Sydney trainers and drivers out of bubble

Sydney trainers and drivers are back racing at Newcastle today (Monday).

With regionalised racing in place for a number of weeks due to travel restrictions, Sydney horsemen and women have been racing in their ‘bubble’ and have not competed at Newcastle for some time.

Leading horsewoman KerryAnn Turner has horses engaged as well as the state’s second top trainer Belinda McCarthy.

The pair were shared the lead in the New South Wales Trainers Premiership and results at Menangle on Saturday night gave Morris a one win lead over McCarthy.

They are sitting on 99 and 98 winners each, respectively, for the season in the state.

Meanwhile, McCarthy’s husband Luke still remains the leading metropolitan driver after his success with star filly Anntonia in the Breeders Challenge Semi Final on Saturday night.

Anntonia sent out a stern warning to her rivals for next week’s $150,000 Three-Year-Old Fillies Breeders Challenge Final at Menangle.

The daughter of Bettors Delight ran close to her personal best time on a rain-affected track when claiming her qualifier.

Leading off the arm out of gate six, Anntonia clocked the mile 1:52.5 seconds with a final quarter in 26.1 seconds.

“She felt super, even better than the week before,” said Luke McCarthy.

“She felt really sharp, and Thorny (David Thorn) has he spot on going into the final.

“I think the final is a race between Anntonia and Chrissy Chic.”

Chrissy Chic was the other Breeders Challenge semi-final winner at Menangle on Saturday night. Chrissy Chic has drawn barrier seven and Anntonia has drawn barrier three for the Group 1 clash at Menangle on October 30.

Chrissy Chic was driven by Cameron Hart who is the NSW leading driver and is trained by Jason Grimson, the leading metropolitan trainer in NSW.

To view fields for Newcastle on Monday click here.

By Amanda Rando for HRNSW