Australia: Eye Pea Oh takes on winners at Kembla Gange

Eye Pea Oh needed a start on Jan. 22 before she won a maiden race in Australia on Feb. 13 in her second career appearance.

The difference was experience and race tactics.

Eye Pea Oh did not have an ideal start in a five-furlong maiden race at Kembla Grange Racecourse in her debut, but was sharper in a maiden race at 5 1/2 furlongs at Nowra, leading throughout to win by about 1 1/4 lengths.

The victory has led Eye Pea Oh to her first race against winners in a seven-furlong handicap at Kembla Gange on Tuesday. Eye Pea Oh, trained by brothers Richard and Michael Freedman, is part of a field of 14 and one of three runners in the field trained by the Freedmans. They also start a contender in Eyes to Eye and an outsider in Son of Sangio.

Eye Pea Oh will be ridden by Rachel King, who rode the 70-1 outsider She’s Ideel to a game second behind current Australian Horse of the Year Verry Elleegant in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes at a mile at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Saturday.

King will be aboard Eye Pea Oh for the first time at Kembla Grange and could have a favorable trip near the front. The full field has only one other consistent front-runner in Mr Cantankerous, who drew the inside post and may need to take a forward position in the initial furlong to avoid traffic issues. If such a scenario occurs, Eye Pea Oh could be well-placed next to Mr Cantankerous from post 3.

:: Get free past performances, analysis, and picks for Australian racing

Eyes to Eye will start in the shortest race of his career at Kembla Grange in his fourth start. Eyes to Eye was third in a handicap at about 1 1/8 miles at Newcastle Racecourse on Sept. 17 in his latest start. Eyes to Eye was beaten by Dhakuri, who has since won 2 of 6 starts.

Eyes to Eye can race near the front and could be joined in a stalking position by expected favorite Kokoro who has not started since a sixth in the Group 3 Spring Stakes at a mile at Newcastle on Nov. 13 in his third start.

The Spring Stakes was won by Festival Dancer, who followed with a third in the Group 2 Sandown Guineas at Caulfield Racecourse on Nov. 27.

Kembla Grange has a seven-race program beginning at 9:15 p.m. Eastern, or 6:15 p.m. Pacific, on Monday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.