Australia: Bit of a Lad seeks rebound in Brierly Chase

In his 50-race career in Australia, Bit of a Lad has won eight times, with his most lucrative win coming in the $105,500 Brierly Chase at Warrnambool Racecourse west of Melbourne in April 2019.

The 2019 season was the last year Warrnambool had a full crowd at its popular three-day spring meeting. The audiences are back at Warrnambool this week from Tuesday through Thursday and so is the 8-year-old Bit of a Lad in the Brierly Chase at about 2 1/8 miles, now worth $123,600.

Bit of a Lad is part of a field of eight in the Brierly Chase, the richest race on a 10-race program that begins at 9:20 p.m. Eastern, or 6:20 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Bit of a Lad, trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, is winless in his last six starts and is expected to be around a 4-1 third or fourth choice in the Brierly Chase. Bit of a Lad was second in the 2021 Briery Chase, and fifth two days later in the Grand Annual Chase at 2 7/16 miles at Warrnambool.

This year, Bit of a Lad has started in two marathon flat races, finishing sixth and 10th.

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Because of his lofty handicap rating, Bit of a Lad will carry topweight of 154 pounds, and has a rating so much higher than his rivals that the rest of the field will carry minimum weight of 143.3 pounds.

The weight assignments do not necessarily correlate with the betting. The Irish-bred 10-year-old Valac will be a slight favorite in the Brierly over Vanguard, Britcannicus, and Bit of a Lad.

Valac won a two-mile chase at Pakenham on April 18, his first start since October and 11th win in his 48th start. The 5-year-old youngster Vanguard starts in his richest race in the Brierly, having won a two-mile chase against four rivals at Hamilton Racecourse on April 3.

Vanguard has won 4 of 12 starts, including three of four starts over obstacles. He won a handicap on the flat at 1 1/16 miles at Warrnambool on March 14, and will have his jump debut at Warrnambool in the Brierly.

Britcannicus, 7, has won 9 of 52 starts, including a chase at about 2 1/8 miles at Warrnambool on March 25. He was a only fourth of eight in a chase at 2 3/16 miles at Pakenham on April 18, fading from the front to miss by 5 1/4 lengths.

** Warrnambool made Australian news in late April when the track discovered that 60 cases of beer earmarked for the May festival had been stolen from a storage unit. A leading Australian bookmaker announced it would pay to replace the missing cases, a small portion of the beverages that will be sold this week.