Aspen Colorado is a 4-year-old German-bred gelding racing in Australia with an easy name to remember but a recent race record of near misses.
After winning a maiden race last September in his final start of 2021, and third career race, Aspen Colorado has been second or third in four starts this year, always finishing within 3 1/2 lengths of the winner.
The losing streak can end in a one-mile handicap on Monday at Donald Racecourse in a small town of the same name northwest of Melbourne.
Andrew Le Jeune:
R1: 6-2-1-3
R2: 11-9-6-7
R3: 5-6-9-3
R4: 8-6-12-11
R5: 1-6-7-5
R6: 1-4-7-9
R7: 6-5-3-11
R8: 7-8-3-4
R9: 4-2-3-8
R10: 3-7-6-14
Best: R7 N6 Tycoon Jewellery
Each/way: R4 N8 Circuit Spiritanto
Play: Q/QP R7 3-5-6
Mark McNamara:
R1: 2.1.6.4
R2: 11.3.6.7
R3: 5.8.11.2.
R4: 12.6.4.2
R5: 6.1.7.3
R6: 1.11.12.4
R7: 5.6.1.4
R8: 2.7.3.9
Frankie Lor has all but wrapped up the 2021-22 Hong Kong racing season training title, leading John Size 90-84 going into the Sunday card at Sha Tin, third-to-last program of the season. And in the featured Chow Silver Plate Handicap, the last of 10 races Sunday, Lor can play a roll in the race for leading jockey, sending out the exciting 3-year-old Keefy with Joao Moreira aboard.
A return to one mile could mean a return to winning for 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf hero Modern Games.
Three-year-old Modern Games ran competitively finishing third of 15 in the 1 5/16-mile Prix du Jockey Club, France’s Derby. But he did not appear to relish his first race beyond one mile. Sunday, England-based trainer Charlie Appleby sends Modern Games back to France – and back to one mile – in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat. Ten others are entered in this 3-year-old-restricted contest at Deauville, which is no easy spot for Modern Games, a Godolphin homebred by Dubawi.
The South Grafton Cup at Grafton Racecourse in Australia on Sunday is a one-mile race with a modest purse of $54,800. For the first two finishers, the race could lead to a richer racing opportunity later this year.
The South Grafton Cup is a qualifying race for the newly created The Big Dance Stakes at a mile at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Nov. 1. The Big Dance has a purse of $1.36 million and is restricted to horses that have finished first or second in 26 qualifying races from last October to Oct. 9 of this year at tracks in the state of New South Wales.
Perfect Power, already a three-time winner of Group 1 sprints, will be favored to add another such race to his resume in the July Cup on Saturday at Newmarket Racecourse in England.
Europe’s best 2-year-old sprinter of 2021, Perfect Power so far has been Europe’s best 3-year-old sprinter of 2022, but he takes on older rivals for the first time in the July Cup, run over a straight six furlongs. Thirteen others are entered in what looks like a strong renewal of one of England’s top sprint races.
A two-race winning streak since late May from Ashford Street has led to the gelding’s stakes debut in Saturday’s Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia.
Ashford Street may need even better form to beat two group stakes runners in Oxley Road and Mileva, who are returning from layoffs in the $136,700 Monash Stakes, run at 5 1/2 furlongs.
Inspiral, brilliant winner of the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot in her 3-year-old debut, is an odds-on favorite to defeat older rivals in the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes on Friday at Newmarket Racecourse in England.
A bad start and a wide trip led to an 11th-place finish in a field of 16 for Palladas as the 5-1 favorite in the Eye Liner Stakes at Ipswich Racecourse in Australia on June 18.
The loss has led to a jockey change for Friday’s Newmarket Handicap at Rockhampton Racecourse and apparently a fair measure of forgiveness from future-book bettors. As of Wednesday, Palladas was the 3-1 favorite in a field of 13 for the Newmarket Handicap, run at 6 3/4 furlongs.
