James Tzaferis

There was a moment before last month’s Doomben 10,000 that veteran jockey Brad Rawiller was filled with supreme confidence about the chances of his mount Rothfire. Despite the fact that both of them had spent considerable time in the Group 1 wilderness, Rawiller had this feeling that things were about to change. It was his first-time sitting on the popular gelding and, instead of following his rivals to the barriers, he took Rothfire to the top of the straight.

It’s somewhat ironic that one of the ways Luke Cartwright has been trying to get his step count up this week is by walking a few extra laps of the block with his dog. The wunderkind apprentice is on a mission to cut his weight to ride $7 equal second favourite Regal Award at 49.5kg in Saturday’s G1 Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm.

Frustrated punters have sometimes threatened to ‘bulldoze’ a track on social media but one may have taken things to a new level on Sunday, with the Port Augusta race meeting nearly abandoned due a bomb threat. The meeting in outback South Australian was halted before Race 6 after police responded to a report that an explosive device had been placed in the vicinity of the track.