Caufield: Alligator Blood wins All-Star Mile popularity contest

Alligator Blood, the Australian 3-year-old, is unbeaten in five starts since October. The winning streak has made Alligator Blood quite popular with voters, at least those who follow racing in Australia. When a public ballot was held to partially determine the field for Saturday’s $3.26 million All-Star Mile at Caulfield Racecourse near Melbourne, Alligator Blood won the “election” with more than 18,000 votes.

Alligator Blood is a strong favorite for the one-mile race, which is billed as the world’s richest mile race

As of Wednesday, Alligator Blood was 3-2 in the future-book for the All-Star Mile.

Alligator Blood’s status in Australian racing has soared in recent months. Trained by David Vandyke, Alligator Blood’s winning streak includes the $1.3 million Gold Coast Magic Millions 3-year-old Guineas at Gold Coast in January and the Group 1 Australian Guineas at a mile at Flemington Racecourse on Feb. 29.

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The All-Star Mile drew a field of 15. Post time is 1:45 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, or 10:45 p.m. Pacific on Friday.

Melody Belle, a 6-year-old New Zealand-bred mare, is well regarded on the basis of her record in the last eight months. She had more than 11,000 votes.

Trained by Jamie Richards, Melody Belle won four consecutive Group 1 races in New Zealand and Australia from August to early November last year before finishing second to the world-traveler Magic Wand in the Group 1 MacKinnon Stakes on Nov. 9.

Magic Wand was second in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 29 and ninth in the $20 million Saudi Cup behind Maximum Security on Feb. 29.

Melody Belle finished third in the Group 3 Futurity Stakes at seven furlongs at Caulfield on Feb. 22 in her first start after being given a rest through the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Aside from Alligator Blood and Melody Belle, the other runners are double-digit prices. Fierce Impact and Kolding were 10-1 on Wednesday.

Fierce Impact, a 6-year-old Japanese-bred, was third in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes at a mile at Randwick on Feb. 22. Kolding, a 5-year-old gelding trained by Chris Waller, won three consecutive group races from late September to early November last year, but was fourth and fifth in two starts in February.

Kolding’s 2019 winning streak included the $4.89 million Golden Eagle Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens last November.