Australia: Aperol Sprint goes a little longer at Hawkesbury

The name is deceiving. The Australian filly Aperol Sprint thrives in distance races.

Aperol Sprint has won 3 of 17 starts, with all the victories at 1 1/4 miles. Thursday at Hawkesbury Racecourse near Sydney, Aperol Sprint will start in a handicap at the slightly longer distance of 1 5/16 miles.

Trained by Matthew Smith, Aperol Sprint is having an excellent month. On May 5 at Wagga Wagga Racecourse, Aperol Sprint won a handicap at 1 1/4 miles by a short head, displaying her customary style of stalking the pace to the final furlong.

Jockey Kathy O’Hara was aboard for that win and has the mount on Hawkesbury in a race that drew a field of 13. Aperol Sprint is winless in two starts at Hawkesbury, a ninth in a sprint for maidens in 2019 and a seventh in a maiden race at 1 1/8 miles in April 2020. Since the latter loss, Aperol Sprint has won 3 of 12 starts.

The filly’s success at a distance will be an asset in a race in which some of the leading contenders have not been tried at the distance, or have yet to win a longer race. The race has open conditions, but several leading contenders are fillies or mares.

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Wild Sheila, Admit It, and Deepwood Vale were first through third in a handicap at 1 3/16 miles at Newcastle on May 1 and are rated as leading hopes at Hawkesbury.

Wild Sheila, a 4-year-old filly, was 11-1 and closed from well off the pace to finish three-quarters of a length in front of the 4-year-old gelding Admit It.
Deepwood Vale, a 4-year-old filly, closed well to finish third by 1 1/2 lengths. Deepwood Vale has not won beyond seven furlongs, but ran well enough at Newcastle to suggest she can handle the longer distance at Hawkesbury.

Hawkesbury has an eight-race program that begins at 10:15 p.m. Eastern, or 7:15 p.m. Pacific, on Wednesday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.