Australia: Wil John looks to bounce back as Jericho Cup favorite
Between wins in hurdle races in Australia in May and July, the 6-year-old gelding Wil John was redirected to a flat handicap at 2 1/4 miles at Bendigo Racecourse in June, a race he won comfortably.
The victory gave Wil John sufficient qualifying points to start in Sunday’s $216,660 Jericho Cup for Australian and New Zealand-bred horses at 2 7/8 miles at Warrnambool Racecourse, west of Melbourne.
The Jericho Cup is the longest flat race in Australia and was launched in 2018, quickly becoming a destination for stayers on the Southern Hemisphere spring schedule.
Wil John, who was third in the 2020 Jericho Cup, was the 7-5 favorite in a field of 14 as of Friday. Trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Wil John had a four-race winning streak interrupted with an eighth-place finish against a tough field of handicap runners at 1 3/4 miles at Flemington Racecourse on Nov. 2 on the Melbourne Cup undercard.
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Wil John took his customary position in the middle of the field, but showed no rally in the final furlongs, losing by more than 12 lengths to Team Captain who won his third consecutive start.
Sunday, Wil John will carry top weight of 154 pounds, with the majority of the field at 143.3 pounds under handicap conditions.
Maher and Eustace have two runners, including the intriguing Heberite, a New Zealand-bred who has won his last two starts. Heberite, 7, has never raced at 2 7/8 miles, but did lead throughout a handicap at 2 3/8 miles on Nov. 7 at Ararat to gain a place in the Jericho Cup field.
Heberite is expected to set the pace.
Will to Excel qualified with a win in a two-mile handicap by an impressive 3 3/4 lengths at Wagga Wagga Racecourse on Oct. 29 in the longest race of his career. Will to Excel was 7-2 in early betting as of Friday.
Warrnambool has a nine-race program beginning at 8:40 p.m. Eastern, or 5:40 p.m. Pacific, on Saturday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.