Straight Shorts is a rolling news update service on the biggest stories in racing, wagering and breeding. Weights for the $4 million Doncaster Mile are out, Rachel King' Japanese stint coming to an end and there's a rider booked for Perfumist in the NZB Kiwi.
Via Sistina given 60kg for Doncaster Mile
Via Sistina heads the weights for the Doncaster Mile after the Yulong-owned mare received 60kg for the $4 million race at Randwick.
Winner of the Ranvet Stakes, Winx Stakes, Turnbull Stakes, Cox Plate and Champions Stakes at Group 1 level since arriving in Australia, Via Sistina, received 2kg more than I Wish I Win, her nearest rival in the handicaps.
She also has 3kg more than her Chris Waller-trained stablemate Fangirl.
Via Sistina and Fangirl will clash in the Group 1 Verry Elleegant Stakes over 1600m at Randwick on Saturday.
Weights for the $4m The Star Doncaster Mile and $2m Schweppes Sydney Cup have been released with superstar Via Sistina topping the weights as expected for the famous Randwick mile. 👇
— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) February 25, 2025
READ: https://t.co/80XaaX7nKK pic.twitter.com/P444TgnQsa
But it is highly unlikely they meet in the Doncaster Mile with Via Sistina aimed at an autumn program centred on weight-for-age racing and culminating in the $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes a week later.
Epsom Handicap and King Charles III Stakes winner Ceolwulf has been allocated 57.5kg.
Godolphin star Broadsiding, the highest-rated three-year-old among the 156 entries, has been asked to carry 55kg.
Heading the weights for the three-year-old fillies is Lady Shenandoah with 51.5kg.
Vauban heads Sydney Cup weights, Knight’s Choice receives 55.5kg
Former Irish stayer Vauban has been allocated 58kg for the Sydney Cup but the topweight is an unlikely runner in the premier staying test of the Sydney autumn carnival.
Sold to syndicator Australian Bloodstock as well as clients of co-trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott after last year’s Melbourne Cup, Vauban is close to a racing return.
But Vauban is expected to have a restricted autumn with the Group 1 Tancred Stakes a primary target before he is set for a third try at winning the Melbourne Cup after two unsuccessful attempts for Willie Mullins.
Knight’s Choice, the 2024 Melbourne Cup winner, has 55.5kg while Caulfield Cup hero Duke De Sessa has 56.5kg.
Desert Hero from the UK and Japan’s Cils Blancs, the only two northern hemisphere entries among 98 nominations, have received 54.5kg and 54kg respectively.
The highest-weighted mare in the race is Deny Knowledge (54.5kg), a first-up winner at Caulfield on Saturday.
Another mare of interest is Zardozi, who has been allotted 53kg after running a fourth in the 2024 Melbourne Cup.
King keen to chase Breeders’ Cup crown with Costa Nova
Rachel King will complete a history-making riding stint in Japan hoping her Grade 1 win can pave the way for another Breeders’ Cup meeting appearance.
King became the first female jockey to win a Grade 1 race in Japan when Costa Nova claimed the February Stakes on the dirt at Tokyo Racecourse.
The victory earned Costa Nova automatic entry into the $US7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar later this year and King says she will be doing her best to continue her association if the five-year-old travels to America.
“I’ll be putting my hand up for (the ride) but I’ll just have to wait and see, I guess, a little bit closer to the time,” she told Melbourne radio station RSN.
King rode Japanese entry Satono Carnaval at last year’s Breeders’ Cup meeting, becoming the first Australian-based jockey to take part in racing’s unofficial world championships.
Her star has since continued to rise on the international stage, competing successfully against the world’s best jockeys in Hong Kong in December and Saudi Arabia last week.
東京11R
— ヒッキー厩舎(スタポケ) (@hidestar1118) February 23, 2025
フェブラリーSをコスタノヴァで勝利したキング姐さん💪#コスタノヴァ pic.twitter.com/DUJ6RwdHDF
King will ride in Japan at the weekend before returning to Australia on Monday where she will step straight into the autumn carnival spotlight at the Randwick Guineas meeting on March 8.
She wants her latest stay in Japan to inspire more females to start riding.
Helen Thomas
“I’m hoping something like this will give the locals a bit of push to keep those girls coming through the system (who are) wanting to ride and realise they can do it,” she said.
Ashley Morgan booked for Perfumist ride in NZB Kiwi
Ashley Morgan, fresh from a breakthrough win that added to his early 2025 momentum, has been booked to ride Australian representative Perfumist in the NZB Kiwi.
Morgan celebrated his first stakes winner at the weekend when the Bjorn Baker-trained Our Anchorage saluted in the Group 3 Parramatta Cup at Rosehill.
It came after he last month announced his arrival as a jockey ready for the big moments when rode Private Harry to victory in the Magic Millions Sunlight Plate - a $3 million slot race.
Morgan’s win on Our Anchorage enhanced an already solid association with Baker.
He has booted home 33 winners for the Warwick Farm trainer from 139 rides for a strike-rate of 23.7 per cent.
Perfumist, a member of syndicator OTI Racing’s team, will run from the slot owned by RACE Inc.
The $NZ3.5 million NZB Kiwi is a race for three-year-olds and will be run at Ellerslie on March 8.
NBA betting on the cards for Hong Kong Jockey Club
The Hong Kong Jockey Club could be on the verge of adding basketball betting to its racing and football options.
In a bid to combat Hong Kong’s $A20.4 billion fiscal deficit, government authorities are considering the introduction of wagering on NBA matches as a way of raising much-needed revenue, the South China Morning Post reported.
During a 2024 interview, HKJC chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges flagged the possibility of creating a platform for NBA betting.
It is estimated up to 150,000 Hong Kong customers are betting on NBA games via illegal bookmakers.
Engelbrecht-Bresges says he is confident the HKJC can attract up to 60 per cent of those punters if betting was legalised.
Warwick Barr
Basketball gambling has the potential to bring in billions in government taxes if a 50 per cent duty levied on football betting is applied.
Football wagering in Hong Kong surpassed racing for the first time in 2021 with $HK140.2 billion gambled compared to an overall $HK136.1 million on thoroughbred events.
