laureloak

While most at the Warwick Farm barrier trials on Friday were expecting Rebel Dane to set tongues wagging, it was in fact his stablemate Tuscan Falls that produced the goods.

The veteran of only one prior trial – back in October where he finished third, two-year-old Nicconi gelding Tuscan Falls impressed all at Warwick F arm with a very impressive performance in his trial.

Jumping from the middle of the line in Heat 11 over the 800m, jockey Brenton Avdulla hunted him forward to take the lead. Sporting a pair of blinkers, the gelding maintained his lead of about a length until the home turn.

As they came wide when teh field rounded the home turn, Avdulla asked his mount for more, and he really extended to take the heat by an impressive three length margin from the Clarry Conners-trained He’s A Given.

Secured at the 2013 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale as Lot 473 from the draft of Turangga Farm, Tuscan Falls (pictured below as a yearling) is the first living foal out of the winning General Nediym mare Queen Of The Falls, herself a half-sister to the Group Two -winning, Group One placed Elite Falls, both daughters of the Group Three-winning Danehill mare Niagara Falls.

Trainer Gary Portelli was suitably impressed by the rising three-year-old and will wait to see how he pulls up before he decides on which direction to take.

Earlier in the day, Laurel Oak Bloodstock’s Group One winner Rebel Dane was in action, contesting Heat 7 over 800m.

Ridden by Hugh Bowman, Rebel Dane settled out wide in a mid-field position during the run. Pulled even wider on the turn, he worked home well to take third, beaten a head x half head by Celtic Prince and Dear Demi with the beaten brigade including Laser Hawk, Bull Point, Tougher Than Ever and My Kingdom of Fife.

After the trial Portelli was pleased with the effort but stated on Twitter that “he pulled up really big and that he had only had one decent gallop since Stradbroke Handicap.”

With Portelli also indicating that since Rebel Dane is older, he requires more work to get fit.

In what was a great day at the trials for the Laurel Oak Bloodstock horses, we really look forward to the coming weeks and months of the Spring Carnival when we see these two, plus a host of other runners head to the track!

Part-owned by the Laurel Oak Shamrock (Mgr: L J Mihalyka, Ramsey Pastoral Company Pty Ltd (Mgr: S B Ramsey) Syndicate, trainer Peter Moody is expecting a bright Spring Carnival from the lightly raced Better Land after the Shamardal colt was an impressive Doomben barrier trial winner on Tuesday.

Risinng three year old Better Land and stablemate Dissident have been spelling in Queensland and both pleased Moody with their barrier trial efforts.

Leading Brisbane jockey Michael Cahill rode both the Moody runners and gave good reports following their respective outings.

While Dissident ran second to the Steve O’Dea trained Itchintowin in the 1000m Open trial, Better Land proved too strong for the Toby Edmonds trained two year old Life At Sea in their 1000m trial.

Moody has high hopes for Better Land and expects him to perform well against the top class three year old during the Spring Carnival.

“He is a nice horse and he might have a start in Brisbane before we bring him back south. I would be looking at some of the nice three-year-old races for him,” Moody told AAP.

As Moody does with a lot of his youngsters, he takes them to the country tracks of Victoria to let them gain some experience and confident and more times than not they return home with a win next to their names.

Better Land was no exception and at his only race start was able to record a comfortable three lengths win on a heavy track in an 1100m Sale Maiden on April 6 before heading for a Winter spell in Queensland.

Moody was also happy with the effort of Dissident who will head back to Sydney and then Melbourne with his ultimate goal being the Group 1 $3m Sportingbet Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 25.

“Michael Cahill rode him in the trial and he was also happy with the way he went,” Moody said.

“His ultimate goal will be the Cox Plate in October.”

News from Mark Mazzaglia, Horseracing.com.au

Rebel Dane is set to trial at Warwick Farm on Friday and his little sister will make her debut at Canterbury on Wednesday.

It is an exciting week for the connections and while trainer Gary Portelli is pleased with Texardini, he feels it would be a pleasant surprise if she can emulate her older brother and win first-up over 1250m.

