Unfortunately it's because Australian authorities took too long to approve his visa.
http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...ydney-campaign

It's all sorted now, but too late for this weekend's race. He'll be back on next time Veyron runs, though!

Did you see Wattle Bay's race yesterday?

Oh ed I completely forgot (so thank you!) and yes I just watched it... wow that was so nice seeing him win! With respect to Mark Sweeny who usually has the mount that was a really nice ride Dylan Turner gave him. :)

Too bad about Rogan...

The good news is he got his name back.

Bad news... well maybe it's not bad BUT I wish he'd be sent home to race.

http://www.thoroughbrednews.com.au/s....aspx?id=68172

Yeah, I miss him! But it's good he's got the old name back.

No stakes races this weekend. :( Bit of an anticlimax after the Foxbridge last week! But at least the first G1 race of the season is now less than 10 days away. :D

Also, we're seeing a whole bunch of nice 3yos coming out. There was another one yesterday.
http://www.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/4...ce-Detail.aspx

Love this time of year.

I still need to catch up on some of the replays and news.

I did look at the nims for the Makfi though and oh... that is some list of names!!!

Yeah, so exciting.

Current odds:
Final Touch 4.5
Xanadu 5
Mufhasa 8
Nashville 10
Survived 12
Fleur De Lune 14
Sangster 14
Brave Centaur 16
Postman's Daughter 16
Thunderbird One 16
Full Of Spirit 18
Rollout The Carpet 18
Silent Achiever 18
Pimms Time 21
Miss Pelear 26
Fritzy Boy 30
Taurus 41
All others 50+

:D
SO thrilled for him and Linda and the whole team.
http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...n-Laings-faith

Replay: http://www.racingnetwork.com.au/Visi...0&newsid=14897

Ed I could watch that replay all weekend, over and over, I am so happy. :)

So amazing. I don't know why I was surprised - I was at the track for four of his five G1 wins, so I know exactly how good he is. I just for some reason didn't expect him to run so well this time. I feel bad for doubting him! Great, great horse.

I did the same thing... I doubted him but was confused cause on paper he looked like he could do it. I guess it's that you and I know he just doesn't always cross that line first no matter how great of a horse he is.

Even if I had won nothing I'd be so happy. One of my favorites and it means everything that he did it (and Streama... good girl!). :)

Rogan's back on!
http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...t-Sydney-start

Their loyalty is amazing.

But thanks to Christian Reith for doing a great job as the substitute!

Happy to hear that and yes, you're right... thank you to Christian Reith for a fine ride. :)

Hastings fields. :eek:

The Makfi is of course amazing. But look at the 3yo race that opens the card! Four undefeated horses, and some of them are rated so highly - El Roca and Sir Andrew are both entered for the Caulfield Guineas. Then there's Touche, who was so good last season, and Laced Up, who's Jimmy Choux's little sister.

Laced Up? Great name! :D :tro:

Can't wait!

Makfi field:



Scratchings are due to the rain-affected track.

Odds:

Final Touch 4.50
Xanadu 5.50
Survived 8.50
Thunderbird One 9
Nashville 10
Postman's Daughter 14
Full Of Spirit 14
Sangster 18
Fleur de Lune 18
Rollout The Carpet 18
Fritzy Boy 21
Pimms Time 21
Miss Pelear 26
Taurus 31
Kekova 41
No Excuse Maggie 41
Amberio 41
Capital Diamond 60

Whoa that field is TOO good!!!!!

First off congrats cause I know you had to have had this. :)

I just watched the replay and am confused... what happened with Miss Pelear and Thunderbird One?

Survived is such a nice horse... pleasure to watch him win and nice run by Full of Spirit, of course. Another brave run from Fritzy but oh... the one who took my breath away was Final Touch, way out wide, and that extra gear she found.

Great race. I hope every one (Miss Pelear, Thunderbird One and poor Leigh!) is alright.

Happy to see The Filly won her race... haven't yet watched the replay but will get to it!

Survived was fantastic - very impressive win. But, yeah, Final Touch's performance was the standout. How did she get 3rd from that far back? Phenomenal.

As for Thunderbird One and Miss Pelear, here's what happened. It's kind of hard to explain, but I'll try! Thunderbird One has a tendency to misbehave in the starting gate, so a member of the gate staff was holding on to him and keeping him still. They then let go of him just before the gates opened. That caused Thunderbird One to think, "Time to go!" And he charged forward, slamming against the gate. For some reason, that caused both his gate and the one next to it to lock shut while all the others opened. So he and Miss Pelear were hugely disadvantaged and didn't get a fair start. And Thunderbird One was still reacting from hitting the gate, so he bucked and dislodged his rider. No one was hurt, luckily, but it was an unfortunate situation. Stewards declared Thunderbird One and Miss Pelear non-runners because they were denied a fair start.