In today's Straight Shorts, Taree racecourse is under water in major flood event, blueblood filly wins at Sandown, France forced to cut prize money and a key racing appointment at the Seven Network.
Flooding wreaks havoc on Taree stables
A trainer has told of the devastation to his property that backs onto Taree racecourse as major flooding has left the NSW mid-north coast town isolated.
Glen Milligan said he was forced to evacuate his team of horses to higher ground with the help of neighbours and fellow trainers amid flood levels he hasn’t seen in three decades.
He is resigned to his family home being flood damaged with further rain forecast for the region.
“The horses are all safe here at the track where they are now, there's no drama there, (but) my place will just go under further,” Milligan told Sky Sports Radio.
“There's a metre of water in the courtyard yard I reckon. We've never had water in there. We've been there 30 years.
“(My house is) double-storey and we've got two foot of water in it … it's just relentless, it's just no end to it. The track's an ocean.
“It's just a sheet of water … from the 400 (metres) to the 200 (metres), it's about the only bit of grass you can see around the track where the racecourse is. It's just all water.”
Samudra lives up to pedigree in Sandown success
Pippie, who matched in with Australia’s best sprinters with Group 1 wins in the Oakleigh Plate and Moir Stakes, seems certain to leave a lasting legacy of speed after her daughter Samudra made a perfect start to her racing career.
Samudra defeated fellow blueblood I’mateez, a half-brother to champion mare Imperatriz, in a highly anticipated juvenile race at Sandown on Wednesday.
The 13th individual two-year-old winner for Snitzel this season, Samudra promises to carry on the family name after Pippie died in November after producing a colt by I Am Invincible.
Pippie’s I Am Invincible yearling colt fetched $1.4 million at this year’s Inglis Easter Australian Yearling Sale.
The blue-blooded Samudra grits her teeth, staving off the challenge of her opponents to make a winning debut 🙌
— Racing.com (@Racing) May 21, 2025
Odds on backers won't want that again 😅@BMelham pic.twitter.com/2Rks3hxM7T
Samudra, who cost $775,000 as a yearling, is raced by a TFI-Kia Ora Stud alliance and races out of trainer Mark Walker’s trans-Tasman stable.
“I loved the way she really dug deep that last 150m, which is the sign of a really high-class filly,” Walker said.
“Dave (Ellis) bought her for Kia Ora and TFI, so I’m really grateful to them for having such a beautiful filly in the stable.
“Going forward, she’s probably going to be a better chaser than a leader, and she’s going to be a much nicer three-year-old, that’s for sure.
“We’ve handled her with kid gloves. She went shin sore in the spring, so Ben (Gleeson) and I thought to be patient with her and we’ve had that support from the owners as well.
“She’ll go out for a short break, now, and we’ll get her ready for some nice three-year-old fillies’ races in the spring in Melbourne.”
Prize money cuts hit French racing
French racing is set to face annual prize money reductions of €20 million, as declining wagering revenue impacts industry finances.
France Galop distributed a record €293 million in prize money and premiums to owners and breeders in 2024. However, in an effort to reduce costs and balance the budget by 2029, a €10.5 million cut will be implemented in the second half of 2025.
By 2026, total prize money reductions will increase to €20.3 million, representing a 6.9 per cent decrease. This reduced level of funding will be maintained through at least 2029.
While prize money for Group 1 races will remain unchanged, spending cuts will also affect training centres, travel allowances for French-trained horses, and owners' premiums for feature races.
Prize money for Group and Listed races will be reduced by 8.5 per cent, as will conditions races and maidens. Other Flat races will see a 4 per cent cut, and all Graded and Listed jump races will face a 7 per cent reduction.
Starcevic to oversee Seven’s racing coverage
Joel Starcevic will oversee the Seven Network’s racing coverage after the departure of the previous head of horse racing, Andrew Hore-Lacy.
Starcevic, who currently serves as Seven’s head of cricket, has worked in senior production roles on Seven’s AFL and horse racing coverage, as well as on other major sporting events.
He will stay in charge of Seven’s cricket broadcast but will also oversee the network’s 52-week-a-year coverage of thoroughbred racing.
“I’m honoured and proud to lead a talented team of on-air experts and production staff, who all work together to produce world-class horse racing coverage,” Starcevic said.
“Our horse racing coverage is a premier product, and we are so excited to continually raise the bar and evolve with innovation and fresh ideas to remain Australia’s home of thoroughbred racing.”
Matthew Gray has been promoted to a newly created role as coordinating producer on the racing broadcast, while the network is also recruiting a second coordinating producer.
Hore-Lacy was appointed to the role of chief executive of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia and Aushorse in March and begins that role next month.
Express Yourself comes a full circle
Group 1 placegetter Express Yourself is set to provide New Zealand trainer Nikki Hurdle with a final jackpot, with the six-year-old to be sold on Gavelhouse this week.
It’s the same online auction site she paid just NZ$6550 for as a three-year-old and since taking over the training of the daughter of Shamexpress, Hurdle has prepared her to win six races and to finish runner-up in the 2024 Group 1 Telegraph at Trentham.
She has not raced since her unplaced run in the Listed Lightning Handicap at Trentham on March 22,
“After the Lightning, Ryan came back in and said ‘Mum, she didn’t want to be there’, so on that day we made the decision that she didn’t have to do anymore, she had done us proud,” Hurdle said.
“We thought it was her time to move on as a broodmare, and she will be a brilliant broodmare. She is a beautiful type and is just a natural athlete.
“She has been the most wonderful horse for us. Half of the people in the syndicate were having their first experience of horse racing, and she has taken us on a fantastic ride.
“We bought her thinking we could win two or three races, but we ended up in Australia and we nearly won a Group 1. She owes us nothing, we love that horse, she is an absolute beauty.
“She was the only one I had in work at the time and it is going to be very hard to get another one like her. You don’t come across horses with x-factor every day, and I think she had that.”
Bidding on Gavelhouse closes on Monday at 7.24pm New Zealand time.
Straight Talking with Bren O’Brien and Gareth Hall
Moonee Valley Racing Club chief executive Michael Browell joined Bren O’Brien and Gareth Hall on SEN’s Giddy Up program to discuss plans for a redevelopment of the racetrack.
Browell provided a timeline for the rebuild, which begins in earnest after this year’s Cox Plate meeting.
As it stands, Browell says the project will be completed in time to stage the 2027 Cox Plate.
“There’s nothing of this scale that’s on the go here in Melbourne at the moment and the undertaking from the club is huge,” Browell said.
Browell said the MVRC would be investing $220 million into a new grandstand as the infrastructure centrepiece to the reconfigured racetrack.
Listen to the full interview below.
Lyndhurst Stud confirms 2025 stallion fees
Leading Queensland sire Better Than Ready will stand for an unchanged service fee in 2025.
The sire of this season’s Group 1 Railway Stakes winner Port Lockroy, the Lyndhurst Stud-based stallion’s price will stay at $27,500 (inc GST).
Better Than Ready is also the sire of Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup hero Apache Chase as well as 2023 Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Skirt The Law
Lyndhurst associate sire Barbaric has figured in a modest reduction as he prepares for his fourth season at stud.
A son of I Am Invincible, Barbaric will stand at $6600 and his progeny will hit the racetrack next season.
