Australia: Oz Legend, Tip of the Spear meet again

The Irish-bred geldings Oz Legend and Tip of the Spear met for the first time when they finished first and second in a handicap at 1 1/2 miles at Warwick Farm Racecourse in Australia on Feb. 23.

They may have a budding rivalry. Oz Legend and Tip of the Spear are reunited as part of a tougher field of rivals in a handicap at the same marathon distance at Warwick Farm on Tuesday evening.

Tip of the Spear was beaten slightly more than a half-length as the 3-2 favorite on Feb. 23 and was the early favorite at 2-1 on Monday morning. Oz Legend was 9-2 in a field of nine.

Tip of the Spear, a 5-year-old gelding trained at Warwick Farm by Annabel Neashem, has yet to win in three starts in Australia. The narrow loss on Feb. 23 was by far his best performance. Tip of the Spear was a two-time winner in Ireland in 2021 and 2022 when trained by Andrew Kinirons.

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The recent start at 1 1/2 miles was Tip of the Spear’s first race at that distance in Australia. He closed from fourth to reach contention in the stretch.

Oz Legend, a winner of 3 of 19 starts, is trained by Chris Waller and drew the outside post in Tuesday evening’s race. Oz Legend won twice on synthetic tracks in Britain in 2021 before he began racing in Australia last year. The win on Feb. 23 was his first victory in 10 starts in Australia and his third start in the country at 1 1/2 miles.

Oz Legend has finished in the first three in each of his starts at 1 1/2 miles in Australia, closing from off the pace.

Tip of the Spear and Oz Legend are part of a competitive race that includes Goldman, a 4-year-old gelding who has won 3 of 5 starts in New Zealand and Australia. Goldman won 2 of 4 starts in New Zealand in 2022 and his Australian debut in a 1 1/4 miles at Kembla Grange on Feb. 23.

Goldman won with a stalking trip and could be the runner to catch at Warwick Farm.

Warwick Farm has an eight-race program beginning at 10:45 p.m. Eastern or 7:45 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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