Australia: Badda Boom Baby can get back on track despite facing males

A drop in class after a recent sixth-place finish may help Badda Boom Baby win for the second time in her last three starts in a handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Scone Racecourse in Australia on Thursday evening.

Trained by the high-profile stable of Annabel Neasham, Badda Boom Baby won a maiden race for fillies and mares at 6 3/4 furlongs on the infield Beaumont course at Newcastle on Dec. 26, but was only sixth of 10 in a handicap against males at seven furlongs at Kembla Grange on Jan. 14.

The race at Scone is also against males, but against a lower-class of handicap runners than what the 3-year-old filly Badda Boom Baby faced in her last start.

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A closer, Badda Boom Baby was fourth in a lucrative handicap at 1 1/8 miles for Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds at Flemington Racecourse in July even though she was a maiden at the time. Quang Tri and Midnight Glow, who were second and third in the July race, have since won.

Badda Boom Baby, who will be ridden for the first time by Alysha Collett, is part of a field of nine. Collett rides occasionally for Neasham and had a winner for the stable earlier this month.

The 4-year-old filly Piccinni and 7-year-old gelding Stay Chill can beat Badda Boom Baby.

Piccinni won consecutive starts in July in handicaps at 1 3/8 miles, but has lost her three starts since returning from a layoff in early December. Those defeats were against a better class of handicap runners than Piccinni will face at Scone.

Stay Chill won as recently as late October in a handicap at 7 1/4 furlongs at Quirindi Racecourse, and was third in a one-mile handicap at Tuncurry on Jan. 14, in which he set a slow pace and was beaten slightly less than a length.

Scone has an eight-race program beginning at 9:15 p.m. Eastern or 6:15 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.