Australia: Look for Walkin’talkin’ near front in Monday handicap

Walkin’talkin’ is the sort of gelding handy enough to lead or race near the front.

Those tactics will help apprentice jockey Julia Presits when she rides the 4-year-old Walkin’talkin’ in a handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs at Hawkesbury Racecourse near Sydney, Australia, on Monday evening across American time zones.

Walkin’talkin’ won from a stalking position in a similar race at Hawkesbury on Sept. 22 in his first start in three months, racing near the front and winning by about a neck.

In this race at Hawkesbury, Walkin’talkin’ is part of a field of 11 and starts from post 10. With Presits aboard, the weight assignment plunges from 132 pounds to 125.6 pounds. Presits rode Walkin’talkin’ for the first time in a race on Sept. 22, and was aboard for a third-place finish in a barrier trial, or training race, from the gate at Warwick Farm on Oct. 18.

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Walkin’talkin’, who was 7-1 in early betting on Sunday, will have a likely pace target in the lightly raced Huon, who has not raced since a second-place finish by three lengths in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Warwick Farm in June.

Owned by Godolphin Racing and trained by James Cummings, who won the Group 1 Cox Plate with Anamoe on Saturday, Huon will have his fifth career start at Hawkesbury. He has won once, in a maiden race against four rivals at six furlongs at Newcastle in May.

The veteran No Statement is another potential leader. A winner of 4 of 25 starts, No Statement was second by a neck in a handicap at 4 1/2 furlongs at Newcastle on Oct. 15. He won as recently as a five-furlong handicap at Canberra Racecourse on Sept. 24 in which he closed from fifth.

Hawkesbury has an eight-race program beginning at 10:15 p.m. Eastern or 7:15 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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