IN-FORM Corowa mare News Girl is set to return to Caulfield later this month.
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Corowa trainer Geoff Duryea has earmarked a Fillies and Mares Benchmark 84 Handicap (1100m) at Caulfield on January 25 as News Girl's next assignment.
The classy mare broke through for a well-deserved metropolitan victory at Caulfield on Boxing Day.
"She deserved it," Duryea said.
"She tries her heart out. There's not much of her but what's there she gets the most out of. She doesn't know the word defeat."
News Girl will head back to Caulfield on January 25, before tackling another group race there on February 8.
Duryea has picked out the $160,000 group three Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes (1200m) for mares as News Girl's main aim.
It is the same meeting where she ran second in last year's group three Kevin Hayes Stakes (1200m).
"That's Plan A, B and C at the moment," he said.
"She likes Caulfield so that should suit."
News Girl has had seven of her 12 career starts at Caulfield and has enjoyed a win and two seconds at the course.
She has already amassed more than $170,000 in prizemoney and was crowned Southern District Racing Association's (SDRA) 3YO of the Year last season.
The four-year-old mare is also eligible for the Country Championships but Duryea will wait and see how she performs at her next two runs before making a decision there.
It would potentially work in perfectly with the SDRA qualifier at Albury a fortnight after the group three race at Caulfield.
But a win at group level would rule her out of the series.
"I'll worry about that after those next two runs," he said.
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WAGGA apprentice jockey Josh Richards has returned to the Peter Clancy stable.
Richards spent the past 12 months with Wagga trainer Scott Spackman but the pair mutually agreed to part ways over the Christmas period.
Richards, who finished second in the SDRA jockey's premiership last season, will travel from Wagga to work for Clancy.
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APPRENTICE jockey Belinda Wright is in a rich vein of form ahead of her next career move.
Wright will finish up with the Mitch Beer stable next week and transfer on loan to the Barbara Joseph and Paul and Matt Jones stable at Canberra.
Six of Wright's last 10 rides have been winners after she enjoyed trebles at Tumut and King Island in December.
The winning streak has slashed her claim to two kilograms and Wright is looking forward to a fresh start in Canberra.
"I think a change is as good as a holiday," Wright said.
"I'm riding a little bit better now I decided to take a step forward and try to get a bit further.
"Barb was a jockey back when it was really hard for female jockeys so she knows what it's like and I think it will be a really good opportunity."
Wright, who hails from Temora, has a busy riding calendar before the move however and plans to ride at Wagga (Thursday), King Island (Saturday), Nowra (Sunday) and Dubbo (Monday).
It was through a connection of Beer that Wright ended up at King Island last month and she is hoping to repeat the success there on Saturday.
"It's really cool. It's been a really good experience," she said.
"The people over there have been really welcoming and are happy to do anything for you."
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FORMER Wagga galloper Man Of Peace enjoyed another feature race win over the Christmas period.
Man Of Peace returned to his best form with victory in the $27,000 Christmas Cup (1300m) at Moruya on December 22.
The seven-year-old is now trained by Matthew Dale at Canberra after his stable clients purchased a majority share in the horse last year.
Members of the Milne, Heywood, Mullins and Burt families remain in the ownership and enjoyed the dominant victory, which was the ninth of Man Of Peace's career and took him past $250,000 in earnings.
He is set for his next run at Randwick on Saturday.
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FORMER SDRA Horse of the Year O' So Hazy is back in the thick of the action.
Part-owned by Noel Penfold, O' So Hazy had two runs in metropolitan company over the Christmas period for new trainer Greg Eurell.
O' So Hazy ran second, beaten a nose, over 1100m at Flemington on December 14 and then led them up before tiring to finish seventh in the listed Christmas Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Boxing Day.
O' So Hazy was SDRA Horse of the Year in 2017-18 under the care of Wagga trainer Scott Spackman.
She won the 2017 SDRA qualifier of the Country Championships before running third in the $500,000 final at Randwick.
She also ran in the inaugural Kosciuszko.
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ALBURY trainer Mitch Beer has decided to stop running his horses for the 'foreseeable future' due to the smokey conditions.
Beer has had 11 runners since Christmas and all have finished unplaced. Some 'flat' performances at Echuca on Monday prompted the decision.
"I've underestimated the toll the conditions have had on the team," Beer said.
"We will be scaling the stable right back and will have no runners for the foreseeable future.
"Horses first and we thank our owners for their understanding."
Beer is aiming about nine horses towards next month's SDRA qualifier of the Country Championships at Albury.
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A NUMBER of Country Championships contenders are due to trial at Wagga on Thursday.
Blaike McDougall is booked to ride the Wayne Carroll-trained Rock 'N' Roller in the second trial, where he will go up against Trevor Sutherland's pair Real Key and Lets Get Animal.
All three are headed towards the $150,000 SDRA qualifier at Albury on February 22.
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WHAT'S ON
GALLOPS
Thursday: Wagga (TAB)
Tuesday: Corowa (TAB)
TROTS
Friday: Leeton (TAB)
Saturday: Temora (TAB)
Tuesday: Wagga (TAB)
DOGS
Friday: Wagga (TAB)
