Australia: Growl faces tall task in Warwick Farm handicap

The 4-year-old gelding Growl, who has been raced sparingly in Australia in the last few years, will have the difficult job of playing spoiler against the odds-on favorite Green Shadows in a seven-furlong handicap at Warwick Farm Racecourse in Sydney on Tuesday evening.

Growl, trained by Peter and Paul Snowden, has won 2 of 7 starts, but the wins were in 2021 and last year. Growl has had two starts this year, finishing 10th of 14 in a handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs at Warwick Farm on May 17 and a more encouraging third in a six-furlong handicap at Royal Randwick Racecourse on June 10.

Growl runs from off the pace and has a good late kick, evidenced by a win in a six-furlong handicap at Moonee Valley in March 2022, his only start last year. Moonee Valley has the shortest stretch of a major track in Australia at 190 yards.

The stretch at Warwick Farm covers approximately 350 yards, or roughly three-sixteenths of a mile.

Growl and Green Shadows are part of a field of nine in the fourth race on a seven-race program that begins at 10:50 p.m. Eastern, or 7:50 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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Green Shadows, a winner of 2 of 12 starts, finished third by 2 2/3 lengths in a lucrative seven-furlong handicap at Randwick on May 27 in his first start in more than four months.

Green Shadows was gelded during the break. At Randwick, Green Shadows was away slowly and closed strongly through the stretch to be closest to the front at the finish.

A 3-year-old, Green Shadows is winless in 10 starts since a seven-furlong handicap for Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds in April 2022.

The 4-year-old gelding Able Willie will start at seven furlongs for the first time on Tuesday evening. He has closed well in recent starts at shorter distances to indicate a slightly longer trip may be a benefit.

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