Dominetta, Brigidine Gal square off in Kembla Grange Classic

A significant drop in class may help the filly Dominetta end a four-race losing streak in Thursday’s Group 3 Kembla Grange Classic at a mile at Kembla Grange Racecourse in Australia.

Dominetta, an Australian-bred trained by Adrian Bott and Gai Waterhouse, has started once this year, finishing seventh of 12 in the Group 1 Surround Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old fillies at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on March. 1. Dominetta went off at 60-1 and was beaten 4 1/4 lengths in that seven-furlong race.

Last year, Dominetta was second and third in Group 3 races at seven furlongs before finishing eighth of 13 in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas at Caulfield in November in her only start at a mile.

The $157,800 Kembla Grange Classic has a full field of 16, including the well-regarded two-time winner Brigidine Gal, who is trained by Joseph Pride. Brigidine Gal, who tends to run from off the pace, will start for the first time in a group stakes on the strength of a recent win in a minor handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Warwick Farm Racecourse on March 5 in Sydney. There, Brigidine Gal closed from seventh of nine to win by slightly more than a length.

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The Kembla Grange Classic will be Brigidine Gal’s first start at a mile. Despite the big field, Brigidine Gal merits strong consideration, as she may have a pace to follow from the outsider Spaceballs.

Good Sort, who runs from off the pace, will start at a mile for the first time. She closed with interest to finish third in a seven-furlong handicap at Warwick Farm on Feb. 19 in her last start.

Kembla Grange, located south of Sydney, has an eight-race program beginning at 10:50 p.m. Eastern.

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