Australia: Philipsburg slight favorite in second-to-last qualifier for The Big Dance

The Coonamble Cup at Coonamble Racecourse in Australia this weekend is one of the last chances to qualify for The Big Dance.

The Big Dance Stakes is a newly created one-mile race worth $1.27 million at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Nov. 1. The Big Dance is restricted to horses who qualify by finishing first or second in a yearlong series of races at country tracks in the state of New South Wales.

The Coonamble Cup is run at a mile and is the second-to-last race in the qualifying series. The race drew a full field of 16 and is the eighth race on a nine-race program that begins at 9:35 p.m. Eastern or 6:35 p.m. Pacific on Saturday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

With a big field, there was not a heavy favorite in early betting as of Friday.

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Philipsburg was 4-1, followed by Mayfair Spirit at 5-1, and Caesars Palace and Onemore Sapphire at 6-1.

Onemore Sapphire is the only one of the quartet with a win in his last start, a handicap at 1 1/8 miles at Port Macquarie on Sept. 25. Trained by Tracey Bartley, Onemore Sapphire needs a win in the Coonamble Cup to enhance his chances for qualification for The Big Dance.

The Big Dance will have a maximum of 20 starters with the winners of qualifying races preferred, and official handicap ratings used as a second tiebreaker. Onemore Sapphire has a relatively low handicap rating of 81, 11 points lower than Philipsburg.

For the Coonamble Cup, a lower rating gives Onemore Sapphire a low weight assignment of 123 pounds compared to 137.7 for Mayfair Spirit, the topweight.

Mayfair Spirit, Ceasars Palace, and Onemore Sapphire were beaten in lucrative handicaps at major tracks in their last starts.

Mayfair Spirit was eighth of 10 in a one-mile handicap at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne on Sept. 3, but was hampered by an outside draw and a wide trip. A 7-year-old Irish-bred gelding, Mayfair Spirit won a one-mile handicap at Moonee Valley against a slight easier field on Aug. 22.

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