Australia: Talent may trump experience at Geelong

Bold Bourbon and Colombe d’or are both lightly raced 3-year-olds. Bold Bourbon, a gelding, has won 2 of 4 starts, while the filly Colombe d’or won her only start on June 5.

Each has an excellent chance to win a handicap against more-experienced rivals at about 1 1/8 miles at Geelong Racecourse on Friday.

Colombe d’or was the 2-1 favorite in early betting, while Bold Bourbon is an attractive selection as the 7-2 second choice.

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Colombe d’or and Bold Bourbon are part of a field of 10 in the fifth race on a nine-race program that begins at 10:30 p.m. Eastern or 7:30 p.m. Pacific on Thursday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Bold Bourbon, trained by Lindsay Smith, won his debut last September and did not race again until January, when he finished eighth of nine in a sprint handicap. Bold Bourbon was given a four-month rest, and has been much better of late. He was second in a seven-furlong handicap on May 31 and won a one-mile handicap at Swan Hill Racecourse on June 11.

Bold Bourbon tends to run as a stalker, while Colombe d’or closed from last of eight with an impressive rally to win a maiden race for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs at Geelong Racecourse. Trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Colombe d’or was last with a quarter-mile remaining and won by a length.

Other notable runners in the Geelong field include Confrontational and Lorenzetti, who are both three-time winners.

Confrontational is winless in 12 starts since October, but was third by a length in a handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs at Bendigo Racecourse on June 19.

Lorenzetti returned from a 15-month layoff to finish fourth by a little more than half-length at 80-1 in a handicap at seven furlongs at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne on May 22. Lorenzetti had one start in 2020 and two starts last year before his encouraging finish at Sandown.