Enterprise Phoenix, the 4-year-old Australian-bred gelding, started at 1 3/16 miles for the first time in his career at tiny Casino Racecourse on Aug. 12 and took to the distance like a veteran.
Enterprise Phoenix closed from fifth to win by 2 1/2 lengths, his second win in nine starts. The convincing win has left Enterprise Phoenix a strong favorite to win his first start at about 1 3/8 miles at Grafton Racecourse on Monday evening.
Fangirl, second in two of the toughest races for milers in Australia earlier this year, won Saturday’s Group 1 Winx Stakes at a mile at Royal Randwick Racecourse, catching former American-based runner Princess Grace in the final strides.
Ridden by James McDonald, Fangirl ($9.30) won by a neck over 14-1 Princess Grace, who looked like a winner in the final sixteenth.
The Group 1 Prix Morny came up a hot race this year, but it’s an open question how any of its top entrants will cope with testing ground Sunday at Deauville Racecourse.
The course as of Friday was rated heavy, and thunderstorms Friday night were forecast to give way to light rain early Saturday morning. The ground should dry somewhat before the Sunday card, but it will be nothing like the going that stakes winners in England earlier this summer encountered.
Never mind the 22-race losing streak since 2020 or his status as the topweight at 138.8 pounds, Two Big Fari is a deserving favorite in the minor Narromine Cup at tiny Narromine Racecourse in Australia on Saturday evening.
An 8-year-old gelding, Two Big Fari has won 7 of 34 starts in his career and has kept good company in recent starts, with frequent appearances at the tougher tracks in the Sydney metropolitan area.
Princess Grace was a five-time graded stakes winner for trainer Mike Stidham from 2020 to 2022 in California, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, so successful that she earned more than $1.44 million.
Princess Grace was winless in three Grade 1 races for fillies and mares on turf – the Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar in 2021, a second in the Beverly D Stakes at Churchill Downs last August and a third in the First Lady Stakes at Keeneland last October.
An 8-year-old gelding who is winless in 15 starts in the last four years and was ninth and seventh in his last two appearances hardly seems like a runner that would inspire confidence.
Oddly, Ljungberg is worth a critical look in the minor Livermore Cup at Taree Racecourse in Australia on Thursday evening despite approaching the race with those flaws in his form.
The 6-year-old gelding Tazaral returned from a five-month layoff to win consecutive starts in one-mile handicaps at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia in July, the first time the Irish-bred has won consecutive races in his career.
The wins have led to a start for Tazaral in the $129,300 Rowley Mile at Hawkesbury Racecourse near Sydney on Wednesday, and an excellent chance for a first career stakes win.
Two weeks after he finished fifth in his first start in four months, the Irish-bred gelding Tip of the Spear has an excellent chance for a third career win in a handicap at 1 3/16 miles at Canterbury Park in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday evening.
Tip of the Spear was beaten 3 1/2 lengths in a handicap at 1 1/8 miles at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney July 29 against a slightly higher class of runners than he race against at Canterbury.
Unraced since a debut win in April, the 4-year-old filly Love for Asher may have a slight advantage over her principal rivals in a five-furlong handicap at Ballina Racecourse in Australia on Monday evening.
Love for Asher has been assigned 125.6 pounds, much lower than the 132 for Connelly, who was a slight favorite at 7-2 as of Sunday morning. Love for Asher was 4-1.
The difference in weight can be attributed to a lack of race experience for Love for Asher. In April, she won a five-furlong handicap at Taree despite racing wide and near the front throughout.
The geldings Call Me Louis and Herne Hill were come-from-behind winners in their last starts in Australia, victories that occurred six months apart.
Call Me Louis beats maidens in his fourth career start at 6 1/2 furlongs on the infield Beaumont course at Newcastle Racecourse in his last appearance Jan. 30. Herne Hill won for the second time in his 22-race career in a seven-furlong handicap at Taree Aug. 1.
