Australia: Leale one to catch in handicap at Sandown Park
Leale, an Australian-bred 5-year-old, won for the fourth time in her career in a one-mile handicap for fillies and mares on the Lakeside course at Sandown Park in Melbourne in June.
The last few months have been tougher for her, with two fourth-place finishes and a fifth, all against fillies and mares in handicaps at Melbourne-area tracks.
Trained by Michael Kent, Leale returns to the Lakeside course as the likely pacesetter in a handicap for fillies and mares at a mile on Wednesday.
This is a slightly easier assignment than her most recent start, a fourth by about 1 1/2 lengths in a handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Cranbourne Racecourse on Aug. 14, but a slight jump in class from her win in June.
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Apprentice jockey Josh Richards, who rode Leale at Cranbourne, has the mount.
Leale is part of a field of 11 in the sixth race on an eight-race program that begins at 11 p.m., Eastern, or 8 p.m., Pacific, on Tuesday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
Ayahuasca, a winner of 2 of 6 starts who was fifth in her most recent race, and Mahashakti, who won four consecutive races in January and February before finishing seventh in a recent comeback, are expected to lead the betting.
Ayahuasca, who runs from off the pace, was fifth in a handicap against males at a mile on Aug. 11, losing by four lengths. She was the convincing winner of a handicap for 3-year-olds fillies at a mile on the Lakeside course at Sandown in July.
Sandown has two courses – Lakeside, which has a circumference of 1 1/8 miles, and Hillside, which has a circumference of about 1 1/4 miles and a slightly longer stretch.
Mahashakti ran against tougher rivals in her comeback on Aug. 14, closing from 10th in a field of 13 to miss by four lengths in a seven-furlong handicap at Caulfield. She won at distances ranging from about seven furlongs to about 1 1/4 miles last year, and could be a danger as a stalker behind Leale in this slightly longer race than her last start.