Australia: Vintage Diesel has enough gas to go the distance at Wagga Wagga

A three-month break and the benefit of a late May prep race led to a fourth career win for Vintage Diesel in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Wagga Wagga Racecourse on June 14.

Distance races have become a specialty for the New Zealand-bred Vintage Diesel, who will be tried at a new distance in a handicap at 1 9/16 miles at Wagga Wagga on Monday. While the extended trip seems like a test, there are encouraging signs that Vintage Diesel can run that far.

In the June 14 race, Vintage Diesel closed from last in a field of seven to win by a little more than 1 1/4 lengths, a style that suggests more ground is well within range.

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Trained by Ben Brisbourne, Vintage Diesel will be ridden for the first time since December by apprentice jockey Hannah Edgley. Last December, Edgley was aboard Vintage Diesel for a third-place finish in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Wagga Wagga, the 4-year-old gelding’s only loss in three starts at Wagga Wagga.

Vintage Diesel will be favored in a field of 12 in the third race on an eight-race program that begins at 10:05 p.m. Eastern or 7:05 p.m. Pacific on Sunday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Of the 12 entrants, Roland Garros has won 2 of 3 starts at the distance, but he is rated as a longshot in this field after struggling in hurdle races at extended distances in recent starts.

A more logical runner is Saint Henry, who was third in a one-mile handicap at Albury on June 20. While Saint Henry is winless in his last 10 starts, he has won at 1 1/4 miles as recently as mid-November.

The 5-year-old mare Dancing Duck has won twice at 1 1/2 miles, but is winless in her last four starts. She takes a drop in class from recent eighth-place finishes against tougher handicap rivals in races at 1 1/2 miles at Swan Hill and Sandown racecourses in June.