“Texardini is certainly not as sharp as him (Rebel Dane), she is a horse who I think will get better over longer distances, but not many are as quick as him,” Portelli said.

“She has her fair share of ability but I would like to see her step up in distance before we got any confidence about her.

“She gives me the impression she unwinds more than let down quickly.

“She will get back at Canterbury and probably need a bit of luck, we are hoping to see her striking through the line strong and once she steps up I’d imagine she would be more of a winning hope.”

Tommy Berry has been booked to ride Texardini in race two at Canterbury.

Rebel Dane has had a little freshen since his seventh in the Stradbroke Handicap and is due to resume in the Missile Stakes at Royal Randwick on August 9.

Following a sharp gallop on Tuesday morning, Rebel Dane (pictured above) will trial at Warwick Farm on Friday with Hugh Bowman to ride.

“He had a gallop this morning, he ran half a mile in 49 seconds, he ran home his last 600m in 12.5, 11.2, 11.2 on the grass by himself,” Portelli said.

“He hasn’t lost any speed that is for sure.

“Hugh Bowman will ride him in the trial and I’m hoping he can stick on for the Missile Stakes and the Memsie Stakes.

“Basically I need a jockey who will commit to both races and hopefully once he rides him on Friday he will be happy to be aboard.

“He will have the two runs and then a little freshen up, and no doubt we will look at the Manikato again.

“He is the type of horse who is explosive for his first two runs.

“No doubt we will want to have a crack down the straight, and so we will have a go at the VRC Sprint Classic, which is a $1 million race.”

Having broken her maiden last time out over 1200m at Wyong, out Lonhro filly Supreme Joy was sent straight back to town by trainer Joe Pride to contest Race 5: Ladbrokes.com.au Handicap over 1200m on Saturday at Rosehill Gardens.

Starting one of the outsiders in the field, jockey Tim Clark gave the filly a very good run, and when the it was time to get her mind on the job she seemed to take a little to make her run, but she then knuckled down and came with a strong run late along the inside to take third, beaten two lengths by the Gerald Ryan-trained Runaway Star with the Bjorn Baker-trained Coolring in second.

With seven placed efforts from nine starts to date, the Laurel Oak Bloodstock Pty Ltd, Mr P J Duggan, Mr A F Hackett, Mr P L Nottage, Mr R Ward A M, Mr T A Brown, Mr B Carlstein, Mr E H Crethar, Mr M K Graham, Mrs A M Mcgrath, Mr A I Grant-Taylor, Mrs N L Grant-Taylor, Mr G A Pointon, Mrs A Blewman, Mr N Macdonald, Mr K Macdonald, Mr P T Grady, Mr W R Hayden, Mr W A Chalker-owned filly showed she clearly has the ability to perform at Saturday level and we look forward to another showing when she next heads to the races.

War Pass filly Warinda, a graduate from the 2012 Inglis Classic Sale, recorded her seventh top three finish from her ten career starts to date, finishing a narrow neck second over 1200m on a cold and windy Canberra race day last Friday.

Racing on a Heavy 10 surface, the Keith Dryden-trained filly, has been in consistent form of late with her last three efforts resulting in a third and two narrow second placed efforts, both over the 1200m.

Raced by Laurel Oak Bloodstock Pty Ltd, Mr D A Jeffery, Mrs C J Jeffery, Mr D J Caldwell, Mr W M Seay Jnr., Mr R A Wise, Mr D Emmerick, Mr K J Hudson, Mr P W Hickey, Mrs A M Hickey, Redbank North Pty Ltd, Mr S Cottle, Ms L A Hanrahan, Mr D J Ulrich, Mr P Hart, Mrs J S Murray, Mr G J Luton, Mr B L Luton, Mr M Duncan, Mr G N Hargraves, the filly is out of the Woodman mare Tolinda, herself a daughter of the dual Group Three winner Tolanda.

After having recorded five placed efforts from her first seven starts, Lonhro filly Supreme Joy was starting to try the patience of her extensive legion of owners, but she is a maiden no longer after an impressive victory at Wyong on July 3.

