Masekela has found a rhythm in group stakes for 2-year-olds in England in recent months.
After finishing second by a head in the Group 2 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket in July, Masekela won the Denford Stakes at seven furlongs at Newbury on Aug. 14.
Those results will leave Masekela a slight favorite in Saturday’s Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at a mile at Newmarket. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 5.
Golden Rose Preview - Rosehill: The 8th is the Golden Rose, a G1 million-dollar race for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs. Rosehill will host its first race day since July 24, having been in an area of Sydney that was under strict lockdown. Gerald Ryan, one of the leading trainers based at Rosehill, is glowing in his praise of the surface. A combination of rest and early-Spring weather will provide a luxurious carpet.
The 3-year-old Australian-bred Profiteer has already won a seven-figure race, doing so in the $1.54 million Inglis Millennium Stakes for 2-year-old sale graduates at Rosehill Gardens in January.
In his next two starts, Profiteer could reach two milestones – a first Group 1 win and a start in an eight-figure race.
Profiteer, unraced since a seventh in the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds in March, will be favored to win Friday’s Group 1 Moir Stakes at five furlongs at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne.
Majestic Glory kept very good company when she won her stakes debut in the Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Newmarket Racecourse in England on Aug. 7.
Runner-up Winter Beauty impressively won the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine last Sunday to earn a fees-paid berth for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 5.
The Australian gelding Macchina Volante is toward the top of apprentice jockey Jasper Franklin’s list of favorite mounts.
Franklin won his debut back in May at the age of 18 and has progressed as a jockey quickly in recent months. Twice, Franklin has had three-win days – at Murwillumbah on Aug. 20 and Lismore on Sept. 9.
Franklin rode Macchina Volante to a win in a handicap at 1 5/16 miles at Lismore that day and is back aboard the 5-year-old gelding in Thursday’s Lismore Cup at the same distance at Lismore Racecourse.
Andrew Le Jeune:
R1: 1-5-2-8
R2: 5-9-2-1
R3: 3-7-6-4
R4: 2-3-5-6
R5: 3-10-4-1
R6: 7-6-2-3
R7: 3-7-8-1
R8: 4-1-7-5
Best: R1 N1 Murray’s Partners
Each/way: R5 N3 Aurora Pegasus
Play: R5 Q/QP 3-4-10
Paul Lally:
R1 1-2-5-8
R2 2-5-1-9
R3 2-3-10-4
R4 2-9-3-4
R5 5-4-10-1
R6 6-2-3-7
R7 7-8-3-11
R8 1-4-2-8
Best Bet R8 N1 Decisive Twelve
Longshot R7 N7 Indicative Vote
Play QQP 1-4-2
Tom Wood:
Footlights, the 3-year-old New Zealand-bred colt, is not far from his stakes debut judging from the results of his first two starts in Australia and expectations for his appearance in an allowance race at 1 1/8 miles at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Footlights is nominated to stakes as soon as early October, pending his Wednesday race at Flemington in the Victoria Derby Preview for 3-year-old colts and geldings. The Victoria Derby will be run on Oct. 30 at the start of the Melbourne Cup carnival.
Distance races have been key to the success of Superbella, who starts in a Class 3 handicap at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong on Wednesday with an outstanding chance for his third win in his last four starts.
Trained by Frankie Lor, the 5-year-old Superbella had a big finish to the 2020-21 Hong Kong season, winning a Class 4 handicap at 1 1/8 miles at Happy Valley last April and a Class 3 handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Sha Tin in late June in his final start of the campaign.
