"Sports" stars heading out on track at Addington and Alexandra Park

Brittany Graham knows a thing or two about racing on both sides of the Tasman and now that the Kiwi-based Queenslander and Trackside presenter is working in this country she's a regular contributor on all things racing. Sometimes she can be a bit random - this is one of those days

By Brittany Graham
 
Over the years there have been plenty of horses either with famous sporting names or links to them - think Oscar Bonavena (Argentinian boxer), Our Usain Bolt and Franco Messi.

But this weekend there seems to be a lot more than usual.

They feature in quite a few races at both Alexandra Park and Addington and appropriately a couple have a footballing theme, with the World Cup just days away.

Here are just a few examples :

Alexandra Park (Friday) :

Race 1 -  Patrick Mahomes (three-time Superbowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs quarterback in NFL)
Race 2 - Go Jimmy Cassidy (on debut for the James Stormont - Graeme Rogerson team and Cassidy, the two-time Melbourne Cup winning jockey, is part of the ownership group!)
Race 2 - Dino (could be as simple as being named after a dinosaur or the great Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff who captained Italy to World Cup victory in 1982 at the age of 40)
Race 5 Dave Duley (former Super rugby player for the Chiefs and now horse breeder)  
Race 7 - Franco Salah (clearly named after the great Mo Salah - during this FIFA World Cup it will be the All Whites versus Egypt and the man himself.)
Race 8 - Rahm (good last start winner named after Spanish golfer Jon Rahm)

Addington (Friday) :

Race 1 - Berrettini - (clearly a nod to Italian tennis pro Matteo Berrettini)
Race 4 - Franco Lomu (named after the great wing he has drawn 1 but should really start from 11)
Race 8 - Mo'unga (another former but soon to be All Black again potentially - and he's drawn 10!)
Race 9 - Mostert - (in brilliant form at Addington of late, his namesake Chaz is the reigning Australian V8 supercars champion)

Addington (Sunday) :

Race 4 - Aphibarnrat (named after Thai golfer Kiradech Aphibarnrat who plays on the Asian and European tours)
Race 4 - Librici (on debut for Jonny Cox, famous sporting Libricis include footballer Andrea and skier Umberto - thanks Google)

Plenty of horses in action this weekend have other well-known names too -  Da Vinci, Franco Elvis, Harry Belafonte, Pat Benatar, Edith P, Gloria Steinem and Henry Winkler (aka The Fonz - ayyy!) but they can keep for another day.

And you can all sing along to Sweet Caroline if she gets a run in Race 2 at Addington on Sunday.