Flash Flood is not only of the favorites to win a handicap at 6 1/4 furlongs at Canterbury Park in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday, he may be the hunch play of the season.
The areas around Sydney have been inundated with rain in recent weeks, so much so that evacuations have taken place for thousands of area residents.
The Canterbury Park program was relocated from Warwick Farm Racecourse in recent days after Warwick Farm received more than 11 inches of rain in a seven-day period ending Tuesday.
Paul Lally:
R1 1-10-5-6
R2 7-2-5-3
R3 6-9-1-8
R4 2-4-11-9
R5 7-3-11-10
R6 4-8-3-2
R7 2-4-8-6
R8 4-7-1-2
R9 2-1-8-12
Best Bet: R8 N4 Rising From Ashes
Longshot: R9 N2 Handsome Bobo
Play: R9 QQP 1-2-8
Tom Wood:
R1: 1-5-10-12
R2: 7-3-1-5
R3: 6-1-8-9
R4: 4-6-11-2
R5: 3-11-7-6
R6: 6-2-4-7
R7: 4-2-1-8
R8: 7-4-1-6
R9: 1-5-12-2
Stoltz carried top weight of 133 pounds to victory winning a Class 3 handicap over 1,000 meters in February at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong, and on Wednesday, if he’s to win a Class 2 handicap over the same trip, it will be under a mighty 135-pound impost.
Stoltz is one of a dozen entrants in the featured ninth race Wednesday at Happy Valley, a 1,000-meter dash for horses rated 95-75 that closes a card beginning at 6:45 a.m. Eastern. You can catch all the Hong Kong action at DRFBets.com.
Wahine Toa did not have a 2021 season.
She finished fourth in November 2020 and did not race again until May of this year when she was 12th of 15 in a handicap at Warrnambool Racecourse. After a more encouraging fourth by a length on June 13, Wahine Toa looks capable of winning for the second time in her career in a handicap for fillies and mares at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Wahine Toa is winless in seven starts since winning a maiden race at 1 3/8 miles at Sale Racecourse on March 29, 2020.
The last time the Australian gelding Last Quest ran a distance anywhere near 1 5/16 miles, he was beaten a head when third in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Moruya Racecourse on June 21.
The race may have only been two weeks ago, but Last Quest is having a busy mid-year span in Australia. Last Quest finished second by a head in a handicap at a mile at Moruya on Friday and starts in a handicap at 1 5/16 miles at Goulburn Racecourse on Tuesday.
The 5-year-old mare Alpinista picked up in her 2022 debut right where she left off in 2021, notching the biggest victory of her career Sunday in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud while racing for the first time since November.
Alpinista was 1 1/4 lengths better than runner-up Baratti, an improving 4-year-old Juddmonte Farms homebred who sat a rail trip and held second despite coming under pressure nearly three furlongs from the finish of the 1 1/2-mile Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
Three-year-old Vadeni needed every bit of his 10-pound weight break to hold off 5-year-old Mishriff and win the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes on Saturday at Sandown Park in England.
Even conceding 10 pounds to his younger rival, Mishriff, who missed the break to start matters, likely was the best horse in the 1 1/4-mile Eclipse. He came with a late surge after jockey David Egan gave up on finding a way through homestretch traffic and swung to the far outside.
A three-month break and the benefit of a late May prep race led to a fourth career win for Vintage Diesel in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Wagga Wagga Racecourse on June 14.
Distance races have become a specialty for the New Zealand-bred Vintage Diesel, who will be tried at a new distance in a handicap at 1 9/16 miles at Wagga Wagga on Monday. While the extended trip seems like a test, there are encouraging signs that Vintage Diesel can run that far.