Australia: Sovereign Gold seeks to notch consecutive wins for first time

Sovereign Gold is a 4-year-old Australian filly who has won twice in her four-race career - in a maiden race in her debut last April and in her return from a layoff of nine months in February.

Tuesday at Geelong Racecourse, on the outskirts of Melbourne, Sovereign Gold has an excellent chance for a third win in a handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs, provided she can produce consecutive wins for the first time in her career.

Trained by Lindsey Smith, Sovereign Gold finished 12th and fourth in two starts against winners last May before she was rested. In her recent comeback, in a five-furlong handicap at Warrnambool Racecourse on Feb. 17, Sovereign Gold closed from last of six to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

Sovereign Gold has raced from off the pace in each of her starts, and is drawn in post 2 in a field of 11 at Geelong. As of Sunday, Sovereign Gold was 4-1 in early betting, a joint second choice with Tramontana. Naples was the 2-1 favorite.

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Naples, trained by James Cummings for Godolphin Racing, won her 10th start in a maiden race at 5 1/2 furlongs at Hawkesbury Racecourse on Feb. 8 by racing near the front throughout. In her only start since that win, Naples was fifth of seven behind the undefeated Shades of Rose in a six-furlong handicap at Canterbury Park on Feb. 22.

A 3-year-old filly by Street Boss, Naples tends to run near the front and may need to take a prominent position at Geelong since she has drawn the rail in a sizable field.

Tramontana, a gelding, has won once in nine starts, on the synthetic track at Ballarat Racecourse last August. He has not raced since finishing eighth of nine in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Bendigo in late October.

In two starts in September and earlier in October, Tramontana was third and second in seven-furlong handicaps to suggest he can be a factor in this race and should not be judged too harshly for the last start at Bendigo.

Geelong has an eight-race program at 10:30 p.m. Eastern, or 7:30 p.m. Pacific, on Monday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.