Straight Shorts is a rolling news update service on the biggest stories in racing, wagering and breeding. In Straight Shorts today, Knight's Choice's autumn on hold, a Camelot colt sells for $420,000 and an advertising industry report reveals that Australian bookmakers are spending less.

David Hayes
David Hayes has Rubylot on track for the Hong Kong Derby. (Photo: Hong Kong Jockey Club)

Another Premier result for Noorilim's Special Lover

Not for the first time, Noorilim Park-owned Pins mare Special Lover has delivered for breeder Peter Carrick at the Melbourne Premier sale.

Two years after selling an I Am Invincible daughter of Special Lover for $1.1 million, Noorilim sold that filly’s sister for $500,000 to a partnership of Hunter Valley-based farm Riverstone Lodge, trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman and their agent Julian Blaxland.

She is a half-sister to the Blue Diamond Preview winner Miss Roseiano, a dominant two-year-old for trainer Peter Gelagotis who was later sold for $1.275 million off the track.

It’s that residual value that, in part, appealed to the new owners of the $500,000 I Am Invincible filly, with Blaxland describing her as possessing a blue chip family.

“Nick (Taylor) and the team at Riverstone are putting together an elite broodmare band, so hopefully she can perform on the track and be a nice mare for them later on,” Blaxland said.

“When you look at the bloodstock market over the year, I think she was really good buying and Anthony and Sam’s (training style) will suit her. She might not be a pre-Christmas-style filly as she’s certainly more in the Loving Gaby mould of I Am Invincible fillies.

“She’s big and strong, with a lovely loose action on her.” 

Earlier, Saturday’s Australian Guineas-winning trainer Dom Sutton added to his growing stable’s arsenal with the purchase of a colt by European stallion Mehmas, the sire of 39 stakes winners, 21 of which won black-type at two.

Bought in conjunction with agents Johnny McKeever and Byron Rogers, the colt was sold by Hannah Penfold’s fledgling Victorian operation Penfold Thoroughbreds.

“I know Mehmas from up north and I know what a phenomenal sprinting stallion he is. And I can even say at $420,000, I think this horse would have made a lot more money in the ring at Tattersalls, where people know Mehmas,” McKeever said. 

“I think he was actually good value for what he bought, even though it's a big figure for a stallion that the Australian public is not as cognisant with.

“He's very much a two-year-old. I'll eat my hat if he's not a two-year-old.” 

United front - Hirsh snaps up $420,000 Camelot colt

Service station mogul Eddie Hirsch is known for his relative conservatism when it comes to buying horses, but he was happy to open the shoulders at Inglis Premier on Monday, paying $420,000 for a colt by European sire Camelot.

The most expensive yearling Hirsch has bought, is from the family of Hong Kong Group 1 winner Voyage Bubble and the colt’s new connections are Derby dreaming.

Bred by Darren Dance, the Blue Gum Farm-consigned colt will join Hirsch’s private training centre Hirsch Park near Tylden, which is helmed by trainer Vin Malady.

“He was our favourite horse in the sale and maybe went a little bit further than we expected we’d have to go (price wise), but Eddie was quite brave and we got the horse we wanted, so we're really happy,” Hirsch’s bloodstock adviser Mark Dodemaide said.

“I know you'd be dreaming of derbies with a horse like him, but he looks like he might be a bit sharper and you hope that he could be there on Caulfield Guineas day or one of those days with a bit of luck.”

Hirsch, who also owns Woodside Park Stud, is the founder of United Petroleum.

Earlier, Mulberry Racing paid $475,000 for Lot 322, a Toronado colt offered by Gilgai Farm. That colt is out of Miss Conduct, the half-sister to both Group 1 winner Masked Crusader and the dam of Magic Millions winner Skirt The Law.

Knight's Choice autumn campaign on hiatus

The autumn campaign of Melbourne Cup winner Knight’s Choice is on hold after he sustained a knock to his fetlock.

