For a moderate handicap runner, Runaway Train is an important mount for top Australian jockey Jamie Kah. The 5-year-old mare is owned by her father, John.
Runaway Train has won 2 of 10 starts, with Kah aboard for both wins and nine of the races. The only one she missed was a loss in November at a time when Kah was suspended for attending a house party in late August in violation of Covid quarantine rules set forth by the government of the Australian state of Victoria and racing officials.
The Australian gelding Surf Sonic is slowly putting a disrupted career behind him.
A 5-year-old, Surf Sonic has won 2 of 11 starts in a career that began in September 2019. Monday at Dubbo Racecourse, Surf Sonic will have his fifth start since late October when he returned from a layoff of more than 14 months.
The recent span of races have been encouraging, notably a second in a one-mile handicap at Taree Racecourse on Jan. 3 when Surf Sonic led in the stretch and finished slightly more than a length behind Valley’s Sister.
Paul Lally:
Race1 3-2-10-8
Race2 3-1-5-2
Race3 4-1-3-2
Race4 2-7-4-8
Race5 9-4-5-11
Race6 7-4-10-6
Race7 2-10-8-4
Race8 1-5-4-8
Race9 9-4-7-5
Race10 3-12-1-2
Best Bet Race5 9 Leading Fortune
Longshot Race6 7 Sunset Watch
Play Race6 QQP 4-7-10
Mark McNamara:
R1 – 2.3.8.14
R2 – 5.3.2.4
R3 – 1.2.4.3
R4 – 6.4.13.4
R5 – 10.9.4.5
R6 – 10.3.4.2
R7 – 10.2.4.8
R8 – 1.9.5.6
Real World was the 1-2 favorite in the Group 2, $180,000 Zabeel Mile on Friday at Meydan Racecourse and he did not disappoint.
Coming home crisply under Daniel Tudhope, Real World won his fifth race in a row capturing the Zabeel Mile by 2 1/2 lengths over Alfareeq.
Wondering who’s the best 4-year-old in Hong Kong is akin to asking who’s the best 3-year-old in America, and the answer will start to be provided Sunday at Sha Tin in the $1.54 million Hong Kong Classic Mile.
This is the first leg of the 4-year-old classic series, which continues with the Hong Kong Cup over 1,800 meters and the Hong Kong Derby at 2,000 meters. There’s no straight 3-year-old racing in Hong Kong, nor are horses typically separated by age except in this three-race series.
Resurge, the 6-year-old Australian gelding, has achieved a career first in recent months, winning twice in a span of four starts.
Through his career, Resurge has won 5 of 31 starts but has never come close to stringing victories together. The recent success is his best result in a short span and reflects well on his chances in Sunday’s Strathalbyn Cup at about 1 ¼ miles at Strathalbyn Racecourse, near Adelaide.
Anamoe is a stakes winner at distances ranging from five furlongs to a mile and nearly won the Group 1 Cox Plate at 1 1/4 miles in Australia in October.
Distances are not a major issue for the 3-year-old Australian-bred colt who has his 2022 debut in Saturday’s Group 2 Expressway Stakes at six furlongs at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney. The distance is shorter than his recent starts, but the versatility Anamoe has shown in his 11-race career is expected to lead to his sixth win.
Real World spent the 2021 Dubai World Cup Carnival racing on dirt, and it didn’t go especially well. He ran decently in a series of handicap races but hit his stride last summer as a European turf horse, winning the Group 3 Strensall over Lord Glitters and edging The Revenant in the Group 2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein to finish out his campaign in October. Accordingly, Real World’s 2022 World Cup Carnival will be focused on grass races, and he’s top-rated Friday in the featured Group 2, $180,000 Zabeel Mile.
This has been a busy January in Australia for apprentice jockey Bailey Wheeler.
From Jan. 1 through last Friday, Wheeler won with four of 50 mounts. Wheeler, 16, is allied with prominent trainer Kris Lees and rides for that stable on Friday when Vanbari starts in a handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Scone Racecourse.
Wheeler knows his main competition very well – another Lees-trained runner in I Want One.
