Australia: Quality Time odds-on in Port Macquarie Cup

Cup races at smaller venues throughout Australia are often wide-open and draw large fields.

Much of that applies to the Port Macquarie Cup, which will be run at Port Macquarie Racecourse on Thursday evening across American time zones.

The Port Macquarie Cup is worth $129,600, the track’s richest race, and drew a field of 13. But the presence of the 5-year-old German-bred gelding Quality Time gives the Port Macquairie Cup an odds-on favorite.

The race is run at 1 1/4 miles and is a qualifier for the newly created The Big Dance Stakes at a mile at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Nov. 1. The Big Dance has a purse of $1.29 million and is restricted to horses who finish first or second in 26 qualifying races at tracks throughout the state of New South Wales.

:: Get free past performances, analysis, and picks for Australian racing

The Port Macqaurie Cup is one of the final qualifying races for The Big Dance.

Quality Time will be favored on the strength of consecutive wins in handicaps at 7 1/2 furlongs at Canterbury Park on Sept. 7 and at 1 3/16 miles at Rosehill Gardens on Sept. 24. In both races, Quality Time raced near the front. Tommy Berry, who was aboard Quality Time at Rosehill Gardens, has the mount at Port Macquarie.

Quality Time is trained by Chris Waller, who has won four of the last 10 runnings of the Port Macquarie Cup and has three starters this year, including a contender in Caboche and a longshot in Rousseau.

Caboche, third in the Group 1 Queensland Derby at 1 1/2 miles at Eagle Farm Racecourse in May, is winless in nine starts since a handicap at a mile at Sunshine Coast Racecourse last November.

Of the runners not trained by Waller, Mydeel can play a factor for trainer Rodney Ollerton. A winner of 5 of 9 starts who races from off the pace, Mydeel faces a class test in the Port Macquarie Cup following a recent win in a handicap at a mile at Newcastle on Sept. 24.

Port Macquarie has an eight-race program beginning at 10:15 p.m. Eastern or 7:15 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.