Australia: Peyton Place tries to snap losing streak in Moruya Cup

The Nov. 26 program at Canberra Racecourse in Australia was not run on the most pleasant afternoon. The turf was heavy and it rained most of the day.

Peyton Place finished third in a seven-furlong handicap that day, setting the pace before fading to lose by about 3 1/2 lengths to Girls are Ready.

Peyton Place has won on heavy turf in the past, but has shown better results through his 40-race career on good turf – conditions expected for Monday’s Moruya Cup at about seven furlongs at Moruya Racecourse.

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A 6-year-old gelding, Peyton Place will carry top weight of 138.8 pounds in a field of 14 in an attempt to end a five-race long streak.

Trained by Greg Stephens, Peyton Place has a familiar group of rivals in the Moruya Cup. Girls are Ready and Banger, who was second at Canberra on Nov. 26, are part of the field and rate as attractive prospects in a race that will not have a strong favorite.

Moruya has an eight-race program beginning at 9:23 p.m. Eastern or 6:23 p.m. Pacific on Sunday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Girls are Ready, a 5-year-old mare, has not raced since the win at Canberra on Nov. 26. She tends to race as a stalker and has every chance to repeat that win in the Moruya Cup, particularly if Peyton Place faces early pressure from the outsiders Departing Bullet and Devil Dan.

Girls are Ready will carry a more reasonable weight assignment of 121 pounds.

Banger followed his second at Canberra on Nov. 26 with a fourth-place finish in a handicap at 7 3/4 furlongs at Canterbury Park on Dec. 10, losing to the strongly favored Heza Gentleman who extended a winning streak to three races.

Banger, who tends to run from off the pace, is winless in 10 starts since March, a span of races that includes a good second in a six-furlong handicap at Moruya in August. That race was won by Peyton Place, who has won 3 of 7 starts at Moruya in his career.