Colossalbet Blog

Blog

  • Mr Brightside ready for Champions tilt

    Mr Brightside will chase Group 1 honours in the Champions Mile at Flemington.

    The Lindsay Park team of Ben, Will and J D Hayes would like a little luck to go their way in what has been a frustrating week at Flemington. 

    After Mr Brightside was touched out in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley, the Hayes boys have suffered narrow losses with Apulia and Crosshaven earlier in Melbourne Cup week. 

    “With a bit of luck, we could be having a great Cup Carnival,” Ben Hayes said. 

    The Lindsay Park stable is pinning their hopes in Mr Brightside to end Cup week with a Group 1 win in the Champions Mile (1600m) on Saturday. 

    Hayes said the stable made the decision to come back from the 2040m of the Cox Plate when beaten by Romantic Warrior to Saturday’s journey with a view of a potential trip to Hong Kong. 

    “He’s an elite miler, so if we do decide to go to Hong Kong, it gives us more options,” Hayes said. 

    “We can stay at the mile or go to 2000 metres in Hong Kong, but we’ve got to get through this run first and see how he recovers from it. 

    “We haven’t committed to anything yet. He’s in the sixth run for the prep and these good horses, you do need to look after them. 

    “It’s something we’ll discuss with the team after the run.” 

    Hayes said Mr Brightside had remained at Flemington since his Cox Plate defeat and had freshened up nicely for his tilt on Saturday. 

    Mr Brightside will also be racing in blinkers again as the gelding looks to improve on his fourth in the corresponding race in 2021, when run as a handicap, then third last year. 

    “He’s probably due and there will be no excuses,” Hayes said. 

    “He hasn’t missed a day’s work. We’ve kept him at Flemington since the Cox Plate and we’ve always said that he thrives racing two weeks, two weeks, and that is what is happening here. 

    “He’s done so well and is a happy, enjoyable horse. 

    “I never get sick about talking about Mr Brightside, but if I ever do, slap me.” 

  • Rebels excited to have Tupou in Super Rugby ranks

    Melbourne’s biggest signing Taniela Tupou will be at Super Rugby training early next month, with coach Kevin Foote looking to make the Rebels’ scrum a weapon.

    Melbourne expect superstar Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou to hit the ground running, with their new recruit to start training with the Super Rugby Pacific club early next month.

    Signed from Queensland, Tupou will lead a beefed-up pack alongside Test forward Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, who spent last season playing for UK club Northampton.

    One-Test All Black midfielder Matt Proctor, England-capped halfback Jack Maunder and Reds utilty back Filipo Daugunu are also moving to Melbourne, with all Super sides unveiling their squads on Thursday.

    The Wallabies’ World Cup campaign was dealt a massive blow when Tupou suffered a hamstring injury, which saw him miss crucial pool games.

    But the 27-year-old was able to turn out for the Barbarians invitational team against Wales last weekend, and Melbourne coach Kevin Foote said he would be available to train on December 4, when the representative players were due back.

    The Rebels now have Test forwards Rob Leota, Pone Fa’amausili, Josh Kemeny and Jordan Uelese all up for selection.

    “Taniela’s been really good – our medical team have been in touch with all the Wallabies player to support them,” Foote told AAP.

    “He comes in on December 4, so we get the World Cup guys pretty early.

    “The scrum is pretty exciting for us and it’s smart recruitment.”

    Former Reds backrower/lock Salakaia-Loto, who started training with the Rebels after missing selection for the France tournament, has already made an impression.

    “Lukhan is a massive guy – he’s 130 kilograms and he’s a no-nonsense guy,” Foote said.

    “He’s come back to Australia and he really wants to win something, so I think the timing of us getting him is pretty awesome.”

    Among other squad changes, incoming Queensland coach Les Kiss has added All Blacks pairing Alex Hodgman and Jeffery Toomaga-Allen in one of his few big plays to offset the loss of Tupou.

    Teenager Frankie Goldsbrough – one of Queensland’s most sought-after talents – has also been elevated to the squad.

