MONDAY: January 19, 2026: MARC Chevalier had some “inside mail” when he bought a mare online for $6000 in November 2024. The Hawkesbury trainer at the time had won five races (including three in town) with his stable star Everyone’s A Star when he noticed her older sister in blood Kev’s Girl was on the market. “Because of my mare I had been taking notice of Kev’s Girl, who had been racing in Victoria and South Australia,” Chevalier said today. “I rang her trainer in Victoria

SUNDAY: January 18, 2026: GOSFORD’S Saturday provincial meeting wasn’t the initial “choice” for Hawkesbury’s leading trainer Brad Widdup. He had hoped to have a crack at richer pickings at yesterday’s Magic Millions meeting at the Gold Coast with three fillies by Golden Slipper winner Farnan he trains for Mulberry Racing. Instead, when they didn’t make the “cut” for the $250,000 Maiden Plate (1100m) after 37 horses were nominated, Widdup had to settle for a breakthrough victo

MONDAY: January 12, 2026: JAMES Ponsonby didn’t have to spend like a “drunken sailor” to secure a nicely bred unraced three-year-old online two years ago. Named Drunken Sailor, the son of Cox Plate winner Ocean Park had fetched $220,000 as a yearling in New Zealand – but hadn’t faced the starter when he was put up for sale. “We were probably a bit lucky because he was way down the order in that online sale in January 2024,” the Hawkesbury trainer recalled en route home from D

SUNDAY: January 11, 2026: BRAD Widdup says he will have to “aim a bit higher” with Nashville Jack after the colt’s brilliant return to racing at the Gold Coast yesterday. As a $71 outsider, Nashville Jack was a strong finishing second in the $3m Sunlight Plate (1100m) on the opening day of the Magic Millions carnival. Nashville Jack’s owner Mulberry Racing bought a slot in the Sunlight, and the move was rewarded when the lightly-raced three-year-old picked up $390,000. Widdup

WEDNESDAY: January 7, 2026: BLAKE Ryan has a particular explanation for why he likes training fillies and mares! “They might be only 80 per cent, but will give you 100 per cent every time,” the Hawkesbury trainer said this evening after scoring with Heaven Bound at Warwick Farm. “They’re tough and I enjoy training them.” Ryan’s victory with Heaven Bound ($10) in the Benchmark 72 Handicap (1600m) for mares four-year-old and upwards was his fourth (her career tally stands at si

TUESDAY: January 6, 2026: LIGHTLY-RACED filly Rule Of Faith’s breakthrough victory at Orange today had a real local flavour about it. Hawkesbury trainer Steve O’Halloran was understandably pleased to score with the Hellbent three-year-old at $19, even if the result wasn’t so popular with punters. Having only her fourth start and ridden by Mitchell Bell, Rule Of Faith upset fancied pair Sharbino ($3.30 favorite) and Sinister ($3.90) in the Maiden Plate (1400m). Rule Of Faith i

SUNDAY: January 4, 2026: MARC Chevalier says he had almost forgotten the “sweet feeling” winning a race evoked! Thankfully that came back at Royal Randwick yesterday for the Hawkesbury trainer when he broke a 14-month drought – and did it in style with a mare could very easily have been approaching motherhood instead. In doing so, Chevalier led a Hawkesbury foursome, with Jason Attard, Matt Vella and Ed Cummings also all posting victories at Kembla Grange’s provincial meeting

FRIDAY: January 2, 2026: IRRESPECTIVE of how many winners Terry Croft trains this season, he will hold a record which can’t be matched. The long-standing Hawkesbury trainer’s first-up victory with Royal Corporal at Canterbury yesterday meant that he has trained both the provincial track’s first winner of the season and first of the new calendar year. Croft had scored with Zoutastic at the Forbes Cup meeting on August 3. He clinched his fourth success of the season in winning

THURSDAY: January 1, 2026: TOMMY Wong’s New Year’s Eve “gift” came in the form of his breakthrough 2025-26 season winner at Nowra yesterday. The Hawkesbury trainer won the Benchmark 58 Handicap (1000m) with new recruit Platinum Gift. Ridden by Louis Beuzelin, the $8 chance overcame a wide run to defeat Itszarbaby ($2.90 favorite) and Gooloo Bucky ($10). It was Wong’s 49 th  career victory and the Hawkesbury training base’s 80 th  this season. Platinum Gift, a four-year-old so