Star Sports, the UK bookmaker which opened in Australia last year, has launched into acquisition mode amid uncertainty at the lower end of the domestic wagering pecking order.

In today's Straight Shorts, Mark Zahra will ride the OTI Racing-owned Docklands at Royal Ascot, Firestorm out of Stradbroke Handicap, Cool Aza Beel continues momentum and a Tulloch Lodge youngster wins on debut.

The death of champion sire Snitzel shone a light on his remarkable legacy, which includes 1281 winners, 160 stakes winners, 103 Group winners and 23 individual Group 1 winners, with still three racing crops to come. But who were his best progeny on the track? Here’s The Straight’s Top Five.

Four-time champion stallion Snitzel has died after the rising 23-year-old’s health deteriorated in recent weeks. Arrowfield’s John Messara believes the versatile stallion will leave a lasting legacy.

Leading Australian trainer James Cummings has confirmed he will take up a contract to train in Hong Kong for the 2026/27 season.

Neck-deep in rising floodwaters to save his broodmares and newly weaned foals, Craig Ruttley feared the worst. But the principal of Glenthorne Park Thoroughbreds says he is one of the lucky ones among the devastation left by last month’s floods in the mid-north coast of NSW.

In today's Straight Shorts, Racing Queensland stewards charge Noel Callow, how the barriers fell in the Stradbroke Handicap, winter star favourite for JJ Atkins and another juvenile winner for Snitzel.