A week after finishing a game third against older males in a Group 1, the New Zealand-bred gelding Kovalica is back against Southern Hemisphere 3-year-olds in the Group 1 Queensland Derby at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Brisbane, Australia, on Friday evening.
Kovalica was beaten slightly less than 1 1/4 lengths by the multiple stakes winner Huetor in the $660,800 Doomben Cup at 1 1/4 miles on May 20, closing from ninth to be closest to the front at the finish.
The seven-furlong specialist Dubai Tycoon should be well-positioned to win for the first time this year in the Beef Week Cup at that distance at Lismore Racecourse in Australia on Thursday evening.
Dubai Tycoon finished a fast-closing second in a six-furlong handicap at Sunshine Coast Racecourse on May 14 in his first start since October. Dubai Tycoon closed from last of nine to miss by a head at 19-1.
The gelding Adjourn ran out of ground when he closed from the back of a large field to finish third in a one-mile handicap at Scone Racecourse in Australia on May 12.
The opposite occurred with the filly Lichester three days earlier at Goulburn Racecourse when she reached the front in the final furlong of a handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs, but was caught late and finished second.
Adjourn and Lichester meet for the first time in a one-mile handicap at Gosford Racecourse on Wednesday evening, with each capable of winning.
With an ambitious stakes appearance in his recent past, the New Zealand-bred 3-year-old Bunker Hut starts in a more realistic spot at Canterbury Park near Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday evening.
Bunker Hut will be a strong favorite in a handicap at 6 1/4 furlongs that has drawn a field of nine Southern Hemisphere 3-year-olds. Trained by Michael Freedman, Bunker Hut will be ridden by James McDonald, Australia’s leading rider by money earnings in the current season, which began in August.
Liberty Island enhanced her dominant position among Japan’s 3-year-old fillies with a six-length win in Sunday’s Grade 1 Japanese Oaks at Tokyo Racecourse, her first start at 1 1/2 miles.
Ridden by Yuga Kawada, Liberty Island ($2.90) closed from seventh in a field of 18 to take the lead in the final furlong, easily beating 7-1 Harper, one of her chief rivals. Dura (102-1) was a surprise third, closing from well off the pace.
Liberty Island won even though Kawada said the filly “was quite tense” before the start.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Canadian Hall of Fame jockey Irwin Driedger died at 66 in Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto on Saturday night after a long battle with cancer.
A native of Russell, Manitoba, Driedger set an Assiniboia Downs record of 161 wins in 1979 before surpassing it in 1980 with 180 victories. In 1981, he made 214 trips to the winners’ circle.
The last time Sir Kerm raced he flew through the final furlong of a handicap at 4 1/2 furlongs to finish second at Newcastle Racecourse in Australia last October.
The abbreviated sprint was too short for Sir Kerm to display his best. A six-furlong handicap at Kembla Grange on Monday evening is a more suitable distance for the 4-year-old gelding’s first start of 2023.
Longer sprints and a race at 1 1/16 miles have changed the career of He’s a Copy Boy, a leading contender in a one-mile handicap at Taree Racecourse in Australia on Sunday evening.
He’s a Copy Boy was beaten in his first six starts at distances ranging from five furlongs to 6 1/2 furlongs. The best he did in that span was a third at 6 1/2 furlongs on March 7, which proved to be foreshadowing for his next two starts.
