Australia: Lekvarte needs to control her temper in Kembla Grange Classic

Lekvarte nearly ate her way to a win at Newcastle Racecourse in Australia on Feb. 28.

Closing from last through traffic, Lekvarte was surging to the front in the final strides when she tried to bite Catapult, who beat her by a short head.

The incident happened so close to the wire it is hard to determine whether it cost Lekvarte a victory. It did land Lekvarte on the stewards’ list for trying to savage another runner.

Lekvarte will be back in good graces if she wins her stakes debut in Friday’s Group 3 Kembla Grange Classic for 3-year-old fillies at Goulburn Racecourse.

The three leading contenders – Lekvarte, Pretty Amazing, and Roots – are all closers who approach the one-mile race in outstanding form. The result could be decided by which of the fillies gets a clean trip in a full field of 16, who prefers a heavy turf course, and whether Lekvarte tries to snap at one of her many rivals.

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The $146,300 Kembla Grange Classic was scheduled to be run at Kembla Grange Racecourse, but was moved to Goulburn because of persistent rain in Australia in recent days. Earlier this month, Kembla Grange measured 15 inches of rain in a seven-day span.

Roots, trained by Chris Waller, will be a slight favorite, although she was 5-1 in early betting on Wednesday. A winner of 2 of 4 starts, Roots returned from a three-month layoff to win a six-furlong handicap at Warwick Farm Racecourse on Feb. 9 on soft turf. This will be her debut on a heavy turf course.

Lekvarte has won 2 of 8 starts for trainer Joseph Pride. Lekvarte won a handicap at 6 3/4 furlongs at Wyong Racecourse on Feb. 15 and did not have a good trip at Newcastle, forcing her way into contention from the back of the field through traffic.

The Wyong and Newcastle races were run on soft turf. Lekvarte was fifth in a maiden race on heavy turf at Canterbury Park in November, and has since won two of three starts.

Pretty Amazing, trained by Waller, has won 2 of 3 starts, and is on a two-race winning streak following wins at 7 1/2 furlongs and 7 3/4 furlongs on good turf courses in the last months.

Jockey James McDonald, who rides top runners for Waller, rode Roots and Pretty Amazing in their last starts and is booked to ride Roots, a decision that influences the betting.

Goulburn has a 10-race program beginning at 8:40 p.m. Eastern or 5:40 p.m. Pacific on Thursday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.