Last July, Lunatic Fringe won a minor handicap at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Casterton Racecourse in Australia.
The race may not have merited significant attention at the time, but the experience will well serve Lunatic Fringe when the 5-year-old New Zealand-bred mare starts in Sunday’s Casterton Cup at 1 1/4 miles.
Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby had a one-two finish in the English 2000 Guineas with Coroebus and Native Trail, and on Sunday at Longchamp they run the favorite, Modern Games, in France’s iteration of the Guineas, the Group 1 Poules d’Essai des Poulains.
Kementari is well established among Australia’s sprinters as the winner of six group stakes.
The 3-year-old Mazu is just getting started, having won four stakes in his first 10 starts, including his Group 2 debut last month.
Mazu’s status among Australia’s sprinters will be better known after his debut against older horses in Saturday’s Group 1 Doomben 10,000 at six furlongs at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Brisbane.
Rustic Steel improved his record to 6 for 12 by winning the $347,700 The Coast Stakes, a handicap for Southern Hemisphere 3- and 4-year-olds at Gosford Park in Australia last Saturday.
On Friday, less than a week later, Rustic Steel is expected to be a slight favorite to win his group stakes debut in the Group 3 Scone Cup at a mile at Scone Racecourse.
Trained by Kris Lees, the 4-year-old Rustic Steel led throughout The Coast Stakes, winning the one-mile race against 12 rivals by slightly less than a half-length. The $139,700 Scone Cup will have a maximum field of 16.
One-mile races on heavy turf in Australia are defining the season of the 3-year-old gelding Duke of Gordon.
Duke of Gordon won a maiden race on April 14 and his debut against winners on April 28 in races with those conditions at Wyong Racecourse. The victories give Duke of Gordon a legitimate claim as the favorite in another one-mile handicap in similar conditions at Wyong on Thursday.
The turf course is expected to be heavy, especially with a forecast of wet weather in the middle of the week.
The late kick that has been a common style for the 4-year-old gelding Nearly Fine finally carried him to a win for the first time in his 12th start in Hong Kong in a race at about a mile at Happy Valley Racecourse on April 13.
What worked at a mile will be tried at the new distance of 1 1/8 miles when the Australian-bred starts in a Class 3 handicap at Happy Valley on Wednesday.
There are remarkable similarities in the career trajectory of the geldings Mach Schnell and Sindacato, who meet for the first time in a one-mile handicap at Warwick Farm Racecourse outside of Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday.
Mach Schnell and Sindacato were bred in New Zealand, began their careers there, and were recently transferred to race in Australia.
