Australia: Lorente looks sharp for Stawell Cup
The Australian gelding Lorente appears to be rounding into form at an ideal time in advance of Sunday’s Stawell Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Stawell Racecourse.
The distance is one that suits Lorente, who has won 4 of 12 starts, including two races at 1 1/4 miles.
Trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Lorente has started three times at increasingly longer distances this year. On March 16 at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne, Lorente was third by 1 3/4 lengths in a handicap at 1 1/8 miles.
For the Stawell Cup, Lorente will be ridden for the first time by jockey Linda Meech, who won with 8 of 50 mounts from Feb. 16 through April 9. Meech was not active for part of Lorente’s early career when she paused her riding career to give birth to a son.
Meech, 41, won the 2020 Stawell Cup on Sentimentalist for her husband, Mark Pegus, a former jockey turned trainer. Meech has won more than 1,750 races since her career began in 1999. She had four wins from 17 mounts in the 2020-21 season, but has won 37 races from 199 mounts since the current season began last August.
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Lorente, who often races from the middle of the field, will be fitted with blinkers for the Stawell Cup, which drew a field of 13 and is the seventh race on an eight-race program that begins at 10:55 p.m. Eastern, or 7:55 p.m. Pacific, on Saturday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
Lorente stands an excellent chance at the distance as does Excelleration, who also is being fitted with blinkers. Excelleration was fifth as the 6-5 favorite in a seven-furlong handicap at Geelong Racecourse on March 19 in his first start since a second by slightly less than a half-length in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Mildura Racecourse last July, his first start at the distance.
Excelleration, who has won 2 of 9 starts, is capable of racing near the front. He will be closely followed by Don’t Doubt Dory, who was second by a nose in the Bairnsdale Cup at Bairnsdale Racecourse on March 27.
Don’t Doubt Dory is winless in three starts at 1 1/4 miles, but has won at 1 5/16 miles in his 20-race career, which includes seven wins.