Australia: Top sprinters converge on Rosehill Gardens for pair of Group 3 races

There is no shortage of Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old sprinters in Sydney, Australia this month, judging from the entries for two Group 3 stakes worth $160,525 at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse on Friday evening.

The San Domenico Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs and the Up and Coming Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs each drew a field of 12. They are the leading races on a 10-race program that begins at 9:45 p.m. Eastern or 6:45 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

The San Domenico Stakes appears more competitive. The Instructor was the 7-2 early favorite as of Thursday, closely followed by Corniche and Kandinsky Abstract at 9-2, and Libertad and Introducing at 6-1.

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Because they are Southern Hemisphere 3-year-olds, most of the runners in the stakes are lightly-raced, having started their career no earlier than the final months of 2022.

The Instructor has won 2 of 4 starts, and was third by a half-length in his first start since February in the Rosebud Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens Aug. 12. The Instructor tends to run near the front.

The high-profile colt Kandinsky Abstract will have his stakes debut in the San Domenico, having won a maiden race at six furlongs in his lone start at Canterbury Racecourse in May. Kandinsky Abstract closed from slightly off the pace to win by more than a length.

Owned by a large partnership that includes the Coolmore syndicate, Kandinsky Abstract, by Zoustar, was purchased for approximately $2.24 million in April 2022, the highest price for a yearling in Australia that year.

The San Domenico will be the first start in six months for Corniche, who won the Group 2 Skyline Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse at six furlongs in February. An injury prevented a start in the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes in March.

The Up and Coming Stakes appears to be a showdown between expected favorite Caballus and Les Vampires.

Caballus was third by a half-length as the 9-10 favorite in a lucrative handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens Aug. 12 in his third start, breaking slowly and racing in traffic with a furlong remaining.

Les Vampires won a maiden race from the front at six furlongs at Warwick Farm Aug. 9, and should be part of the pace in the Up and Coming Stakes.

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