Australia: Master Jamie will carry high weight in Magic Millions qualifier

Lugging high weight assignments around Rockhampton Racecourse in Australia has been common of late for the speedy gelding Master Jamie.

Master Jamie was second by a nose while carrying 140 pounds in a handicap at 5 1/4 furlongs on Nov. 5, and second by three-quarters of a length in a handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs while carrying 139 pounds on Nov. 21.

On Monday, Master Jamie will have his 17th career start at Rockhampton, where the 5-year-old is based with Graeme Green. This time, Master Jamie will carry 139 pounds due to the presence of apprentice jockey Tessa Townsend.

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The race at Rockhampton is a qualifier for the Magic Millions Country Cup at six furlongs. The $192,750 Country Cup final will be held on Jan. 8 at Gold Coast Racecourse near Brisbane, and is restricted to horses that have not won a recent race at a city track and have had five starts since the beginning of 2021 at countryside tracks.

Rockhampton is on the Queensland coast, well north of Brisbane.

Monday’s qualifier drew a field of seven and is the sixth race on a nine-race program that begins at 9:23 p.m. Eastern or 6:23 p.m. Pacific on Monday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Rhyme nor Reason and Jay Jay are stalkers who could threaten Master Jamie in the stretch.

Rhyme nor Reason, who will carry 134.4 pounds, is winless in 10 starts since October 2019, but was third in his last two starts – at Gold Coast on Nov. 6 and at Rockhampton on Nov. 21 in the same race as Master Jamie.

Jay Jay, trained at Rockhampton by Angela Stephens, won a handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs at Rockhampton on Dec. 4 for his sixth win in 43 career starts at the track. Overall, the 7-year-old Jay Jay has won 9 of 54 starts.

The recent win ended a seven-race losing streak for Jay Jay, who will carry minimum weight of 119 pounds in this Country Cup qualifier.