    Experts say Goldsbrough is a realistic chance of joining the likes of Jordan Petaia, Ben Tune and Daniel Herbert as an 18-year-old Super Rugby debutant.

    The NSW Waratahs have lost World Cup playmaker Ben Donaldson to the Western Force, and retired former captain Michael Hooper.

    Miles Amatosero is set to make his mark, with the 21-year-old second-rower, who stands more than 200cm and weighs 125kg, returning to Sydney after a stint in France.

    The ACT Brumbies, who were Australia’s best-performing team in 2023, have remained settled apart from the departure of halfback Nic White to the Western Force and Pete Samu to France.

    Skipper Allan Alaalatoa is expected to miss the opening rounds as he recovers from an achilles injury.

    As well as luring Wallabies halves Donaldson and White to the west, the Force have also recruited former All Black Atu Moli and Reds prop Harry Hoopert to bolster their front row, while backrower Will Harris has joined from the Waratahs.

  • Federer-slayer Millman to quit after Australian summer

    John Millman, the only Australian this century to conquer the great Roger Federer at a grand slam, has announced he will retire from tennis after this summer.

    Former grand-slam quarter-finalist, fan favourite and Roger Federer slayer John Millman has ruefully called an imminent end to his professional tennis career.

    The 34-year-old revealed on Thursday night he was walking away after a 10th and final Australian Open campaign in January, saying “unfortunately age has caught up to me”.

    “Just the three (shoulder) surgeries. Chronic back injury was the thing that did me in, though,” Millman told AAP, after posting on social media: “All good things come to an end.

    “After the upcoming Australian Summer, I’ll be retiring from professional tennis.

    “I’m incredibly grateful for all the support I’ve had throughout my career. It’s been a thrilling ride living out a dream I had as a kid.”

    Millman overcame all manner of injuries to forge a special place in the Australian tennis history books with a career-defining fourth-round victory over Roger Federer at the 2018 US Open in New York.

    He was the first Australian to topple the Swiss great at a grand slam since Pat Rafter at the 1999 French Open, when Federer was still a teenager.

    Millman went tantalisingly close to repeating the feat at the 2020 Australian Open, losing in five sets after leading Federer 8-4 in the deciding super-tiebreaker.

    He reached a career-high No.33 in the world in October 2018, won his lone ATP singles title in Kazakhstan in 2020 and played five Davis Cup ties for Australia while also wearing the green and gold at two Olympic Games.

    In Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Millman became the first player in Olympic history to win a singles match 6-0 6-0, against Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis.

    In addition to his stirring run at Flushing Meadows five years ago, where it took Novak Djokovic to stop him, Millman twice made the third round at Melbourne Park and Wimbledon.

    But he says his battered body has “really broken down”.

    “It’s been a fantastic career, but I’m ready to try something else,” Brisbane-born Millman told Nine News Queensland.

    “The way I play, I have to be up there playing 11 months a year; and I’m just no longer able to do so.

    “I can still play at a high level, I feel, but not day-in, day-out. The body is not letting me.

    “All those years of being physical on the court have caught up with me.”

    Millman will feature in Australia’s United Cup side for the mixed teams’ event kick-starting the summer of tennis in Perth and Sydney from December 29.

    While the world No.436 won’t make direct entry to the Australian Open, it’s almost certain the popular grinder will receive a wildcard into his home slam for one last time.

  • Maxi is stretching cricket’s limits, says Aussie coach

    Australia coach Andrew McDonald believes Glenn Maxwell will inspire the next generation of cricketers with his pyrotechnics – just like Ricky Ponting did.

    Glenn Maxwell has been hailed by Australia’s coach as a game-changing talent who can inspire an entire generation with his brilliance.

    Andrew McDonald, left amazed like the rest of cricket by the match-winning double hundred that a hobbling ‘Maxi’ smashed against Afghanistan on Tuesday, described the allrounder as stretching the possibilities in the batting art just as Ricky Ponting and AB De Villiers did before him.

