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Bosson loses court appeal; Moana worse for wear; Tofane to miss Autumn carnival; Chris Johnson celebration raceday
Bosson loses court appeal
Champion jockey Opie Bosson is set to miss New Zealand's richest race meeting, the Karaka Million at Ellerslie on Saturday, after his High Court appeal against careless riding charges was unsuccessful on Monday.
Bosson received two suspensions for careless riding at Ellerslie on New Year's Day and had already failed in a bid to reduce the severity of the bans which saw him outed until January 30.
The champion hoop rode the winner of both $1 million races last year and was set to partner favoured runners in both the Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) and Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) for champion trainer Jamie Richards.
Bosson has incredibly been aboard the past four Karaka Million 2YO winners for the Te Akau team, with victories on Melody Belle (2017), Avantage (2018), Probabeel (2019) and Cool Aza Beel (2020).
Moana worse for wear
Smart filly Moana pulled up worse for wear following a bumping duel with boom colt Brando in Saturday's Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) in which she finished seventh behind Bonham, who narrowly prevailed from Brando.
The Chad Ormsby-trained daughter of Ocean Park was angling for a run between horses under Vinnie Colgan when the incident occurred 400m from home.
The filly required post-race vet treatment for lacerations to the left foreleg and she will undergo further scans this week.
"She had an examination and she has pulled up okay in herself, but there is a bit of skin off in a compromising spot on the back of a tendon, so she will have further scans once the swelling has subsided," Ormsby said.
"It was just one of those things where she was making her run and Vinnie (Colgan, jockey) thought she was going better than Brando at the time."
Despite being a seven-start maiden, Moana is multiple Group Two placed, having finished third in both the Hawke's Bay Guineas (1400m) and the Eight Carat Classic (1600m).
Tofane to miss Autumn carnival
Group One winner Tofane is set to miss autumn racing after suffering a kidney complaint.
The New Zealand-bred mare spent a week at the U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital after falling ill and may be out of action until the Brisbane winter carnival.
The Mike Moroney-trained five-year-old, who landed the Gr.1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick last April, was last seen finishing seventh in the Gr.1 VRC Sprint Classic (1200m) in November.
The daughter of Ocean Park will now spend some time in a grass paddock as she recovers from the illness.
Chris Johnson celebration raceday
The Canterbury Jockey Club racemeeting this coming Thursday, 21 January 2020, will celebrate the career of leading South Island jockey Chris Johnson.
Johnson broke the record for the most winning rides by a jockey in New Zealand when Sassenach won the fourth race on the card at the Awapuni racemeeting on Saturday 19 December 2020.
Thursday is the first occasion that the Canterbury Jockey Club has held a racemeeting since Johnson reached the milestone of 2452 winning rides in New Zealand to take the record from another Cantabrian David Walsh.
New Zealand's oldest racecourse Riccarton Park will be renamed 'Chris Johnson Racecourse' for the day and each race will carry the name or names of horses that hold special meaning to Johnson.
