Australia: Upper House sharp for Cowra Cup

Away from the high-profile metropolitan tracks in Sydney, the gelding Upper House is in the midst of an excellent span of results in Australia.

He won a handicap at Canberra Racecourse on Nov. 27, finished third by about three-quarters of a length at Orange Racecourse on Dec. 14, and won on Christmas Eve in a handicap at Wagga Wagga.

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The tour of smaller venues continues on Sunday when Upper House runs at Cowra Racecourse in the Cowra Cup. The venue and the distance of 1 1/16 miles are new for Upper House, who has won 9 of 42 starts.

Upper House will carry top weight of 134.4 pounds in a field of 12 in the Cowra Cup, the seventh race on an eight-race program that begins at 9:05 p.m., Eastern, or 6:05 p.m., Pacific, on Saturday. Wagering and viewing is available through DRFBets.com.

Upper House, who is trained by Norm Gardner, will start from post 3.

With the excellent recent race record, Upper House has had a steady increase in his handicap rating, and is the topweight in the Cowra Cup. Upper House has a rating of 84, up from 76 in November.

The race favorite will be Royal Thunder, a 6-year-old gelding who won a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Canberra on Dec. 13 for his seventh win in 39 starts. The victory against four rivals, an uncharacteristically small field for an everyday Australian handicap, ended a nine-race losing streak that began in February.

Universal Thief, who stands a reasonable chance for a win in the Cowra Cup, has soared in the official handicap ratings – from 60 to 69 – after a win in his last start in the Gilgandra Cup at a mile at Gilgandra Racecourse on Jan. 3. Universal Thief has won twice in his last five starts.

The Cowra Cup will be the first start since June for National Guard, a Kentucky-bred 5-year-old horse by War Front.

National Guard won twice for Aidan O’Brien in Ireland in 2019, but is winless in nine starts in Australia.