Stepping up to the 1200m, the Joseph Pride-trained filly was ridden a treat by Jason Collet who settled the filly handy in the field and as the runs came, she sprinted strongly to take the Bishop Collins Accountants Maiden (1200m) by one-and-a-half lengths from the Sam Kavangah-trained Ceda Miss, with My Milly Moo back in third.

Supreme Joy surging clear to win by one-and-a-half lengths.

By Darley’s Champion sire, the 11-time Group One winner Lonhro, Supreme Joy is out of the Flying Spur mare Supriya. Secured from the draft of Bell River Thoroughbreds (as agent) at the 2012 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne, the filly is related to Group Two Light Fingers Stakes winner Rock Me Baby (Rock Of Gibraltar) and comes from the family of Champion Two and Three-year-old American filly It’s In The Air, Joint Champion Older Spring Mare in GB in Alverta, Champion European Three-year-old filly Balanchine and the Group One-winning and producing sire Storming Home.

Now that the filly has broken through for her maiden victory, we are excited about her prospects moving forward and best of luck goes to her owners; Laurel Oak Bloodstock Pty Ltd, Mr P J Duggan, Mr A F Hackett, Mr P L Nottage, Mr R Ward A M, Mr T A Brown, Mr B Carlstein, Mr E H Crethar, Mr M K Graham, Mrs A M Mcgrath, Mr A I Grant-Taylor, Mrs N L Grant-Taylor, Mr G A Pointon, Mrs A Blewman, Mr N Macdonald, Mr K Macdonald, Mr P T Grady, Mr W R Hayden, Mr W A Chalker for her future both on and off the track!

Some of the happy connections of Lonhro filly Supreme Joy after her victory at Wyong.

Gary Portelli has jumped at the chance to secure Tommy Berry to ride Rebel Dane in the Stradbroke Handicap amid speculation Glen Boss will ride Srikandi.

Portelli said he could not wait for Boss to decide and risk losing the chance to book Berry for the second favourite in Brisbane’s premier race on June 7.

Srikandi is the Stradbroke favourite following her win in Saturday’s Glenlogan Park Stakes and the decision by connections to pay a late entry fee to put her in the field.

“Unfortunately the situation was that Bossy came up with another nice filly this year,” Portelli said.

“We were of the understanding he was booked for the preparation but then once this filly won he wanted to have a look at the weights before making his decision.

“We basically didn’t want to wait and miss out on Tommy.

“There was pressure coming from his side because obviously he was going to miss out on a ride in the race if we didn’t book him.

“The owners and myself made a decision that Tommy was the rider in the best form.

“He’s the new whiz kid and he’s riding with so much confidence. His style of riding is also one where he’s great at getting these horses coming from off the pace to get through fields.”

Because she has not yet been entered, Srikandi was not given a weight when handicaps were released on Monday but is expected to get 50.5kg.

Weights will go up at least half a kilogram with confirmation Buffering will not run with 59kg. Spirit Of Boom will be the new topweight with the required 58kg.

Portelli was a little surprised at Rebel Dane’s 56kg after the horse ran fourth to Spirit Of Boom with Boss aboard in Saturday’s Doomben 10,000.

“I thought he might get in a bit lighter,” he said.

“He goes up half a kilo so at 56-1/2 he’s probably weighted right up to his best.”

Berry, who is riding on a short term contract in Hong Kong, will also ride Almalad in the Group One J J Atkins and Elusive Runner in the Queensland Derby when he returns for Stradbroke day.

Portelli has a long history with Berry and his late brother Nathan who grew up in the Warwick Farm precinct.

“As a kid Tommy used to run around the streets with his pushbike and tell me he wanted to be apprenticed to me when he grew up,” he said.

“I always thought he would be too big to be an apprentice.”

“But he’s the best rider in Australia at the moment.”

News from APP

Group 1 winner Rebel Dane has arrived in Brisbane ahead of the 2014 Doomben 10,000 and trainer Gary Portelli has revealed that the talented sprinter will not have another serious piece of work ahead of the Group 1 event at Doomben this Saturday.

