Among the 3-year-old Finepoint, the 4-year-old Niffler and the longshot Black Queen, Australian trainer Chris Waller may turn a seven-furlong handicap at Royal Randwick in Sydney on Wednesday into an intra-stable affair.
The handicap will be run on the infield Kensington course for fillies and mares and drew a field of 11. Waller trains three of them, with Niffler (2-1) and Finepoint (7-2) as the first two choices in early betting on Monday. Black Queen was rated as a 16-1 chance.
The 12 runners in a one-mile handicap at Moe Racecourse in Australia on Tuesday will start without the benefit of a recent win.
For likely favorite Lake Tai, the handicap can end a nine-race losing streak since April 2021. Other notable starters, such as Flying Basil, Heleva Deel, and Henty, were beaten in their last starts after winning two races back.
Sodashi, Japan's champion 3-year-old filly of 2021, won for the first time this year in her second start in Sunday’s Grade 1 Victoria Mile for fillies and mares at Tokyo Racecourse, a victory that could lead to international starts in the latter months of the year.
Sodashi earned an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland in November. The Japanese-bred filly is nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program.
Modern Games ended his 2-year-old season by winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar and began his 3-year-old campaign by winning the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains, the French 2000 Guineas, on Sunday at Longhamp.
Australian jockey Rachael Murray has had her best results of the year in the last three weeks, winning with six of 36 mounts.
Martian Queen has been part of that success, winning a minor handicap at a mile at Gunnison Racecourse on May 2. Murray, 32, is back aboard Martian Queen in a one-mile handicap Monday at Tamworth Racecourse.
Murray will have a busy afternoon, with mounts in five of the eight races on a program that begins at 10:20 p.m. Eastern or 7:20 p.m. Pacific on Sunday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
Bigger, stronger, faster – that was how Baaeed looked winning his 4-year-old debut Saturday in the Group 1 J.T. Lockinge Stakes at Newbury Racecourse in England.
Baaeed came into the Lockinge 6 for 6 in his career and no luck was required in victory No. 7. Baaeed broke alertly under regular rider Jim Crowley and tracked Chindit, who led a pack of runners racing toward the outer rail as the field divided into two groups early in this straight-course mile.
Paul Lally:
R1 5-1-11-9
R2 2-3-4-6
R3 6-7-3-4
R4 8-2-5-1
R5 7-4-5-11
R6 5-4-3-11
R7 7-1-9-10
R8 7-2-6-8
R9 3-1-9-2
R10 4-2-8-1
Best Bet R10 N4 Solid Impact
Longshot R7 N7 Snowalot
Play QQP 2-4-8
Tom Wood:
R1: 5-1-3-11
R2: 3-2-1-5
R3: 6-3-7-1
R4: 1-2-8-10
R5: 7-4-10-12
R6: 5-1-3-4
R7: 12-1-9-8
R8: 9-6-5-12
R9: 2-1-9-3
R10: 4-2-7-9
BEST: R9 N2 SETANTA (WIN)
Running Glory is one of the smaller horses in Hong Kong but that doesn’t stop him from winning prolifically. Running Glory began this Hong Kong season, and his career, finishing 11th in a Class 4 handicap on Nov. 21. He since has won four of six starts while his Hong Kong rating has risen from 52 to 81, and Running Glory tries the Class 2 handicap level for the first time in the featured third race on Sunday at Sha Tin.
At the beginning of their careers, Daring Tact and Sodashi were unbeatable, each compiling five-race winning streaks that included multiple Grade 1 wins in Japan and led to titles as Japan’s champion 3-year-old filly of 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Racing against older horses that has been more difficult. Both are winless in their last three starts in advance of a first-ever meeting in Sunday’s Grade 1 Victoria Mile for fillies and mares at Tokyo Racecourse.
The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland on Nov. 5.
