In today's Straight Shorts, we have the latest on the $5 million Quokka and two Group 1 features in Adelaide, find out about Windsor Park's fees for 2025, report on a huge loss for Trelawney Stud and reveal a potential development in US online wagering regulation.
McGruddy a happy jockey after Quokka barrier draw
Jockey Shaun McGruddy says Rope Them In will get his chance to win his second slot race in three starts after the barrier draw for the $5 million Quokka.
A winner of the Bluff Knoll two starts ago at Albany for trainer Steve Wolfe, Rope Them In drew barrier five for the Quokka in which favourite Overpass drew barrier 10.
Interstate rivals Front Page and Headwall drew barrier 11 and eight respectively while New Zealand visitor Crocetti came up with gate seven.
“I wanted anywhere from one to five, so five is great,” McGruddy said.
“Hopefully I’m no further back than midfield and it will just depend on if he can keep up or not.
“At least we won’t find ourselves all the way back from a wide gate.
“I can make him begin, have him as close as he can be without having to worry about getting anywhere near the fence.”
Rope Them In ran seventh behind The Boss Lady in the Group 3 Roma Cup last time out.
Stretan Angel, Climbing Star head G1 Robert Sangster market
Two stablemates share favouritism for the $1 million Robert Sangster Stakes following the barrier draw.
Stretan Angel and Climbing Star, top-class sprinters trained by Phillip Stokes, are at the top of the market in the Group 1 weight-for-age race for fillies and mares at Morphettville on Saturday.
Climbing Star will be attempting to win the Sangster for the second year in a row before she is sold through the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in May.
🇦🇺 G1 success for CLIMBING STAR!
— Qatar Racing (@Qatar_Racing) April 27, 2024
The 4yo daughter of ZOUSTAR 🌟 lands the 6f Robert Sangster Stakes (G1) @SAJockeyClub
Ridden by @LNeindorf & trained by @pstokesracing
pic.twitter.com/oMc2pjmLpO
Stretan Angel has figured in major Group 1 sprints at her past four starts with placings in the Lightning Stakes and Newmarket Handicap.
She has been kept fresh since finishing fourth to Schwarz in the William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley in March.
Climbing Star has drawn gate seven with Stretan Angel in 10 and Royal Ascot winner Asfoora out deeper in barrier 14.
Benagil favourite for Australasian Oaks
A capacity field has accepted for the Group 1 Australasian Oaks at Morphettville.
Sixteen fillies have stood their ground for the $1 million race where a formline around benchmark three-year-old Treasurethe Moment is expected to hold up.
Victorian-trained Benagil, runner-up to Treasurethe Moment in the Group 1 Vinery Stakes at Rosehill, is the early favourite.
Benagil completes a training double for @BallymoreStabls, displaying an electric turn of foot over the top of a strong pace 👌 pic.twitter.com/2DzwEYkyp9
— Racing.com (@Racing) March 15, 2025
A Mark Zahra ride, Benagil will start from barrier 13 with her main danger, the Chris Waller-trained Movin Out to start from the rails.
Movin Out earned an Oaks start with a last-to-first win in the Mornington Guineas after finishing down the course in the Vinery.
Auguste Rodin ‘oversubscribed’
New Zealand stud Windsor Park has put up the “book full” sign for new shuttler Auguste Rodin.
The Deep Impact sire, a Group 1 winner at two, three and four, has been oversubscribed since his announcement earlier this month at an introductory fee of NZ$30,000.
Fellow shuttler Paddington, a son of Siyouni, will also return to Rodney Schick’s Windsor Park at an unchanged fee of NZ$35,000 on a roster that includes includes the popular Profondo (NZ$17,500) and Ka Ying Rising’s sire Shamexpress (NZ$20,000).
Circus Maximus ($17,500), Turn Me Loose ($7,500) and Vanbrugh ($7,500) round out the 2025 roster.
“We extend our thanks to Coolmore for their continued strong endorsement and support of both Windsor Park and the New Zealand breeding industry, just as they did last season shuttling Paddington here,” Schick said when announcing Auguste Rodin.
“Like High Chaparral, Auguste Rodin has loads of quality and we are so excited to be able to offer him to breeders.”
Trelawney mourns loss of Group 1-winning Redoute’s Choice broodmare
Group 1-winning mare Loire, who hails from a distinguished Trelawney Stud family that includes Australian horse of the year Pride Of Jenni, has died following a paddock accident.
The New Zealand 1000 Guineas winner was bred by Trelawney Stud as a daughter of Arrowfield’s champion sire Redoute’s Choice and out of the Traditionally mare Syrah.
Syrah is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Vouvray, the granddam of Pride Of Jenni.
Loire was retained by Trelawney’s Brent and Cherry Taylor and entrusted to the care of Cambridge trainer Tony Pike, for whom she won two and placed in five of her 16 starts, and accrued nearly $250,000 in prize money.
After failing to add to her race record as a four-year-old, Loire was retired to stud where she produced a Frankel filly and a Frankel colt.
The latter was offered at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale earlier this month where leading trainer Ciaron Maher purchased him for $500,000.
The Taylors have retained a share in the colt.
New York bill proposes $5000 daily wagering cap
Betting and wagering limits, credit card use and advertising have been put under the microscope in the burgeoning United States online gambling industry.
The New York Assembly Committee on Racing and Wagering has received a bill from Assembly member Robert Carroll, detailing several potential changes to laws regarding both online and retail sports betting, reports Gambling Insider.
In the first part of Assembly Bill A7962, Carroll introduces the idea that customers should not be able to deposit more than $5000 during a 24-hour period.
Players would also be prevented from wagering more than $5000 during the same timeframe.
The bill also elects that “when an account holder's lifetime deposits exceed $2500, the mobile sports operator shall prevent any wagering until the patron immediately acknowledges that the account holder has met the deposit threshold and may elect to establish responsible gaming limits or close the account”.
Operators would also be prohibited from certain advertising practices, including odds boosts or similar offers - but more importantly - they would be banned from running advertisements with the phrases ‘bonus’, ‘bonus bet’ or ‘no sweat’.
Advertisements would also not be allowed between the hours of 8am and 10pm local time, nor would they be permitted to occur during live sports events.