Knight’s Choice, the upset winner of the famous Flemington handicap, won a trial at Sunshine Coast last month and had been set to resume in the All Star Mile with a view to targetting the Australian Cup.

But the John Symons and Sheila Laxon stable announced on Monday that his immediate racing plans were on hold.

“We are disappointed to advise that KNIGHT'S CHOICE has, unfortunately, sustained a knock to his fetlock and the subsequent filling indicates that it is best to put him aside for a few weeks to allow the oedema to subside,” a message from the stable on social media read.

Bookies' ad spend in 2024 down on year-on-year

The Australian gambling industry’s spending on advertising fell by more than 20 per cent in 2024, the latest Nielsen Ad Intel figures have revealed.

In Nielsen’s annual Advertising Spend Report released on Monday, $187.75m was spent on gambling advertising last year.

This compared to $239 million in 2023 and represented a 21 per cent decrease.

Gambling dropped from 14th to 17th among Australia’s biggest advertisers by category.

Retail led the way with more than $2.5 billion as it continued to drive media investment with Magic Millions owner Gerry Harvey’s Harvey Norman once again occupying top place on the list.

Nielsen Ad Intel is recognised as an industry benchmark for tracking advertising trends.

Odds firm on a post-election result as Albanese kicks gambling reform agenda down the road again
The Albanese government’s reluctance to deal with the pending issue of gambling advertising reform means a resolution may not be known until after this year’s federal election, by which time bookies believe Australia will have a new government, writes Bren O’Brien.
The StraightBren O’Brien

Restrictions on gambling advertising are poised to become an issue during the upcoming federal election campaign after the Albanese government ran out of time to put proposed reforms before parliament.

Leaked details of a proposed bill indicated the government was considering a restriction to two betting ads per hour on television between 6am and 10pm, no betting ads for an hour around live sport on television and a complete ban on ads on social media.

Rubylot claims Hong Kong Classic Cup, now for Derby

David Hayes is counting on Rubylot’s maternal family to provide enough stamina for the four-year-old to go the distance in the Hong Kong Derby.

Rubylot emerged as a genuine Derby chance with his victory in the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) at Sha Tin on Sunday as part of a treble for jockey Brenton Avdulla.

The four-year-old produced the resolute finish that Hayes wanted to see from a Derby perspective.

 "To my eye, he (Rubylot) was the strongest late and that's a good sign stepping up to the 2000 metres,” Hayes told The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

A son of Rubick, Rubylot was a $100,000 Inglis Ready2Race Sale graduate in 2022.

“Being a Rubick you were always concerned, but he's out of a Dubawi mare and stoutly bred on the dam side.

"You always look at this race (Hong Kong Classic Cup) to find the closers and that's a good pointer to the Derby. I don't think anyone ran home faster than him today. It was a brilliant sectional."

Hayes won the Derby when Elegant Fashion defeated her male rivals in the 2003 edition.

Hayes leads the 2024/25 Hong Kong trainers’ premiership while Avdulla moved into third place behind Zac Purton and Hugh Bowman on the jockeys’ table.

NZ star Savaglee earns rest after Australian Guineas placing

New Zealand three-year-old Savaglee will likely head to the spelling paddock after finishing second to fellow Kiwi-bred Feroce in the Australian Guineas.

Racing in The Oaks Stud’s familiar colours, Savaglee has been a standout in his three-year-old term for trainer Pam Gerard, winning the New Zealand  2000 Guineas (1600m) and placing in the Group 1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) before Saturday’s result.

The Oaks Stud general manager Rick Williams was rapt with his performance and said it indicates the best is yet to come from the Savabeel colt.

Savaglee is nominated for the All-Star Mile at Flemington on Saturday but Williams said Savaglee would more than likely take his place on a midweek flight back to New Zealand and enjoy some time in the paddock.

“I put a nom in as an afterthought (for the All-Star Mile),” Williams told LOVERACING.NZ News Desk

“I haven’t had a talk with Pam, but at this stage he is booked to come home on Wednesday and that will be the end of his three-year-old season, and that is more than likely what is going to happen.”

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