The 5-year-old gelding is simply named Rock has won 4 of 12 starts and knows his way around Newcastle Racecourse in Australia.
Last September, Rock won his first stakes in the Group 3 Cameron Handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs at Newcastle, his only appearance at the track north of Sydney. Winless in four subsequent starts, Rock is back in the Cameron Handicap on Friday, which appears to be an appropriate race for his second start after a six-month layoff.
Verry Elleegant needed every stride of the Group 1 Winx Stakes at seven furlongs on Aug. 22 at Royal Randwick Racecourse to reach the front for her seventh graded stakes win. Verry Elleegant figures to be even more dangerous from off the pace again in Saturday’s Group 1 George Main Stakes at a mile at the same venue in Sydney, Australia.
A 5-year-old New Zealand-bred mare, Verry Elleegant was 7-5 in future-book betting Wednesday for the $367,000 George Main Stakes, one of the top races on the Australian September calendar.
Class 3 handicap fare is the highest level of racing Wednesday at Happy Valley in Hong Kong, with three such races, including the last of eight, providing the highlights on the program.
Race 8 is carded at 1,000 meters and open to horses rated 80-60, and there is not a ton of upside in the group of 11. Three of the four top-rated entrants struggled so much in Class 2 races during the 2019-20 Hong Kong season that they begin this campaign down at Class 3. So, here, you get horses in poor form toting high weights, which is not typically an appetizing recipe.
Wil John, the 5-year-old Australian-bred gelding, has had a 2020 season geared toward a start in a two-mile handicap at Echuca Racecourse on Thursday.
In four races from mid-June to late August, Wil John has raced at increasingly longer distances. On Aug. 27 at Mornington, Wil John finished second by five lengths in a handicap at about 1 15/16 miles. Thursday’s race is a new distance for Wil John, but seems within a reasonable range for a runner who has won a respectable three races from 13 starts.
Paul Lally
R1 2-9-6-4
R2 2-5-6-9
R3 4-6-12-2
R4 3-10-11-9
R5 4-6-5-8
R6 8-7-5-10
R7 3-9-5-4
R8 3-8-6-2
Best Bet: R2 N2 Mig Energy
Longshot: R6 N8 Hin Yuen Bis
Play: R2 QQP 2-5-6
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The listed Heatherlie Stakes at Caulfield Racecourse in Australia on Aug. 29 was a little steep for the mare Minola. She finished 10th of 16 in her stakes debut as a 60-1 outsider.
A handicap at 1 3/8 miles at Bendigo Racecourse on Wednesday is a better fit, but also a stamina test in what will be the longest race of Minola’s brief career.
In March and April, Ligulate won two six-figure races at Tamworth Racecourse in Australia before and after an eighth-place finish in a much tougher race at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney.
Ligulate ended that portion of the year with a nose win in the Tamworth Cup in April, his final start before being rested through the Australian winter. Monday, Ligulate will be favored in his first start of a spring campaign in a six-furlong handicap at Tamworth that drew a field of 12.
Mark McNamara:
R1: 7.3.8.1
R2: 4.6.9.5
R3: 9.1.2.3.
R4: 3.2.4.5
R5: 8.3.2.9
R6: 8.4.2.7
R7: 1.2.3.7
R8: 6.1.3.9
R9: 2.6.4.8
R10: 13.2.1.8
Best Bet R8 – 6 Sky Field
Longshot R10 – 8 Wisdom Patch
Play R8 – Q – 1 Inner Flame + 6 Sky Field
