Australia: Coppelson takes early shot at older foes

Imagine a North American-based 3-year-old racing against older horses in February and the task facing Coppelson in a one-mile handicap at Hawkesbury Racecourse on Wednesday across American time zones comes into greater focus.

Australian racehorses have universal birthdays on Aug. 1. Coppelson will not actually turn 3 until late November, but is already has experience beating older horses. In his debut in a maiden race at Newcastle on Aug. 11, Coppelson closed from last in a field of seven to win by a neck at 5-1.

At Hawkesbury, Coppelson will be a shorter price. As of Tuesday morning, Coppelson was the 5-2 second choice behind the 5-year-old mare Artie’s Aura, who was 8-5 and deserves to be favored.

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Trained by Edward O’Rourke, Artie’s Aura returned from a yearlong layoff to finish third by 3 3/4 lengths in a seven-furlong handicap at Rosehill Gardens on Aug. 13. She won her debut in early 2021 and was later fourth, second, and sixth before the lengthy rest.

Similar to Coppelson, Artie’s Aura races from off the pace.

The eight-race Hawkesbury program begins at 10:55 p.m. Eastern or 7:55 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Artie’s Aura and Coppelson are part of a field of eight in the third race on the program. Coppelson is the only runner with a win in his last start.

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The 4-year-old filly Snitzyka will be the runner to catch. Snitzyka won a seven-furlong maiden race in March, her only victory in seven starts, and had two more starts before a break of more than four months.

Snitzyka finished third by two lengths in her comeback in a seven-furlong handicap at Bathurst on Aug. 22, racing near the front throughout. Snitzyka was the 2-1 favorite in that field, and is likely to closer to 8-1 at Hawkesbury.