Rebel Dane had his final serious trackwork gallop before the Doomben 10,000 in Sydney on Saturday.

Rebel Dane was given a testing gallop on Saturday morning after finishing second behind Absalon in a barrier trial over 1030 metres at Rosehill Gardens on May 12 and Portelli told Sky Racing HQ yesterday that the float trip to Brisbane was all that the California Dane entire needed before running in the Doomben 10,000 this weekend.

“He left at about half past four this morning and he is on the truck,” Portelli said yesterday.

“We are going to pull up about half way and give him a good hour rest somewhere and he will probably get there before 4.30 this afternoon.

“He had his gallop on Saturday morning, his last gallop because realistically these float trips up are as good as a gallop sometimes.

Rebel Dane prior to leaving for his trip to Queensland.

“I thought that I would give him a good gallop early in the week, he trialed last Monday as well over 1000 metres at Rosehill, so he has done plenty of work in the last month leading up to this.”

Rebel Dane returned to the races, after a lengthy stint in the spelling paddock, with a strong second behind Lankan Rupee in the Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick on April 12, but was unable to replicate that performance when he finished fifth in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at the same venue a fortnight later.

Portelli admits that he was extremely disappointed with Rebel Dane’s effort in the All Aged Stakes, but is hopeful that the four-year-old can return to his best form for the Doomben 10,000 and the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm two weeks later.

“The preparation was always to start off in the T.J. Smith, go to the All Aged and give him four weeks off into the Doomben 10,000 and a fortnight into the Stradbroke,” Portelli said.

“It was a bit disappointing what happened second-up.

“We were very keen on him and there was no reason or sign of anything that was wrong with him heading into the race and he just raced two lengths below what was expected by him from all of us.

“It leaves you a bit sort of shell-shocked, because you read the signs and all the signs were good, but obviously that run took a bit out of him and at this level you don’t want to lose anything because you can be found wanting very quickly.

“It was a disappointing day, but you have to pick yourself up and move forward and we have done everything that we can do to make sure that everything is right again and we hope that first-up run hasn’t taken too much out of him again.”

The road to the Doomben 10,000 has been rough in more ways than one for the favourite Rebel Dane.

The four-year-old put in a below-par run when fifth in the All Aged Stakes and left Sydney on Tuesday for the float trip to Brisbane with his handler reporting a few delays on the way.

Trainer Gary Portelli said he had done what he could to ensure Rebel Dane was in peak condition for his bid for a second Group One victory on Saturday and the rest was out of his hands.

“The strapper who is travelling with him said there had been a couple of accidents on the highway which put things behind by an hour or so,” Portelli said.

“It means he won’t get to Brisbane until later than planned and I just want to hear late tonight that he has eaten up and all is well.”

Portelli was pleased with Rebel Dane’s second in a barrier trial last Tuesday and gave him a final gallop at Warwick Farm on Saturday.

“With the float trip in mind, I didn’t want him to be doing too much when he got to Brisbane except trotting and cantering,” he said.

“He galloped really well and his recovery was fantastic. He is at his fighting weight of 482 kilograms. He was 483 before the All Aged and 480 before the TJ Smith.”

The trainer believes Rebel Dane’s second to Lankan Rupee on a heavy track in the TJ Smith Stakes in April took a lot more out of the horse than he showed in his work leading into the All Aged Stakes in which he failed to produce his usual dash.

“All seemed fine with him going to the All Aged so I’m hoping it was just a one-off,” Portelli said.

“And I hope he can draw a barrier for a change. He hasn’t had a lot of luck with them.

“Most of all we are just keeping things as simple as we can.”

Rebel Dane ran with a crossover nose band in his barrier trial and will sport the same gear on Saturday.

“He usually wears a nose band and the crossover one just adds another piece which keeps a horse’s mouth closed so it doesn’t pull and over-race,” Portelli said.

Rebel Dane is the TAB’s $3.70 favourite ahead of Wednesday’s declaration of the final Doomben 10,000 field and barrier draw.

Queensland star Buffering is at $4 with Spirit Of Boom at $4.80 and BTC Cup winner Famous Seamus at $8.

