Australia: Goodwood should set up nicely for Rey Magnerio

Recent sprint stakes at Ascot Racecourse in Perth, Australia, provided the gelding Rey Magnerio with two major paydays.

On Saturday, Rey Magnerio will race for the first time at Morphettville Racecourse in Adelaide in the Group 1 Goodwood Stakes, where he rates as the expected favorite in another lucrative race. The six-furlong sprint is worth $723,200.

Rey Magnerio has won 10 of 28 starts, including three stakes. He won the richest race of his career in the Group 3, $997,000 Gold Rush Stakes at seven furlongs at Ascot last December and was second by slightly less than a half-length in the $3.5 million Quokka Stakes at six furlongs at Ascot on April 18. The field for the Quokka, the richest race in Western Australia, is determined by owners who purchase berths and then name a starter.

Rey Magnerio, a 6-year-old trained by Robbie Griffiths, tends to run from off the pace. In the Goodwood, Rey Magnerio starts from post 5 in a field of 16, which should suit his style. Jockey William Pike, who has been aboard Rey Magnerio for his last four starts, has the mount.

The other contenders range in age from the 4-year-old filly Flying For Fun to the 3-year-olds Tycoon Star, a colt, and the filly Extragalactic.

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Flying For Fun has been beaten in her last two starts in stakes for fillies and mares. She was ninth of 12, but beaten only three lengths, in the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes at six furlongs at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on April 11. She was then fourth by a head after a troubled stretch run in the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes at six furlongs at Morphettville on April 25. With a clear run in the final furlong, Flying For Fun arguably would have won comfortably.

Tycoon Star beat 14 rivals in the Group 2 Tobin Stakes at six furlongs at Morphettville on April 25, closing from third to end a five-race losing streak.

Extragalactic was second by a length in the Tobin Stakes, closing from 12th in a field of 15 in the final furlong with a wide rally. The loss ended a two-race winning streak in minor handicaps. The Goodwood Stakes is the Group 1 debut for Extragalactic, a winner of 3 of 6 starts.

The Goodwood has a post time of 2:30 a.m. Eastern on Saturday.

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