    Suggesting it might take a long time for the true magnitude of Maxwell’s unbeaten 128-ball 201 in Mumbai to be properly appreciated, McDonald also couldn’t help smiling as he related how, back home in Australia, he’d heard that players were now all imitating the 35-year-old’s outrageous inventions.

    “I had some text messages from some friends that went to cricket training that night (of Maxwell’s innings) and the night after, back home and what were they playing? Reverse sweep, scoops…

    “It’s probably a little bit of a nightmare with developing players for the coaches, but you’ve got to encourage it.

    “I think the players take the game forward every day and the game is better today than it was yesterday and Glenn Maxwell will no doubt inspire a new generation with some outrageous shots – and they’ll take it even further than he has.

    “And that’s the beauty about this game, the limits are endless. He’s stretched the boundaries as did AB de Villiers, as did Ricky Ponting in their time as well. So it’s exciting to see where the game may head.

    “He sees the game differently. Some of the options that he takes, the work that he’s put in, even some of the things he does in the field, he does differently and it never ceases to amaze.”

    Captain Pat Cummins hailed Maxwell’s effort, as he battled body cramps and a back issue, as the “greatest ODI innings” as he almost single-handedly dragged Australia to victory when they had looked beaten at 7-91 chasing 292.

    “It looks like it will take a long time for an innings like that to sink in,” said McDonald.

    “It’s one which you look the highlight back the next day and it still amazes you what happened.

    “I think Patty summed up very well…probably the greatest one-day innings ever.”

  • Guineas next stop in winning Roll

    Guineas the likely next step for daughter of Shamus Award

    Katherine Coleman has always known Roll On High was a filly with above-average ability and now the rest of the world does too after she charged into Thousand Guineas contention at Flemington on Tuesday.

    The daughter of Shamus Award now occupies a place on the second line of betting on the Group 1 at Caulfield on November 18 after decisively winning the $175,000 Desirable Stakes.

    The 1400-metre event was only the fourth start for Roll On High, following a Pakenham maiden win on October 20, but Coleman said the Slade Bloodstock galloper had earned her crack at a valuable Group 1 win.

    “Definitely, if she pulls up well then she’s probably earned her spot there,” Coleman, who trains in partnership with Peter Moody, said.

    Roll On High ($12), who is from the High Chaparral mare All Highs On Me, came with a sweeping run down the outside to score by three quarters of a length from Joliestar ($9.50) with Kimochi ($4.20) filling another minor placing, two lengths away in third.

    Even though Roll On High was up in grade, winning jockey Billy Egan said she relished the set up of the Desirable Stakes and would take benefit from the outing.

    “She was going this good when she won last start but she didn’t have that many horses to pass last time so she was a little lost when she got to the front,” Egan said.

    “Today she had one more to drag her a long way down the straight and she was very willing to pass it but when she hit the front she was still a touch green but she has a touch of class there.”

    Commemorative, the $3.30 favourite, enjoyed an economical run on the fence and presented as a winning hope early in the straight but weakened late to finish sixth, beaten just under six lengths.

  • Without A Fight gives Zahra back-to-back Cup wins

    Without A Fight has provided Mark Zahra with back-to-back victories in the Melbourne Cup.

    Imported galloper Without A Fight has etched his name into the history books by taking out the 163rd running of the Melbourne Cup at Flemington. 

    Brought out to Australia for last year’s Melbourne Cup under UK trainers Simon and Ed Crisford, Without A Fight was not suited on the wet conditions, fading to finish 13th behind Gold Trip. 

    But 12 months later, and in the care of Anthony and Sam Freedman, Without A Fight appreciated the firmer Flemington track that was upgraded to a Good 3 after the Melbourne Cup (3200m) on Tuesday, to race to a comfortable win under a brilliant ride from Mark Zahra. 

    After settling back in the field, Zahra was able to weave a passage through the field from the hometurn to take Without A Fight ($8) to a 2-¼ length victory from Soulcombe ($9.50) with outsider Sheraz ($151) a further half-length away third. 

