Stretch-out should help closer Oakfield Arrow in Wyong feature
Narrow losses in two recent races will make the 3-year-old Oakfield Arrow favored in a handicap for fillies and mares at 6 3/4 furlongs at Wyong Racecourse in Australia on Thursday, but a 4-year-old, Smart Success also brings attractive recent credentials to the field of 10.
Oakfield Arrow was second in a six-furlong handicap for fillies and mares at Newcastle on May 1, losing by a nose. On May 14, Oakfield Arrow was fifth, by a half-length, in a handicap against males at 6 1/2 furlongs, closing from ninth in a field of 14.
Her closing style should fit on Thursday at Wyong, her sixth start and longest race.
Smart Success was third by about 2 1/4 lengths in a handicap against males at 6 1/2 furlongs at Newcastle on April 15, her first start in 50 weeks. Smart Success had attractive form in sprints in early 2020 before she was sidelined following a fifth-place finish in a lucrative handicap at a mile.
At the time, Smart Success was trained by the high-profile operation of Adrian Bott and Gai Waterhouse, and has since been transferred to Richard and Michael Freedman, successful in their own right.
The brothers have won with 10 of the last 50 starters from April 15 through Saturday. The Freedmans train Tiger of Malay, who won the Group 2 BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes, a $770,000 race for Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds on Saturday.
The Wyong program has eight races beginning at 10:10 p.m. Eastern or 7:10 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
Oakfield Arrow and Smart Success will dominate the betting. There will be some support for Dreaming of Gold, who won a seven-furlong handicap at Taree Racecourse on May 11 to end a four-race losing streak.
Temoin Chaud, the winner of consecutive handicaps at smaller venues at six furlongs and 7 1/2 furlongs in February and March, is likely to set the pace and could easily be a factor at the finish.