Australia: Stuck With You likely favorite in Lismore Cup

Five days later than scheduled, the Lismore Cup will be run at Grafton Racecourse in Australia on Monday evening across American time zones with the principal runners in a field of 12 still in the lineup.

The Lismore Cup was scheduled for last week at Lismore, but was lost to wet weather.

Stuck With You, the 9-5 favorite in early betting on Sunday, is likely to set the pace and is well suited to the Lismore Cup distance of 1 5/16 miles.

A winner of 8 of 26 starts, Stuck With You won a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Murwillumbah Racecourse on Aug. 19, and was second by a half-length in a handicap at 1 3/8 miles at Doomben on Sept. 10, leading to the final strides.

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The distance will be no issue for Ambridge, who has won his last two starts, or Ambitious Prince, who has won two of his last three starts in handicaps at 1 1/4 miles and 1 5/16 miles.

Ambridge won handicaps at 1 3/8 miles and 1 1/4 miles in his last two starts and is another runner who tends to set the pace. Ambridge has won 4 of 17 starts. The current winning streak is the first time he has won consecutive races.

Between the wins, Ambitious Prince was seventh of eight in a handicap against tougher rivals at Royal Randwick on Aug. 20 between wins on Aug. 4 and Sept. 9.

Too Much Class faces a stamina test in the Lismore Cup. A 5-year-old mare, and the only female in the race, Too Much Class has won two of her last starts in Australia at a mile and 1 1/16 miles, closing from off the pace to prevail as the favorite.

The winning streak ended with a fifth-place finish in a handicap at about a mile at Doomben Racecourse on Wednesday.

The Lismore Cup will be the first start for Too Much Class beyond 1 1/8 miles. Too Much Class has won 5 of 19 starts.

Grafton has a nine-race program beginning at 10:30 p.m. Eastern or 7:30 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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