    In winning Tuesday’s Cup, Without A Fight became the first horse since Ethereal in 2001 to complete the Caulfield – Melbourne Cup double and the 12th overall. 

    Zahra won the Cup last year on Gold Trip and had to make the difficult decision on whether to ride that galloper again or stick aboard Without A Fight after winning the Caulfield Cup on the gelding 17 days ago. 

    “Mark Hunter is a good friend and I rate him as one of the best judges in Australia,” Zahra said. 

    “I spoke to him at length about it and he said ‘you know, there’s not much in it, but if you can get him to settle, he’ll run it’. 

    “We went through the race, the weather forecast. 

    “The stars aligned for Gold Trip last year and they aligned for this horse this year. 

    “I don’t get to pick the result, I have to pick them before then and there was just a few things, the weight and the way he won the Caulfield Cup, I was confident he’d run it out today.” 

    Zahra said drawing barrier two and hugging the rails throughout allowed Without A Fight to have an easy run. 

    He said he was fortunate that he had some of the best jockeys in the world to follow. 

    “I was following Alenquer, probably not the best chance but D Oliver, in front of him was Gold Trip, in front of him was Vauban,” Zahra said. 

    “So, I thought I’m just going to stay here. They all made their moves, which opened up for me and I was on a horse you can just sit on. 

    “He’s got an electric turn of foot, and he just pulled me all the way to the line, and it was all over. 

    “I stood up in the irons and gave them the two fingers for two winners. 

    “I don’t know what I was thinking – idiot.” 

    Without A Fight’s victory adds the father-and-son training team of Anthony and Sam Freedman to the record books. 

    Anthony was part of Lee Freedman‘s haul of five Cup winners before the four brothers, Lee, Richard and Michael, went their separate ways. 

    The last win for the Freedman family came in 2005 with Maybe Diva and Sam Freedman said it had been a long time between wins in the Cup for the family. 

    Freedman senior is rarely seen at the races and Sam Freedman has been the face of the team. 

    “It’s been a great race for the family,” Freedman said. 

    “It’s been a while between drinks but it’s good to get another one and credit to the old man. 

    “He’s been incredible through all of this, his wisdom and experience in nursing a horse through like this. 

    “He went up to Queensland with him and looked after him up here and got him right into form and brought him back to Victoria and he’s been brilliant ever since so credit to him.” 

  • Moloney sets title defence, aims for April unification

    Jason Moloney had initially been tipped to lock in a unification bout for late 2023, but will instead defend his WBO world bantamweight title in January.

    Jason Moloney will defend his world bantamweight title for the first time on January 13 and is eyeing a maiden unification bout on Australian soil in April.

    Melbourne-born Moloney announced on Thursday he would meet American Saul Sanchez in Quebec City for his first fight since beating Vincent Astrolabio to claim the WBO belt.

    On his third attempt at a world title, ‘Mayhem’ Moloney (26-2, 19 KOs) overcame a hand injury to beat the Filipino by majority decision in May.

    After taking a break to allow his hand to recover, Moloney was down to fight Alexandro Santiago for a shot at the WBC title which would have moved him a step closer to undisputed champion status.

    But a mandatory fight with Astrolabio has taken priority for Santiago.

    IBF champion Emmanuel Rodriguez’s decision to retire and then backflip only days later cast doubt over a unification bout between he and Moloney.

    Itching to return to the ring, Moloney has opted to prioritise a maiden title defence over a chance for another belt.

    “Time was ticking away and I don’t want to sit on the sidelines any longer,” Moloney told AAP.

    “We tried quite hard to make the fight happen in Australia but a few pieces of the puzzle just weren’t falling into place.

    “Certainly after I’m successful in January, I’m hoping to get out and I’m hoping that a unification fight is next and hopefully in Australia.”

    Moloney is aiming for that fight to take place in April and wants his brother, super flyweight Andrew, to feature on the same card.

    “I’d like that,” he said.

