Australia: Irish-raced Agrimony makes first start Down Under in Rosehill handicap
Agrimony will have his Australia debut in a handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney on Wednesday.
Agrimony won a maiden race at about a mile in his third career start at Gowran Park in Ireland in May. Later that month, Agrimony was ninth of 11 in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh later and then seventh of eighth in the Nijinsky Stakes at Leopardstown in his final start in that country on June 3.
A colt by Pivotal, Agrimony is one of three runners in the Rosehill Gardens handicap trained by Chris Waller and a well-regarded starter.
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James McDonald, the leading rider at tracks in the state of New South Wales, has the mount on Agrimony. McDonald rides all eight races on the card, and has six mounts for Waller, the leading trainer in New South Wales.
Agrimony was entered in a race at Warwick Farm Racecourse on Monday, but withdrawn in favor of the Rosehill Gardens race.
In the eight-runner Rosehill Gardens handicap, Agrimony is the 121-pound low weight compared to Snowfire, who has the highest assignment at 132 pounds.
Snowfire has won 5 of 14 starts, but was 10th of 16 in a seven-furlong handicap at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne on Sept. 25 in his first start since June. Snowfire is winless in four starts since a handicap at 7 3/4 furlongs on the Kensington course at Royal Randwick on Jan. 2.
The conditions fit Shibli, trained by Waller and the winner of 2 of 8 starts. A 5-year-old gelding, Shibli won his most recent start in a one-mile handicap at Gosford Park on Sept. 8 as the 3-2 favorite.
The field is likely to be in pursuit of Escaped, a winner of 4 of 16 starts who led throughout a seven-furlong handicap on the Kensington course on Sept. 15 to end a nine-race losing streak over 13 months.
Rosehill Gardens has an eight-race program, beginning at 10:25 p.m., Eastern, or 7:25 p.m., Pacific, on Tuesday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.