Danehill Stakes Next Test For Wazzenme

{SCPinterestShare href=https://www.virtualformguide.com/racing-news/68459-danehill-stakes-next-test-for-wazzenme.html layout=standard image= desc=Wazzenme will chase feature race success in his home town after trainer Stuart Webb decided against a Golden Rose mission... size=small}

Wazzenme will chase feature race success in his home town after trainer Stuart Webb decided against a Golden Rose mission in Sydney.

Caulfield-based Webb admitted Saturday's Golden Rose at Rosehill had been a consideration but he felt a couple of the Sydney horses looked too strong.

And Webb also said a trip north might have shortened the Caulfield Guineas aspirant's Melbourne spring campaign as he has already had five starts since late June.

Wazzenme runs in Saturday's Group Two Danehill Stakes at Flemington having finished third to Defcon and Highland Beat in the Group Three McNeil Stakes last start.

Webb is happy to keep Wazzenme at 1200m on Saturday with a distance progression planned for his next two starts with the trainer hoping he can get to the 1600 metres of the Caulfield Guineas.

"He got pushed wide last start and if we happened to get a bit of rain on Friday, that will be good for his chances," Webb said.

"But he's been good on top of the ground as well. He really hasn't put in a bad run yet."

Wazzenme finished 1-1/4 lengths from Defcon in the McNeil Stakes after the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained colt took an inside run.

Defcon is the $4 favourite for the Danehill Stakes with Godolphin colt Archives at $6.50 and New Zealander Saracino at $7.

Samara Dancer and Highland Beat are at $7.50 while Wazzenme is at $11.

"It's another step up now," Webb said.

"They're some of the A-graders but he was good the other day and if he had the run of the winner, you'd probably nearly swap the result.

"He'll go to the Guineas Prelude a fortnight after the Danehill and then the Guineas after that if he's going well and if he looks like he'll get a trip.

"He has got a speed physique, but he's very clean-winded so I hope he does step out in trip."

Kemp On The Road For Rare Sydney Visit

{SCPinterestShare href=https://www.virtualformguide.com/racing-news/68460-kemp-on-the-road-for-rare-sydney-visit.html layout=standard image= desc=It's been a decade since Toowoomba trainer Kevin Kemp has won a race in Sydney, but he has had limited... size=small}

It's been a decade since Toowoomba trainer Kevin Kemp has won a race in Sydney, but he has had limited opportunities.

He now has a horse he thinks is good enough and he is looking forward to testing the talented Sold For Song in Saturday's Group Three Sheraco Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill, 20 years after Winsome Dancer won a restricted race.

Kemp also has high hopes of a two-state double with Tisani Tomso to race at Doomben.

"I had a good mare named Dance Girl Dance who was just behind the placegetters in a Millie Fox Stakes at Rosehill about seven years ago. That was the best I have done in a stakes race down there," Kemp said.

"But this is my best chance to have a two-state double.

"Blokes like me don't get that chance often so it will be a real thrill to have two genuine hopes in two states."

James Orman will again ride Sold for Song, who has missed a place just once in her career which has already returned $348,000 on her $2500 yearling price.

"It is also a great thrill for James. He loves the mare and we will see how a couple of battlers from the north go against the big guns on Saturday," Kemp said.

"I don't think we will be out of place."

Kemp set off for Sydney early on Thursday with Sold For Song and was equally confident about Tisani Tomso's chances in the PDF Foods Hcp (1200m).

"I accepted with Tisani Tomso in both the open handicap and the this race and I initially was going to run him in the open," Kemp said.

"But when he drew barrier seven in that race and barrier three in the other we went with the Foods Handicap.

"He likes Doomben and has won three times there. But if you look at his form his best runs are all when he can get near the fence and that was why the owner selected the race."

Sold For Song is a $13 chance in early Sheraco markets headed by the Ron Quinton-trained Dixie Blossoms at $5.

Tycoon Tara Aims To Continue Renaissance

{SCPinterestShare href=https://www.virtualformguide.com/racing-news/68461-tycoon-tara-aims-to-continue-renaissance.html layout=standard image= desc=The rebirth of Tycoon Tara's racing career has surprised Peter Snowden.The mare came to Peter and Paul Snowden's Randwick stable... size=small}

The rebirth of Tycoon Tara's racing career has surprised Peter Snowden.

The mare came to Peter and Paul Snowden's Randwick stable from Victoria for one last shot at racing after a disappointing autumn campaign.

Tycoon Tara won the Group Two Missile Stakes in her first run for the Snowdens before proving it was no fluke by winning the Group Three Missile Stakes on August 20.

She has the chance to continue her renaissance in the Group Two Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

"The first run I thought the wet track helped her and she might have been flattered a bit but there was a lot of merit in the second win," Snowden said.

Bendigo trainer Simon Wilde won two Group Three races with Tycoon Tara but after her form dropped off her owners decided it was time for a change.

