King of Light favored to stay perfect in Northerly Stakes

Undefeated in five starts, the Australian-bred 3-year-old King of Light will race against older horses for the first time in his Group 1 debut in Saturday’s $989,800 Northerly Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Ascot Racecourse in Perth.

Judging from early betting, King of Light is expected to extend his winning streak. As of Wednesday, King of Light was 3-2 to beat 15 rivals.

Trained by Daniel Morton, King of Light has raced only at Ascot in recent months against Southern Hemisphere 3-year-olds. He won the Belgravia Stakes at six furlongs on Oct. 25, the Fairetha Stakes at seven furlongs on Nov. 8, and the Group 2 Western Australia Guineas at a mile on Nov. 22.

In each win, King of Light closed from off the pace. He won by as little as a neck and by as much as 1 1/4 lengths.

The Northerly Stakes is a weight-for-age race, and King of Light will benefit from a low assignment of 114.6 pounds. The older horses in the field carry 130 pounds, a group that includes Cosmic Crusader, winner of the Carbine Club at seven furlongs at Ascot on Nov. 22 in his last start. Cosmic Crusader, 5-1 in early betting for the Northerly, has won 7 of 15 starts.

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There are three other entrants who won their last starts in stakes – Pure Excess, Vivy Air, and Watch Me Rock.

Pure Excess, trained by Morton, won the Group 3 Western Australian Champion Fillies Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile at Ascot on Nov. 15, her only win in five starts.

Vivy Air, a 5-year-old mare, was second in the $1.96 million Big Dance Stakes at a mile at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Nov. 4. She won the $1.3 million Five Diamonds Stakes for 5-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney a mere four days later. Vivy Air has won 4 of 27 starts in her career, including two of her last three races.

Watch Me Rock won the Group 1 Railway Stakes at a mile at Ascot on Nov. 22 for his 11th win in 19 starts. A stalker, Watch Me Rock won the minor Good Friday Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Ascot in April in his last start at the distance.

Post time for the Northerly Stakes is 1 a.m. Pacific.

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