Welcome to our May/June edition of the Munce Racing Newsletter WE HAVE MOVED INTO THE EAGLE FARM COMPLEX Well it has finally happened. In the last week of May all our horses were moved from our stables at Hendra and Caloundra to Eagle Farm. It was a huge effort by all staff to move both horses and gear from the old stables but it was done with minimum disruption to the horses and their routines. Both horses and staff have settled in nicely and are enjoying their new surroundings. It has certainly made a difference being on course. Prior to going out for their morning workout they are placed on the walker and after 20 mins they are taken to the tie-up stalls to be saddled and then ridden out onto the track. After they have been exercised they are back for visit to the sand roll, a hose down, dressed in their day rugs and then back in their nice clean box for breakfast. The horses all rugged up.. One of the tack rooms this one is for race day gear Bobby (Ours to Keep) letting us know how much he loves the new digs
$2.28 MILLION PRIZEMONEY BOOST FOR QUEENSLAND Racing Queensland (RQ) has announced that there will be an additional $2.28 million added to prizemoney levels across the state from the 2017/18 racing season. RQ CEO Dr Eliot Forbes said a "much-improved financial result for 2016/17" has led to the additional funds for prizemoney. From August 1, provincial prizemoney levels, excluding maiden races, will be increased from $14,000 to $16,000 at Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Ipswich meetings. An additional race worth $30,000 will be added to all metropolitan Saturday meetings while the Bernborough Handicap will be increased to $300,000 and the Nudgee Handicap will be increased to $125,000. RQ also announced that $160,000 will be on offer in a Country Racing Series' which includes three regional series and the inaugural Battle of the Bush - a $100,000 final for country-trained horses on Tatt's Tiara day next year. The current program of country race meetings and prize money levels will be maintained for country and regional racing. "The Board has approved a $3.2 million ($2.28 million for Thoroughbred racing, $505,000 for Harness racing and $415,000 for Greyhound racing) increase to prizemoney in the budget for 2017/18," RQ CEO Dr Eliot Forbes said. "While there is still some way to go to returning RQ to profitability, the Board understands the importance of enhancing participant returns." "Improved wagering turnover and changes to the Race Information Fee (RIF) framework have enhanced revenue and a continued focus on costs will lead to a much-improved financial result for 2016/17." (** this article was published on the 23/06/17 on Racenet webpage)
YEARLING UPDATES After our Open Day back in March the yearlings headed back out to Oakwood for some more time to grow, strengthen and mature. Most of them have now been to the breakers where they all handled, extremely well, what was thrown at them by Brett. After the breakers, they headed back out to the paddock to give them time to soak it all in. Chris does not believe in pushing the yearlings but lets them show him if they are ready or not to continue on. At the moment we have some of the yearlings at Eagle Farm going through the education process. They came in after a spell and then a quick refresher course at the breakers. SOME OF OUR YEARLINGS HAVE BEEN NAMED Bard of Armagh (Poet s Voice x Jillilikes colt) Spirit of Cherokee (Spirit of Boom x Serpent colt) Sixty One Tigers (Rothesay x Readily colt) Hillsman (Mossman x Be That As It May colt)
OUR 2-YEAR-OLDS Over the last couple of months some of our 2-year-olds have made their racing debuts for their owners. Keep Your Roses, Dream Danza, Johnny Whitesox and Oaks Avenue all began their racing careers with strong performances indicating that they have plenty of potential for the future. While some have now gone out for a spell we have others that will be coming back in very soon to kick off their next campaign as 3-year-olds including Helfuchi and Dazzling Grey. They have been based at Bahram doing their pretraining and once back at Eagle Farm it shouldn t be long before they are up and running. Johnny Whitesox Keep Your Roses FIRST CRUSH EARNS A START IN THE 2017 GRAFTON CUP After a barnstorming win in the Grafton Cup Prelude on Thursday First Crush will now head back to Grafton a week later to go around in the 2017 Grafton Cup. Held during the Grafton Carnival the race attracts a field of quality horses vying for prize money of $160,000 The lightly raced 5-year-old son of Husson (ARG), out of the Choctaw Ridge (USA) mare Loving New (BRZ) is in fine form at the moment and should be very hard to beat on the day.