"The owners wanted to give her one more try before she went to stud," Snowden said.

"Judging on her two runs this time in so far I think stud's been put back just a little bit further."

Snowden is unable to pinpoint the key to her turnaround but believes Tycoon Tara is better suited to Sydney's clockwise racing.

"I just can't believe how well she's done in the stable and I think it's reflecting in the performance on tracks," Snowden said.

While she steps up in grade on Saturday, Snowden says he can't fault her lead-up to the race.

"She looks fantastic," he said.

"She should get a good run and I thought she maps quite well."

Tycoon Tara is on the third line of betting at $8 behind Counterattack at $4.20 and $2.60 favourite Southern Legend.

Counterattack's trainer Chris Waller said the Theo Marks was a good starting point as he heads towards the Group One Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) and Group One Toorak Handicap (1600m).

"He's never been a fully developed horse, but he's starting to get there now," Waller said.

"He's let us down in a couple of his grand finals but he's always impressed in the lead-up races."

Parr Gets First City Win Since Surgery

{SCPinterestShare href=https://www.virtualformguide.com/racing-news/68448-parr-gets-first-city-win-since-surgery.html layout=standard image= desc=Sydney jockey Josh Parr has earned a long-awaited first city win since returning from hip surgery, riding Oculist to win... size=small}

Sydney jockey Josh Parr has earned a long-awaited first city win since returning from hip surgery, riding Oculist to win at Canterbury.

The 29-year-old didn't ride for more than seven months and had surgery on his hip in March.

Parr said he was relieved to return to the Sydney winner's circle after the 1550m benchmark handicap on Wednesday.

"I've had limited opportunities so far but it's nice to get the city winner off the back," Parr said.

It was Parr's 15th metropolitan ride since his return.

The John Sargent-trained Oculist was scratched from Kembla Grange on Tuesday, which Parr said was initially disappointing.

"I was very keen on his chances yesterday at Kembla, I thought with the scratching I'd been robbed of a winner," Parr said.

"They know best and they brought him to the race he could win and thankfully they did."

Oculist won from the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained trained Coonawarra with Retaliation third.

"I knew Coonawarra would take me a long way. I was happy to follow him, got off his back and he let off really well my guy and he was in for the fight right till the end" Parr said.

RV Head Vet Thought Cobalt Testing Was OK

{SCPinterestShare href=https://www.virtualformguide.com/racing-news/68449-rv-head-vet-thought-cobalt-testing-was-ok.html layout=standard image= desc=The driver of Racing Victoria's cobalt rule believed there was no issue over the testing despite the racing labs lacking... size=small}

The driver of Racing Victoria's cobalt rule believed there was no issue over the testing despite the racing labs lacking specific accreditation covering horse urine.

Testing of urine was straightforward whether it was from a person or a horse, Racing Victoria head vet Dr Brian Stewart said.

Trainers Danny O'Brien and Mark Kavanagh, as well as Lee and Shannon Hope, are trying to overturn their cobalt disqualifications in part by arguing the labs involved were not properly accredited to do the testing at the time.

No laboratory in the world had an accredited method to test for cobalt in equine urine when Racing Victoria introduced its cobalt threshold in April 2014, the appeal has heard.

Stewart said while it was better in principle to have a method specific to a species, an official racing laboratory's scope of accreditation was adequate if it covered urine generally.

"I was satisfied that the testing in human urine or equine urine was equivalent," Stewart told the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Wednesday.

"It's a straightforward, simple analytical procedure.

"Human urine was in the scope of the laboratory and I was satisfied that was acceptable."

Stewart said the advice from Victorian lab Racing Analytical Services Ltd was that human accreditation was acceptable.

He said testing for cobalt in plasma was a different issue as there was some controversy about the appropriate method.

Racing Victoria chief steward Terry Bailey on Wednesday blamed a backlog at Perth lab ChemCentre for the delays in telling O'Brien and Kavanagh about their cobalt positives.

The two trainers learned of the results on January 14, 2015 - Kavanagh for a horse that raced on October 4, 2014, and O'Brien for three horses in November races.

O'Brien later learned of a fourth positive from a December race.

O'Brien argues he would have stopped using drips containing a substance called vitamin complex if he had known about Kavanagh's October positive.

He told stewards: "We have a situation where there was horse that raced on the first Saturday of October that went over on these drips and you guys left the meter running until the middle of January."

Bailey said Racing Victoria wanted a timely testing process but there was a backlog at Perth-based ChemCentre, which was "engulfed" with samples from racing regulators across Australia.

"We were in the hands of ChemCentre," he said.

Bailey did not believe the delay was caused by RASL's decision to split samples from mid-2014, with ChemCentre testing for cobalt and the Victorian lab for everything else.

"My understanding was it was the backlog at ChemCentre, not the splitting process," he said.

Stewart, who leaves Racing Victoria in November, will continue his evidence on Thursday.