1 hour ago
2
Craig Kerry
July 23, 2026 — 5:00pm
Where’s The Circus gave Michelle Ritchie her biggest thrill in racing when the $1250 buy won the $400,000 Inglis Nursery on debut.
Now Ritchie hopes the filly can give her a new high as a trainer when she returns on Saturday at Randwick under her name.
Ritchie bought the Trapeze Artist-Misplaced yearling at an Inglis online auction then educated her before handing the reins to partner, Paul Murray.
The bargain buy lead throughout to win the 1000m Nursery at Randwick as a $51 shot in December and give the battling Kembla Grange operation a new lease on life.
Connections then wanted a crack at the $2 million Inglis Millennium (1100m), where she again led but then faded to finish 11 lengths off the winner.
Ritchie has since regained her trainer’s licence and taken over with Where’s The Circus, which resumes in the 1100m two-year-old open handicap to open the Randwick card.
“Sharing is caring, like I told Paul,” Ritchie quipped.
“I’d been training out of Nowra for the last 10 or so years, but it just got too hard, so I pulled the pin.
“I started with her and then I couldn’t do her down here, so I gave her to Paul to train and just handed in my licence. I’ve got two now at Kembla, but one is having a spell.”
Ritchie believed the filly had improved during her spell and she was encouraged by a trial win on the Illawarra Grange course on July 3. She now hoped Where’s The Circus could give her a sixth city winner as a trainer and potentially a first stakes success, although she was happy to just take her through her grades.
“She’s been a natural from the day I broke her in,” she said.
“She just wants to jump and run and get on with it. She’s just a bit like that in her trackwork, too. But she’s really become a racehorse this preparation.
“She’s just got a lot stronger now and she knows what she’s out there for now.
“It was the biggest thrill I’ve had in racing when she won.
“The next start she just went way too hard early. She just couldn’t have sustained the time she ran, to finish off in that race.
“A couple of the other owners wanted to go to that race. I really didn’t. I was happy to turn her out for a spell and let her mature.
“Things didn’t really go to plan, and I’m still not convinced she’s a 1200m horse either. I’m a little bit concerned about the 1100m first-up, but there were no 1000m races I could find to start her off.”
Ritchie believed Where’s The Circus ($26 TAB) could shine if Jean Van Overmeire, who rode her on debut, could find cover from the wide draw in 14 on Saturday.
“If she pops out and travels nicely without really getting into her to cross over, then I’ll be happy, but I don’t really want to get into her just to cross from that gate,” she said.
“I was happy with the way she trialled. She jumped and put herself out in front. Jean asked her to come back and wait for the field, then asked her to go again, and she did exactly what he asked her to do, so I’m hoping she can furnish that into her races.
“I just want to get her confidence back and see if she can do the same performance again. Then where we go from there, we can plan.”
Ritchie bought Where’s The Circus because she had trained Where’s Snippy and Can’t Find Snippy, which were also out of Misplaced. They won three races each for Ritchie, who returned to training last month and is chasing a first win back.
