Australia: Khaalis looks for first victory Down Under at Royal Randwick
Two races into his new career, the gelding Khaalis is showing signs of adapting to Australian racing.
Bred in Ireland, Khaalis began his career in England where he won a one-mile race on the synthetic track at Chelmsford City near London in his second start last September.
Wednesday on the Kensington course at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Khaalis will start for the third time in Australia in a handicap at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
Trained by Chris Waller, Khaalis was seventh of 12 in a handicap at 7 3/4 furlongs on the Kensington course in his Australian debut on Aug. 18, and a more encouraging fourth, beaten only 1 1/4 lengths, in a handicap at 1 3/16 miles at Gosford Park on Sept. 8.
:: Get free past performances, analysis, and picks for Australian racing
As of Monday, Khaalis was the 7-2 co-favorite in early betting with stablemate Shibli in a field of nine.
Kensington has a seven-race program that begins at 11:25 p.m., Eastern, or 8:25 p.m., Pacific, on Tuesday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
Khaalis will be ridden by James McDonald, the leading rider at tracks in the Australian state of New South Wales. The season began on Aug. 1. McDonald finished third in the standings for the 2020-2021 season.
Shibli is also having a rapid turnaround, having finished second by 1 3/4 lengths in a one-mile handicap at Gosford on Sept. 8. Shibli began his career in France where he won a maiden race at about 1 5/16 miles at Cagnes-Sur-Mer in his second start in February 2020 and final race before being sent to Australia.
Shibli began racing in Australia in April of this year and is winless in five starts in the country. The recent second was his best result.
The field of nine is likely to be in pursuit of Narrated, a 4-year-old filly who won a handicap at about 1 1/8 miles from the front at Mudgee Racecourse on Aug. 29 as the 3-10 favorite.
Narrated has won two of her last four starts and was second and third in the other races in that span.