The fourth race at Grafton Racecourse in Australia on Monday is open to males and females, but it’s four fillies and mares figure to play a vital role in the outcome of the handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs.
Arrow Express, Lolly Dolly, Nanakorobi Yaoki, and Toots is Tops each has solid credentials in a field of 11.
Paul Lally:
R1 10-6-9-5
R2 1-3-9-5
R3 5-4-1-8
R4 9-5-3-13
R5 3-7-5-9
R6 4-1-7-8
R7 3-1-6-9
R8 2-5-1-4
R9 10-5-12-9
R10 5-3-10-2
R11 10-8-1-6
Best Bet R11 N10 Flagship Glory
Longshot R1 N10 Super Kingdom
Play Race11 QQP 1-8-10
Andrew Le Jeune:
R1: 5-9-2-6
R2: 3-10-9-1
R3: 12-5-9-13
R4: 9-3-5-10
R5: 1-3-9-7
R6: 7-1-4-12
R7: 3-6-1-2
R8: 2-4-5-8
R9: 5-10-12-3
R10: 5-11-3-1
Joao Moreira already has 108 winners during the 2020-21 Hong Kong season, best on the circuit by 18 over Zac Purton, and he may be sitting on at least two more steamers on Sunday at Sha Tin.
In the featured Cheung Lin Shan Handicap, a Class 2 over 1,400 meters, the last of 11 races on the card, Moreira reunites with Silver Express, who should fit this spot beautifully for trainer John Size. Size earlier on the card will give Moreira a leg up on Courier Wonder in the D’Aguilar Peak Handicap, a Class 2 over 1,200 meters, carded as eighth race.
The course and distance of Sunday’s Grade 1 Japanese 1000 Guineas at Hanshin Racecourse will be familiar to Sodashi.
Last December, Sodashi won the Grade 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies over the same one-mile distance to remain unbeaten in four starts and clinch the 2-year-old filly championship of 2020. The $2.17 million Japanese 1000 Guineas, formally known as the Oka Sho, is Sodashi’s first start this year.
For his 2021 debut, Kissinger will start for the first time at Ballarat Racecourse in Australia in a one-mile handicap on turf on Sunday.
Kissinger, a New Zealand-bred 5-year-old gelding, has won half of his eight starts. He won a handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Warrnambool in October, and a handicap at 1 ¼ miles there in November. In between those races, he finished third in a tough handicap at Flemington Racecourse on the week of the Melbourne Cup, when every race at that track is competitive.
This has already been a spectacular year for Mugatoo, the Irish-bred gelding who races in Australia.
In his second start of 2021, Mugatoo won the $3.85 million All-Star Mile at Moonee Valley Racecourse on March 13 by a half-length over the top-class colt Russian Camelot.
The Grand National steeplechase, run at Aintree Racecourse in England on Saturday, has been on the minds of owners and trainers with leading prospects for months.
Because the grueling race at 4 1/4 miles is a handicap, there is an art to accomplishing enough with a horse to gain a berth in the 40-horse field, but not too much to be forced to carry a massive weight.
A four-month layoff in late 2020 has boosted the 3-year-old Australian-bred filly Silent Tryst.
In her first three starts this year, Silent Tryst won a maiden race at six furlongs at Gosford Racecourse on Jan. 27 in her first start after the rest, finished second in her debut against winners in a seven-furlong handicap for fillies and mares at Newcastle on Feb. 18, and won a seven-furlong handicap against males at Orange Racecourse on March 21.
When racing is held, the gelding Politogue has been a fixture at the Aintree Grand National meeting in recent years.
Politogue won the Grade 1 JLT Melling Chase at 2 1/2 miles in 2018 and was second in the same race in 2019. There was no Grand National meeting in 2020 because of the coronavirus, but the session will be held from Thursday through Saturday this week.
