Australia: Flemington's Three Group 1s attract Nature Strip and Anamoe

A two-time Australian Horse of the Year and the leading colt for that prize this season will be heavy favorites to win two of three Group 1 races worth $1.88 million at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on Friday evening across American time zones.

Nature Strip, Horse of the Year for the 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 seasons, is a 16-time stakes winner who will start as a strong favorite in the Champions Sprint at six furlongs on a straightaway course in the first Group 1 of the program.

Trained by Chris Waller, Nature Strip will be favored even though he finished fourth by a length behind the unbeaten Giga Kick in the $9.3 million Everest Stakes at six furlongs at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Oct. 15.

Nature Strip, who won the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in England in June by 4 1/2 lengths, has won 22 of 40 starts and 6 of 9 career starts at Flemington. Nature Strip has won the Champions Sprint in 2019 and 2021 and was second in 2020 when it was known as the VRC Classic.

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Giga Kick, a threat from off the pace, has his Group 1 debut in the Champion Sprint in his sixth start. He won the Group 2 Danehill Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs at Flemington on Oct. 1 in a prep for the Everest, which is not a group-level race.

Anamoe, a leading contender for the Horse of the Year prize for the 2022-2023 season, won his fifth Group 1 race of the year in the $3.13 million Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on Oct. 22.

At Flemington, Anamoe will be favored to win the Champion Stakes at 1 1/4 miles, the same distance as the Cox Plate. Trained by James Cummings, Anamoe is unbeaten in four starts, all Group 1 races, since the current Australian season began on Aug. 1.

I’m Thunderstruck is Anamoe’s most prominent rival, considering recent performances. I’m Thunderstruck was second to Anamoe by a neck in the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Caulfield Racecourse on Oct. 8 and second by slightly less than a half-length in the Cox Plate.

Mark Zahra, who won Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup on Gold Trip, is the regular rider of I’m Thunderstruck.

James McDonald rides Anamoe and has the mount on Nature Strip.

The day’s third Group 1 race, the Champions Mile, poses a different distance for 2-1 early favorite Private Eye compared to his recent starts.

Private Eye, trained by Joseph Pride, was second in the Everest and won the $1.94 million Nature Strip Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens on Oct. 29. Nature Strip did not start in the race that bears his name last month.

Private Eye, who has won twice at a mile in his career, is part of a field of 11 that includes My Oberon, an Irish-bred stakes winner in England who won his Australian debut in the Group 2 Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley on Oct. 22.

Flemington has a nine-race program beginning at 9:40 p.m. Eastern or 6:40 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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