Tasmanian thoroughbred racing’s night of nights, the Horse of the Year and Hall of Fame Inductions, will be held on 1 October at the Grand Chancellor Hotel in Hobart.
Tickets are selling fast with the deadline for bookings next Wednesday, 21 September.
TasracingTV will provide a live stream of the event via tasracing.com.au and former star Tasmanian jockey Raquel Clark will co-compere the night with Tasracing’s Matt Reid.
The outcome of the open horse of the year title will depend on how judges view the value of interstate form over that delivered on home soil.
In Tasmania Lim’s Cruiser dominated the two major weight-for-age races for sprinter-milers winning the Tasmanian Stakes (1600m) and Mowbray Stakes (1600m) each worth $125,000.
However, Still A Star only raced in Melbourne where she placed third in the Group 2 Let’s Elope before winning the Group 2 $300,000 Rose of Kingston Stakes over 1410m at Flemington before going into the Group 1 Empire Rose in which she suffered a bleeding attack and was subsequently retired.
Mystic Journey also only raced interstate finishing second in the Let’s Elope and third in the Rose of Kingston before ending her career with a narrow second in the $1 million Group 1 Empire Rose to Colette, courtesy of a freakish ride from champion jockey Damien Oliver.
Mystic Journey was later sold to Japan as a broodmare prospect for an undisclosed sum.
Other contenders on the local front are the Angela Brakey-trained White Hawk, who won the $100,000 Devonport Cup, $75,000 Summer Cup and $30,000 Golden Mile and the Bill Ryan-trained mare Take the Sit that win the $150,000 Group 3 Vamos Stakes.
Adam Trinder’s smart two-year-old Bello Beau looks to be a shoe-in to take out the Tasmanian 2YO of the Year title with his brilliant wins in the $150,000 Gold Sovereign Stakes and $100,000 Elwick Stakes placing him streets ahead of his opposition.
The annual awards can sometimes produce a controversial outcome, but it is safe to assume the gelded son of Brazen Beau will capture this season’s top 2YO gong.
Bello Beau also won the $30,000 Alfa Bowl but his best came interstate.
He produced two eye-catching efforts in Melbourne for a luckless fifth in the Listed St Albans Stakes at Moonee Valley and a close-up second in the $1 million Showdown at Caulfield towards the end of April which ended his preparation.
“Bello Beau did an awesome job for us this season and while it would have been great had he won the Showdown he was very game in defeat,” Trinder said.
Bello Beau ended his two-year-old season with three wins and a second from five starts for over $350,000 in stakes.
Trinder also produced another talented juvenile in Jaguar Stone that won the $75,000 Tasmanian Magic Millions 2YO Classic as well as a maiden in Hobart before finishing third to Bello Beau in the Gold Sovereign.
Another juvenile worthy of mention is the Stuart Gandy-trained Geegee Jet By that won the first two-year-old race of the season and went on to take out the $50,000 Tasbred 2YO on Good Friday.
The three-year-old category is likely to go to the Barry Campbell-trained Alpine Wolf who after finishing second to Turk Warrior in the 3YO Cup and 3YO Trophy over 1200m and 1400m respectively, excelled when he stepped up in distance to win two Listed races.
Alpine Wolf was dominant in the $125,000 Tasmanian Guineas over 1600m and went on to win the $100,000 Launceston Guineas over 2100m before being forced to undergo surgery to remove a bone chip from a knee that prevented him from contesting the Tasmanian Derby.
Turk Warrior won the $100,000 3YO Cup and the $50,000 3YO Trophy before having his colours lowered for the first time in the Tasmanian Guineas.
Trinder’s three-year-old fillies Miss Charlie Brown and Miss Tuppence also excelled with Miss Charlie Brown winning the $100,000 Listed Strutt Stakes before going on to finish second to Bundle of Fun in the $150,000 Tasmanian Oaks and Miss Tuppence scored an emphatic win in the $50,000 Lady Lynette (1100m).