Australia: Reliable Dude in good spot to end victory drought

The 5-year-old gelding Reliable Dude has failed to live up to his name, going winless in his last 18 starts since June 2021 in Australia.

That trend may change when Reliable Dude starts in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Kembla Grange Racecourse on Monday evening. Reliable Dude was beaten a nose in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Hawkesbury on March 14, the closest he has come to a win since last March.

Trained by John Sargent, Reliable Dude has won 2 of 28 starts in his career. The wins have come at seven furlongs and a mile, but the narrow loss on March 14 shows Reliable Dude is competitive in longer races.

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Reliable Dude is part of a field of 12 in the handicap at Kembla Grange, the third race on a seven-race program that begins at 10:15 p.m. Eastern, or 7:15 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

As of Sunday morning, Reliable Dude was the 6-1 second choice behind Cut On A Dime, the 2-1 early favorite. The Kembla Grange handicap represents a massive drop in class for Cut On A Dime, who has won once in five starts.

Cut On A Dime won a seven-furlong maiden race by a nose on the infield Kensington course at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Feb. 15, and was ambitiously tried in two group stakes in subsequent starts.

Cut On A Dime was seventh of 10 at 40-1 in the Group 1 Randwick Guineas at a mile on March 4, and eighth of nine in the Group 2 Phar Lap Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens a week later.

This is Cut On A Dime’s first start at 1 1/4 miles, a distance that may work considering he runs from off the pace.

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