War Machine is a five-time winner in Australia overdue for a victory in a big-money race. The landmark win may occur in Friday’s Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap at seven furlongs at Eagle Farm in Brisbane. War Machine was the 2-1 favorite in early betting on Thursday for the $1.95 million Stradbroke Handicap, which drew a full field of 18. He merits the role of a strong favorite for consecutive wins in May after joining trainers Ben, Will, and J.D. Hayes. War Machine won a seven-furlong handicap at Caulfield on May 10, and the first group stakes of his career in the Group 3 BRC Sprint at 6 3/4 furlongs at Doomben Racecourse on May 24. In both races, War Machine closed from slightly off the pace. In the Stradbroke, Tim Clark has the mount for the first time. :: Get free past performances, analysis, and picks for international racing, including Australia War Machine, a 5-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding, has had 12 starts. Last October, War Machine was third in the Group 3, $670,000 Silver Eagle Stakes; eighth of 20 in the $6.57 million Golden Eagle Stakes in early November; and 11th of 14 in the Group 1, $640,000 Rupert Clarke Stakes later in November. The Golden Eagle Stakes is run for Southern Hemisphere 4-year-olds at 7 1/2 furlongs and is not a group stakes. At the time, War Machine was trained by Glen Thompson and Michael Moroney. Moroney, who won the 2000 Melbourne Cup, died in February. War Machine had one start for Thompson in April before he was sent to the Hayes stable. Aside from War Machine, the Hayes brothers have an outside contender in the Stradbroke in Rise at Dawn, who finished with interest to be fourth by 2 1/2 lengths in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup at 6 1/2 furlongs at Eagle Farm on June 7 in his first start since a game fourth of 20 in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on April 5. The Stradbroke Handicap marks one of the final Group 1 starters in Australia for James Cummings, who is joining the ranks of Hong Kong trainers when that circuit starts in 2025-2026 season in September. In the Stradbroke, Cummings starts Golden Mile, who was third by a head in the Kingsford Smith Cup. Golden Mile, owned by Godolphin Racing, is a four-time group stakes winner. Earlier on Friday’s program at Eagle Farm, Cummings has a longshot runner for Godolphin with Zebra Finch in the Group 1 J.J. Atkins Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds at a mile. Zebra Finch won a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney on May 31 in his third start. Cool Archie will be favored in the $650,200 Atkins Stakes on the basis of four consecutive wins since mid-April at Brisbane-area tracks. Cool Archie, who runs from slightly off the pace, has won Group 2 races at six furlongs and seven furlongs in his last two starts. The Atkins Stakes will be his first start at a mile. The Eagle Farm program begins at 9:43 p.m. Eastern or 6:43 p.m. Pacific. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.