Australia: Nowra Cup might come down to trio of older horses

The older horses Highly Desired, Invincible Dash, and Prince of Arragon cannot get rid of each other in Australia these days.

The trio was scratched from Friday’s Mudgee Cup at Mudgee Racecourse, only for all three to reappear in the entries for Sunday’s Nowra Cup at Nowra Racecourse. They all three rate as contenders in the one-mile turf race.

Highly Desired and Invincible Dash are recent winners who were later beaten in restricted stakes.

Invincible Dash won a one-mile handicap at Goulburn Racecourse on Oct. 31, and followed with a fourth by 1 1/4 lengths in the Country Classic at Rosehill Gardens on Nov. 6. The Country Classic is restricted to horses who had at least three starts for a trainer in the state of New South Wales based away from the major metropolitan tracks.

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Highly Desired won a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Goulburn on Oct. 9, and was sixth of 18 in the Four Pillars Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens on Oct. 30. The Four Pillars Stakes is restricted to horses based with smaller and mid-sized trainers in New South Wales.

Highly Desired followed the defeat in the Four Pillars Stakes with a good second to Heza Gentleman in a handicap at 7 3/4 furlongs at Canterbury Park on Nov. 12. Heza Gentleman returned to win another handicap at Canterbury on Nov. 26.

That form makes Highly Desired an appealing starter in a field of 10 in the Nowra Cup.

Prince of Arragon is harder to assess. A 5-year-old gelding, Prince of Arragon won three consecutive starts in April and May, but is winless in four subsequent starts.

Prince of Arragon was eighth in a lucrative handicap at a mile at Newcastle on Nov. 13, beaten a little more than four lengths by the French import Heutor. Ma and Pa, a winner of 4 of 7 starts, was second at Newcastle in what could be a productive race.

Nowra has a nine-race program beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern or 6 p.m. Pacific on Saturday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.