Australia: Baroque Road knocking on the door

Baroque Road, the Australian-bred gelding with an American pedigree, has had an unlucky series of races since returning from a three-month layoff in May.

Baroque Road had troubled trips in sprints on May 17 and June 12, finishing second by less than a length in the latter race.

The near misses leave Baroque Road as a solid favorite to win for the second time in his seventh start in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Hawkesbury Racecourse outside of Sydney on Wednesday evening.

Baroque Road, trained by the high-profile stable of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, is part of a field of 11 in the fifth race on an eight-race program that begins at 10:10 p.m. Eastern or 7:10 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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Baroque Road, by the Kentucky-bred stallion Caravaggio, is out of Malibu Road, an unraced Malibu Moon mare bred by the late B. Wayne Hughes in Kentucky. Malibu Road is out of Smolensk, a two-time group stakes winner in France in 1995 and the runner-up in that year’s Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.

At Hawkesbury, Baroque Road will carry top weight of 134.4 pounds, spotting the rest of the field five to 20 pounds.

Baroque Road tends to run near the front. At Warwick Farm on June 12, Baroque Road was near the front early, was checked while racing in traffic, and recovered to finish second.

The fillies Announcing and Leandra will challenge Baroque Road.

Announcing, who will carry 125.6 pounds, can be a factor from off the pace. She finished fourth by slightly more than 1 3/4 lengths in a six-furlong handicap at Newcastle on June 10, closing from seventh in a field of eight. Announcing was no match for race winner Givara that day, but was beaten a nose for third.

There may be a place in the top three for Leandra, a maiden race winner at 6 1/2 furlongs at Hawkesbury on May 18 in her fifth start. Leandra finished eighth of 11 in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs against multi-race winners at Warwick Farm on May 31, but was beaten less than two lengths.

The race on Wednesday evening represents a drop in class for Leandra in the handicap division.

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