Before they teamed to win Tuesday’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup with Verry Elleegant, top Australian jockey James McDonald and leading trainer Chris Waller won the $11.05 million Everest Stakes for sprinters with Nature Strip last month at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney.
Verry Ellegant recorded a 15-1 upset. There will be no hefty price at all when Nature Strip starts in Saturday’s Group 1 Darley Sprint Classic at six furlongs at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.
In the last four months, the 7-year-old Australian gelding Mister Smartee is one of just two starters for trainer Tas Morton. Mister Smartee has represented the stable well, winning his second start in the last year in the Krambach Cup at Taree Racecourse on Oct. 15.
Mister Smartee won the Kempsey Cup at 7 3/4 furlongs at tiny Kempsey Racecourse last November and is back in the same race this Friday.
Verry Elleegant’s 10th Group 1 win made Australia’s Horse of the Year even more of a household name.
Tuesday at Flemington Racecourse, Verry Elleegant won the $5.82 million Melbourne Cup, the nation’s most famous race, with a commanding four-length victory over Incentivise, the 3-2 favorite who had won his last nine starts.
Verry Elleegant, ridden by James McDonald, raced in the middle of the 23-horse field before moving closer to the front with a half-mile remaining. McDonald urged Verry Elleegant to the front with more than a furlong remaining and got a quick response.
Less than a month ago, Willowy was a maiden in Australia.
Thursday, she starts as the second choice in her Group 1 debut in the $751,700 Kennedy Oaks at 1 9/16 miles at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.
Owned by Godolphin Racing and trained by James Cummings, Willowy won a maiden race at a mile at Newcastle on Oct. 12 in her fourth start, stalking the pace before pulling away by more than 4 3/4lengths.
Tom Wood:
R1: 3-2-6-5
R2: 12-2-1-7
R3: 2-4-5-8
R4: 6-2-9-12
R5: 3-6-9-5
R6: 1-12-3-4
R7: 1-3-11-6
R8: 2-1-3-7
BEST: R8 N2 CARROLL STREET (WIN)
VALUE: R4 N6 STAR OF WUYI (EW)
PLAY: R8 QQP 1,2,3
:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, analysis, replays, and live streaming
Caspar Fownes and John Size battled for the 2020-21 Hong Kong training title, Fownes coming out on top with 79 winners, seven more than Size. The 2021-22 Hong Kong season is nearly two months old and this term Fownes and Size are tied for 13th in the training ranks; Fownes has gone 4 for 95 and Size is 4 for 87.
A significant weight break and the benefit of a recent start may help the 7-year-old gelding Skelm end a four-race losing streak in Wednesday’s $94,000 Kyneton Cup at Kyneton Cup Racecourse in Australia.
The Kyneton program comes at an interesting time in the Australian racing week. The Melbourne Cup is Tuesday at Flemington Racecourse. Thursday, the highlight of the nation’s racing is the Group 1 Kennedy Oaks at Flemington.
Efforia avenged a nose loss in the Grade 1 Japanese Derby in May with a victory in his first appearance against older horses in a tough running of the Grade 1 autumn Tenno Sho at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday.
Sent off as the favorite, Efforia ($5.50 in American pools) closed from sixth with a wide rally in a field of 16 to win by a length over the 4-year-old Contrail, a 2-1 chance who swept the 2020 Triple Crown in Japan. Gran Alegria, a five-time Grade 1 winner, finished third at 2-1, beaten 1 1/4 lengths.
The gelding was beaten 25 lengths in his first three starts. When he did win for the first time on a Sunday in April, at Sunshine Coast Racecourse near Brisbane, Australia, no one could have realized how much he would accomplish in the next six months.
Incentivise has won nine consecutive races in Australia, including three Group 1 races in the last two months, and was the 8-5 favorite on Sunday in a field of 24 for Tuesday’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup at two miles at Flemington Racecourse.