Australia: Blaazay at favorite track for Narooma Cup
Blaazay is most comfortable at Moruya Racecourse in Australia where the 6-year-old gelding has every chance to win Sunday’s Narooma Cup at 6 1/2 furlongs.
A winner of 3 of 12 starts, Blaazay is trained at Moruya by John Gamble. Blaazay has won 3 of 6 starts at Moruya, and finished second or third in the other races. Moruya is located three hours south of Sydney.
Sunday’s Narooma Cup, which drew a field of 13, will be Blaazay’s first start at Moruya since a second by a length as the 6-5 favorite in a handicap at about a mile in early October. A little more than a week later, Blaazay was 11th of 17 in a tougher handicap at a mile at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney.
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Those races may have been beyond his best distance.
Blaazay has not raced since the start at Randwick, and faces a much easier field in the Narooma Cup. Despite his success at Moruya, Blaazay will not be favored, a role expected to go to Girls Are Ready or Oriental Runner.
Girls Are Ready, a 5-year-old mare, has won 5 of 29 starts, including a seven-furlong handicap at Canberra Racecourse on Nov. 26 that ended a 13-race losing streak, which began in August 2020. Girls Are Ready won at Canberra as a stalker and should have a pace to follow in a large field in the Narooma Cup.
Oriental Runner, who is winless in his last eight starts, is an 8-year-old gelding who was fourth in a handicap at 6 1/4 furlongs on the infield Kensington course at Randwick on Dec. 3. Oriental Runner set the pace, but faded to lose by a little more than 1 1/2 lengths.
Oriental Runner tends to run as a stalker and also has the benefit of a win at Moruya, even if that victory was in a handicap at about 4 1/2 furlongs in January 2018.
The Narooma Cup is the seventh race on an eight-race program that begins at 9:30 p.m. Eastern or 6:30 p.m. Pacific on Saturday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.