Moruya Cup distance should suit Rapido Chaparro
For his first start in nearly five months, the gelding Rapido Chaparro will start in his shortest race since June in Sunday’s $42,800 Moruya Cup at about seven furlongs.
What Rapido Chaparro accomplished in longer sprints earlier in his career, and his form last September and October, suggests he has every chance to begin 2020 with a win on Sunday.
The $42,800 Moruya Cup is the richest of eight races at Moruya Racecourse, a coastal track a few hours south of Sydney.
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Rapido Chaparro, a 5-year-old in the Southern Hemisphere, will carry joint top weight of 136 pounds along with Dark Eyes. Trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Rapido Chaparro won two of three starts at 1 3/16 and 1 1/4 miles last September and October before finishing eighth and fifth in his final two starts of the year.
In his first five career starts, from late 2017 to early 2019, Rapido Chaparro won three times at distances of 7 1/2 furlongs and a mile.
Dark Eyes, a 7-year-old gelding, is winless in five starts since winning a handicap at about 7 1/2 furlongs at Flemington Racecourse last April. That win is the only victory for Dark Eyes in 10 starts since he joined trainer Matthew Dale’s stable in late 2018, having previously been trained by Waterhouse and Bott.
The Moruya Cup will have a maximum field of 14. Wagering is available at DRFBets.com.
Love Shack Baby, who will carry 134 pounds, may be a factor near the front, having finished second in a handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs at Muswellbrook on March 27. Peyton Place (122 pounds) is on a two-race winning streak, but faces a rise in class. Peyton Place is likely to set the pace.
* U S Army Ranger, second to Harzand in the 2016 English Derby when trained by Aidan O’Brien, will have his third start of the year in Sunday’s $40,000 Stuart McGregor Stawell Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Stawell Racecourse, northwest of Melbourne.
U S Army Ranger has been 10th and 14th in two handicaps in the last month for Aaron Peterson, the 7-year-old gelding’s sixth trainer. U S Army Ranger is winless in 16 starts since winning the Group 3 Chester Vase in England in May 2016. U S Army Ranger is winless in six starts in Australia, including an 18th in the 2017 Melbourne Cup.
In the Stawell Gold Cup, which drew a field of 12 and is run as a handicap, U S Army Ranger will carry 126 pounds, 10 less than topweight Runaway, who won a maiden race over hurdles last month for Waterhouse and Bott. Runaway won the Group 3 Geelong Cup and was 19th in the Melbourne Cup in late 2018.