Efforia, a nose away from an undefeated record in five starts, will race against older horses for the first time in Sunday’s Grade 1 autumn running of the Tenno Sho at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan.
The $2.55 million Tenno Sho, run at 1 1/4 miles, will provide a proper test as to where Efforia fits in the overall list of Japanese runners in advance of other major stakes such as the Japan Cup on Nov. 28 and the Arima Kinen on Dec. 26.
Last year, European-based runners swept the first three positions in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in Australia.
That will not happen on Tuesday, when the race is run before a pandemic-limited crowd of 10,000 in Melbourne. The widespread European participation that has led to five winners in the last 10 years has been reduced to two prominent shippers – Twilight Payment, who won the race in 2020 for Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien, and the Kentucky-bred Spanish Mission, who is based in England with Andrew Balding.
Rich and Shameless, a 5-year-old gelding, has had an active October, already finishing seventh, second and fifth in cup races at smaller venues in Australia.
There is time for one more start in a similar race in the Moree Cup at Moree Racecourse on Friday.
The seven-furlong Moree Cup is similar to recent starts by Rich and Shameless in that the race is run as a handicap and has drawn a competitive field. Trained by Scott Singleton, Rich and Shameless was fifth by 2 1/4 lengths in the Coonabarabran Cup at a mile only on Sunday.
Everything except the post position seems favorable for Gunstock in Saturday’s Group 1 Victorian Derby at Flemington in Melbourne, Australia.
The rapidly improving Gunstock beat maidens in his second start in September and won his group stakes debut in the Group 3 Neds Classic at 1 1/4 miles at Caulfield Racecourse on Oct. 16. The $1.5 million Victorian Derby at 1 1/4 miles will be Gunstock’s fifth start.
The well-bred mare Lost Impact has an international pedigree, but a modest race record in five starts.
A 5-year-old mare, Lost Impact has won 2 of 5 starts in Australia and will be favored to win for the third time in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Warrnambool Racecourse on Thursday. Arguably, she should be farther along in her career.
Lost Impact was bred in Japan and is by top Japanese stallion Deep Impact. Lost Impact is out of Siren’s Song, who was a minor stakes winner in Ireland in 2011 and was seventh in the Group 1 English Oaks at Epsom Racecourse that year.
Paul Lally:
R1 4-2-6-1
R2 1-4-7-8
R3 7-2-4-12
R4 4-7-2-3
R5 11-2-1-3
R6 4-5-2-11
R7 7-3-1-2
R8 7-11-1-6
Best Bet R8 N7 War Of Courage
Longshot R5 N11 Yes we can
Play R5 QQP 1-2-11
Tom Wood:
R1: 2-6-4-1
R2: 1-7-3-5
R3: 1-2-7-12
R4: 2-4-3-7
R5: 2-1-13-11
R6: 5-1-8-2
R7: 9-7-10-2
R8: 1-6-7-11
BEST: R4 N2 AQUILA (WIN)
VALUE: R7 N9 GAMEPLAYER TIMES (EW)
PLAY: R4 QQP 2,3,4
Andrew Le Jeune:
We interrupt your regularly scheduled Hong Kong programming for a Wednesday card of dirt racing at Sha Tin.
The eight-race program kicks at 7:15 a.m. Eastern, which is standard, but the typical weekday card of turf racing at Happy Valley gives way to an evening of dirt competition at Sha Tin.
Also out of the ordinary: The feature comes early, race 2, a Class 2 handicap carded for 1,650 meters open to horses rated 105-80.
The task is simple. Amade must finish in the top three in Wednesday’s Group 3 Bendigo Cup at Bendigo Racecourse in Australia to have any chance of gaining a berth in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse on Nov. 2.
Amade is currently outside of the top 24 horses in the handicap ratings that determine the final field. More importantly, Amade has yet to finish in the top three in a group-level stakes at 1 7/16 miles or farther since Feb. 1, 2020, which is part of eligibility for the two-mile Melbourne Cup.