A clean start may give the 4-year-old gelding Sheer Class an advantage against his principal rivals in a one-mile handicap at Benalla Racecourse in Australia on Wednesday evening across American time zones.
Sheer Class finished fifth by about 2 3/4 lengths in a handicap at seven furlongs at Bendigo on Dec. 11 in his most recent start. Sheer Class broke slowly and raced as close as third before fading in the final furlong.
Villaden was mired in a 12-race losing streak when he won a handicap at 1 3/8 miles at Warwick Farm Racecourse in Australia on Dec. 21.
Villaden handled the extended distance without difficulty, closing from fourth to win by more than a length in the longest win of his 14-race career.
Villaden’s next assignment is a handicap at the same course and distance against a higher class of rivals on Tuesday evening across American time zones.
The 3-year-old filly Play My Song has had eight starts and has found her niche in five-furlong races.
Both of Play My Song’s wins have been at the abbreviated distance, making her presence all the more appealing in a five-furlong handicap at Muswellbrook Racecourse on Monday.
Play My Song won a five-furlong handicap at Muswellbrook in July and was rested for three months. In three starts in November, Play My Song finished 12th in a five-furlong handicap and was second and fourth in six-furlong races prior to winning a five-furlong handicap at Tuncurry on Dec. 13.
The closest Persan came to a third start in the Grade 1 Melbourne Cup in early November was a fourth-place finish in a key October prep.
Whether Persan develops into a contender for the 2023 Melbourne Cup will not be known for several months. An immediate goal is the $136,100 Bagot Handicap at 1 3/4 miles at Flemington on Saturday.
Persan was fifth in the 2020 Melbourne Cup and 20th in 2021.
The New Zealand-bred gelding Ucalledit has won 8 of 15 starts in his two-year career, with all the victories in races at six and seven furlongs in New Zealand and Australia.
In the last six weeks, Ucalledit has won three consecutive races in Australia for the first time, leading to his group stakes debut in the Group 3 The Buffering Stakes at 6 3/4 furlongs at Doomben Racecourse near Brisbane, Australia on Friday evening across American time zones.
The winning streak has thrust Ucalledit to the fore of a field of 10 in The Buffering Stakes, which has a purse of $203,400.
Dismissed at 47-1, Dura Erede edged 25-1 Top Knife by a nose to post a stunning upset in Wednesday’s Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes for 2-year-olds at 1 1/4 miles at Nakayama Racecourse in Japan.
Top Knife set the pace, closely followed by Dura Erede. Top Knife led by a length in the stretch until Dura Erede closed to win by the narrowest of margins.
“I couldn’t tell if we won,” jockey Bauyrzhan Murzabayev told Japan Racing Association publicists. “It was so close. My colt broke well and it was the plan to chase the pace in second, so everything went well.”
Oceans of Stanima was mired in an eight-race losing streak until he closed from off the pace to win a one-mile handicap at 6-1 at Albury Racecourse in Australia on Dec. 10.
The race marked the first time the 6-year-old gelding was ridden by apprentice jockey Fiona Sandkuhl, a partnership that continues in a handicap at about a mile at Wangaratta Racecourse on Thursday.
Sandkuhl, 22, is in her second year of riding and has won 31 races through Wednesday, including nine since the Australian season began on Aug. 1.
Paul Lally:
R1 3-2-5-4
R2 3-4-2-6
R3 8-3-7-6
R4 9-1-5-2
R5 3-8-5-11
R6 5-2-3-9
R7 8-3-1-11
R8 3-1-11-2
R9 2-6-8-1
Best Bet R8 N3 California Cible
Longshot R7 N8 Vantastic Choice
Play R6 QQP 2-3-5
Tom Wood:
R1: 2-3-4-10
R2: 2-4-1-3
R3: 8-3-1-9
R4: 1-9-5-12
R5: 9-3-11-4
R6: 8-3-12-5
R7: 3-1-8-6
R8: 1-3-2-9
R9 2-1-10-5
The undefeated colt Phantom Thief will face a class test in his graded stakes debut in Wednesday’s Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes for 2-year-olds at Nakayama Racecourse in Japan.
A winner of two starts, Phantom Thief should have no problem with the distance of 1 1/4 miles on turf. Phantom Thief won a race for first-time starters at a mile at Hanshin on June 18 and the Nojigiku Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Chukyo on Sept. 24. In both races, Phantom Thief stalked the pace and won by at least 1 1/4 lengths.
