Gringotts big favorite to extend win streak in 20-horse Ingham Stakes
Gringotts, the 5-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding, has had a career-changing streak in recent months in Australia.
After finishing second by a neck in the $1 million Alan Brown Stakes in October, Gringotts won consecutive starts in the $1.96 million Big Dance Stakes on Nov. 5, and the Group 3 The Gong Stakes on Nov. 23.
The wins have left Gringotts as a standout in a field of 20 in the Group 2 Ingham Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Friday evening. In early betting, Gringotts was the 5-2 favorite, with Private Eye (8-1) and Port Lockroy (9-1) as the only other horses with single-digit odds.
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The $1.27 million Ingham Stakes is run as a handicap. With his recent wins, Gringotts will carry 133 pounds, second to Private Eye at 134.4. More than half of the field will carry 116.8 to 120 pounds.
Trained by Ciaron Maher, Gringotts has won 9 of 17 starts. For 2024, Gringotts has won 5 of 7 races. He has won from a closing position and from near the front in The Gong Stakes, which had a purse of $650,000.
Private Eye, a winner of 12 of 41 starts, was second in the $9.3 million Everest Stakes at six furlongs at Randwick in 2022 and sixth in this year’s running in October, which was worth $13.3 million and is the world’s richest sprint.
In his last start, Private Eye won the Group 3 Festival Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens on Nov. 30, ending a 12-race losing streak since September 2023.
Port Lockroy will carry 127.8 pounds in the Ingham on the strength of a win in the Group 1 Railway Stakes at a mile at Ascot Racecourse in Perth, Australia, on Nov. 23, the 4-year-old colt’s first stakes win.
The Ingham Stakes is part of a 10-race program at Randwick that begins at 8:30 p.m. Eastern or 5:30 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
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