A minor stakes winner last July, Cross Talk did not have the same success in group stakes in Australia in the final months of 2022.
A winner of 5 of 11 starts, Cross Talk was third in a Group 3 at seven furlongs in September, but only eighth of 10 in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap at a mile in his final start of the year in October.
The prospects for a breakthrough win are promising for Cross Talk in the Group 3 Newcastle Stakes at seven furlongs at Newcastle Racecourse on Thursday evening.
Ami Please is in the midst of an unconventional preparation for a potential start in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 5.
Second in the Group 3 United Arab Emirates Oaks at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on Feb. 17, Ami Please starts in Saturday’s $175,000 Al Bastakiya Stakes against males at 1 3/16 miles at Meydan.
Cool Amigo may have an ideal race scenario when he starts for the first time since October in a five-furlong handicap at Coffs Harbour Racecourse in Australia on Wednesday evening.
Cool Amigo runs from a tracking position, and is part of a field of eight that includes three primary runners capable of setting a quick pace – King’s Gold, Scotland, and Toy Boy Roy.
A bad start and traffic issues could not prevent Sanstoc from winning her first start of 2023 in Australia earlier this month.
The gritty win, the third in eight career starts for the New Zealand-bred 4-year-old filly, has led to a high-profile role in a seven-furlong handicap for fillies and mares at Warwick Farm Racecourse in Sydney on Tuesday evening.
Sanstoc was the 2-1 favorite in early betting to beat eight rivals, including contenders such as Arranmore, Minouche, and Kibosh.
The fillies Smooth Sailing and Sumptuary and the gelding Cable Tie had perfect starts to their careers earlier this year, winning maiden races for sprinters in Australia.
All three have been given a logical assignment to a start in a six-furlong handicap at Gosford Racecourse on Monday evening for their second races.
All three have a chance to extend their unbeaten records.
Smooth Sailing was the 5-2 favorite in early betting on Sunday, a slight choice over Sumptuary at 7-2. Cable Tie was relatively ignored in the field of nine at 11-1.
Romantic Warrior is two years younger than Golden Sixty and has made 12 starts to Golden Sixty’s 28. His legs are younger and fresher and the 2000-meter distance of Sunday’s Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin Race Course hits Romantic Warrior’s sweet spot.
With only five races of experience, the Australian gelding Golden Breeze has found his niche in five-furlong races.
Golden Breeze won his fourth career start in a maiden race at five furlongs at Port Macquarie on Oct. 7 and overcame a slow start to be second in his debut against winners at that distance on Feb. 5 in his only subsequent appearance.
Fittingly, Golden Breeze runs in a five-furlong handicap at Port Macquarie on Sunday evening. The small venue on the Australian East Coast is home to trainer Margaret de Gonneville’s stable.
In 2022, Japan-based horses won four undercard stakes on the Saudi Cup card. In 2023, four Japanese horses, led by gate-to-wire winner Panthalassa, finished among the top five home in the $20 million Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse.
Only Country Grammer, second for the second year in a row in the world’s richest race, broke up a Japanese sweep. Coming late and wide under Frankie Dettori, Country Grammer was going best the final furlong but fell just short of Panthalassa, a 6-year-old racing on dirt for just the second time while making his 25th start.
Elite Power’s winning streak began last June in a Churchill Downs maiden race. It grew to six on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, where he followed up on his Breeders’ Cup Sprint win in November with a powerhouse victory in the $1.5 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint at King Abdulaziz Racecourse.
Settling well off the pace down the backstretch and into the turn, Elite Power revved up midway around the bend, came with a withering wide run into the homestretch, hit the front at the 300-meter mark, and cruised to a 3 1/4-length victory over a very good horse, Gunite.
