Australia: Chantrea gets break in the weights for Colac Cup

Chantrea won her first six races in Western Australia, including consecutive minor stakes in July 2020. Subsequent months have not gone as well.

Chantrea is winless in seven races, a span that includes four second- and third-place finishes. Chantrea did not race from last May until Jan. 15, when she finished a good second in a one-mile handicap at tiny Camperdown Racecourse southwest of Melbourne.

It may not have been a high-profile race, but it served as a prep for her second start of 2022 in the Colac Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Colac Racecourse on Friday. Colac is also southwest of Melbourne, but slightly closer to the metropolitan area.

Chantrea will be well-regarded in a field of eight and has a favorable break in the weights. A 5-year-old mare, Chantrea will carry 121 pounds, or 6.8 pounds fewer than topweight Blenheim Palace.

The Colac Cup is the seventh race on an eight-race program that begins at 10 p.m. Eastern or 7 p.m. Pacific on Thursday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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Trained by Lindsey Smith, Chantrea will be ridden by Declan Bates, who had a four-win day at Camperdown on Jan. 15. Bates rode Swiss Hero, who finished a half-length in front of Chantrea that day.

Bates is riding Chantrea for the first time. Daniel Stackhouse rode Chantrea at Camperdown and has the mount on Sheezabigdeel in the Colac Cup. Stackhouse was aboard Sheezabigdeal for a win in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Ararat Racecourse on Sunday.

Chantrea tends to race as a closer and is well suited to this distance. She has won at 1 1/4 miles and 1 3/8 miles in her career.

Strategic Phil and Blenheim Palace are likely to race closer to the front.

Strategic Phil won a handicap at 1 1/8 miles at the Hanging Rock meeting at Kyneton Racecourse on Jan. 26, ending a six-race losing streak.

Blenheim Palace, who was 12th in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby in New York in 2019 when trained by Aidan O’Brien, was fifth of seven in a lucrative handicap at 1 9/16 miles at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne on Jan. 22 and takes a significant drop in class for the Colac Cup.

Blenheim Palace is winless in nine starts since arriving in Australia in late 2020, but was a promising third in the Werribee Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Werribee Racecourse on Dec. 5.