Having won two starts back at Yarran Glen on March 16, Grand Orator then headed to Caulfield over 1200m, running a very good race to finish third, beaten just under two lengths.

Trainer Tony Noonan the took the five-year-old Oratorio gelding to Mornington on Sunday and the move paid dividends, scoring a very good length win over the 1200m, defeating Magic Tom, with the third placed Quatermain, two-and-three-quarter lengths astern.

Settling back and wide, jockey Jake Noonan had the gelding where he appeared comfortable and allowed him to slow make up ground in the run. It always appeared that Grand Orator had the leaders well within his grasp, and as the home turn was reached, it was evident he was travelling very well.

Going on to achieve another victory, his fourth from 17 starts to date, the five-year-old is racing in career best form, and as we progress with him, further wins do not look out of question at all!

Having his races spaced appears to really suite Grand Orator and a massive congratulations must go to trainer Tony Noonan as well as his patient owners; Laurel Oak Aidan Syndicate (L J Mihalyka), F W Cook, Mrs C M Cook, G Duffy-Smith, Mrs K A Fraser & Ms A L Goble.

Grand Orator (Photo courtesy of Slickpix)

Rebel Dane wasn’t out to smash the clock or even win Monday’s Rosehill barrier trial, but more to allow Gary Portelli to trial a cross over nose band on his Doomben 10,000 aspirant.

Portelli was pleased with the outcome that allowed Rebel Dane, which finished fifth behind Japanese mare Hana’s Goal in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes at Randwick on April 26, to settle and relax and, importantly, finish off his gallop.

With Glen Boss unavailable, Kerrin McEvoy rode Rebel Dane in his trial and deliberately rode him conservatively early in a bid to help him relax.

Rebel Dane finished off his trial well to finish second, but for Portelli the most pleasing aspect was that the cross over noseband appeared to work.

“It was a very easy trial, but he ran super,” Portelli said.

“The cross over noseband worked beautifully. Kerrin put him to sleep behind them, eased him to the outside in the straight, gave him a little squeeze and he quickened up nicely.”

Portelli said there is no problem with Rebel Dane relaxing if he gets cover in his races, but he didn’t want the situation to arise if the horse drew wide in the Group 1 and he hadn’t planned for it.

He said the gear change would just help Rebel Dane relax if the barrier gods were against him in the Doomben 10,000.

Rebel Dane is a $4.50 second favorite for the Doomben 10,000 (1350m) on May 24 with Sportsbet with Buffering as the $4 favourite.

To view footage of today’s trial click here.

News from TVN.

Rebel Dane will be tested in a crossover nose band in a Rosehill barrier trial before he heads north for his Doomben 10,000 assignment.

The Gary Portelli-trained four-year-old opened his Group One account in the spring with victory in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield.

Portelli deliberately avoided racing Rebel Dane early in the autumn with the $2.5 million TJ Smith Stakes his first-up target.

By the time the race came around last month, Australia was hailing a new sprint champion and Lankan Rupee lived up to the tag.

Rebel Dane got closest to him, finishing two lengths away, and started favourite in the All Aged Stakes.

But the tough TJ run on a wet track appeared to have taken a toll with Rebel Dane failing to show his normal sprint, finishing fifth, 3-1/4 lengths from victorious Japanese mare Hana’s Goal.

Kerrin McEvoy will partner Rebel Dane in Monday’s 1030m trial with race jockey Glen Boss unable to arrange travel from Melbourne after riding at Sandown on Sunday.

The crossover nose band is used to stop a horse opening its mouth during a race and Portelli will decide after the trial whether it goes on for the Group One Doomben 10,000 on May 24.

Buffering, who finished third in the TJ Smith and third again in Saturday’s BTC Cup, also felt the effects of the wet track run.

Despite that Buffering and Rebel Dane are the equal $4 favourites to improve at Doomben ahead of Spirit Of Boom, second to Famous Seamus in the BTC Cup, at $5.

Famous Seamus is a $9 chance and the only other contender under double figures.

