Australia: Gunaluva gets weight break in Wednesday feature at Warwick Farm
The New Zealand-bred gelding Gunaluva will have a weight advantage on his main rivals in a handicap at 1 1/2 miles at Warwick Farm Racecourse in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday.
Gunaluva will carry 121 pounds, compared to Chains of Honour at 136.6 pounds, Skymax at 135.5 and Perfect Illusion at 122.3. Perfect Illusion gets a weight break because of the booking of apprentice jockey Tom Sherry.
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Gunaluva is not as accomplished as those runners, but approaches the race in top form. At Gosford Park on Nov. 21, Gunaluva won for the second time in his 10-race career, scoring by 2 2/3 lengths in a handicap at 1 5/8 miles as the odds-on favorite. The win ended a four-race losing streak, since a maiden race win at about 1 1/2 miles at Newcastle in May.
Trained by John Sargent, Gunaluva has typically shown a patient style as a stalker. Sargent’s stable won with 4 of 12 runners from Nov. 20 through Monday. The stable was winless with its preceding 38 starters from Oct. 11 to Nov. 18.
Perfect Illusion is likely to be a slight favorite over Gunaluva and Chains of Honour, judging from early betting on Monday.
Perfect Illusion has been second in his last two starts, in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Benalla Racecourse on Oct. 23 and a handicap at 1 1/2 miles at Warwick Farm on Nov. 25.
Chains of Honour takes a significant drop in class for Wednesday’s race. In April, Chains of Honour was seventh of 11 in the Group 1 ATC Derby at Royal Randwick as a 100-1 chance. More recently, he was 14th of 15 in a tougher handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Kembla Grange Racecourse on Nov. 21.
Skymax, a German-bred gelding, was 12th in front of Chains of Honor on Nov. 21 in his Australian debut. Skymax was a two-time winner in England in 2018 and last year. The Nov. 21 race was his first start since a fifth-place finish in a handicap at Newmarket, England, in June.
Warwick Farm has a seven-race program on Tuesday that begins at 10:20 p.m. Eastern or 7:20 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.