The 4-year-old gelding Ang Pow has yet to be tested in his first two starts in Australia.
Ang Pow won his debut in a six-furlong maiden race at Tamworth by 4 1/4 lengths as the even-money favorite on Sept. 13 and closed well to win a six-furlong handicap by a little more than 2 1/2 lengths at Bathurst on Sept. 23.
Native Trail won his second Group 1 race of the season Saturday with a decisive score in the Dewhurst Stakes at England's Newmarket Racecourse and goes off for a winter rest as the favorite for the 2000 Guineas next spring.
Mr Brightside, a 4-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding, has compiled a five-racing winning streak since mid-July that gives him the role of favorite in Sunday’s $146,000 Bet With Mates Cup at Ballarat Racecourse in Australia.
Aside from the wins, there have been several consistencies through the streak. All the races have been between seven furlongs and about a mile. Craig Williams has ridden Mr Brightside each time, often taking the role of stalker.
The experience is vital for success in the Bet With Mates Cup, a listed-class race previously known as the Seymour Cup.
Sometimes Flying Bonus stops, and sometimes he does not. The confirmed front-runner’s chances in a given race are dependent on how much other speed shows. Flying Bonus shook loose on the lead and won a Class 3 handicap going 1,200 meters on the Sha Tin dirt track by more than two lengths in his first start this season and will try to take down a bigger prize in Sunday’s featured eighth race.
Inspiral closed her 2-year-old season with her first Group 1 win, running her record to four wins from four starts with a 2 1/2-length victory Friday in the Fillies' Mile at Newmarket.
Frankie Dettori waited near the back of a nine-runner field and played his strong hand late, Inspiral taking the lead between the quarter-mile marker and the furlong grounds, drawing clear to a decisive victory in this straight-course mile.
There are some good colts, as one would expect from such an important race, in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes on Saturday at Newmarket in England. But for now, Native Trail might simply be better.
It’s not only his 3-for-3 record that points Native Trail out in the one-mile Dewhurst, part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, offering automatic fees-paid entry into the BC Juvenile Turf plus travel expenses to Del Mar.
A little more than a year ago, Zaaki finished last of seven in a minor stakes at Sandown Park outside of London. Weeks later, he was sold for approximately $195,000 at a horses-in-training sale in England.
Since then, Zaaki has had quite the career turnaround on the other side of the world.
Saturday, Zaaki will be a massive favorite to win his sixth consecutive Group 1 or Group 2 race in the Group 1 Might and Power Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia.
Validation of the English 2-year-old filly Inspiral’s apparent talent has traveled all the way to North America.
Three for three to start her career and the strong favorite in Friday’s Group 1 Fillies' Mile at Newmarket, Inspiral won the listed Star Stakes at Sandown Park by 3 1/2 lengths over Wild Beauty for her second win. Wild Beauty, also entered in the Fillies' Mile, shipped to Canada last month and won the Group 1 Natalma at Woobine by more than two lengths.
At the age of 6, the New Zealand-bred mare Our Intrigue has been tried at 1 1/4 miles for the first time in her career this year. The distance seems a good fit, judging from recent results.
After an eighth-place finish in her first start at 1 1/4 miles on a heavy turf course at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in July, Our Intrigue won and finished second in races at that distance at Kembla Grange on Aug. 28 and Sept. 11.
Friday at Port Macquarie Racecourse, Our Intrigue will start in her richest race of the year in the $145,380 Port Macquarie Cup at 1 1/4 miles.