Taken from AAP Megaform.

Gary Portelli has confirmed that smart sprinter Rebel Dane (California Dane-Texarcana, by More Than Ready) will line up in the Gr1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday, reports theinformant.co.nz.

Rebel Dane resumed with an excellent second behind Lankan Rupee in the Gr1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick last Saturday week, closing to within two lengths of him on the heavy track.

However, the effort took its toll with Portelli admitting he had his doubts about the 4YO running in Saturday’s feature. “He proved he was versatile and can run on all kinds of tracks but the TJ did take it out of him,” Portelli said.

“The morning after he didn’t eat his breakfast. He was fine but he just seemed very tired.” He added, “On that Sunday I was doubtful if we would be running in the All Aged but he picked up very quickly. He was very fit before that race and had plenty of miles in him so that helped him recover.”

Rebel Dane is one of 16 entries for the All Aged along with Japanese mare Hana’s Goal who has stayed in Australia following her eye-catching sixth in the Doncaster Mile. She will be ridden by Nash Rawiller, while Glen Boss stays with Rebel Dane, who heads to Brisbane after Saturday.

“I think the Doomben 10,000 is the ideal race for him,” Portelli said. “We will leave the BTC Cup to Buffering and we can beat him at Doomben. I was proud of the way Rebel Dane got past Buffering in the TJ. Not many horses can do that.”

To view the final field for Saturday’s G1 All Aged Stakes,click here.

The story of Gary Portelli and Rebel Dane goes much deeper than one trainer with a bloody good horse. They represent a great Australian racing story of the tremendous relationship that can develop between owner and trainer, between trainer and horse.

Rebel Dane was bred by Laurel Oak Bloodstock, as was Rebel Dane’s dam Texarcana, trained by Portelli to win three races. Texarcana’s dam Cottonfields, again bred by Laurel Oak, was unraced, but some of Rebel Dane’s current owners also raced Rebel Dane’s great grandmother, Georgian Gold, winner of five races.

Having intimate knowledge of a horse’s family can often help a trainer, but in the case of Rebel Dane, Portelli admits that at first, it may have hampered him. Having trained his dam Texarcana, who was a 2,000m plus horse through and through, Portelli thought that he had a potential Cox Plate horse on his hands when the young Rebel Dane entered his yard. The colt started favorite for last year’s Randwick Guineas but failed over the mile trip.

On paper, Rebel Dane defies his pedigree in many ways. There is only one other Stakes winner within the first four generations of his maternal family – the Listed winner Bold Tie, a son of Rebel Dane’s fourth dam Georgian Knot, who herself was unplaced from three starts.

While Portelli says that Rebel Dane’s dam Texarcana had “a lot of ability”, she never reached her full potential on the track following a bad neck injury that resulted from clipping heels with another horse during a race.

It seems that Rebel Dane’s preference and ability over the sprinting trips is influenced by his broodmare sire More Than Ready, the sire of Texarcana. A highly successful sire with sixty-four individual Stakes winners to-date, More Than Ready was a Group One winner in the US over seven furlongs (approx.1,400m). As a broodmare sire More Than Ready is passing on this sprinting speed – his daughters having also produced the Group One winning sprinters Atlante and Miracles of Life.

Rebel Dane’s sire California Dane also excelled over shorter trips – he is the winner of two Group Two races over 1,000m and 1,200m. Again though it is a case of Rebel Dane out-performing his pedigree – California Dane’s only other Stakes winners are the Listed-winning Lake Sententia and Fire Thunderbolt.

Beaten into second place two lengths behind the world’s top rated sprinter Lankan Rupee in the Group One TJ Smith Stakes last Saturday, Portelli is now aiming Rebel Dane at the All Aged Stakes Saturday week, stepping the colt back up in distance to 1,400m – the same distance as the Group One Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes won by Rebel Dane last year.