    “He’s fighting December 9 in Melbourne and looking to get a win and get himself back in the title mix.

    “Hopefully we’ll share a show together early next year.

    “I would like to fight probably April, fingers crossed we can have a unification then.”

    But first, Moloney has been listed on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev’s fight with Callum Smith on January 13, the former defending his WBO, WBC and IBF light heavyweight titles.

    Australian super middleweight Rohan Murdock will fight Christian Mbilli on the same card in Quebec.

    Sanchez (20-2, 12 KOs) last fought in October when he handed Filipino southpaw RV Deniega the first loss of his professional career by unanimous decision in Japan.

    The 26-year-old is listed at No.10 on the WBO rankings and is contesting his first world title.

    “He’s someone who’s been on my radar for a while,” Moloney said.

    “He’s going to come into the fight very hungry, it’s his first chance at winning a title himself so I’m expecting a really good, hard fight.

    “But I believe in myself and believe in my abilities. I think I’m the best bantamweight in the world at the moment and it’s time to prove that.”

  • Ozzmosis aiming to uphold family tradition

    Ozzmosis out to become the fourth generation Coolmore winner

    Ozzmosis has the job of continuing his family’s amazing connection with the Coolmore Stud Stakes when the $2 million Group 1 is run at Flemington this Saturday.

    The Bjorn Baker-trained colt is out to become a fourth generation winner of the 1200-metre event that has risen to become the most significant race for three-year-old colts on the Australian calendar.

    Ozzmosis is by Zoustar, who won the Coolmore Stud Stakes in 2013, five years after his sire Northern Meteor won the race.

    Back when the race was known as the Ascot Vale Stakes – before it moved to Derby Day, which coincided with its elevation to Group 1 status – Northern Meteor’s sire Encosta De Lago won it in 1996.

    Baker recognises the 19-horse field that contains the Golden Slipper trifecta of Shinzo, Cylinder and King’s Gambit, plus local stars including Stretan Angel, Steparty and I Am Unstoppable, is not going to be easy but is an obvious target for his classy colt.

    “He is a well-bred colt, he’s got a great attitude and I think he can run a big one,” Baker said.

    “It is obviously going to be a very hard race, but he is in good order.”

    Ozzmosis, a $250,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling, is out of the Darci Brahma mare No More Tears, who is a daughter of Ocean Of Tears.

    Ocean Of Tears (Minardi) is from the Centaine mare Procure, which makes her a half-sister to Hips Don’t Lie, the dam of Acrobat, Lake Geneva and Ennis Hill, who is the dam of one of last season’s top two-year-olds Learning To Fly.

    Ozzmosis did not debut until late May, when he won easily at Gosford, before a similarly impressive win at Randwick on June 10.

    He was then put away to be prepared for his three-year-old season and made it three from three in the Listed Heritage Stakes before a third placing in the Group 2 Roman Consul Stakes (1200m) won by Coolmore rival King’s Gambit.

    The Darby Racing-owned colt tuned up for the Coolmore with a slick Flemington jumpout win last Friday, leaving Baker and raceday jockey Rachel King happy.

    “Rachel was very happy with him, so that gives us a bit of confidence going into Saturday,” Baker said.

    “He seems to have settled in well down there and we’re very happy with him going into the race.”

    Zoustar is the only stallion represented in this year’s Coolmore Stud Stakes who is a past winner, but three others have supplied winners of the race.

    I Am Invincible, who has King’s Gambit, I Am Unstoppable and Tiz Invincible engaged, is the sire of Brazen Beau (2014), Home Affairs (2021) and In Secret (2022), Cylinder’s sire Exceed And Excel is a two-time winner of the race, while Steparty’s sire Artie Schiller produced Flying Artie to win in 2016.

  • Cummings playing it Strait in Eagle

    What began as a pipedream will become a reality when Strait Acer lines up in the Golden Eagle.

    He might have a famous racing surname, but the effort of Edward Cummings to have a Cox Plate and Golden Eagle runner in the space of eight days has been a notable feat.

