Australia: Jimmysstar sitting on first stakes win

The presence of the prolific winner Jimmysstar in Thursday’s Group 3 Newcastle Stakes at Newcastle Racecourse threatens to make the seven-furlong stakes a lopsided affair.

Jimmysstar, a winner of 5 of 7 starts, was the even-money favorite in a field of 15 as of Wednesday morning.

Trained by Ciaron Maher, Jimmysstar will start in search of his first stakes win. A 4-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding, Jimmysstar was beaten for the first time in Australia when second by a half-length in his stakes debut in the Elms Handicap at seven furlongs at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on Feb. 15, a loss that ended a five-race winning streak that began in New Zealand last April.

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Jimmysstar has won 3 of 4 starts in Australia at distances ranging from 6 1/2 furlongs to 7 1/2 furlongs. Jimmysstar has won from off the pace and as a stalker.

In the $196,900 Newcastle Stakes, Jimmysstar starts from the inside post in a large field, which will put pressure on jockey Tyler Schiller to negotiate a clean trip. Schiller is riding Jimmysstar for the first time at Newcastle.

The Newcastle Stakes is part of a nine-race program that begins at 9:15 p.m. Eastern or 6:15 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

If Jimmysstar is beaten, Unspoken and Rustic Steel are the most likely upset candidates.

Unspoken won his final four starts of 2023, a sequence that ended with a 6-1 victory in the $1.27 million Five Diamonds Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 5-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles at Rosehill Gardens in November.

Rustic Steel has not raced since he finished eighth of 20, beaten slightly less than three lengths, in the Group 2 Ingham Stakes, a $1.31 million race at a mile at Royal Randwick Racecourse in December.

Rustic Steel has won 2 of 4 starts at Newcastle, including a seven-furlong handicap in February 2022. Rustic Steel is best known for winning the $1.26 million Big Dance Stakes at a mile at Randwick in November 2022.

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