Wesley Ward has shipped seven runners overseas for next week’s Royal Ascot meeting. Six of the horses are 2-year-olds, with 3-year-old filly Kimari bound for the Group 1 Commonwealth Stakes.
An eighth American horse, the Graham Motion-trained Sharing, has yet to ship overseas but is intended for the Coronation Stakes on Ascot’s closing day, Saturday, June 20.
Tom Wood
R1: 3-5-9-1
R2: 7-5-1-9
R3: 1-4-8-9
R4: 1-3-4-10
R5: 3-6-8-10
R6: 4-3-11-9
R7: 10-2-1-7
R8: 10-7-5-12
R9: 3-9-5-6
BEST: R4 – 1 GREEN AEON (EW)
VALUE: R8 – 10 SHAMPORT (EW)
PLAY: R4 – TRIO 3 < 1,4,10
Mubariz and Mulinka, 4-year-olds foaled in different hemispheres, give trainer Chris Waller two excellent chances in a handicap at 7 3/4 furlongs on Wednesday at Canterbury Park in Australia.
Mubariz, a English-bred gelding, has won 2 of 10 starts. By Dansili, Mubariz has had four starts in Australia, winning his most recent race in a handicap at a mile at Warwick Farm on May 13. In England, Mubariz won a maiden race at Nottingham Racecourse in 2018 for trainer Roger Charlton. Mubariz had his final start in England last August.
Warrah Flash has become an effective late-running sprinter in Australia in recent months.
After losing his first five starts, Warrah Flash has compiled a two-race winning streak in a maiden race and a handicap since mid-April. Bettors have caught on. Warrah Flash was the 3-1 favorite when he closed from eighth of 11 to win a six-furlong handicap by a length May 18 at Tamworth Racecourse.
Gran Alegria, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2019 in Japan, had an ideal trip to win Sunday’s Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse in an 11-1 upset over 3-10 Almond Eye.
Gran Alegria’s smooth journey through the one-mile race was a major factor in the victory. Almond Eye, the 2018 Japanese Horse of the Year, broke slowly and was unable to recover. She rallied to finish second, beaten 2 1/2 lengths.
Almond Eye had won the Grade 1 Victoria Mile at Tokyo Racecourse by an impressive four lengths on May 10, a race Gran Alegria missed because of a fever.
The slight weight advantage Stockman has over a few of his rivals in Monday’s TAB Handicap at Warwick Farm Racecourse in Sydney, Australia may be the difference in the race at about 1 5/16 miles on turf.
Stockman, a 3-year-old Southern Hemisphere gelding, has won three of his last four starts since returning from a five-month break in April. Trained at Warwick Farm by Joseph Pride, Stockman has won his last two starts – a handicap at a mile at Wyong Racecourse on May 13 and a more lucrative handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Royal Randwick on May 23.