    Cummings, the grandson of Cups King Bart and son of respected Sydney trainer Anthony, has a boutique team of just 22 horses in work at Hawkesbury.

    Despite his small numbers, he saddled up Duais to a luckless fourth in the Cox Plate (2040m) last weekend and will start Strait Acer in Saturday’s $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill.

    While the latter is a $34 chance in pre-race markets, he arrives at the race in the form of his life.

    Stringing together a hat-trick of wins in Midway and Benchmark grade, Strait Acer stepped up to the Silver Eagle (1300m) and despite a chequered passage in the straight, he motored to the line for an encouraging second to Vienna Princess.

    If Cummings wasn’t certain he had a Golden Eagle contender going into the Silver Eagle, he was after it.

    “Even though it was the plan and we got into the race fair and square, I thought I was half-mad just for trying it because he was so far out of the handicap,” Cummings said.

    “We started his prep a month earlier than we normally do with our horses because he was that forward and because we needed to test him and get him up in the ratings quickly.

    “We had one run where we could be unlucky and the rest of them would have to be runs where he was winning, and that’s basically how it has turned out.

    “He put a few together and the last run in the Silver Eagle was really good.”

    Cummings can see similarities between Strait Acer and a horse he trained in partnership with his father, 2018 Villiers Stakes winner Sky Boy.

    After showing early promise, Sky Boy notched five successive victories during the spring and summer of that year and Cummings has used him as a barometer for Strait Acer.

    “Watching a horse like him reminds me a lot of Sky Boy when he had that prep stringing five or six wins together, culminating in the Villiers,” Cummings said.

    “We have gone on a very similar journey and that experience has informed a lot of what we’ve done with this horse.

    “The horse is in great nick, and he is just learning and improving all the time.”

    Cummings will also start Queenmaker in the TAB Handicap (1900m), the mare continuing to thrive as she prepares to line up for her sixteenth start in a campaign that kicked off in February.

    “We did give her a month freshen-up (in July), she’s had five or six starts since then and it’s only her second racing preparation. She loves it,” Cummings said.

    “Zac Lloyd goes back on and I think he’ll be riding her with a fair bit of confidence.”

  • NRL’s Manly retain Croker, McLean re-signs with Cowboys

    Manly have moved to re-sign Lachlan Croker only one day before rival NRL clubs can begin swooping on players coming into a contract season.

    Hooker Lachlan Croker will remain at Manly until the end of 2026 after the club announced his re-signing only one day before the player market opens.

    From November 1, clubs can begin formal negotiations with players who are out of contract at the end of 2024.

    But by securing Croker, their best-and-fairest player in 2022, Manly have retained their biggest name who had been set to hit the open market.

    Croker, who has played 104 of his 105 first-grade games for the Sea Eagles, has signed a two-year deal.

    Originally a half in Canberra’s junior system, Croker arrived at Manly in 2018 and has been a regular first-grader since 2020.

    He became starting hooker after Danny Levi left the club before the 2021 season and has become noted for his work rate in defence.

    “Lachlan has been one of our most consistent players over the last two seasons. It’s great for us to be able to extend him out for a further two years,’ coach Anthony Seibold said.

    “He has played over 100 games for our club now and is a great team man. You know what you are going to get with ‘Crokes’.”

    North Queensland have re-signed veteran prop Jordan McLean on a one-year contract that could see him through to retirement.

    The former Melbourne middle man will be 33 shortly after next season ends, but has proven he is still up to the rigours of first grade, starting 22 games this year.

    He averaged 111 run metres in 2023 and bolsters a middle rotation that also includes Jason Taumalolo, Reuben Cotter and Griffin Neame.

    Elsewhere, Newcastle have confirmed the signing of Penrith winger Tom Jenkins on a two-year contract from 2024.

    Stuck behind Brian To’o, Sunia Turuva and Taylan May, the Panthers had already confirmed Jenkins would not be at the club next year.

    He looms as a replacement option for Dominic Young, who has joined the Sydney Roosters.