Australia: Bit of a Lad comes back on two days' rest in Grand Annual Chase

As wacky as it may seem, a 48-hour turnaround between starts is not uncommon for Australian steeplechasers.

Bit of a Lad was second in Tuesday’s Brierly Chase at 2 1/8 miles at Warrnambool Racecourse, west of Melbourne, in his first start since July. Thursday, Bit of a Lad is rated among the top runners in the $296,815 Grand Annual Chase at 3 7/16 miles at Warrnambool along with Zed Em and Yensir.

Zed Em will start in the Grand Annual for the fourth consecutive year and has an outstanding record in the race, having finished second in 2018, first in 2019 and third last year. In 2018, Zed Em was second in the Brierly Chase two days before the Grand Annual.

Zed Em has race experience in recent days, too. He was last of 12 in a flat handicap at 1 3/8 miles at Bendigo on Sunday.

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Yensir is the outlier among the leading contenders. He has not raced since an eighth-place finish in a maiden race at 1 1/2 miles on the flat at Bendigo on April 21.

Bit of a Lad, trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, set the pace in Tuesday’s Brierly Chase and was beaten 2 1/4 lengths by Flying Agent, the 4-5 favorite. Flying Agent is not in the Grand Annual field, but two others from Tuesday’s race are back on Thursday - Georgethefifth, who finished sixth, and Heistheone, who unseated jockey Sam O’Malley.

Bit of a Lad was fourth in the 2020 Grand Annual last May and later that month won the Australian Steeplechase at Sandown Racecourse. Last July, Bit of a Lad won the Thackeray Chase at Warrnambool in his final start of 2020.

Zed Em, a 10-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding, will carry top weight of 156.6 pounds in a field of 11 in the Grand Annual. On March 31, Zed Em was second by a nose to Yensir in the Van Doussa Steeplechase at two miles at Oakbank Racecourse and second to Spying On You four days later in the Great Eastern Steeplechase at Oakbank.

Spying On You, who is part of the Grand Annual field, has started once since that win, finishing sixth in a flat handicap at 1 9/16 miles at Murray Bridge Racecourse on April 21.

Spying On You and Gold Medals are the 11-year-old senior runners in the Grand Annual. Gold Medals won the 2018 Grand Annual, with Zed Em and Spying On You second and third; finished second in the Brierly Chase and Grand Annual days apart in 2019; and was second in the 2020 Grand Annual.

The Grand Annual program, which also includes flat races, begins at 9:15 p.m. Eastern, or 6:15 p.m. Pacific, on Wednesday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

The richest flat race on the program is the $192,725 Warrnambool Cup at about 1 1/2 miles.

Heart of Puissance, trained by Maher and Eustace, was the 5-2 favorite in early betting on Tuesday in a field of 16. Heart of Puissance, a winner of 3 of 10 starts, won a handicap at 1 3/8 miles at Warwick Farm Racecourse on March 31, and was fifth in the Terang Cup at about 1 3/8 miles at Terang Racecourse on April 18, beaten a length as the 4-5 favorite.

The Warrnambool Cup is the longest race of Heart of Puissance’s career.