JOHN TAPP RACING
JOHN TAPP RACING
Thanks for checking in on Tappy’s Racing Yarns.
Six year old mare Annie’s Rose has looked good in winning three races at Rosehill Gardens these past few months. Few realise the amount of time and effort trainer Kristen Buchanan has to put into the preparation of this chestnut daughter of Sepoy. The sheer bulk of this mare makes her susceptible to the “jarring up” syndrome every time she hits the ground.
Kristen restricts her to regular swimming, carefully monitored trackwork and prays for rain every time the mare goes around. Former South Australian Annie’s Rose was sent to the Buchanan stable at a time when the Sydney tracks were more forgiving than those in Adelaide. Kristen tells us more about the 560kg thoroughbred giant.
Talented female jockeys are making their presence felt all around Australia. One rising star to burst onto the scene in recent times is twenty year old Bella Youngberry who’s currently snapping at the heels of Ben Thompson on the Brisbane premiership ladder. Last season she won the Gold Coast junior and senior premierships, and the Queensland apprentice’s title.
Bella is a product of the pony club and showjumping worlds and attributes her current success to the lessons learned in those early days. She spent time with astute trainers in Queensland and NSW before joining the Adam Campton stable late last season. She rides with the finesse of a much more seasoned jockey and has an obvious affinity with horses. Currently on the tail end of a short suspension, Bella Youngberry put some time aside to join our podcast.
Tappy
(Banner image courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.)
JOHN TAPP RACING PODCAST
Twenty year old Bella Youngberry created her own little piece of history last season by becoming the first female rider to win both the junior and senior Gold Coast premierships.
As his 37th birthday approaches Stirling Osland has already garnered a very sound reputation among NSW country based trainers.
Had Billy Charles elected to stay in his very first job with the National Bank he would have soon been up to his knees in carpet in the CEO’s office.
TAPPY'S TURF TOPICS
Kristen Buchanan was apprehensive as she walked Annie’s Rose out of the box at Wyong on Sunday morning. The big mare had won impressively at Rosehill just over twenty four hours earlier
Scott Collings was beyond elated when Cruizingthestars won Saturday’s TAB Highway (1000m) at Royal Randwick, and there was good reason for it.
Jon Grisedale’s vast race riding experience clicked beautifully into gear shortly after the start of Saturday’s 1400m Cedar Cutters maiden at Kembla Grange.
The spring in David Payne’s step of late is only partly attributable to his recent hip replacement. A couple of exciting three year old fillies he has in the stable might also have something to do with his buoyant mood.
When you come across a five year old with only three runs under the belt you can be sure the animal in question has tested the patience of many people along the way.
“No better horseman ever held the reins” was Banjo Paterson’s assessment of Clancy Of The Overflow in the early verses of “The Man From Snowy River”.
John Thompson has come out with all guns blazing in the first week of the new racing season.
When Kristen Buchanan came away from the 2022 Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale with a $50,000 Kermadec colt from Broadway Harmony…
Special events were held at race meetings around Australia on Saturday to mark National Jockeys Celebration Day.
TAPPY'S TROTS TOPICS
Delighted to include some special footage from an amazing Miracle Mile night at Menangle featuring the horse many believe is the greatest of all time.
There was one heart stopping incident in the mid seventies which could have halted Dean Chapple’s love affair with harness racing before it got off the ground.
There’s nothing I’ve enjoyed more over the years than the many conversations I’ve had with veteran horsemen - especially harness horsemen who were around in the days when the sport was drawing big crowds all around Australia.
You’ll be hard pressed to find a horseman who isn’t enamoured of the sight of a talented trotter in full flight. Power Productions have kindly allowed me access to a video production highlighting the poetry of the trotting horse and the devotion of those who train them.
Wayne Dimech was in his mid-teens when Hondo Grattan was dominating the harness racing headlines in the early 1970’s. He had obviously inherited the harness racing genes from his Maltese forebears.
Ian Verning doesn’t mind his life long nickname of “Spud” although he is frustrated by the fact that he has no idea of its origins.
Australian harness racing currently boasts a plethora of talented drivers in the 20-25 age bracket. Those who appear regularly on metropolitan tracks enjoy the bulk of available media attention.
Trainers lucky enough to have a runner at a major trots meeting are conscious of the atmosphere only big time racing can generate. Miracle Mile night is something else again.
There’s no better pointer for punters than a Darren Hancock trained horse turning up at Penrith. The leading horseman has been an unabashed fan of the 1400m Menangle circuit since its inception in 2008
The 2022 Penrith racing year concluded on December 29th with what looked to be a run of the mill programme on paper. It took a rare training double by father and daughter duo David and Katie McGill, to inject a little “buzz” into the night.