HORSES AVAILABLE Wicked Style x Zerotami Filly An attractive and strong chestnut filly that really fits the mould. She is athletic, elegant, moves well and Chris believes she was a very good buy. Following the Munce Racing Open day on 26 March the filly was taken back out to Oakwood Farm and then went to the breakers on 1 May. She has recently completed her time at the breakers and is currently having a well-earned break at Oakwood Farm. The breaker was able to get her to a stage to ride and she now needs time to build strength and mature and a short break is required. She will have a short refresher with the breaker before coming back in to the stable for her next preparation. Chris is a great believer in time and patience to give our yearlings time to grow and mature and we do not push our yearlings but let them guide us as to how they are handling their education and workload. If the filly shows she is ready to race then Chris would look at the early 2-year-old races at the end of the year. The filly is paid up for the Queensland Thoroughbred Incentive Scheme (QTIS) and is eligible for nomination to the Magic Millions Race Series.
HORSES AVAILABLE (cont d) Written Tycoon x Verkko Filly Chris has said that when he first saw her she looked a very strong type and had a good walk on her. A very athletic type of filly. He thought there was a lot of depth to her pedigree which suggested she was a worthwhile prospect not only as a racehorse but also as a broodmare in the future. Her pedigree is littered with Black Type winners. Her sire, Written Tycoon was champion first season sire in Australia 2010/11, champion 2-year-old sire in Australia 2015/16 and is the sire of 3 individual G1 winners Capitalist (winner of 2016 Magic Millions Classic & Golden Slipper), Music Magnate & Luna Rossa. Her dam, Verkko (Flying Spur) is closely related to Almighty Girl and Zodiac Ruler. She comes from the same family as Laisserfaire, A Time for Julia, Foreplay, Time Thief and Centennial Park. The filly is a September foal which he thinks may help him come a little bit early with her but whether she is a real early 2-year-old (October to before Christmas) he is not sure. But she does look like the type of filly that will race as a 2- year-old and then will hopefully go on to the 3-year-old races. She will be aimed towards the 2018 Magic Millions 2yr old Classic in January. Her full brother, KARISTO, had his first start in New Zealand at Te Rapa on the 10/06/17 and he ran a credible second. Trained by Murray Baker, they have a high opinion of him and they think he goes very well. There is a bit of hype around him so it should be very interesting to see how he continues on. The filly is scheduled to go to the breakers on Monday the 10/07/17
STABLE APPRENTICE MAKES THE MOVE TO SYDNEY Stable apprentice, Michael Murphy, has made the big move to Sydney to continue his apprenticeship with Anthony and Edward Cummings. He had his first rides on Saturday at Kembla Grange and rode his first winner. A promising young rider, everyone at Munce Racing wishes Michael all the best with his new Master and there is no doubt we will see him in the winner s circle again. WE ARE NOW TAKING PAYMENTS WITH CREDIT CARDS Payment of Munce Racing s monthly accounts by credit card is now available. If you would like to manage your account this way, please phone Cathy on 0418 221 545 or email Munce Racing at admin@munceracing.com.au to provide your credit card details. Munce Racing will arrange the payment, send you a receipt and a full copy of the month s account.
2016/17 RACING SEASON As the 2016/17 racing season draws to a close we would like to thank all our owners, both existing and new, for your continued support throughout the season. We are looking forward to when the new season starts on 01 August as we work towards another successful year. All our horses turn a year older so our stables will be filled with 2-year-olds turning 3 and all the yearlings turning 2. Mostly we would like to thank Chris for his amazing work ethic as well as the care and attention he gives to all the horses. To achieve what he has done in the 2 years since he commenced training is amazing and we hope that it gets bigger and better for him.