Doomben Cup (Group 1)
THE Irish-bred Birdman has become trainer Chris Waller’s 200th Group 1 winner following his three-length win in the Doomben Cup over that course’s 2,000 metres.
With Pride Of Jenni rolling along in front, 12 lengths clear of the seven-horse field, Birdman came into the race approaching the bend as the widest runner. As Pride Of Jenni began to tire, Birdman took flight.
Collaring his quarry just before the 100 metre mark, the Free Eagle gelding cruised clear for a comfortable win that secured Waller’s milestone. Pride Of Jenni held on for second as the Galiway gelding Vauban claimed third.
“The man behind the operation, he is just an absolute master and it’s a privilege to be part of his team,” said jockey James McDonald who himself is up to 139 Group 1 wins.
Accolades
“How he ‘preps’ these horses is incredible, and he deserves all the accolades he gets and all the records he breaks, because he’s a one of a generation sort of trainer and we’re lucky to be in his bubble.”
Third in the 2024 Queens Vase for Jessica Harrington before his sale that October led him to Chris Waller’s stable, Birdman has started 18 times in Australia with 2026 seeing the eight-year-old in career-best form, landing three group wins from his six starts.
“With Tommy Smith, I was embarrassed to be around him; I used to be in awe of him,” reflected Waller when asked what the achievement meant. “And Bart (Cummings), I had a good relationship with him, and he was an amazing man.
“I think what I’ve done is show that anything is possible. I’ve got a good team and respect that team. Anything is possible when you’ve got confidence and good horses.”
THE Bivouac filly Fireball Miss has moved to the third line of betting for the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (June 6th) following her solid win in the Group 2 Roses over 2,000 metres at Doomben on Saturday. With Declan Bates up and sent out at $13, Fireball Miss outgunned her 13 rivals with a powerful rails finish.
Second was the Savabeel filly Chispa ahead of the Omaha Beach filly Grand Omaha. “She’s just thrived here. So, yeah, it’s fantastic, she’s in really good order. She’s improved every run. It was a beautiful ride by Dec (Bates),” said trainer Ciaron Maher. “She’ll go on to the Oaks now and she’ll be a very good chance.”
TRIBUTES have flowed as the Queensland racing industry mourned the death of former jockey Shane McGovern who passed away last Saturday after a health battle following a freak accident. It had been announced on Friday that McGovern had gone into palliative care after a tragic ordeal when he was found trapped under a dead horse for up to six hours last month.
The 67-year-old had been riding track work in Charters Towers when a horse collapsed and died from an aneurysm, pinning him underneath, and he was only discovered many hours later by his wife and trainer Kim. McGovern needed two amputations – first losing his left leg below the knee and two weeks later, he needed a second leg amputation. Medical staff were then unable to control complications. From New Zealand, McGovern spent years earlier in his career riding on the picnic circuit in Victoria.
THE Next Episode, bought for A$2.8 million at last year’s Gold Coast Magic Millions yearling sale has lived up to his hype, winning the $1 million Magic Millions National 2YO Classic over 1,000 metres at the Gold Coast the previous Friday night. Ridden by Jason Collett for Ciaron Maher, the Snitzel colt produced a classy turn of foot over the final furlong to cruise away to a comfortable win.
Second was the Home Affairs filly Natural Fling with the Lucky Vega gelding Lucky Pat third. “He was in the gates a lot longer and so there’s a bit of work to do there. His ability is quite scary,” said Collett on dismounting.
“His turn of foot is so good. I don’t know if I’ve ever ridden a horse with a turn of foot like this, it’s just electric.” The Next Episode has now won three from five.
THE headline acts of the Magic Millions National Broodmare sale, held over Tuesday and Wednesday and featuring 416 lots was the race mare Legarto, a five-time Group 1 winner, who sold to Yulong for A$2.8 million and the broodmare Miss Hellfire, in-foal to Extreme Choice who went for $2 million to Sheng Geng from China. A further eight fillies and mares made over $1 million as the sale saw 377 lots offered produce a gross of $66,824,500 at a clearance rate of 81%.
The average of $219,097 indicated a strong top end with the median less than half of that at $105,000. Yulong continue to add to their elite broodmare band with the Devil Night Syndicate zeroing in on Legarto.
“She’s the mare of the whole sale and we love her,” said Yulong’s Jun Zhang. “We fell in love with her when we first saw her. We’re going to send her to Segenhoe. We purchased Segenhoe and we need some very elite mares to support our stallions, Devil Night and Private Harry.” The $30 million purchase of Segenhoe Stud from the Maloney family in April represents Yulong’s first acquisition in the New South Wales’ elite Hunter Valley.
Leading the sale aggregate by a long way was Newgate Farm, whose 44 mares and fillies that sold generated a total of $18,275,000, or 27% of the sales gross. Newgate, with six of the top 12 selling lots finished with an average of $415,341.