Rebel Dane is likely to improve from this first up run, having twice before won second time up for his trainer. Lankan Rupee is out of the equation, having gone to the paddock for a spell, while Zoustar’s next racecourse appearance is likely to be in England. Rebel Dane’s main rivals in the coming months will most likely be Buffering, who finished two lengths behind him in the TJ Smith, and Snitzerland. The BTC Cup and the Doomben 10,000 in Brisbane are possible targets for this trio. Portelli will tell you that Rebel Dane is the best he has ever trained. However he considers Gold Trail to be his best training achievement.

A Group Two horse in reality – Portelli trained him to many Stakes successes in Australia, plus the Group One Railway Stakes in New Zealand. He traveled to Singapore for the Group One Krisflyer International Sprint, finishing a creditable fourth.

Portelli was invited to travel to Royal Ascot with the gelding. Gold Trail gave Portelli and his team the opportunity to travel the world to some of the best sprinting races around, an accomplishment that Portelli is extremely proud of.

Portelli also holds a soft spot for Forest Express – his very first Group winner. However there is another horse that is surely up there with Gold Trail and Rebel Dane when it comes to the trainer’s greatest achievements, and that is Marwin Gold.

A $7,000 yearling, Portelli trained Marwin Gold to win twenty races and place eighteen times, with over $600,000 in earnings. Marwin Gold won on his eighty-fifth, and final start, aged eleven.

Portelli likes to source all his horses as yearlings and is involved in the selection of every horse that walks through his gate. With thirty five horses in work at present, in recent years Gary has been concentrating on keeping his numbers between thirty and forty. By keeping his numbers small, Portelli has a very close relationship with his owners (Elite Thoroughbreds and Laurel Oak Bloodstock have been great supporters of his), the horses themselves – he knows exactly what every horse is fed – and because he has been involved in the selection of all the horses, he takes it personally “if they don’t turn out any good”. Portelli helps Adrian Alan of Elite Thoroughbreds with his yearling selections and Gary says his preference to buy yearlings over tried horses is so that he can put the time into educating the youngsters – giving them every possible chance to succeed.

Looking to the future with Rebel Dane, Portelli’s plan with him is to keep him in Australia, to keep him sound and to keep him racing. Although he is a colt, because of having what many would consider an unfashionable pedigree, there is no pressure on Portelli to travel abroad to help boost Rebel Dane’s value as a future stallion. Instead, Rebel Dane’s owners are happy to continue to see their star colt run on home soil.

Rebel Dane’s story started at least three generations ago with a dedicated group of owners wanting to breed and race their own horses. In Gary Portelli they found a trainer who has helped this become a reality. Gary’s philosophy of ensuring that every horse gets the individual attention that they deserve, whose ambition to be involved with every one of his horses, right through from when they are ‘kids’, all the way through to the end of their careers, is one of the hallmarks of Gary Portelli’s success as a trainer. Speaking with the man, you get a genuine sense not only of the care and commitment he has for his horses, but also for his owners and staff. Gary Portelli, Rebel Dane, and this wonderful group of owners represent all that is great about Australian racing.

Having no luck during the sale, it wasn’t until the day after the sale that Laurel Oak were able to secure a share in Lot 419: Northern Meteor x Dual Diamond, by Redoute’s Choice filly.

Purchased by trainer Anthony Cummings for $300,000, Laurel Oak discovered the following day that he had a share available and we snapped up the 30% Share on offer.

Bred on the same Northern Meteor x Redoute’s Choice cross as multiple Group One winner Zoustar, this filly was offered by Luskin Park Stud, the same farm who bred and sold Group One winner Foxwedge.

Dual Diamond has had one runner to the track for the stakes placed Dual Star (Starcraft). The Second Dam of this filly is the Group One Blue Diamond winner True Jewels, who is herself a half-sister to the Group Two-winning, multiple Group One placed Wager.

To view the pedigree of the filly, click here.

While neither where victorious, both performed extremely well to record Group One placed efforts for their respective Laurel Oak Breeding Syndicates.

Having finished second last time out to the All American colt Bachmann in the Group Three The Schweppervescence over 1400m, two-year-old Snitzel colt Scratch Me Lucky went to the Group One Sires’ Produce Stakes on Saturday and finished an excellent second behind the filly Peggy Jean.

