Paul Lally:
R1 2-1-7-10
R2 2-3-8-7
R3 7-2-9-11
R4 10-7-4-5
R5 7-12-4-5
R6 5-4-8-1
R7 9-1-3-4
R8 8-6-1-4
R9 5-1-3-11
R10 1-6-10-2
Best Bet R9 N5 Chiu Chow Spirit
Longshot R6 N5 Cosmo Navigator
Play R7 QQP 1-3-9
Mark McNamara:
R1 2.1.10.6
R2 2.3.4.5
R3 7.2.1.11
R4 4.7.2.3
R5 4.7.10.12
R6 4.1.14.6
R7 9.6.3.4
R8 4.8.6.2
R9 9.5.1.2
R10 5.10.1.4
A sharp closing rally has made the New Zealand-bred gelding I Wish I Win a multiple stakes winner in Australia, and the runner to fear in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap at six furlongs at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on Friday evening.
A winner of 5 of 14 starts in New Zealand and Australia, I Wish I Win should be able to handle a field with 15 rivals in the Newmarket Handicap. He won the $6.48 million Golden Eagle Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 4-year-olds at 7 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens last October as part of a field of 20.
Polygon was the dominant 3-year-old filly in New Zealand in December and January, winning group stakes at a mile and 1 1/4 miles.
Where Polygon ranks in Australia will be better known after her debut in that country in the Group 3 Kembla Grange Classic for Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old fillies at a mile at Kembla Grange Racecourse on Thursday evening.
The 4-year-old geldings Kokoro and Jupitus, arguably in the best form of their careers, meet for the first time in a handicap at 7 3/4 furlongs on the infield Kensington course at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Tuesday.
For the first time in their careers, the gelding King Kikau and mare Moon Over Alice are on two-race-winning streaks in Australia.
King Kikau has rallied from off the pace to win two one-mile handicaps since late January, while Moon Over Alice has led throughout two sprints in the same time span.
Barring a dead heat, at least one of the winning streaks will end when they meet for the first time in a one-mile handicap at Taree Racecourse on Monday evening. They are two of four leading candidates in a field of 10.
The Australian gelding Iknowastar was no factor in five starts in sprints at distances ranging from five to six furlongs from last March to early February.
In a longer sprint and in a one-mile race later in February, Iknowastar won the first two races of his career. The winning streak will be tested when Iknowastar races at 1 1/4 miles for the first time in a handicap at Wagga Wagga Racecourse on Sunday evening.
Everything seemed to happen in twos Saturday in Dubai on a Meydan card featuring Round 3 of the Al Maktoum Challenge.
Salute the Soldier won the Group 1, $450,000 Maktoum Challenge for the second time, adding Saturday’s score to his 2021 tally. His trainer, Fawzi Nass, and jockey, Adrie de Vries, made it a double in the Super Saturday feature one race after landing the $170,000 Al Bastakiya with progressive Go Soldier Go.
Cairo, an Irish-bred Quality Road colt trained by Aidan O’Brien, moved to the fore of the European-based hopefuls for the Kentucky Derby with a two-length win in his 3-year-old debut in Friday’s $42,300 Patton Stakes at a mile on the all-weather surface at Dundalk Racecourse in Ireland.
Cairo earned 20 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby with the win. One berth in the Kentucky Derby is available to the runner with the most qualifying points from the European series.
