Australia: Arriva Diva favored in Mornington handicap
The 5-year-old mare Arriva Diva was winless in two starts in 2019 at Ellis Park in Kentucky.
She is a completely different runner in Australia.
Arriva Diva, a three-time winner in Australia this year, will be favored to win again in a handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs at Mornington Racecourse near Melbourne on Monday.
Trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Arriva Diva, by Curlin, tends to run near the front and used that style successfully in a seven-furlong handicap at Echuca on Oct. 1, her second start after a six-month layoff.
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Josh Richards has the mount at Mornington. Richards rode Arriva Diva to a third-place finish in her comeback in a handicap on the synthetic track at Pakenham Racecourse last month in the mare’s return after the mid-year break.
Arriva Diva is part of a field of 10.
The 8-year-old gelding Jesta Dream is winless in 21 starts since July 2019, but has been second in his last two starts, giving him a leading chance in this race.
In a seven-furlong handicap at Cranbourne on Sept. 12, Justa Dream was 25-1 and closed from fifth in a field of 12 to finish second by 1 1/4 lengths. At Geelong on Sept. 29, Justa Dream closed from sixth of 11 to miss by about a neck in a handicap at about 7 1/4 furlongs.
This race is a class drop for Holster, a New Zealand-bred gelding who was fifth in a handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs for males at Mornington on Sept. 27. He was a winner as recently as Aug. 27 in a seven-furlong handicap on the synthetic track at Pakenham on Aug. 27.
Holster’s last win on turf was his first win and only other career win, in a one-mile maiden race at Werribee last December. Holster tends to run from off the pace, but is likely to be closer to Arriva Diva than Jesta Dream in the first half of the race.
Mornington has an eight-race program beginning at 10:30 p.m. Eastern, or 7:30 p.m. Pacific, on Sunday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.