Australia: Resurge in career form for Strathalbyn Cup

Resurge, the 6-year-old Australian gelding, has achieved a career first in recent months, winning twice in a span of four starts.

Through his career, Resurge has won 5 of 31 starts but has never come close to stringing victories together. The recent success is his best result in a short span and reflects well on his chances in Sunday’s Strathalbyn Cup at about 1 ¼ miles at Strathalbyn Racecourse, near Adelaide.

Resurge, trained by Tony and Calvin McEvoy, has started once at Strathalbyn, winning a handicap at about 1 1/4 miles in 2019. The recent success includes handicap wins at Donald and Murray Bridge racecourses since mid-November. In between those victories, Resurge was third in consecutive starts at Morphettville and Gawler. All of those races were at or about 1 1/4 miles.

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In the Strathalbyn Cup, Resurge will be ridden by his regular rider, Barend Vorster, and will be a threat from off the pace. At Murray Bridge on Jan. 15, Resurge closed from last to win by about 1 1/2 lengths over Call Me Shamus, who is part of the Strathalbyn Cup field of 12.

Strathalbyn has an eight-race program beginning at 9:30 p.m. Eastern or 6:30 p.m. Pacific on Saturday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Call Me Shamus has won 6 of 29 starts, including a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Morphettville on Dec. 11. A 5-year-old gelding, Call Me Shamus was a disappointing ninth in a handicap at Morphettville on Dec. 26 before the brighter performance on Jan. 15. Call Me Shamus was near the pace at Murray Bridge under jockey Kayla Crowther, who has the mount at Strathalbyn.

The Strathalbyn Cup is a handicap. Resurge and Call Me Shamus will carry minimum weight of 119 pounds, while Dexter You Devil is the 132-pound topweight.

Dexter You Devil, a winner of 13 of 45 starts, has won seven times at distances ranging from 7 1/2 furlongs to about 1 3/16 miles and will have his second start at about 1 1/4 miles in the Strathalbyn Cup.

A closer, Dexter You Devil was second in a handicap at a mile at Murray Bridge on Jan. 15, finishing 2 3/4 lengths behind Our Destrier. Dexter You Devil carried top weight of 134.4 pounds, compared to 112 for Our Destrier.