Tom Wood:
R1: 3-5-4-11
R2: 7-2-13-10
R3: 3-12-10-9
R4: 9-6-5-4
R5: 3-4-6-1
R6: 1-13-5-11
R7: 7-11-5-1
R8: 1-7-6-4
R9: 6-1-2-4
R10: 2-4-1-10
R11: 1-6-10-5
BEST: R7 N7 JOYFUL GENIUS (WIN)
VALUE: R4 N9 E RAINBOW (EW)
PLAY: R8 QQP 1,6,7
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Mark McNamara:
Classic Deel was eight races into her career in Australia when she was tried at 1 1/4 miles for the first time in a maiden race on Dec. 26. She won on Dec. 26 then won a handicap at 1 5/16 miles at Tuncurry Racecourse on Jan. 14.
Classic Deel’s ability at a distance will be tested when she starts in a handicap at 1 5/8 miles for the first time at Gosford Racecourse on Tuesday evening.
She is not alone. The other seven runners are also starting at 1 5/8 miles for the first time.
The 6-year-old Australian mare Make an Effort has won 5 of 43 starts in her career and continues to show sharp form. She finished first and second in consecutive starts a week apart earlier this month.
Those results leave Make an Effort a leading candidate in a handicap at about 5 1/2 furlongs at Moe Racecourse on Monday evening, provided she can beat the upstart 3-year-old filly Soju Session.
With three wins in her first six starts, there were high hopes for Iconic Dame when she returned to racing after a five-month layoff in Australia last month.
The comeback did not go as planned. Iconic Dame finished ninth and sixth in two handicaps at tracks in the Sydney area.
For her third start back, Iconic Dame has a more reasonable assignment – a modest handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Goulburn Racecourse on Sunday evening.
Master of the Seas returned from a nine-month layoff in fine form, winning the Group 2, $180,000 Zabeel Mile on Friday at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
William Buick gave Master of the Seas a good trip in this one-turn turf race, sticking him on the fence in the second flight of runners. Buick and Master of the Seas followed the leader, Modern News, into the homestretch, came inside Modern News with 300 meters to run, took a clear lead and had to work a bit to hold clear runner-up Selir by a half-length.
Thespian Waters was so impressive in a recent schooling race from the gate that the 2-year-old is rated as a contender for his debut in the Elwick Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs at Hobart Racecourse on Saturday.
Thespian Waters is one of four first-time starters in a field of eight, but the only one to finish first in a training race, winning at 3 1/2 furlongs by seven lengths on Jan. 4. Thespian Waters is the rare runner who will be ridden by his trainer, Sigrid Carr, a circumstance that surfaces occasionally in Australia.
Tom Wood:
R1: 3-1-4-2
R2: 6-2-3-8
R3: 6-3-2-4
R4: 3-12-10-13
R5: 7-2-8-3
R6: 11-5-6-3
R7: 2-9-8-6
R8: 10-9-2-5
R9: 4-2-10-8
R10: 4-10-1-7
BEST: R9 N4 FIVE G PATCH (WIN)
VALUE: R7 N8 GOLD STERLING (EW)
PLAY: R7 QQP 2,8,9
Nick Child:
R1: 3-1-2-5
R2: 2-7-3-1
R3: 6-3-2-1
R4: 3-12-4-2
R5: 2-8-3-7
R6: 8-6-5-9
R7: 6-2-9-3
R8: 2-10-7-13
R9: 4-8-2-10
R10: 7-4-1-10
The Australian gelding Nicolini Vito could only manage a sixth-place finish after he failed to settle early in the Chester Manifold Stakes at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on Jan. 1.
A different rider and a new venue in the Carrington Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Friday evening may lead to a better result.