Bred by in partnership between Ramsey Pastoral Co Pty Ltd and Laurel Oak Bloodstock, Scratch Me Lucky (pictured below) is out of stakes performed Success Express mare Radiant Star, who Laurel Oak also part-owned and raced during her career.

Sold to trainer Paul Perry for $240,000 at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale, we congratulate the connections; G S Heber, Mrs P A Heber, Ms K Heber, Mrs Y C Pellegrino & P M Perry, on their exciting colt who has already earned back his purchase price.

Scratch Me Lucky is now likely to head to the third leg of the two-year-old Triple Crown, the Group One Champagne Stakes

The other success for Laurel Oak as a Breeding Syndicate during the day is the much talked about second placed effort by Rebel Dane in the Group One TJ Smith Stakes.

The effort on the extremely heavy track to the career earnings for the four-year-old past $1.2 million and owners; Laurel Oak Bloodstock Pty Ltd (Mgr: L J Mihalyka), J V Murphy, P M Kite, Lanista Thoroughbreds (Mgr: S C Cook), M W Powell, C J Baker, Pardon (Mgr: K G Sheppard), S J Lindley, Simpson-Morgan (Mgr: G M Simpson-Morgan), R H Spee, T J Gleeson, N A Parbery, G Zivkovic & A N Fitzgerald are extremely excited about the future prospects of the entire through the rest of the Sydney Carnival and then possibly Brisbane.

To read more on the victory, click here.

From the final Australian-conceived crop of Darley stallion Shamardal, the Laurel Oak-part owned Better Land scored in impressive fashion on his racetrack debt at Sale on April 6.

Secured from the 2013 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale from the draft of Edinglassie Stud for $400,000, the son of former top-class Redoute’s Choice juvenile Amelia’s Dream looked very classy in his three length victory.

While it is only the first winner from the mare, if the calibre of the success of Brilliant Land’s victory is anything to go by, then Amelia’s Dream looks capable of becoming a very good broodmare.

Brilliant Land has now headed to the paddock and looks a very capable type for the spring with many top lass stakes races on offer to the three-year-olds early in the piece highlighted by the Group One Golden Rose.

Congratulations to all fellow owners; R A Pegum, Laurel Oak Shamrock (Mgr: L J Mihalyka, Ramsey Pastoral Company Pty Ltd (Mgr: S B Ramsey), D J Tamblyn, R S Willis, Mrs J M Tamblyn, D J Tamblyn, R V 8 (Mgr: R V Dulhunty), M R Tudehope, B N E Hastie, M J Forsdick, A N Fitzgerald, Lanista Thoroughbreds (Mgr: S C Cook), A W Reichard.

Click here to view the pedigree of Brilliant Land as a yearling.

Track conditions may have been unfavorable, but Glen Boss was still delighted with how TJ Smith aspirant Rebel Dane trialled.

Glen Boss predicts Rebel Dane will announce his arrival as one of the country’s elite sprinters when he returns in next month’s $2.5 million TJ Smith Stakes.

Boss partnered the Gary Portelli-trained horse in a race day gallop at Rosehill on Saturday and came away adamant the four-year-old felt superior to the spring when he won the Group One Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes.

“What I see there is a fully mature colt. He’s always been a bit immature and weak and he’s been doing it all on raw ability,” Boss said.

“I’d say he’s in the top three or four sprinters going around at the moment.

“Last preparation he was probably in the top five, now he’s top three and he’s gone to another level.”

Rebel Dane pictured below winning the G1 Sir Rupert Clark Stakes on September 29, defeating Fontelina, Solzhenitsyn and Speediness.

This is a good time to analyse your broodmares in preparation for the 2014 booking season. We would reasonably expect that the more-popular stallions, particularly from a future sales point of view, will be subject to their usual booking frenzy over the Easter yearling period.

We stay in close touch with all the major studs with regard to possible and likely stallion additions for the 2014 breeding season, so we expect that the only major stallion additions for the coming season will be late retirements in either hemisphere.

For more information on the Brain Pedigree Analysis, click here or head over to the Contact page here.