Australia: Group 1 miles featured at Flemington, Royal Randwick

Group 1 races for Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old milers highlight races at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne and Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney in Australia on Saturday, races somewhat overshadowed by the presence of leading older horses in Group 2 races earlier on the programs.

At Flemington, the richest race on a nine-race program is the $732,500 Australian Guineas for 3-year-olds at a mile, which is led by Hitotsu and Profundo, Group 1 winners in October. They were 7-2 joint favorites in early betting on Thursday.

Hitotsu, a winner of 2 of 6 starts, won the Group 1 Victorian Derby at 1 9/16 miles at Flemington on Oct. 30 for his first stakes win and final start of 2021. Trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Hitotsu’s only other win was a maiden race at 6 3/4 furlongs last September.

While Hitotsu runs from off the pace, Profundo is likely to race closer to the front, a style that led to a win in his Group 1 debut in the Champion Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Randwick last October in his latest outing. Trained by Richard Litt, Profundo has won 2 of 3 starts, beginning with a seven-furlong maiden race last September.

The Australian Guineas drew a field of full field of 16. Earlier on the program, Zaaki, one of the top older horses in Australia in 2021, will have his first start in four months in the Group 2 Blamey Stakes at a mile.

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Trained by Annabel Neashem, Zaaki won 6 of 9 starts last year, with all the wins in group stakes ranging in distances from seven furlongs to 1 3/8 miles. Zaaki won the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Flemington in early November in his final start of 2021.

Inspirational Girl, a Group 1 winner at a mile in 2020, but limited to two starts in the last 15 months, is Zaaki’s most prominent rival in a field of 10 in the $219,750 Blamey Stakes.

Flemington has a nine-race program beginning at 8:35 p.m. Eastern or 5:35 p.m. Pacific on Friday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

At Randwick, Anamoe will be an odds-on favorite to win his seventh stakes in his 14th start in the $732,500 Randwick Guineas for 3-year-olds at a mile. Trained by James Cummings, Anamoe has started only in stakes in his career. He won the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes at seven furlongs at Rosehill Gardens on Feb.19, beating Hilal and Converge who are well-regarded in the Randwick Guineas.

Nature Strip, the 2019-2020 Australian Horse of the Year, will be an odds-on favorite in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes at five furlongs earlier on the Randwick card.

Nature Strip, trained by Chris Waller, was second by a nose to stablemate Home Affairs in the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes at five furlongs at Flemington on Feb. 19 despite being squeezed at the start. The multiple stakes winner Eduardo, who was third in the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes, is Nature Strip’s principal opposition in the $366,250 Challenge Stakes.

Forbidden Love, the winner of the Group 2 Guy Walter Stakes at seven furlongs at Randwick last Saturday, will be favored in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs at Randwick. A 4-year-old filly, Forbidden Love was second in the Group 2 Expressway Stakes at six furlongs at Rosehill Gardens on Jan. 29, a race in which Anamoe was third.

Lighthouse, the Kentucky-bred mare who was a stakes winner at Kentucky Downs in 2020 and in Australia in January, is part of the field in the $366,260 Canterbury in an attempt to end a two-race losing streak that includes a second in the Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes at seven furlongs at Caulfield on Feb. 12.

Randwick has an excellent 10-race program beginning at 8:20 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.