Zavy’s Hope was beaten about a neck in a handicap at Grafton Racecourse in Australia on Sept. 21, a narrow setback that ended a two-race winning streak.
The loss came in a race at about 1 3/8 miles, the longest of Zavy’s Hope’s 10-race career. The experience could be a significant benefit when the 4-year-old Australian-bred mare starts in a handicap at the slightly shorter distance of about 1 1/4 miles at Murwillumbah Racecourse on Monday.
Tom Wood
R1: 8-1-2-4
R2: 1-7-3-4
R3: 6-2-1-4
R4: 7-6-10-4
R5: 4-5-3-1
R6: 3-6-4-8
R7: 4-2-5-1
R8: 8-4-6-11
R9: 7-1-3-4
R10: 8-4-5-2
BEST: R10 – 8 GOOD LUCK FRIEND (EW)
NEXT BEST: R8 – 8 ETERNAL HARVEST
VALUE: R9 – 7 E STAR (EW)
PLAY: R10 – QQP 8 < 2,4,5
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From Sept. 18 through Friday, Australian trainer Danny O’Brien won with 10 of 50 starters. From that group, O’Brien had another eight runners finish second, including Plein Ciel in the Group 3 JRA Stakes at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne on Sept. 25.
The high-profile stable starts Plein Ciel in Sunday’s Cranbourne Cup at about 1 1/4 miles, conditions that should be a good fit for the German-bred gelding, who is recognized as an 8-year-old Southern Hemisphere.
Pinatubo, the European champion 2-year-old male of 2019, has been retired and will be sent to stud in England in 2021, according to a statement released Friday by Godolphin Racing.
Pinatubo, who was trained by Charlie Appleby, won 7 of 10 starts and was unbeaten in six races in 2019, including a nine-length win in the Group 1 National Stakes at seven furlongs at the Curragh in Ireland last September, and a two-length win in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes at the same distance at Newmarket Racecourse in England last October.
Thunder Moon, eye-catching winner of the Group 1 National Stakes at The Curragh, and Chindit, unbeaten from three starts, the most recent a sharp score in the Group 2 Champagne at Doncaster, head an unusually deep renewal of the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes on Saturday at Newmarket.
A rail draw in a big field is about the only drawback for Entente in Friday’s $142,800 Port Macquarie Cup at Port Macquarie Racecourse in Australia.
Entente, trained by the top training partnership of Adrian Bott and Gai Waterhouse, has a friendly weight assignment of 121 pounds, won his last start in a handicap at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse on Sept. 26, and won the Group 3 Carbine Stakes at a mile at Royal Randwick Racecourse in April.
Russian Camelot, the future-book favorite for the Melbourne Cup on Nov. 3, is scaring away the competition in some of Australia’s leading races.
Russian Camelot has five rivals in Saturday’s Group 1 Caulfield Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne, and will be heavily favored to win his third Group 1 in his last four starts.
Russian Camelot beat eight rivals in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 26 as the 1-2 favorite.
In February, Satin Rain won for the second time in her career in a handicap at 1 3/16 miles at Gosford Racecourse in Australia. Eight months later, in the midst of a seven-race losing streak, Satin Rose starts in a handicap at the same distance at Gosford on Thursday.
Since the February win, Satin Rain was tried in two group stakes in April, finishing seventh in both races. More recently, Satin Rain has had three starts since early September, including a game second by a head in a handicap at 1 /8 miles at Hawkesbury Racecourse on Sept. 24.
