent the direction of racing administration. It is both disappointing and ironical that what should be a simple, straightforward business provides a regular need for comment.