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Luciani Racing News

Lou Luciani is one of the most experienced horse trainers in WA. He offers owners a complete package, from selecting and buying a horse through to agistment, training and racing. He takes care of everything – from organizing horse floats to taking care of paperwork – so that owners can have as much or as little hands-on as they want.

Sunday 29 January 2012

WILD CHARGER IN BRILLIANT FIRST UP WIN..


Owner John Yovich is all smiles as he leads his promising galloper, WILD CHARGER back to scale after a brilliand first up win at Ascot on Saturday.( More photo's are available at http://www.hollandsracetrackphotos.com/)

Jason Whiting appears to be easing WILD CHARGER down as he gets up to beat a smart field when racing first up at Ascot on Saturday.  (More photo's available at http://www.hollandsracetrackphotos.com/)

WILD CHARGER once again showed by his win on Saturday that he is well and truly a bit better than average. The horse was racing first up from a spell and took on a quality field of race fit performers when coming from well back to get up in the last few bounds to score. The lightly raced son of Trade Fair, has now put together a very impressive strike rate of wins and placings, defeating some above average performers along the way.

On Saturday, Jason Whiting again gave the horse every chance to find his feet before getting him out into the clear on the corner and going on to win well. At this stage it is our intention to let the horse race through similar races at his next few starts however should he show that he is holding form and capable of taking on the next level of competition, we may look at running in the Bunbury Stakes in mid March.

Friday 27 January 2012

THE RACING GRAPEVINE???? RETIREMENT???

It has never ceased to amaze me how truth never seems to get in the way of a story when it comes to anything remotely to do with racing. Over the years I have had more than a few digs at journo's over the way stories are reported however I must say that the latest story to be reported to me did not involve any journalist but fellow participants in the industry.

I was at the track on Wednesday morning when a trainer came up and told me how my name had come up in discussion the previous day amongst a group of trainers. The "facts" of the conversation were that I was retiring from training and moving south to set up an aggistment property.

This is as good a time to put the story and the "facts" into context so that you can hear it straight from the horses mouth. Pardon the pun!!

Firstly, anyone who knows me would know that there is about as much chance of me ever retiring as there is of me winning lotto. Considering I rarely buy a lotto ticket, I would say that the chances are remote.

What I have done is purchase a property  down south which has been a long held ambition and dream of mine to do, which can serve me in a number of ways. It is close enough to Amelia Park where we spell and pre-train most of our horses, enabling me to play a bigger role in the running of that property and the horses there on. Secondly it gives Dion the freedom to put his own stamp on the way things are done at our Ascot stables without me  being there to look over his shoulder every day. It then allows me the time to set up my small property in a way that I can spell a few of my own horses and maybe one day pre-train a few of my own from the property. 

The few broodmares which I am involved with will also naturally live at my property however I am not likely to challenge Mungrup nor Heytesbury Studs for the role of Breeder of the Year! All of this while getting back to my Italian roots and growing a few vegies etc and hopefully enjoying my working life even more. I will still be in attendance at Ascot trackwork on some mornings and will also be at the races on most days.

The simple fact is that now that I have Dion on board, it enables the business to expand in different directions giving us both new challenges and slightly different roles.  I really believe that we can utilise the top class facilities at Amelia Park to a far greater level than they are currently which will hopefully end up producing happier and sounder horses to take to the races. If anyone can say that building fences and erecting sheds and horse shelters in my spare time whilst not training horses is retirement then I guess, yes; I must be going into retirement! Can anyone tell me how I apply for my seniors card?

Thursday 12 January 2012

NOT FAMOUS JUST YET BUT MAYBE SOON?????

YOUNG LIONEL sprints hard down the outside to score a brilliant first up win with Jason Whiting on top.
(Photo courtesy Hollands Photographics)


Yesterday we took three runners to Pinjarra and I expected all three to run nice races. Whilst the first two performed well and the last one was disappointing, I was particularly keen on the horse having his first start called YOUNG LIONEL. The horse had trialled well and his work suggested a forward showing. On top of that he was out of a top class mare which I trained in the mid 90's called PRIME AGAIN.( Shit I am getting bloody old!!!)

Now a maiden winner at Pinjarra may not seem any big deal however this horse has already had enough setbacks along the way to make even the most patient admirer begin to show signs of frustration. Not to mention the fact that his loyal group of owners, who have raced many good horses with me since the early 90's, hadn't had a winner since 2007.

The horse jumped the crossing on his way to the barriers, almost leaving his jockey sitting on the track but to make matters worse, the race caller made mention just before the horses were loaded up, that there hadn't been many if any "famous Lionel's " over the years and he wondered how this horse got his name. If we weren't all feeling a bit edgy by now we soon were when the horse straightened up with only one horse behind him.

Typical of most rides from Jason Whiting, the horse settled well back in the field giving his opposition a good head start. The horse soon began to lengthen stride when pulled to the outside and a placing looked possible with 200m left to run. Then when Jason really asked the horse for an effort, he looked like he just joined in as he went past the leaders in the shadows of the post to record a very impressive first up win. The way he won suggests that there may be a few more good wins in store for this horse and I am confident that he will improve as his races get longer.

Perhaps one of the part owners, Lyle Bailey may tell the story about how the horse got his name one day however for the time being I think the owners are just happy getting a runner back to the track and into the winners stall after a long absence from both. I have to say that it gave me extra pleasure winning for such a loyal group of owners who have raced horses with me for nearly two decades having plenty of fun and success along the way. As I continue to say......... "There is nothing quite like the feeling of winning races for nice people!"

The connections of YOUNG LIONEL are all pretty pleased with themselves after the race and it looks like there may be another generation of budding horse owners coming through as the youngsters also join in for the photo.  Even "Fishy" cracked it for a smile as it was the first time for ages that he wasn't the smallest one in the photo! (Photo's as usual courtesy of Hollands Photographics)

Tuesday 3 January 2012

STACKS ON HAS STACKS OF HEART

Smart 3yo Saxon filly,STACKS ON may not be the biggest filly going around however I doubt that there are many fillies with as big a heart as what this filly possesses. Her win at Ascot last week suggests that there may be even more wins in store for her providing we can place her in suitable races over the next few months where she is not weighted out of her age group. As is quite often the case here in Perth, it doesn't take long to get up in the weights with a form horse however coming back down in the weights can take a whole lot longer.

STACKS ON has only been lightly raced and has been well placed winning 3 of her 6 starts with a 2nd, 3rd and 4th at her other three runs. Being a small filly, I do not expect it will be long before we need to engage a claiming apprentice to ride the filly so as to give her every opportunity to maintain her consistent form. Jason whiting has ridden the filly in all but one of her starts and the two of them appear to get on well come race day. Just when it looked as though she would be run down in the run to the line last week, the filly showed great fighting qualities to get to the line in front. She is likely to start again in a similar race at Ascot on Saturday January 7th.
STACKS ON with Jason Whiting on board fights on gamely for a great win.