Australia: Norman faces tougher assignment in second career start

Norman, the 4-year-old Australian gelding, performed as expected when he won a maiden race in his debut at Newcastle Racecourse on March 26. Norman was the 8-5 favorite and closed from fifth to win a race at 6 3/4 furlongs by slightly less than a half-length.

Thursday at Wyong Racecourse, Norman will have his first start against winners in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs. Again, Norman is rated among the leading chances in a big field, but faces runners with more experience and equally promising performances in their last starts.

Norman, trained by Chris Waller, has drawn an outside post in a full field of 12. While the post is not ideal, Norman has shown that he can be rated, which should give jockey Lee Magorrian options as the race develops.

The key will be catching runners such as Brillar, or holding off closers such as Never Cry and Sing a Love Song.

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Never Cry, a winner of 2 of 9 starts, may be a slight favorite for trainer Brad Widdup on the strength of a win in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Hawkesbury on March 24. He closed from fourth of nine to win by about a length.

Sing a Love Song, a 3-year-old colt, won a maiden race at 6 3/4 furlongs at Hawkesbury in his 10th start on Feb. 15. More recently, Sing a Love Song was 10th of 12 in the Canberra Guineas, a minor stakes at seven furlongs on March 14. He was 20-1 and raced at the back of the field throughout. This handicap at Wyong should be a better fit.

Brillar, trained by James Cummings for Godolphin Racing, won a maiden race at 5 1/2 furlongs at Hawkesbury in his fourth start on March 24, challenging for the lead throughout. He could be a factor from the front in this field.

Wyong has an eight-race program beginning at 11 p.m. Eastern or 8 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.