The Australian gelding Wisaka is in the midst of the best form of his career and needs to be to continue that success on Wednesday.

After winning once in 16 starts, Wisaka won consecutive races for the first time in handicaps at 1 1/4 miles and 1 5/16 miles in June and July. Wisaka has yet to win at 1 1/2 miles in four starts, a losing streak that could end in a competitive race at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Wisaka was tried in races at 1 1/2 miles earlier in his career, but some of those starts were in stakes where he started as a longshot.

The 5-year-old mare Highfield Princess won her first Group 1 and led home a parade of longshots in the Prix Maurice de Gheest on Sunday at Deauville Racecourse in France. 

Highfield Princess was a 16-1 shot on the North American tote, and with a pace-pressing trip under Jason Hart she proved three-quarters of a length best in this 6 1/2-furlong, straight-course fixture.

All Sovereign Express needed to boost his career was a little time and distance.

A 5-year-old Australian-bred gelding, Sovereign Express lost his first four starts at sprint distances ranging from five furlongs to 6 1/2 furlongs from last September to late May.

In recent months, Sovereign Express has won a maiden race at seven furlongs on June 25 and a handicap at a mile on July 19. Those wins have led to the longest race of his career in a tougher handicap at 1 1/8 miles on Tuesday at Hawkesbury Racecourse near Sydney, Australia.

A two-race winning streak since late June has forced the Australian gelding Dubai Centre into a higher class of handicap runners in a seven-furlong race at Goulburn Racecourse on Monday.

Judging from his running style and the race distance, Dubai Centre should be able to handle the class test.

The Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, which caters to long-winded sprinters and fast-twitch milers, headlines the weekend racing action in Europe.  

The Deauville fixture on Sunday drew a field of 13 that English betting markets are saying is evenly matched; seven horses as of Friday were priced between 7-2 and 11-1.  

When he finishes his races, Valac is unbeatable in steeplechases in Australia this year.

Valac has won twice and fell twice in four appearances since his season began in April.

Despite a sketchy record, Valac will be favored in Sunday’s $103,650 Crisp Steeplechase at 2 5/8 miles at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne. Bettors can have some confidence in Valac after he won an allowance race for chasers as the 9-10 favorite at 2 3/16 miles at Pakenham Racecourse on July 17 after falling in his two preceding starts.

In the last 18 months, Forbidden Love has won three Group 1 races for sprinters in Australia. Another such assignment is likely in coming weeks if Forbidden Love performs to expectations in Saturday’s Group 2 Missile Stakes at six furlongs at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney.

A winner of 8 of 24 starts, Forbidden Love will be favored in a field of 12 in the $174,500 Missile Stakes, the first group-level stakes of the new Australian season, which began on Monday.

It’s only early August but England-based Saffron Beach already has been penciled in as a starter three months from now in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.  

It was not a complete surprise that The Mitchell Snail won his debut in a five-furlong maiden race at Gunnison Racecourse in Australia on July 12. Sent off as the 5-1 fourth choice in a field of 10, The Mitchell Snail closed from fourth to lead in the final strides.

The Irish-bred gelding Hosier has won 5 of 7 starts since arriving in Australia in the winter of 2020-21, with the victories in a maiden race and four minor handicaps.

Race conditions are about to change for Hosier. On Thursday at Coffs Harbour Racecourse, Hosier will start favored in the richest race of his career, the $104,100 Coffs Harbour Cup at a mile.