Cylinder has won consecutive Group 2 stakes this year for 2-year-olds and will be favored to win the world’s richest race for juveniles on Friday evening – the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia. The six-furlong race is worth $3.32 million and has a competitive field of 16 befitting the prize. The Golden Slipper may not be the best of the five Group 1 races on a 10-race Rosehill Gardens program. Earlier in the evening, Gold Trip, winner of the Group 1 Melbourne Cup last November, will have his second start of 2022 in the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes at 1 1/4 miles. In the following race, Anamoe, leading contender for Australian Horse of the Year, will be an odds-on favorite to win the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs. Cylinder and Anamoe are trained by James Cummings for Godolphin Racing. :: Get free past performances, analysis, and picks for Australian racing Cylinder, by Exceed and Excel, was second in his first two starts, which came in November. This year, he won the Group 2 Silver Slipper Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens on Feb. 18 and the Group 2 Todman Stakes at six furlongs at Royal Randwick Racecourse on March 4. In both races, Cylinder was near the front throughout and beat rivals who are longshots in the Golden Slipper field – Platinum Jubilee and Red Resistance. Cylinder was 3-1 in early betting on Thursday, with Learning to Fly (5-1) and King’s Gambit (8-1) as the second and third choices. Learning to Fly, a filly by Justify, is unbeaten in three starts at distances ranging from five to six furlongs. King’s Gambit, a colt, was third in the Silver Slipper. Gold Trip was second by a neck in his first start of the year, the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Sandown Racecourse on Feb. 25, and should be better suited to the distance of the $665,500 Ranvet. The distance also suits Mo’unga, who was third to Anamoe in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes at a mile at Randwick on Feb. 25, and the British shipper Dubai Honour, who was second in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Ascot in 2021 and has not raced since a sixth in the same race last October. Anamoe will be an odds-on favorite against 10 rivals in the $665,500 George Ryder Stakes to win his sixth Group 1 race since the Australian season began in August. Pericles, another Godolphin-Cummings runner, will be favored to win his first Group 1 race in the Rosehill Guineas for 3-year-olds at 1 1/4 miles. Elliptical, second by a head and a nose in consecutive Group 1 races in October, is a threat from off the pace. The 4-year-old gelding Uncommon James is a standout in the $665,500 Galaxy Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs, the final Group 1 race on the program. Uncommon James won the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate at 5 1/2 furlongs at Sandown on Feb. 25. The 9-year-old gelding Eduardo, who won this race in 2021, is a danger from the front. The Rosehill Gardens program begins at 9:10 p.m. Eastern or 6:10 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com. Alligator Blood tops All-Star Mile Alligator Blood is a relatively short price at 9-5 to win Friday’s $3.32 million All-Star Mile at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne, considering he is part of a field of 15 on a track with a stretch less than a furlong in length. Race tactics will be vital, and jockey Blake Shinn is likely to have Alligator Blood near the front to take advantage of the short run leaving the turn and to avoid trouble. Alligator Blood has won nine stakes, including four Group 1 races in the last year. The All-Star Mile is not a group-level race. Part of its field is determined by a fan ballot. I’m Thunderstruck, second in the 2022 All-Star Mile when the race was run at Flemington Racecourse, is a danger from a tracking position. I’m Thunderstruck was 5-1 as of Thursday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.